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Far From Phoenix
Phoenix, Arizona. Fall 1962. JFK has been elected and the Cuban Missile Crisis shake the United States. Fond of vast spaces, Scott Hatford is a young dreamer who treasures short moments of grace with a loving mother, and tries to escape the violence of a broken father returned from the war. Each day begins with the reunion with his night-nurse mother and ends under the threat of the tyrant with a game leg. One October night, exacerbated by jealousy, the fathers fury transforms into wild intoxication. Mother and son decide to flee towards New Mexico. Their fates are sealed on Route 66.
With The Last Days of Stefan Zweig, Laurent Seksik traced the tragedy of a wounded man. Far From Phoenix is the odyssey of a teenager in the American West in the 1960's. A story of hope, redemption and the power of dreams.
With The Last Days of Stefan Zweig, Laurent Seksik traced the tragedy of a wounded man. Far From Phoenix is the odyssey of a teenager in the American West in the 1960's. A story of hope, redemption and the power of dreams.
189 pages, Paperback
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
March 13, 2018
Originally translated from French, this book is a snippet in the life of Scott Hatford, his mother and father. If you can get through the enormous blocks of text, confusing speech patterns and switch between 'he' and 'I' on occasion, it's an interesting read. It is reminiscent of texts I studied in high school for their double meaning and historical reference.
The relationship between Scott and his father is volatile and could be seen to represent a large number of returned servicemens' difficulties with facing life after war. Alternatively, Scott and his mother have a close relationship overshadowed by the fathers/husbands aggressive, drunken behaviour, almost being forced to hide their affection for one another.
I found the character Jenny to be a strange inclusion, slightly out of step with the rest of the story, particularly considering we aren't really given an age range for our main character, Scott.
At its core, I quite liked the story, the complications of family can be seen to hold true to the lives of many and I felt Scott was quite a layered character. However, the formatting of the text; the long blocks of never ending sentences, switching between present and past tense and third and first person, were exhausting. Of course, this could be put down to the translation aspect and with a little edittng, it could be quite an interesting read.
The relationship between Scott and his father is volatile and could be seen to represent a large number of returned servicemens' difficulties with facing life after war. Alternatively, Scott and his mother have a close relationship overshadowed by the fathers/husbands aggressive, drunken behaviour, almost being forced to hide their affection for one another.
I found the character Jenny to be a strange inclusion, slightly out of step with the rest of the story, particularly considering we aren't really given an age range for our main character, Scott.
At its core, I quite liked the story, the complications of family can be seen to hold true to the lives of many and I felt Scott was quite a layered character. However, the formatting of the text; the long blocks of never ending sentences, switching between present and past tense and third and first person, were exhausting. Of course, this could be put down to the translation aspect and with a little edittng, it could be quite an interesting read.
Displaying 1 of 1 review