What do you think?
Rate this book
The Essence of Nathan Biddle
Protagonist Kit Biddle is a rising prep school senior who finds himself tangled in a web of spiritual quandaries and intellectual absurdities. Kit’s angst is compounded by a unique psychological burden he is forced to carry: his intelligent but unstable Uncle Nat has committed an unspeakable act on what, according to the Uncle’s deranged account, were direct orders from God.
The tragedy haunting his family follows Kit like a dark and foreboding cloud, exacerbating his already compulsive struggle with existential questions about the meaning of his life. When the brilliant, perhaps phantasmic, Anna dismisses him, Kit quickly spirals into despair and self-destruction. But when his irrational decision to steal a maintenance truck and speed aimlessly down the highway ends in a horrific accident and months of both physical and emotional convalescence, Kit is forced to examine his perceptions of his life and his version of reality.
In this exquisite bildungsroman, calamity leads to fresh perspectives and new perceptions: it focuses Kit’s mind and forces him to confront the issues that plague him. Readers will empathize—and celebrate—as the darkness lifts and Kit comes to terms with the necessity of engagement with life’s pain, pleasure . . . and absurdity.
An intelligent, clever, and captivating tale, The Essence of Nathan Biddle soars in the spaces that exist between despair and hope, darkness and light, love and loss. Beautifully written, profoundly moving, and resplendent with characters destined to remain with you long after the last page is turned, The Essence of Nathan Biddle is unforgettable.
The tragedy haunting his family follows Kit like a dark and foreboding cloud, exacerbating his already compulsive struggle with existential questions about the meaning of his life. When the brilliant, perhaps phantasmic, Anna dismisses him, Kit quickly spirals into despair and self-destruction. But when his irrational decision to steal a maintenance truck and speed aimlessly down the highway ends in a horrific accident and months of both physical and emotional convalescence, Kit is forced to examine his perceptions of his life and his version of reality.
In this exquisite bildungsroman, calamity leads to fresh perspectives and new perceptions: it focuses Kit’s mind and forces him to confront the issues that plague him. Readers will empathize—and celebrate—as the darkness lifts and Kit comes to terms with the necessity of engagement with life’s pain, pleasure . . . and absurdity.
An intelligent, clever, and captivating tale, The Essence of Nathan Biddle soars in the spaces that exist between despair and hope, darkness and light, love and loss. Beautifully written, profoundly moving, and resplendent with characters destined to remain with you long after the last page is turned, The Essence of Nathan Biddle is unforgettable.
440 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 2021
478 people are currently reading
15756 people want to read
About the author
J. William Lewis
1 book124 followersJ. William Lewis is the Author of The Essence of Nathan Biddle
Winner of the Literary Fiction and Best New
Fiction categories of the 2022 International
Book Awards
Winner of the Silver Medal in the 2022
Feathered Quill Awards
Winner of the Silver Award in the 2021-2022
Reader Views Literary Awards
A former lawyer, J. William Lewis, lives in Shoal Creek, a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama.
Winner of the Literary Fiction and Best New
Fiction categories of the 2022 International
Book Awards
Winner of the Silver Medal in the 2022
Feathered Quill Awards
Winner of the Silver Award in the 2021-2022
Reader Views Literary Awards
A former lawyer, J. William Lewis, lives in Shoal Creek, a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 223 reviews
June 3, 2021
The Essence of Nathan Biddle is a bildungsroman of sorts, set in the 1950’s Alabama, as Kit narrates his life as a high school senior who is coming to terms with the unspeakable tragedy that in his Uncle Nat’s derangement, credits as God’s idea. With this horrific incident looming over his family, he spirals himself into depression and ends up convalescing after getting involved in a harrowing accident.
This character driven story is brilliantly told through the eyes of a brooding teen trying to find the meaning of his life, understand the grief and loss he has suffered, feel love and acceptance, all the while trying to successfully navigate his remaining high school years when everything seems to be against him.
This character driven story is brilliantly told through the eyes of a brooding teen trying to find the meaning of his life, understand the grief and loss he has suffered, feel love and acceptance, all the while trying to successfully navigate his remaining high school years when everything seems to be against him.
June 22, 2021
Favorite Quotes:
Newt is blessed with a mass of unruly blond hair, an engaging smile, and a con man’s gift of schmooze. He has found little difficulty convincing women that he is misunderstood; he has had some difficulty getting them to remain convinced for more than a year, sometimes even less than that.
The “general theory of cranial calibration,” as Lichtman and I formulated it, is that the size of a girl’s brain is inversely proportional to the size of her boobs.
“He thinks he’s a wit,” I said testily. “He’s only half right.”
An exquisite random squib had appeared in the dark of my life, and I was grateful. I can’t remember some things and I’m sure I’m going to forget some more, but I’ll bet I won’t ever forget Cassandra prancing on that log wearing her plain cotton panties and a devilish grin. Maybe the really beautiful things are like that: little glowing sparks in the mundane darkness of everyday existence.
He has become my mother’s “special friend” whose specialness I have unfortunately failed to appreciate.
He all about booze and self-pity. He caught tragedy and now he spreads it like a virus.
Newt says he and Uncle Nat fought a lot, and he stopped shaving and bathing and looked and acted like Bigfoot on a moonshine binge.
She’s pretty, but she’s not bright. Lichtman described her perfectly. He said Dayla is built like an Italian sports car but her engine sputters. If you mention something more complicated than shoe size or the weather, she’ll stare at you like you’ve said something in Swahili.
My Review:
I am conflicted about how to rate this one. I struggled with this book, and valiantly I might add. I had even considered a DNF but there were pros and cons to pushing forward and I’m honestly glad I did, but it was an arduous and challenging read. I found it cleverly amusing and wittily insightful for the most part but I also felt oddly annoyed and aggravated and it took considerable effort to push through the various characters’ cerebral postulating as well as the stratospheric level of vocabulary used. I typically read a book a day, yet this one took me three.
The main character of Kit had an odd childhood and bizarre family who obviously had a surfeit of intelligence but didn’t know what to do with it. Kit was floundering and exasperating. He was also unfocused, lazy, obsessive, uncommitted, aimless, and besotted with a girl who clearly and repeatedly told him she wasn’t interested. His teenaged angst and general malaise had me appreciating the fact I no longer have to work with adolescents. Retirement is sweeeeet!
The premise and storylines were oddly compelling while cast with a quirky collection of characters who, other than the lovely Sarah, were disturbingly repellent and truly ghastly creatures. I reveled in the humor of his descriptions and observations of others, but I was often felt bogged down in the prose. The author either has a treasure trove of unusual words circling his cranium or wrote with a thesaurus in his lap. I just know I am thankful I read on a Kindle with a built-in dictionary. I love words and while being far from mentally deficient I felt as such as I wore the battery down on my beloved device while frequently required to halt my perusal to look up the meanings of words like pluperfect, opacity, and lagniappe. Uncommon words I will most likely have to look up again if I ever run across them a second time.
But my main source of discontent was the ending, there wasn’t one. I am still stamping my little foot in pique; I need a semblance of closure and don’t have it. However, when I looked back at my highlighted and favorite passages, which were significantly pared down in this review, I was awed by the author’s craft and am determined to respect his process.
Newt is blessed with a mass of unruly blond hair, an engaging smile, and a con man’s gift of schmooze. He has found little difficulty convincing women that he is misunderstood; he has had some difficulty getting them to remain convinced for more than a year, sometimes even less than that.
The “general theory of cranial calibration,” as Lichtman and I formulated it, is that the size of a girl’s brain is inversely proportional to the size of her boobs.
“He thinks he’s a wit,” I said testily. “He’s only half right.”
An exquisite random squib had appeared in the dark of my life, and I was grateful. I can’t remember some things and I’m sure I’m going to forget some more, but I’ll bet I won’t ever forget Cassandra prancing on that log wearing her plain cotton panties and a devilish grin. Maybe the really beautiful things are like that: little glowing sparks in the mundane darkness of everyday existence.
He has become my mother’s “special friend” whose specialness I have unfortunately failed to appreciate.
He all about booze and self-pity. He caught tragedy and now he spreads it like a virus.
Newt says he and Uncle Nat fought a lot, and he stopped shaving and bathing and looked and acted like Bigfoot on a moonshine binge.
She’s pretty, but she’s not bright. Lichtman described her perfectly. He said Dayla is built like an Italian sports car but her engine sputters. If you mention something more complicated than shoe size or the weather, she’ll stare at you like you’ve said something in Swahili.
My Review:
I am conflicted about how to rate this one. I struggled with this book, and valiantly I might add. I had even considered a DNF but there were pros and cons to pushing forward and I’m honestly glad I did, but it was an arduous and challenging read. I found it cleverly amusing and wittily insightful for the most part but I also felt oddly annoyed and aggravated and it took considerable effort to push through the various characters’ cerebral postulating as well as the stratospheric level of vocabulary used. I typically read a book a day, yet this one took me three.
The main character of Kit had an odd childhood and bizarre family who obviously had a surfeit of intelligence but didn’t know what to do with it. Kit was floundering and exasperating. He was also unfocused, lazy, obsessive, uncommitted, aimless, and besotted with a girl who clearly and repeatedly told him she wasn’t interested. His teenaged angst and general malaise had me appreciating the fact I no longer have to work with adolescents. Retirement is sweeeeet!
The premise and storylines were oddly compelling while cast with a quirky collection of characters who, other than the lovely Sarah, were disturbingly repellent and truly ghastly creatures. I reveled in the humor of his descriptions and observations of others, but I was often felt bogged down in the prose. The author either has a treasure trove of unusual words circling his cranium or wrote with a thesaurus in his lap. I just know I am thankful I read on a Kindle with a built-in dictionary. I love words and while being far from mentally deficient I felt as such as I wore the battery down on my beloved device while frequently required to halt my perusal to look up the meanings of words like pluperfect, opacity, and lagniappe. Uncommon words I will most likely have to look up again if I ever run across them a second time.
But my main source of discontent was the ending, there wasn’t one. I am still stamping my little foot in pique; I need a semblance of closure and don’t have it. However, when I looked back at my highlighted and favorite passages, which were significantly pared down in this review, I was awed by the author’s craft and am determined to respect his process.
June 12, 2021
The Essence Of Nathan Biddle is the first novel by American author J. William Lewis. Some six years after his cousin Nathan was murdered by his Uncle Nat under instructions from God, Kit Biddle is in a mess. His high-school academic performance has dropped to the extent that his teachers, his track coach and his mom are urging him to do better, to work harder, to get with the program.
Within a matter of days, his adored girlfriend, Anna has dropped him; he learns that a close friend’s mother is having an affair; he stumbles on a Peeping Tom; he is mistaken for his cousin; a friend’s sister declares her years-long crush on him; and he almost accidentally saves a black man’s life, but later is given to doubt it was worth saving. But all he really wants to do is run, alone, and ponder the real meaning of life.
And then he is seriously injured when he rolls a stolen truck, and is forced to spend a long time recuperating. As well as morphine-fuelled dreams, there are interactions with family, friends, and teachers, and a disturbing letter from his mentally-ill uncle. Weekly sessions with a psychiatrist gradually eke out the details of the life events that led up to Kit’s current travails and, eventually, the source of his identity crisis.
In 1950’s Alabama, a traumatic event like Nathan’s murder didn’t automatically attract counselling: Martha Biddle and her son move away from their small town to avoid the notoriety, and don’t speak of what happened. Kit grows into a puzzled, wary and fretful teen, a poet and a runner.
Patience is required for the first half of the novel as Kit’s convoluted thought processes can feel just a bit tedious. There is humour, though, in the conversations with his young Uncle Newt, with his friends, in Newt’s limericks, and in some of what Kit relates during his psych sessions.
The inverse proportionality axioms that Kit and his friend Lichtman devise are particularly entertaining, even if some are politically incorrect in today’s world: “The Biddle-Lichtman theory of quantum yearning holds that the desirability of a thing is inversely proportional to its availability” and “a person’s tolerance for noise is inversely proportional to his intelligence quotient.”
Also “The basic physical-attraction axiom (we called it the “special theory of physical attraction”) is that the attractiveness of a girl is inversely proportional to your attractiveness to her. And the second law (the “general theory”) is equally true and immutable: The number of girls you find attractive is inversely proportional to the number who find you attractive.”
Lewis easily evokes the era and setting, as well as the late 1950’s Southern mindset, and his characters feel authentic. While there will be readers who are dissatisfied with the unresolved identity issue at the conclusion, this is an impressive literary debut that will appeal especially, but not exclusively, to readers of a certain vintage.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Greenleaf Book Group.
Within a matter of days, his adored girlfriend, Anna has dropped him; he learns that a close friend’s mother is having an affair; he stumbles on a Peeping Tom; he is mistaken for his cousin; a friend’s sister declares her years-long crush on him; and he almost accidentally saves a black man’s life, but later is given to doubt it was worth saving. But all he really wants to do is run, alone, and ponder the real meaning of life.
And then he is seriously injured when he rolls a stolen truck, and is forced to spend a long time recuperating. As well as morphine-fuelled dreams, there are interactions with family, friends, and teachers, and a disturbing letter from his mentally-ill uncle. Weekly sessions with a psychiatrist gradually eke out the details of the life events that led up to Kit’s current travails and, eventually, the source of his identity crisis.
In 1950’s Alabama, a traumatic event like Nathan’s murder didn’t automatically attract counselling: Martha Biddle and her son move away from their small town to avoid the notoriety, and don’t speak of what happened. Kit grows into a puzzled, wary and fretful teen, a poet and a runner.
Patience is required for the first half of the novel as Kit’s convoluted thought processes can feel just a bit tedious. There is humour, though, in the conversations with his young Uncle Newt, with his friends, in Newt’s limericks, and in some of what Kit relates during his psych sessions.
The inverse proportionality axioms that Kit and his friend Lichtman devise are particularly entertaining, even if some are politically incorrect in today’s world: “The Biddle-Lichtman theory of quantum yearning holds that the desirability of a thing is inversely proportional to its availability” and “a person’s tolerance for noise is inversely proportional to his intelligence quotient.”
Also “The basic physical-attraction axiom (we called it the “special theory of physical attraction”) is that the attractiveness of a girl is inversely proportional to your attractiveness to her. And the second law (the “general theory”) is equally true and immutable: The number of girls you find attractive is inversely proportional to the number who find you attractive.”
Lewis easily evokes the era and setting, as well as the late 1950’s Southern mindset, and his characters feel authentic. While there will be readers who are dissatisfied with the unresolved identity issue at the conclusion, this is an impressive literary debut that will appeal especially, but not exclusively, to readers of a certain vintage.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Greenleaf Book Group.
December 21, 2022
Absolutely intriguing tale of broken families and how they cope down to the personal level. Reading this dark tale, we struggle alongside our protagonist. The pain of poor decisions that we all fall prey to—obviously to different degrees—scars Kit’s life, and shows how he tries to cope. The characters are well-developed and storyline rich. Great read!!
A special thanks to Greenleaf Book Group Press and Author J Williams Lewis for my hardcover ARC of “The Essence of Nathan Biddle” for an unbiased review.
A special thanks to Greenleaf Book Group Press and Author J Williams Lewis for my hardcover ARC of “The Essence of Nathan Biddle” for an unbiased review.
July 28, 2023
Kit is convalescing after a crazy act causes a horrible accident giving him time to reflect and forces him to reassess his life. He is a senior in school and therefore, is part of that “coming-of-age” genre, which can go several ways. In this case, Kit is a sympathetic character as we feel for him dealing with a family tragedy that he must mentally process and the rejection of someone who drives him to his very unfortunate decision. This is an extremely beautifully written book. However, when the comparison in my mind was made to The Catcher in the Rye, I could not get rid of it. It was like those ear-worm songs that stay in your mind until another song can push it out. I could not get this thought pushed out of my mind until I finished the book. There were also times the story felt repetitive, but it was ok as it seemed to serve a purpose.
I won this in a Goodreads giveaway and am providing a fair and honest review. Thank you, Goodreads.
I won this in a Goodreads giveaway and am providing a fair and honest review. Thank you, Goodreads.
July 5, 2021
This one was just okay for me, but by the looks of other reviews on here I'm in the minority. I felt it was all a bit pretentious, making the main character, Kit Biddle, this intellectual, emo type character worked for awhile, but soon I just wanted the plot to get moving and to quit reiterating his deep, misunderstood attributes.
January 29, 2023
I like the cover.
As for the writing, well, the older I get the less tolerance I have for pretentious prose. The main character is supposed to be a mid-century, Alabama teenager but he is written like a mid-century, east coast, graduate student trying to pick up a freshman at a philosophy department mixer. In the first ten pages you get quotes from Kierkegaard and Omar Khayyam as well as a brutal diss of Nietzsche. Maybe there are teenagers like this out there but my God I hope I never meet them.
As for the writing, well, the older I get the less tolerance I have for pretentious prose. The main character is supposed to be a mid-century, Alabama teenager but he is written like a mid-century, east coast, graduate student trying to pick up a freshman at a philosophy department mixer. In the first ten pages you get quotes from Kierkegaard and Omar Khayyam as well as a brutal diss of Nietzsche. Maybe there are teenagers like this out there but my God I hope I never meet them.
June 5, 2021
Another Catcher in the Rye? Far from it. A long story filled with teenage angst, conflict, confusion and little else. I wasted far too much time reading this book that I'll never get back. I am filled with disappointment and regret.
My thanks to Net Galley and Green Leaf Book Group for giving me the opportunity to read this novel. All opinions and regrets in this review are my own.
My thanks to Net Galley and Green Leaf Book Group for giving me the opportunity to read this novel. All opinions and regrets in this review are my own.
May 22, 2021
Wow, beautifully written, which doesn't exactly jive with the story, to my mind. There is just no denying the writing brilliance. Kit narrates his story, coming of age, family, mental illness, questioning endlessly, first love, a murder, high intelligence clouded by doubt, a terrible accident. Kit is surrounded by family and, as with most families, the members are varied. His friends are the same way, but being a highly intelligent kid, Kit has few real friends. He is ending high school years but doesn't know what is next. Ever-present memories of his first love haunt him. A new lady enters. The circumstances of his birth are in question. Kit is lost and depressed.
Don't be put off by the beginning of the book, which spews quantities of higher math and the like. No, the whole book isn't like that. If you love math, you may love this part. We are learning about Kit's intelligence here, and how and what he thinks. He's not an average young man, and thus attracts friends who are more like him.
The workings of Kit's mind help the reader consider things "outside the box". I loved some of the phrases in this book.
This title isn't published yet, and I received an ARC to review from Library Thing.
Don't be put off by the beginning of the book, which spews quantities of higher math and the like. No, the whole book isn't like that. If you love math, you may love this part. We are learning about Kit's intelligence here, and how and what he thinks. He's not an average young man, and thus attracts friends who are more like him.
The workings of Kit's mind help the reader consider things "outside the box". I loved some of the phrases in this book.
This title isn't published yet, and I received an ARC to review from Library Thing.
November 16, 2022
I was happy to receive this as a Giveaway winner and very impressed with the physical construction of the book itself, the jacket, the embossed golden title and author on the front hardcover, and the beautiful paper it was printed on. I also enjoyed reading all the reviews given and then after the dedication page a delightful excerpt from Fear and Trembling by Kierkegaard and I felt happy to be off to a good read.
Well, I was truly disappointed that no matter how many times I put the book down and lifted it again I could not get into these characters at all and I tried. At first, I was a bit intimidated that all of these "professionals" who have given it great reviews would surely think me a dunce for not getting it. I truly didn't get it, and regretfully didn't enjoy it. I wish I did but I didn't although I tried.
Well, I was truly disappointed that no matter how many times I put the book down and lifted it again I could not get into these characters at all and I tried. At first, I was a bit intimidated that all of these "professionals" who have given it great reviews would surely think me a dunce for not getting it. I truly didn't get it, and regretfully didn't enjoy it. I wish I did but I didn't although I tried.
January 4, 2023
This one is a DNF for me. I tried. The dust jacket description sounded interesting and suspenseful, but there's a level of pretension in the writing, even the character dialogue, that is off-putting. Maybe the extensive use of "five dollar words" where common syntax would have been more acceptable and accurate given the small town feel of the setting. Instead, I can only describe this book as "Honors Humanities I," a required course for me in college that led me to drop Honors Program after one class, because of the "highfalutin," irrelevant philosophy-heavy course material.
Want to read
November 9, 2021Giveaway Win!
June 11, 2021
Genre: Coming of Age
Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group
Pub. Date: June 1, 2021
The story takes place in the 1950s and revolves around Kit Biddle. He is a depressed, male teenager, who is searching for the meaning of life. This is demonstrated through his actions as well as his writing of existential poems. The highest critique of this ambitious novel is that it takes very little time for the reader to compare “The Essence of Nathan Biddle,” to “The Catcher in the Rye.” Kit, who is beautifully written, will remind you of Holden Caulfield many times. In “Catcher,” Holden finds himself in a hospital for the mentally ill. Kit also lands in a hospital after a car crash, which may or may not have been a suicide attempt. While there, Kit begins his journey of physical as well as mental health recovery. The harshest criticism of “Essence” is that while Kit is learning to find a less depressing meaning of life, the story becomes repetitive. Still, the author does such a good job of showing the reader life’s unfairness and illogicality that I recommend trying this novel.
I received this Advance Review Copy (ARC) novel from the publisher at no cost in exchange for an honest review.
Find all my book reviews at:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list…
https://books6259.wordpress.com/
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/review…
https://www.facebook.com/martie.neesr…
https://twitter.com/NeesRecord\
https://www.instagram.com/martie6947/
https://www.amazon.com/
https://www.pinterest.com/martienreco…\
Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group
Pub. Date: June 1, 2021
The story takes place in the 1950s and revolves around Kit Biddle. He is a depressed, male teenager, who is searching for the meaning of life. This is demonstrated through his actions as well as his writing of existential poems. The highest critique of this ambitious novel is that it takes very little time for the reader to compare “The Essence of Nathan Biddle,” to “The Catcher in the Rye.” Kit, who is beautifully written, will remind you of Holden Caulfield many times. In “Catcher,” Holden finds himself in a hospital for the mentally ill. Kit also lands in a hospital after a car crash, which may or may not have been a suicide attempt. While there, Kit begins his journey of physical as well as mental health recovery. The harshest criticism of “Essence” is that while Kit is learning to find a less depressing meaning of life, the story becomes repetitive. Still, the author does such a good job of showing the reader life’s unfairness and illogicality that I recommend trying this novel.
I received this Advance Review Copy (ARC) novel from the publisher at no cost in exchange for an honest review.
Find all my book reviews at:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list…
https://books6259.wordpress.com/
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/review…
https://www.facebook.com/martie.neesr…
https://twitter.com/NeesRecord\
https://www.instagram.com/martie6947/
https://www.amazon.com/
https://www.pinterest.com/martienreco…\
September 22, 2022
Brush up on your Kierkegaard and Nietzsche, this pretentious collection of quotes masquerading as a coming-of-age story will test your IQ. I was bored to death by the purported wisdom of the teenagers in this small town as they navigate through the tribulations of being “old souls.” I slogged through about a quarter of the book before I declared it a complete mess and bailed out.
I received a copy from the publisher as a Goodreads Giveaway but was not able to read or enjoy it. I agreed to provide an honest review and this is unfortunately the best I can do.
I received a copy from the publisher as a Goodreads Giveaway but was not able to read or enjoy it. I agreed to provide an honest review and this is unfortunately the best I can do.
December 28, 2021
I didn't like Catcher in the Rye the first time and never want to read it again in any form. Didn't get very far in this one.
December 27, 2022
Thank you Goodreads and the author for this book. Didn't care for this book, confusing at times. 3 stars
Stacey Bankey
Stacey Bankey
November 17, 2021
This is a psychological coming-of-age drama, loosely set in the 1950s, about a confused boy/young man who ponders the meaning of life and who he is. Brought up in a dysfunctional family in which his uncle murdered his cousin Nathan "on direct orders from God," and recently undergoing a breakup with the girl of his dreams, he questions God's existence and benevolence and why any of us are here at all.
I found this book to be long, depressing, and in the end, relatively pointless. It leaves several questions unanswered and the reader dissatisfied. It seems at first to have a strong anti-Christian message, then toys with the possibility of having a Christian message after all, before dropping the subject completely without any resolving message at all. The author uses very basic language with a lot of ten-dollar words thrown in to make it sound like an intellectual work, but intellectual works usually have a clear point and a firm message, and this has neither. It is basically an unresolved study in existentialism. Two stars.
I found this book to be long, depressing, and in the end, relatively pointless. It leaves several questions unanswered and the reader dissatisfied. It seems at first to have a strong anti-Christian message, then toys with the possibility of having a Christian message after all, before dropping the subject completely without any resolving message at all. The author uses very basic language with a lot of ten-dollar words thrown in to make it sound like an intellectual work, but intellectual works usually have a clear point and a firm message, and this has neither. It is basically an unresolved study in existentialism. Two stars.
December 11, 2021
I gave up after 50 pages because it was a chore to read. I guess it's written way above my level. If you took random literary and philosophical quotations then sprinkled in SAT vocabulary lists the resulting pages would be similar to the pages I did read. The blurb compares it to The Catcher in The Rye but at least that was accessible to the average reader.
August 22, 2023
The Essence of Nathan Biddle is author J. William Lewis at his very best! The colorful characters came alive for me in this dark coming-of-age story that I can highly recommend to readers that enjoy a beautifully written family saga. Bravo! Read it!
Want to read
November 20, 2023What's with these giveaway wins never arriving?? Sadly no review for this book then.
September 7, 2023
For me personally, this book read like a high schooler took a philosophy class and then wanted to name drop every term they learned to sound cool. Although the writing wasn't filled with errors, which I appreciate, the story overall was choppy and boring. I'm all about books that teach new concepts and terms, but I don't like when they do it in a way that just term drops without weaving it into the story in an interesting manner.
August 7, 2021
I can see the resemblance to Catcher in the Rye with this quirky coming age novel, but it just didn’t work for me. I liked the idea of the book, but the execution just wasn’t to my taste and there was too much philosophy. That said, it was well written.
May 13, 2021
3-1/2 stars
Review of eBook
In 1950s Alabama, precocious high school senior Kit [Kittridge Carr Biddle], feeling alienated and caught in the throes of an existential crisis, spends most of his time brooding about his identity. It’s true that he’s had some truly difficult/horrific things to deal with . . . the death of his father and the murder of his cousin, Nathan, come immediately to mind. His father died in a car crash when Kit was four and his uncle [who insisted God told him to sacrifice his son just as in the Biblical account of Abraham and Isaac] is now in a mental institution.
Despite the efforts of teacher Ira Marcus [who reads Kit’s poetry and tries to help him resolve his issues], Kit has allowed his schoolwork to suffer. Kit’s current obsession is his former girlfriend Anna, who wants only to be friends, and his current girlfriend, Sarah. Kit all but worships Anna, to the detriment of his relationship with Sarah.
Will Kit find the answers he seeks or will the rising tide of his own delusions keep him ensnared in a quagmire of uncertainty?
Told from Kit’s point of view, the four-section story focuses on the teen’s continual fretting regarding the meaning of things. Defined by his self-adopted persona of a tragic figure and by his poetry, Kit cannot pull himself out of his own morass of gloom. He’s tired of hearing that success will come if only he would apply himself, but he makes no particular effort to change.
Despite the strangeness of Kit’s self-introspective analyses, there are hints of intrigue in the unfolding story and the haunting tone of the narrative in its early chapters draws the reader into the telling of the tale. But the teen’s maudlin outlook and incessant despondence are anything but climacteric and the reiteration eventually becomes frustrating.
Unfortunately, the second half of the book, [wherein the accident that claimed his father’s life and the taking of Nathan’s life play major roles], falls into annoying repetition and absurdity. This is especially true for an outrageous last-minute, out-of-the-blue suggestion that does nothing to advance the story but does invoke intense eye-rolling in the reader.
While this angst-ridden coming-of-age tale offers readers some truly adumbrative moments, it doesn’t quite reach the level of a truly influential narrative for the Bildungsroman genre.
I received a free copy of this eBook from Greenleaf Book Group / Greenleaf Book Group Press and NetGalley
#TheEssenceofNathanBiddle #NetGalley
Review of eBook
In 1950s Alabama, precocious high school senior Kit [Kittridge Carr Biddle], feeling alienated and caught in the throes of an existential crisis, spends most of his time brooding about his identity. It’s true that he’s had some truly difficult/horrific things to deal with . . . the death of his father and the murder of his cousin, Nathan, come immediately to mind. His father died in a car crash when Kit was four and his uncle [who insisted God told him to sacrifice his son just as in the Biblical account of Abraham and Isaac] is now in a mental institution.
Despite the efforts of teacher Ira Marcus [who reads Kit’s poetry and tries to help him resolve his issues], Kit has allowed his schoolwork to suffer. Kit’s current obsession is his former girlfriend Anna, who wants only to be friends, and his current girlfriend, Sarah. Kit all but worships Anna, to the detriment of his relationship with Sarah.
Will Kit find the answers he seeks or will the rising tide of his own delusions keep him ensnared in a quagmire of uncertainty?
Told from Kit’s point of view, the four-section story focuses on the teen’s continual fretting regarding the meaning of things. Defined by his self-adopted persona of a tragic figure and by his poetry, Kit cannot pull himself out of his own morass of gloom. He’s tired of hearing that success will come if only he would apply himself, but he makes no particular effort to change.
Despite the strangeness of Kit’s self-introspective analyses, there are hints of intrigue in the unfolding story and the haunting tone of the narrative in its early chapters draws the reader into the telling of the tale. But the teen’s maudlin outlook and incessant despondence are anything but climacteric and the reiteration eventually becomes frustrating.
Unfortunately, the second half of the book, [wherein the accident that claimed his father’s life and the taking of Nathan’s life play major roles], falls into annoying repetition and absurdity. This is especially true for an outrageous last-minute, out-of-the-blue suggestion that does nothing to advance the story but does invoke intense eye-rolling in the reader.
While this angst-ridden coming-of-age tale offers readers some truly adumbrative moments, it doesn’t quite reach the level of a truly influential narrative for the Bildungsroman genre.
I received a free copy of this eBook from Greenleaf Book Group / Greenleaf Book Group Press and NetGalley
#TheEssenceofNathanBiddle #NetGalley
December 26, 2022
The Essence of Nathan Biddle by J. William Lewis was one of my favorite books, so far, recommended by a friend who won the book in a giveaway. I want to thank them for passing the book on, and and I want to thank the community, the author and the publisher for promoting this book as it gave me the ability to read it! Lewis gives readers a lot to think about, regarding the character and themself as he presents a young man, right at the turning point of entering college, at the end of his high school career at Bridgewater, a private school, as he searches for the meaning of his life to find out what to do with his future.
Obsessed with a girl who no longer wants him, philosophizing about any and everything under the sun with friends who are like minded individuals, unable to commit to a schedule or team and after school activities, Kittridge Carr Biddle, the young man and central character of the book, struggles with. His whole identity centers around something that happened to Nathan Biddle, his cousin, his brother, his twin, whomever he may be to Kit, Nathan was an important part of his life growing up and what happened to him, more important than ever to what Kit will discover about himself as he struggles over what happened. The central question, as always when bad things happen that we don’t understand is, “why”. But, even more, Kit struggles with how what happened in his family define’s him now, and in the future, as he is at the cusp of leaving home, starting college on his own and becoming a man.
When Kit is found lying in the middle of the road, many assume, like his father, he tried to commit suicide by crashing a car (as Kit did). He finds himself seeing Dr. Herschel Gross, who wants to help Kit try and figure out who he is, and not just “an eighteen-year-ol Caucasian male, mentally alert, apparently sound physically except for a compound fracture of the right femur”. If life were so simple as to be able to accept such an easy explanation about oneself, all in the world should be happy and mentally sound. Nothing in life is ever simple. We all know that. And, because of his family history, Kit is far from simple and Dr.Gross wants to help Kit work through the issues that are holding him back, from his past. In particular, his family and their history.
Kit and Dr. Gross begins with the Carr/ Biddle family history, and, like most people, it includes stories about individuals in the family that ultimately, in the end, with their results on the individuals, end up inflicting trauma on Kit, however indirectly. For instance, Kit’s grandfather was married a second time, after Virgigina Carr, his first wife dies to a schoolteacher, Millie Ogden, who produces his Uncle Newt and dies during the birth. Uncle Newt and Kit have always had a special relationship, no matter how out of hand his uncle's life has gotten, he always seems to appear and directly affect Kit in some way.
Thomas Carr Biddle, his father, crashed his car while drinking into a bridge abutment. The drinking started after his involvement in the war when he joined the army in 1942, a year after Kit was born. Wounded, his father had spent a year in military hospitals and Kit was told his father had fought a lot with his older brother, Uncle Nat (by, of course, Uncle Newt). Although Kit does not remember him, his father, after the war “looked and acted like Bigfoot on a moonshine bridge”.Kit’s mother acted a lot like a mother to Uncle Newt who was much younger than his brothers (Kit’s father and Uncle Nat). Though he lived across the road from Kit and his family, he spent a lot of time in Kit’s family home. After his father’s death, Uncle Nat and Kit’s mother became Uncle Newt’s tutor. In turn, Uncle Newt became Kit’s tutor and made all the things real in Kit’s mind. Since Kit’s grandfather, education was thought best to be given in the home as local schools were thought to not give a good one. Therefore, members of the family, the eldest ones, always taught the younger. No matter how crazy the individual family members' lives ended up, they were an educated brood of deep intellectuals which continues with Kit.
And then there was Nathan, Uncle Nat’s son. Nathan’s mother died when Kit was nine and, while it was said, by her husband, that she died of a broken heart she really died of breast cancer. The nurse of Uncle Nat’s father, she left the home when Uncle Nat joined the army and would never come back. Nathan and Kit were born on the same day which led to confusion, in the future. Since Kit knows when Uncle Nat and his wife were married, as the math doesn't work out, to the day Nathan was born, Kit thinks he may have been premature. Hannah, Nathan’s mother, was only 18 when they married. Uncle Nat had “something” mentally wrong with him after the war and spent a lot of time on his sermons about the nature of sin, the causes, the consequences of sin, over and over and as he preached them they got longer and longer, though no one in the family thought him unstable at the time. They really should have been paying better attention.
Nathan is always there, in Kit’s memories. Though they looked alike, that is where the similarities ended. He was a simple boy since birth and Kit believes (as I'm sure everyone else had) that something had gone terribly wrong at birth. What and if that happened was never discussed with Kit, so readers are left to think the truth for themself as to what could have occurred. Nathan was Kit’s only playmate. Nathan didn't say a word until he turned five or six years old though Kit denies ever thinking much about the disparity between the two boys, so close they were, despite the large differences. They didn't think Nathan could read but would look at the dictionary at the age of three and when he was five, if given a word, would turn to that word in the large book. Nathan seemed to know all these things without ever giving the impression he was paying attention.
Nathan began reciting poetry at the age of nine. Then, after getting the hang of poetry, began repeating a rhyme, rhyming everything. He would repeat the rhymes over and over. Diagnosed with autism, the behavior is nothing new when you look at the behavior of other children on the spectrum, all with their own, unique ways of communicating with the world, information and individuals around them. Nathan also had epilepsy and seizures because of it which were bad for all those involved. And, as the Doctor notes to Kit, as they discuss all this, Kit’s past with Nathan, “In an environment of relatively high intellectual achievement, he must have presented interpersonal challenges.” And, what happens to Nathan, in the end, can only be construed as “complicated.” Because, why did it happen? Was it Nathan’s own psychological problems that caused the outcome, his father’s, or both put together, the pressure psychologically of everything?
Nathan’s father, when he was older and more active, had a “harness” for his son. This, basically, dictates the beginning of Nathan’s end, in my eyes. Because when you have what is basically a straight jacket that leaves the individual's arms free that is strung by a cable to a tree tethered to a child, a device like that only foreshadows future trauma, whether it be infliction of more or damage from the current infliction. And, the child is left to run back and forth in the harness on a cable alongside the house. Though a solution to the problems of the child, and, with the little that was known on how to treat autism in the 1950’s, the fact that a contraption meant more for a wild animal is being used for a child, readers can only expect there will be more trauma to come.
Of course, speaking about what happened is hard for Kit, the day that Nathan died. Kit’s uncle, Nathan’s father, had given him some complex math problems to work on, intellectual development always the focus of the family. Having a child like Nathan, one who couldn't be understood by the family members, must have been hard. And, the fact that no one tried to ever figure out a way in which to communicate with the child, figure out what Nathan meant by any of the rhymes he said, in a family that is always working on trying to solve and learn academics, says how dismissive they were about the child, foreshadows a bleak future for the child within the family.
A family of academics that had been presented with a child with large psychological issues, when presented with Nathan, his learning and communication skills different because of the issues he was born with, do nothing to learn how to interact with Nathan in any way. The boy was able to learn things, recite massive amounts of poetry and find words people said in the dictionary at a young age. It was as if Nathan was speaking in an unknown language that no one could understand. Something was there to discover, someone was there expressing himself but, in his own, secret and unknown way. No one in the family could understand Nathan. And, since Nathan was different from the family no one wanted to. While the family could have looked at Nathan’s disabilities as a challenge in communicating with him, the family dismissed him, regardless. Even the chant that Nathan had about a train breaking down in the town where his mother lived, they all thought it was gibberish, even Kit. No one thought Nathan had anything to say because he didn’t speak “their language”, “their way”.
Nathan died on June 30, 1953. And, since I have said more in this review than I intended, presented a lot for the reader to think on even when not presenting the horrific details of Kit’s cousins death, at the hands of his father, I believe that you should pick up the book and read it for yourself to find out anymore than what is here as it is necessary to read this whole story to understand, well, the essence of it. And, while this book is really about Kit, I think that the book was titled such because the only thing in the world left of Nathan that is thought about and understood in the world, all that remains, is Kit and his memories of Nathan. Kit is the essence of Nathan Biddle for so many reasons. And, it is the essence of Nathan Biddle that has left Kit so much to think on and question, when it comes to his life and, most especially, his future. This is a book everyone needs to read once as it presents many questions and thoughts about the people a person has in their life and how they help define us. And, how the actions that happen to an important person in our life can impact us, change us, and help define who we are even when they are no longer here. They are our essence as we all that remain of them, are theirs.
Happy Reading!
Obsessed with a girl who no longer wants him, philosophizing about any and everything under the sun with friends who are like minded individuals, unable to commit to a schedule or team and after school activities, Kittridge Carr Biddle, the young man and central character of the book, struggles with. His whole identity centers around something that happened to Nathan Biddle, his cousin, his brother, his twin, whomever he may be to Kit, Nathan was an important part of his life growing up and what happened to him, more important than ever to what Kit will discover about himself as he struggles over what happened. The central question, as always when bad things happen that we don’t understand is, “why”. But, even more, Kit struggles with how what happened in his family define’s him now, and in the future, as he is at the cusp of leaving home, starting college on his own and becoming a man.
When Kit is found lying in the middle of the road, many assume, like his father, he tried to commit suicide by crashing a car (as Kit did). He finds himself seeing Dr. Herschel Gross, who wants to help Kit try and figure out who he is, and not just “an eighteen-year-ol Caucasian male, mentally alert, apparently sound physically except for a compound fracture of the right femur”. If life were so simple as to be able to accept such an easy explanation about oneself, all in the world should be happy and mentally sound. Nothing in life is ever simple. We all know that. And, because of his family history, Kit is far from simple and Dr.Gross wants to help Kit work through the issues that are holding him back, from his past. In particular, his family and their history.
Kit and Dr. Gross begins with the Carr/ Biddle family history, and, like most people, it includes stories about individuals in the family that ultimately, in the end, with their results on the individuals, end up inflicting trauma on Kit, however indirectly. For instance, Kit’s grandfather was married a second time, after Virgigina Carr, his first wife dies to a schoolteacher, Millie Ogden, who produces his Uncle Newt and dies during the birth. Uncle Newt and Kit have always had a special relationship, no matter how out of hand his uncle's life has gotten, he always seems to appear and directly affect Kit in some way.
Thomas Carr Biddle, his father, crashed his car while drinking into a bridge abutment. The drinking started after his involvement in the war when he joined the army in 1942, a year after Kit was born. Wounded, his father had spent a year in military hospitals and Kit was told his father had fought a lot with his older brother, Uncle Nat (by, of course, Uncle Newt). Although Kit does not remember him, his father, after the war “looked and acted like Bigfoot on a moonshine bridge”.Kit’s mother acted a lot like a mother to Uncle Newt who was much younger than his brothers (Kit’s father and Uncle Nat). Though he lived across the road from Kit and his family, he spent a lot of time in Kit’s family home. After his father’s death, Uncle Nat and Kit’s mother became Uncle Newt’s tutor. In turn, Uncle Newt became Kit’s tutor and made all the things real in Kit’s mind. Since Kit’s grandfather, education was thought best to be given in the home as local schools were thought to not give a good one. Therefore, members of the family, the eldest ones, always taught the younger. No matter how crazy the individual family members' lives ended up, they were an educated brood of deep intellectuals which continues with Kit.
And then there was Nathan, Uncle Nat’s son. Nathan’s mother died when Kit was nine and, while it was said, by her husband, that she died of a broken heart she really died of breast cancer. The nurse of Uncle Nat’s father, she left the home when Uncle Nat joined the army and would never come back. Nathan and Kit were born on the same day which led to confusion, in the future. Since Kit knows when Uncle Nat and his wife were married, as the math doesn't work out, to the day Nathan was born, Kit thinks he may have been premature. Hannah, Nathan’s mother, was only 18 when they married. Uncle Nat had “something” mentally wrong with him after the war and spent a lot of time on his sermons about the nature of sin, the causes, the consequences of sin, over and over and as he preached them they got longer and longer, though no one in the family thought him unstable at the time. They really should have been paying better attention.
Nathan is always there, in Kit’s memories. Though they looked alike, that is where the similarities ended. He was a simple boy since birth and Kit believes (as I'm sure everyone else had) that something had gone terribly wrong at birth. What and if that happened was never discussed with Kit, so readers are left to think the truth for themself as to what could have occurred. Nathan was Kit’s only playmate. Nathan didn't say a word until he turned five or six years old though Kit denies ever thinking much about the disparity between the two boys, so close they were, despite the large differences. They didn't think Nathan could read but would look at the dictionary at the age of three and when he was five, if given a word, would turn to that word in the large book. Nathan seemed to know all these things without ever giving the impression he was paying attention.
Nathan began reciting poetry at the age of nine. Then, after getting the hang of poetry, began repeating a rhyme, rhyming everything. He would repeat the rhymes over and over. Diagnosed with autism, the behavior is nothing new when you look at the behavior of other children on the spectrum, all with their own, unique ways of communicating with the world, information and individuals around them. Nathan also had epilepsy and seizures because of it which were bad for all those involved. And, as the Doctor notes to Kit, as they discuss all this, Kit’s past with Nathan, “In an environment of relatively high intellectual achievement, he must have presented interpersonal challenges.” And, what happens to Nathan, in the end, can only be construed as “complicated.” Because, why did it happen? Was it Nathan’s own psychological problems that caused the outcome, his father’s, or both put together, the pressure psychologically of everything?
Nathan’s father, when he was older and more active, had a “harness” for his son. This, basically, dictates the beginning of Nathan’s end, in my eyes. Because when you have what is basically a straight jacket that leaves the individual's arms free that is strung by a cable to a tree tethered to a child, a device like that only foreshadows future trauma, whether it be infliction of more or damage from the current infliction. And, the child is left to run back and forth in the harness on a cable alongside the house. Though a solution to the problems of the child, and, with the little that was known on how to treat autism in the 1950’s, the fact that a contraption meant more for a wild animal is being used for a child, readers can only expect there will be more trauma to come.
Of course, speaking about what happened is hard for Kit, the day that Nathan died. Kit’s uncle, Nathan’s father, had given him some complex math problems to work on, intellectual development always the focus of the family. Having a child like Nathan, one who couldn't be understood by the family members, must have been hard. And, the fact that no one tried to ever figure out a way in which to communicate with the child, figure out what Nathan meant by any of the rhymes he said, in a family that is always working on trying to solve and learn academics, says how dismissive they were about the child, foreshadows a bleak future for the child within the family.
A family of academics that had been presented with a child with large psychological issues, when presented with Nathan, his learning and communication skills different because of the issues he was born with, do nothing to learn how to interact with Nathan in any way. The boy was able to learn things, recite massive amounts of poetry and find words people said in the dictionary at a young age. It was as if Nathan was speaking in an unknown language that no one could understand. Something was there to discover, someone was there expressing himself but, in his own, secret and unknown way. No one in the family could understand Nathan. And, since Nathan was different from the family no one wanted to. While the family could have looked at Nathan’s disabilities as a challenge in communicating with him, the family dismissed him, regardless. Even the chant that Nathan had about a train breaking down in the town where his mother lived, they all thought it was gibberish, even Kit. No one thought Nathan had anything to say because he didn’t speak “their language”, “their way”.
Nathan died on June 30, 1953. And, since I have said more in this review than I intended, presented a lot for the reader to think on even when not presenting the horrific details of Kit’s cousins death, at the hands of his father, I believe that you should pick up the book and read it for yourself to find out anymore than what is here as it is necessary to read this whole story to understand, well, the essence of it. And, while this book is really about Kit, I think that the book was titled such because the only thing in the world left of Nathan that is thought about and understood in the world, all that remains, is Kit and his memories of Nathan. Kit is the essence of Nathan Biddle for so many reasons. And, it is the essence of Nathan Biddle that has left Kit so much to think on and question, when it comes to his life and, most especially, his future. This is a book everyone needs to read once as it presents many questions and thoughts about the people a person has in their life and how they help define us. And, how the actions that happen to an important person in our life can impact us, change us, and help define who we are even when they are no longer here. They are our essence as we all that remain of them, are theirs.
Happy Reading!
Read
October 3, 2023I won this book through a Goodreads giveaway. I'm stopping reading on page 120. I am not enjoying this book. I won't rate it because I didn't finish it.
May 12, 2023
In reading other reviews of "The Essence of Nathan Biddle", I noticed a wide range of ratings and a plethora of comments. I really tried to give this novel a chance. However, after the first 60 pages, I decided to call it quits. I've literally read and posted close to 100 reviews. This is only the second time that I have chosen not to complete a novel. I understand the premise of this novel, but it just never got off the ground. The plot kept going around in circles and never really got into the heart of what the story was supposed to focus on. My undergrad is from a Jesuit University and I was required to take 6 credit hours of philosophy. So, yes, I get philosophy, but the continued quotes from philosophers simply bogged down what could have been a decent novel.
Before you make up your mind on this novel, I would recommend reading other reviews. Perhaps your take will be different than mine.
Before you make up your mind on this novel, I would recommend reading other reviews. Perhaps your take will be different than mine.
September 21, 2022
1950's in Alabama. Kit Biddle relates the story of Nathan Biddle, his cousin, who was killed by his
Uncle Nat.
Kit has struggles with the meaning of life and where he fits in. The teen years full of wanting to be independent and yet clinging to the past.
An interesting cast of characters which Kit follows their progress into everyday life.
The books is beautifully written.
I want to thank Greenleaf press for sending me this book.
Uncle Nat.
Kit has struggles with the meaning of life and where he fits in. The teen years full of wanting to be independent and yet clinging to the past.
An interesting cast of characters which Kit follows their progress into everyday life.
The books is beautifully written.
I want to thank Greenleaf press for sending me this book.
February 20, 2023
Very pretentious and even more boring. I regret taking the time to finish it. Should have never picked it back up after the first time putting it down. Wish I had that time back.
June 21, 2021
Amy Lignor for Reader Views: “The Essence of Nathan Biddle is a brilliant coming of age tale by J. William Lewis. There were definite reasons why I became an avid reader and writer. My librarian mom was the first and most important who opened the door to it all. But there were also certain titles that hit me right between the eyes. Some of those were placed in the “Classic American” literature category; loosely translated, this means those books teachers still make students study in school because they’ve become a part of our very culture. Holden Caulfield, the introspective teen in Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye,” was one of those memorable characters imbedded in a coming-of-age plot that was absolutely perfect. After reading this, in my eyes, Kit Biddle—the protagonist in this incredible story—takes his place with Caulfield as being one that readers will treasure for all time.
Kit Biddle is a senior in high school. Among other issues that are “norm” for adolescents, Kit also has to deal with a family tragedy that has his own Uncle Nat at the center of it all. Nat, for lack of a better term, is a real loon. According to his own rendition of the past, Nat committed a horrible act because…he was ordered by the Lord to do so.
Kit also has a deep desire for the dream-like Anna, an intelligent girl who turns away from him and sends him falling into an emotional depression that leads Kit to also make extremely poor decisions. When Kit finds himself in an accident, he is then looking at a near future that is beyond bleak; he must take a long time to recuperate – long enough where he must come to terms with all of life’s anomalies, worries, and the oddities that lie around every corner. He has to take a step back and use this time to come out of the depressive darkness, reevaluate everything in order to better understand the meaning of life, and perhaps even see his Uncle Nat’s choices in a different way.
I love clever authors, and I have to say that J. William Lewis is one of the cleverest I’ve read in a long time. Kit makes the heart sink, cry, scream, and empathize with the character all at the same time. The mixture of Kit, Uncle Nat, Anna, Sarah, and others with their puppet master, Lewis, is extraordinary; even though some characters were meant to be bit players, each and every one is essential to the tale. I could also visualize everything because of how well it’s written, especially Dr. Goolsby and Harbo when it came to the golf course. (Who are they? Read the book!)
The ladder is very high when it comes to novels that are good enough, deep enough, challenging and entertaining enough to be among the true classics. But this…this has definitely ascended that ladder (for me) and taken its place among the best. If this book doesn’t win every award possible for its genre, I will be shocked. 5 Stars, and if I could give 10, I would. Enjoy this; it’s a gift!
Kit Biddle is a senior in high school. Among other issues that are “norm” for adolescents, Kit also has to deal with a family tragedy that has his own Uncle Nat at the center of it all. Nat, for lack of a better term, is a real loon. According to his own rendition of the past, Nat committed a horrible act because…he was ordered by the Lord to do so.
Kit also has a deep desire for the dream-like Anna, an intelligent girl who turns away from him and sends him falling into an emotional depression that leads Kit to also make extremely poor decisions. When Kit finds himself in an accident, he is then looking at a near future that is beyond bleak; he must take a long time to recuperate – long enough where he must come to terms with all of life’s anomalies, worries, and the oddities that lie around every corner. He has to take a step back and use this time to come out of the depressive darkness, reevaluate everything in order to better understand the meaning of life, and perhaps even see his Uncle Nat’s choices in a different way.
I love clever authors, and I have to say that J. William Lewis is one of the cleverest I’ve read in a long time. Kit makes the heart sink, cry, scream, and empathize with the character all at the same time. The mixture of Kit, Uncle Nat, Anna, Sarah, and others with their puppet master, Lewis, is extraordinary; even though some characters were meant to be bit players, each and every one is essential to the tale. I could also visualize everything because of how well it’s written, especially Dr. Goolsby and Harbo when it came to the golf course. (Who are they? Read the book!)
The ladder is very high when it comes to novels that are good enough, deep enough, challenging and entertaining enough to be among the true classics. But this…this has definitely ascended that ladder (for me) and taken its place among the best. If this book doesn’t win every award possible for its genre, I will be shocked. 5 Stars, and if I could give 10, I would. Enjoy this; it’s a gift!
June 18, 2021
I absolutely love this book. I will start with Kit: He is a character I will never forget. Told from his point of view, I was completely mesmerized with his story from start to finish. Adolescence is difficult at best, excruciating at worst. Unfortunately for Kit, he has a trifecta of encumbrances impeding his development: a tragic family history; his break-up with the immaculate Anna; and a sensitive intellect that just won't quit. He strives to find meaning via his philosophical readings and poetry writing but becomes jaded as history's great thinkers are a huge disappointment to him.
J. William Lewis's method for telling Kit's story is very Southern in style. It does have a Southern gothic edge to it, and I was reminded of Flannery O'Connor's stories as this novel is definitely character-driven with very well-drawn characters. The mood and atmosphere remind me of other Southern classics, especially the clash between lightness and darkness. Although Kit doesn't always trust his perceptions of reality, I appreciate his detailed observations as well as his questionable anamneses during his recovery. Kit sometimes exhausted me because he's a runner, and he runs quite a bit around South Alabama in the heat: But that's the only characteristic Kit shares with another South Alabama literary giant, Winston Groom's Forrest Gump. There are literary allusions galore in this book, so my inner nerd was very happy. I found so many little literary (and maths!) gems sparkling throughout the story.
This is one of the best books I've read in years, and I truly believe it will become a Southern classic. I was saddened when I finished the book because I would love to read about Kit's next chapter. I plan to order a hardcopy of the book for our home library, and I'm also ordering a copy for our oldest daughter's library, too.
J. William Lewis's method for telling Kit's story is very Southern in style. It does have a Southern gothic edge to it, and I was reminded of Flannery O'Connor's stories as this novel is definitely character-driven with very well-drawn characters. The mood and atmosphere remind me of other Southern classics, especially the clash between lightness and darkness. Although Kit doesn't always trust his perceptions of reality, I appreciate his detailed observations as well as his questionable anamneses during his recovery. Kit sometimes exhausted me because he's a runner, and he runs quite a bit around South Alabama in the heat: But that's the only characteristic Kit shares with another South Alabama literary giant, Winston Groom's Forrest Gump. There are literary allusions galore in this book, so my inner nerd was very happy. I found so many little literary (and maths!) gems sparkling throughout the story.
This is one of the best books I've read in years, and I truly believe it will become a Southern classic. I was saddened when I finished the book because I would love to read about Kit's next chapter. I plan to order a hardcopy of the book for our home library, and I'm also ordering a copy for our oldest daughter's library, too.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 223 reviews