Dissolve

by Rich Shapero

Indulge the obsession of a dying man whose stubborn quest for an ecstatic send-off tests the liberating potentials of belief.

Dare to believe in a rapturous transition between life and death that holds the potential to set us free.

Genres: Fiction, Magical Realism

183 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 27, 2021

About the author

Rich Shapero’s novels dare readers with giant metaphors, magnificent obsessions and potent ideas. His casts of idealistic lovers, laboring miners, and rebellious artists all rate ideas as paramount, more important than life itself. They traverse wild landscapes and visionary realms, imagining gods who in turn imagine them. Like the seekers themselves, readers grapple with revealing truths about human potential. All of his titles—Beneath Caaqi's Wings, Dissolve, Island Fruit Remedy, Balcony of Fog, Rin, Tongue and Dorner, Arms from the Sea, The Hope We Seek, Too Far and Wild Animus—are available in hardcover and as ebooks. They also combine music, visual art, animation and video in the TooFar Media app. Shapero spins provocative stories for the eyes, ears, and imagination.

Reviews

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book in a goodreads drawing.

Some guy in a war torn country finds a unique gem...Then things get confusing.

[Marcus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Philosophy major here, joining Goodreads to keep up with the many books I'm reading for my major. I received this book at school, not through coursework though. This book left me thinking: about the inevitability of death, but also about how the power of our imaginations can make the death experience a kind of final creative act. I love that thought, and Shapero's crystalline prose transported me to a place that I didn't expect to go. Highly recommend.

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

A giveaway for this (Kindle) popped up today, but I already have it. It's well worth a read if you're into speculative fiction and/or magical realism. Interesting premise and characters, and very well-written. Go enter the giveaway!

[Puzzled · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing special

Too many flowery descriptions. It seemed like it was trying too hard to be something deep and unusual, and it wasn’t.

[Jonathan Dain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really fascinating book that drew me in quickly and I didn't set it down. The power of belief is truly and wonderful thing and can truly dissolve the lines of what reality is. Hope you all enjoy this read.

[Renee Concolino · Rating 3 out of 5]

The main characters did not pull me into their world. I live sci fi and I was not able to imagine this reality with the zeal that I have imagined others. Not my favorite

[jasper · Rating 1 out of 5]

Can you believe my friend found this in Yale's library

[Marsha Rafalski · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a Goodreads Giveaway for a true and honest opinion.

Thirty years ago, a friend of Wiley’s shows him a mysterious rock that seems to hold inside a cluster of a glowing, spherical, colorful orbs that float and move like a sea creature. As they are looking at the stones, a rebel attack on the facility mortally wounds the friend in front of Wiley. As the man lays dying, Wiley sees a seemingly miraculous phenomenon as the orbs leave the stone and cover and appear to dissolve the body.

Now Wiley is elderly and a resident in a hospice facility. He contacts a world traveling adventurer to discuss contracting for Roan to use Wiley’s friend’s old map and try to locate the source of the mysterious stones.

This book was confusing, flipping from Wiley to Roan and throwing in magical realism elements which fell flat. The only part of the book that I enjoyed was the relationship between Wiley and his 30 something caregiver. I had to start this book several times before I could get past the first few chapters. But as a Goodreads Giveaway, I felt an obligation to finish reading the book. I can’t say I will seek out further works from this author.

[I'mogén · Rating 1 out of 5]

I downloaded the Too Far Media app some time last year, after hearing about its immersive reading experience, combining sound, video art and storytelling in a unique form, but unfortunately this wasn't the heightened reading experience I was hoping for.

The particular music and art scenes for this story was very jarring and didn't compliment each other, they also weren't too varied and didn't add much to the story other than an image to give you a sense of what these orbs looked and moved like.

As for the story, I really didn't like it. I was thrown into a scene from the start that made me feel like I was missing a whole lot and it didn't get much better from there. I didn't connect or care for any of the characters and didn't get the point of the plot. I felt like I was missing a big portion of the story and was always waiting to be clued in.
As morbid as it seems, the only part I was remotely captivated by was the final, dying scenes and the depcitions of grief by the loved ones, which were so varied and explored it incredibly well.

The short story of Roan at the Cove also wasn't very interesting and I only have one thing to say: don't describe black people's hair as "nappy". I find it such a debasing description.

I think that in concept, the idea of this medly of the senses for a book is a fascinating one, hence why I was intrigued in the first place. It's not an audio book, but maybe on the cusp of that, yet its also its own thing, which I applaud. However, maybe this specific story just wasn't for me? Maybe I didn't get on with the way the author tells a story and I may prefer it for someone else's storytelling and writing style (I feel like any of Neil Gaiman's tales would really work for this!)?
I may try one other of the stories from this app, but if it goes the same way, I'll be uninstalling it shortly afterwards.

Pick it up, give it a go and enjoy! >(^_^)<
Gén

[Olivia Weldon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was surprised that this was a book I ended up not putting down. I think that this was a unique spin on dying and the obsessions of man.

That said, there were many portions throughout this book that just felt empty, although I was once again surprised when characters like Roan ended up with more depth than expected.

The length was weird in a sense that there was more that could be said, but also less. I think that this book could have ended at chapter 6 when Wiley completely dies. Those last few lines, “Wiley was finished with pain and separation. He had joined the mind of the Dark Sea.” was such a perfect closer. The readers could have easily interpreted that he actually died this time instead of being a floating cloud of orbs. I don’t think seeing Najia grieve again added anything. And both Kandace and Sid were just wastes of characters. The relationship between all three siblings was actually awful. There was conflict between Kandace and Wiley that doesn’t feel fully explained, and then Wiley almost villainizes Sid just for being there when Sid’s sole purpose is support to everyone else throughout the entire time.

Roan’s chapter in the cove was also a complete let down. It felt like a build-up that ended up that never got to its peak. The only thing that really gets learned about is the incident with the bats, which does cause the workers to labor for piety instead of money. That said, nothing really got added to this whole story that we didn’t already know from Wiley’s POV. As the same time though, it felt like a lot was skinned over in terms of getting the orbs, even with the extra chapter. I wish it wasn’t so easy for them to get to the cove in the first place in a way. Just feels like a missed opportunity.

Overall this was a quick read for me. A solid 3 stars.

[Jessie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received this in a Goodreads Giveaway. The author's page said that his "novels dare readers with giant metaphors, magnificent obsessions and potent ideas." I didn't understand the point of the story-- no metaphors, obsessions or ideas for me.

Here at the end of the book, I'm just confused. There is no message for me, nothing to ponder--just a book that doesn't seem more than a confusing story of one man that is dying and wants some gems before he dies. The man hired for the job has a really hard time getting them and then brings them to the man and his girlfriend. Two siblings the dying man isn't close to come to the hospice facility. Nobody is happy or resolves anything. The man dies slowly. Everyone goes home. The hired man tells a confusing story about how he got the gems. The book ends. Whatever the message is is beyond me.

[Gabriel Johnston · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a fever dream. The premise was very strange with minerals which had orbs in them and they could leave the material they inhabited. This book "enchants and intrigues with his creative vision of one man's departure from this life, and his journey toward the sublime mysteries that lie beyond."

[Daniel Read Good · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was unlike anything I’ve read before. Shapero’s prose and imagery are on point and though the story is pretty vague, it’s still beautiful. It was a short read at less than 200 pages, but it’s definitely a keeper, this will stay on my shelf for years to come come.

[Barbara Vincent · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable read!

[Nick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Got this as a freebie. An interesting initial premise that just swirls around without really going anywhere.
Should have been a short story instead.

[Victor Dumas · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story is a little out there, but undeniably beautiful. The writing is incredibly vivid. Shapero is the archetype of an author who paints with words.

[Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dissolve is an utterly bizarre science-fiction novel with glimmers of something very interesting. Shapero writes confidently and seems convinced of the strength of his ideas but the whole effect is rather flaky and vague. After an intriguing introduction and the discovery of some mysterious orbs of power, Dissolve tells the story of a man near the end of his life searching for relief and euphoria through the orbs. Convinced that they will take him beyond death into a realm of ecstasy, he tasks a young adventurer with the recovery of the orbs from an African mine. The setting is familiar and strange, a weird parallel future/past that is difficult to pin-point. The story of the mine echoes many a pulp influence - Haggard, Verne, Lovecraft, HG Wells - with a dash of Heart of Darkness. The colonial characters feel jaded and stereotypical. That said, the damp, dangerous scenes in the mine do create a certain atmosphere and tension. Once the orbs are returned, the story descends into weird pseudo-religious philosophy. The orbs might represent a desire for belief and certainty, painting a picture of the pain and fear that surround our imagination relating to death. The religious tones are heavy and uninteresting. After a while I really lost interest in the egotism of his fate. Dissolve seems to want to say many things but ends up saying very little. There is potential in this weird tale but not enough to really impress.