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Elysiana
Gwendalynn Anders, a mid-Western girl who's never seen the ocean, wonders what was in that joint she smoked a week before waking up on Elysiana, and why it feels like the trip will last the entire summer of 1969.
Jack Halcyon, living atop an abandoned twenty-story hotel, wonders how he's able to ponder the incongruities of life after leaving a big chunk of his brain at the scene of an accident.
Borough Council President Norman Harlan wonders what cruel God put him on an equal footing with Avery Volpe, the fearsome Captain of the Beach Patrol.
Twelve miles long and a mile wide, Elysiana is an island off the coast of New Jersey sitting astride the convergence of powerful fault lines social, political, and existential. It's a place of beauty and insanity, shared by the angelic and profane. Where cops, criminals, prodigies, and the promiscuous find themselves at the haphazard mercy of a lunatic providence.
Other players include a globe-trotting whiz kid, an Italo-Hispanic crime boss, a surfing aesthete and his vulgar roommate, a career car stereo thief, and a seven-year-old girl who's probably spent too much time with the dead bodies in the dunes.
This is a story that could have only happened on the Jersey Shore during the summer of 69. A time when the social fabric was tearing apart, in a place where that fabric had never been very well knit together.
Elysiana is both a fabulist's look at a lost time and place and a hurtling thriller. It's a tale of two types of transition the
personal and the grand. All played out within the isolated magic of a barrier island.
Jack Halcyon, living atop an abandoned twenty-story hotel, wonders how he's able to ponder the incongruities of life after leaving a big chunk of his brain at the scene of an accident.
Borough Council President Norman Harlan wonders what cruel God put him on an equal footing with Avery Volpe, the fearsome Captain of the Beach Patrol.
Twelve miles long and a mile wide, Elysiana is an island off the coast of New Jersey sitting astride the convergence of powerful fault lines social, political, and existential. It's a place of beauty and insanity, shared by the angelic and profane. Where cops, criminals, prodigies, and the promiscuous find themselves at the haphazard mercy of a lunatic providence.
Other players include a globe-trotting whiz kid, an Italo-Hispanic crime boss, a surfing aesthete and his vulgar roommate, a career car stereo thief, and a seven-year-old girl who's probably spent too much time with the dead bodies in the dunes.
This is a story that could have only happened on the Jersey Shore during the summer of 69. A time when the social fabric was tearing apart, in a place where that fabric had never been very well knit together.
Elysiana is both a fabulist's look at a lost time and place and a hurtling thriller. It's a tale of two types of transition the
personal and the grand. All played out within the isolated magic of a barrier island.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
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December 21, 2010
Elysiana (Chris Knopf)
Set in 1969 on Elysiana, off the coast of New Jersey. Gwendalyn Anders is a young "Hippie" after a night of partying she wakes up and heads to Elysiana with no looking back. Jack Halcyon suffered a horrible accident leaving part of his brain missing. He returns to the Island.Norman Harlan is the Borough council man and he is at odds with the captain of the beach Patrol , Avery Volpe. Their lives all merge together on Elysia Island.
Fast paced novel, with wit, drama, and a bit of suspense. Each person has their own inner demon and must come to terms within themselves to achieve their destiny. Unlikely friendships start, rivalry comes to a peak and blood pulses as the story unfolds.
Set in 1969 on Elysiana, off the coast of New Jersey. Gwendalyn Anders is a young "Hippie" after a night of partying she wakes up and heads to Elysiana with no looking back. Jack Halcyon suffered a horrible accident leaving part of his brain missing. He returns to the Island.Norman Harlan is the Borough council man and he is at odds with the captain of the beach Patrol , Avery Volpe. Their lives all merge together on Elysia Island.
Fast paced novel, with wit, drama, and a bit of suspense. Each person has their own inner demon and must come to terms within themselves to achieve their destiny. Unlikely friendships start, rivalry comes to a peak and blood pulses as the story unfolds.
March 31, 2010
If you were a young adult in 1969 and resent getting old you might enjoy this book.
Knopf talks about being young and free and blow jobs and a bunch of self-indulgent crap and he's added another brick to the wall mainstream publishing is building around itself.
Knopf talks about being young and free and blow jobs and a bunch of self-indulgent crap and he's added another brick to the wall mainstream publishing is building around itself.
December 18, 2011
Elysiana was marketed as a postmodern novel centering around an eccentric group of individuals located on the coastal shores of New Jersey in the late 60's. Obviously, between that one liner and the cover, I was intrigued.
So what of it? I'm having mega trouble reviewing this one because overall I wasn't impressed, but . . .
. . . there's always a *BUT* isn't there?
First things first. I've never read anything by Knopf, but from what I've seen in the netosphere, he's a mystery writer by trade and Elysiana is a new thing for him. I'm wondering how he is as a mystery writer, because one of the major downfalls of this book is Knopf is so damn verbose. Seriously. Not as bad as, let's say, John Milton and his essays *BUT* had he lived in that time period, he might have grown to be competition. I curious if he is as wordy is his mysteries.
Second thing second. I almost stopped reading this book on four different occasions. (Including one time where I was a mere fifty pages from completing it). I'm not really big into book abandonment, although I should be because there are so many other books out there. I am sure others out there who have learned the fine art of not feeling guilt over chucking a book would have simply closed it halfway.
So what's it about anyway, you might be asking? Okay, let's see. You have a handful of people who are hanging out on the coast and their lives all end up intermingling: the coastal squad and police force, the drug trafficking lords, the wives and lovers of the coastal squad, police force, and drug lords. It's all very messy and there is loads of political deceit going on. Really. It's a tedious soap opera and generally speaking, the plot and character were lacking.
Was there anything redeeming? Surprisingly, yes. Which is why I pressed on. There are three characters who I thoroughly enjoyed. Jack, coast guard-slash-recluse who lives in a humongous hotel by himself after losing a portion of his brain in a surgery as a child has a unique story and I wish the author developed it more. Gwendalyn, who we first meet in the back seat of a car, riding cross country with strangers to Elysiana and completely strung out. Now Gwendalyn had a story to her and it obviously involves some wrecked childhood. And finally, seven year old Sweetie (for real name!) who was such a minor character but had so much personality she filled up the page. Because of these three characters, I persevered.
Overall? I didn't care too much about anyone or anything.
So what of it? I'm having mega trouble reviewing this one because overall I wasn't impressed, but . . .
. . . there's always a *BUT* isn't there?
First things first. I've never read anything by Knopf, but from what I've seen in the netosphere, he's a mystery writer by trade and Elysiana is a new thing for him. I'm wondering how he is as a mystery writer, because one of the major downfalls of this book is Knopf is so damn verbose. Seriously. Not as bad as, let's say, John Milton and his essays *BUT* had he lived in that time period, he might have grown to be competition. I curious if he is as wordy is his mysteries.
Second thing second. I almost stopped reading this book on four different occasions. (Including one time where I was a mere fifty pages from completing it). I'm not really big into book abandonment, although I should be because there are so many other books out there. I am sure others out there who have learned the fine art of not feeling guilt over chucking a book would have simply closed it halfway.
So what's it about anyway, you might be asking? Okay, let's see. You have a handful of people who are hanging out on the coast and their lives all end up intermingling: the coastal squad and police force, the drug trafficking lords, the wives and lovers of the coastal squad, police force, and drug lords. It's all very messy and there is loads of political deceit going on. Really. It's a tedious soap opera and generally speaking, the plot and character were lacking.
Was there anything redeeming? Surprisingly, yes. Which is why I pressed on. There are three characters who I thoroughly enjoyed. Jack, coast guard-slash-recluse who lives in a humongous hotel by himself after losing a portion of his brain in a surgery as a child has a unique story and I wish the author developed it more. Gwendalyn, who we first meet in the back seat of a car, riding cross country with strangers to Elysiana and completely strung out. Now Gwendalyn had a story to her and it obviously involves some wrecked childhood. And finally, seven year old Sweetie (for real name!) who was such a minor character but had so much personality she filled up the page. Because of these three characters, I persevered.
Overall? I didn't care too much about anyone or anything.
May 27, 2010
The sea has a rhythm and music all its own, and can sound like an orchestra as a storm blows up, the quiet piping of ripples slowly overwhelmed by massive drum-rolls and ominous strings that ride in on the wind.
Elysiana by Chris Knopf reads with that same music and rhythm. The instruments are strangers and friends collected on this tiny island off the coast of South Jersey, and the first sweet notes are sounded by a girl from Chicago, brought in through a drug-filled haze in a stranger’s car, seemingly unaware of how she got there or what she left behind.
The author conducts his scene-changes skillfully, bringing each new character to life and including details and hints that make it easy for the reader to recognize who’s who. There are cops and lifeguards at odds with the curious rules of jurisdiction. A suicidal stranger drives down the street. Fast cars meet rolling trucks. Drug-lord, thief and erstwhile politician devise their plans. Father brings a boat. And behind it all the surf keeps its steady beat below an old hotel whose eagle-eyed, brain-damaged lookout tries to find his missing self—rather like the girl of that first scene.
Fate, justice and friendship play their parts, and everything comes to a head when a violent storm rushes onto the coast. Lives are saved, and souls and selves defined, in the ensuing chaos, till the waves retreat and one still voice pipes its beautifully timed conclusion, drawing everything together with a word.
I think I’m supposed to disclose at some point that the publishers, Permanent Press, generously sent me Elysiana to review. I might disclose too that I love Chris Knopf’s earlier Sam Aquillo, Hampton’s Mysteries. This novel would serve as a great introduction to the author for anyone not familiar with Sam Aquillo. And I’m sure it will only delight any readers, like me, who already love his writing.
Elysiana by Chris Knopf reads with that same music and rhythm. The instruments are strangers and friends collected on this tiny island off the coast of South Jersey, and the first sweet notes are sounded by a girl from Chicago, brought in through a drug-filled haze in a stranger’s car, seemingly unaware of how she got there or what she left behind.
The author conducts his scene-changes skillfully, bringing each new character to life and including details and hints that make it easy for the reader to recognize who’s who. There are cops and lifeguards at odds with the curious rules of jurisdiction. A suicidal stranger drives down the street. Fast cars meet rolling trucks. Drug-lord, thief and erstwhile politician devise their plans. Father brings a boat. And behind it all the surf keeps its steady beat below an old hotel whose eagle-eyed, brain-damaged lookout tries to find his missing self—rather like the girl of that first scene.
Fate, justice and friendship play their parts, and everything comes to a head when a violent storm rushes onto the coast. Lives are saved, and souls and selves defined, in the ensuing chaos, till the waves retreat and one still voice pipes its beautifully timed conclusion, drawing everything together with a word.
I think I’m supposed to disclose at some point that the publishers, Permanent Press, generously sent me Elysiana to review. I might disclose too that I love Chris Knopf’s earlier Sam Aquillo, Hampton’s Mysteries. This novel would serve as a great introduction to the author for anyone not familiar with Sam Aquillo. And I’m sure it will only delight any readers, like me, who already love his writing.
June 8, 2010
I've read all Chris Knopf's Sam Acquillo mysteries and love his voice and ironic humor. Elysiana is less a mystery and more literary/mainstream, but every bit as much fun.
Knopf writes solid and feisty female characters, much like Thomas Perry, Don Winslow, or Carl Hiaasen, and here he gives us Gwendalynne, who recovers from a three-day acid trip to find herself on a small island (Elysiana, the title setting) off the New Jersey coast in the summer of 1969.
She ends up baby-sitting Sweetie Harlan, a precocious seven-year old whose mother Paula and father, Norm Harlan, a small-time politico with a lust to be a bigger fish in a small pond.
We also meet the unhappy--and unfaithful--wife of a drug dealer and assorted lifeguards with a taste for fascism.
The characters are all slightly loopy and a little grotesque, but appealing, and Knopf's strength is his obvious affection for all of them, even the scumbags, and this book has several.
The plot, such as it is, involves watching the large cast slowly become connected and play out their lives of quiet desperation over the summer that culminates in a massive nor'easter at about the same time that the Woodstock Festival happens in New York. The feel is somewhat like Tim O'Brien's elegiac July, July, only it works better.
Very little is resolved in the long run, but Knopf's sense of justice runs deep and I found myself happy to meet these people and satisfied by their eventual fates.
Knopf writes solid and feisty female characters, much like Thomas Perry, Don Winslow, or Carl Hiaasen, and here he gives us Gwendalynne, who recovers from a three-day acid trip to find herself on a small island (Elysiana, the title setting) off the New Jersey coast in the summer of 1969.
She ends up baby-sitting Sweetie Harlan, a precocious seven-year old whose mother Paula and father, Norm Harlan, a small-time politico with a lust to be a bigger fish in a small pond.
We also meet the unhappy--and unfaithful--wife of a drug dealer and assorted lifeguards with a taste for fascism.
The characters are all slightly loopy and a little grotesque, but appealing, and Knopf's strength is his obvious affection for all of them, even the scumbags, and this book has several.
The plot, such as it is, involves watching the large cast slowly become connected and play out their lives of quiet desperation over the summer that culminates in a massive nor'easter at about the same time that the Woodstock Festival happens in New York. The feel is somewhat like Tim O'Brien's elegiac July, July, only it works better.
Very little is resolved in the long run, but Knopf's sense of justice runs deep and I found myself happy to meet these people and satisfied by their eventual fates.
August 26, 2019
The novel opening seemed to be setting me up for a kind of Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test trip into late 60s America by way of the Jersey shore. The cultural chaos unique to the summer of '69 is powerfully captured in all its strange beauty. But Chapter 2--and the rest of the story, until the final 30 or so pages, in fact--morphs into a literary novel full of characters so distinctly original as to almost make you forget how the book began. And those final pages, when seemingly disparate lives intersect in the most unexpected ways, is where the book takes a turn toward suspense.
Elysiana may be a novel straddling genres, but it will leave you thinking about these characters long after you've closed the book.
Elysiana may be a novel straddling genres, but it will leave you thinking about these characters long after you've closed the book.
April 4, 2010
Elysiana is an island off the coast of New Jersey . Its a place of beauty shared by some very unique people.Gwendalynn is a midwestern girl who never saw the ocean Jack was in a car accident and in a coma for 4 years he lost a big part of his brain, Normab Harlan is the borough president and he is at odds with Avery Volpe. Its an interesting look into the past with a little thiller aspect in it. where everyone from cops, to criminals finds themselves at the mercy of the province.
March 30, 2019
It reads more like a series of interconnected short stories than a novel. I didn't finish but I think it was heading to be a murder mystery. Meh.
April 30, 2010
Elysiana should be commended for its unconventionality and the way in which it captures the essence of modernism. It is in many ways a rather bold book which challenges more traditional ways of writing. It is a book which one the hand has a gritty realism to it, yet on the other hand is touched by moments of the surreal creating an underlining dark humor.
The story focuses around a group of unusual characters who are all living upon the small New Jersey island of Elysiana, which at times seems almost more like a mad house than a functioning town as each of the characters have their own brand of eccentricity, and believe it or not the sanest of them all is a young woman, former drug addict who shows up into town with nothing but the clothes upon her back and now memory of how or why she was there.
The book follows each of the lives of these unique individuals and the way in which they intersect one another, and how both directly and at times indirectly have an affect on each others lives while they all go through their own personal struggles of trying to survive each in their own way. Though for some perhaps in not always the most favorable of ways.
Unfortunately, for all the potential this book had and the promise that it offered to the reader, there were some areas where it failed. Some of the biggest issues with the book were for one, its very poor prose work which at times was enough to make me cringe while reading, and was at moments distracting, some of the lines proving very awkward to read in the way they were put together.
As well, the characters while on paper were given some interesting and very original traits, failed to truly pop off the page and really draw the reader into their life. They gave the feeling of falling a little flat and felt as if they could have been flushed out more, and given greater dimensions to make them more believable and more distinguished.
Because the characters were left a little deflated and thus did not make strong impressions in the readers mind, with the way in which the story shifted often between the various different points of view, it was easy to start to loose track of who was who and follow what was going on and took a while to catch up to speed again.
I also found myself frequently forgetting that the book was set in the 70's until all of the sudden some reference would be made which reminded me of the time frame in which the story was taking place.
One of the things that I did enjoy about the story and found quite interesting was the dynamic of the struggles between the beach patrol and the police force.
One of the things about this book, which may be a testament to the boldness of the writer and the creativity and originality of the work, yet on the other risks living the reader feeling a bit unsatisfied (but perhaps in this way works at being very true to life) is the way in which there are so many little side stories within the work, each of which could have made a story in themselves, and yet at the same time, none of them are fully followed, resolved or explored.
All in all an interesting, and very different read, though still left something to be desired.
The story focuses around a group of unusual characters who are all living upon the small New Jersey island of Elysiana, which at times seems almost more like a mad house than a functioning town as each of the characters have their own brand of eccentricity, and believe it or not the sanest of them all is a young woman, former drug addict who shows up into town with nothing but the clothes upon her back and now memory of how or why she was there.
The book follows each of the lives of these unique individuals and the way in which they intersect one another, and how both directly and at times indirectly have an affect on each others lives while they all go through their own personal struggles of trying to survive each in their own way. Though for some perhaps in not always the most favorable of ways.
Unfortunately, for all the potential this book had and the promise that it offered to the reader, there were some areas where it failed. Some of the biggest issues with the book were for one, its very poor prose work which at times was enough to make me cringe while reading, and was at moments distracting, some of the lines proving very awkward to read in the way they were put together.
As well, the characters while on paper were given some interesting and very original traits, failed to truly pop off the page and really draw the reader into their life. They gave the feeling of falling a little flat and felt as if they could have been flushed out more, and given greater dimensions to make them more believable and more distinguished.
Because the characters were left a little deflated and thus did not make strong impressions in the readers mind, with the way in which the story shifted often between the various different points of view, it was easy to start to loose track of who was who and follow what was going on and took a while to catch up to speed again.
I also found myself frequently forgetting that the book was set in the 70's until all of the sudden some reference would be made which reminded me of the time frame in which the story was taking place.
One of the things that I did enjoy about the story and found quite interesting was the dynamic of the struggles between the beach patrol and the police force.
One of the things about this book, which may be a testament to the boldness of the writer and the creativity and originality of the work, yet on the other risks living the reader feeling a bit unsatisfied (but perhaps in this way works at being very true to life) is the way in which there are so many little side stories within the work, each of which could have made a story in themselves, and yet at the same time, none of them are fully followed, resolved or explored.
All in all an interesting, and very different read, though still left something to be desired.
June 2, 2012
I have not read anything else written by Chris Knopf and am not familiar with his Sam Acquillo Hampton Mystery Series. This new novel, Elysiana, appears to be a departure for Knopf as it recounts a summer on the Jersey Shore in 1969. The main characters are Gwendalynn Anders who finds herself so stoned out of her mind that she somehows falls asleep in Michigan and ends up in New Jersey in Elysiana, the town whose name is also that of the novel. Gwendalynn eventually meets up with Jack Halcyon (I think Knopf chooses these names intentionally, but he doesn't really do much to show us how and why these names are important. Other characters include the ambitious and morally questionable Norman Harlan, the Borough Council president whose professional jealous leads him to think of taking out the mayor of Elysiana who stands in the way of Harlan having control of the town. Another antagonist for Harlan is Avery Volpe, the captain of the beach patrol. As you can imagine in a beach community, Volpe would have a certain standing in the community that relies on the beach for its livelihood.
There are numerous other characters who come in and out of the main narrative and who are connected admirably by Knopf's storytelling. The use of the beach patrol allows Knopf to create a cast of characters whose personalities would not normally interact, but do as members of the rather elite beach patrol.
Knopf brings his story to a climax by the presence of a rather destructive hurricane that is headed directly towards Elysiana. As the weather approaches, the various schemes, love triangles, and peculiar relationships tighten as well. Without spoiling the ending, the story has a series of what I think can be called "happy endings", but in several cases they are a bit too neatly resolved. The fate of several of the characters is rather incredible, though as a reader I felt myself glad to see these various endings. Still, I think that Knopf might have found a more sophisticated and believable manner of completing some of these stories.
I think Knopf is particularly good at drawing his characters and establishing relationships. However, I did feel that most of his female characters were quite traditional in their desires and life goals. Often they function as a form of sexual release for several of the characters even if there is not "sex" occurring between the men and women in the story. Here I feel that Knopf has fallen back into the generic trappings of mystery and detective novels that he is better known for. There is an elegiac tone in this book as the author takes us back to a perhaps more naive and hopeful time. It is a good read, though I think there is much in Knopf's fictional world that is underutilized.
There are numerous other characters who come in and out of the main narrative and who are connected admirably by Knopf's storytelling. The use of the beach patrol allows Knopf to create a cast of characters whose personalities would not normally interact, but do as members of the rather elite beach patrol.
Knopf brings his story to a climax by the presence of a rather destructive hurricane that is headed directly towards Elysiana. As the weather approaches, the various schemes, love triangles, and peculiar relationships tighten as well. Without spoiling the ending, the story has a series of what I think can be called "happy endings", but in several cases they are a bit too neatly resolved. The fate of several of the characters is rather incredible, though as a reader I felt myself glad to see these various endings. Still, I think that Knopf might have found a more sophisticated and believable manner of completing some of these stories.
I think Knopf is particularly good at drawing his characters and establishing relationships. However, I did feel that most of his female characters were quite traditional in their desires and life goals. Often they function as a form of sexual release for several of the characters even if there is not "sex" occurring between the men and women in the story. Here I feel that Knopf has fallen back into the generic trappings of mystery and detective novels that he is better known for. There is an elegiac tone in this book as the author takes us back to a perhaps more naive and hopeful time. It is a good read, though I think there is much in Knopf's fictional world that is underutilized.
February 13, 2011
The blurb on the back cover of this bound galley intrigued me: "...both a hurtling thriller and postmodernist jaunt through the summer of 1969..." After making a valiant effort (I put it down and came back to it three times), I'm here to tell you this novel may be postmodern, whatever that may mean, but it is definitely not hurtling, and not a thriller.
Let me tell you the good things. The novel opens with great promise and one of the best introductions to a character I've ever read: Gwendalynn's arrival in the coastal community of Elysiana, a semi-conscious passenger in the back of a convertible, flashing the truckers as she comes down from a three-day high. I liked her right off the bat. Sadly, she is one of only three characters I actually gave a damn about. The other two were Sweetie, a charming and independent 10-year-old with a penchant for wandering; and Jack, a coma survivor who lives in the rundown grand hotel once run by his family. Everyone else inhabiting this fictional island either annoyed the fire out of me, or engendered great dislike, or both. I can read a story when a couple/three characters are actively unpleasant, but a novel peopled almost entirely with folks I can't stand? Not happening.
It's too bad, too, because Chris Knopf can turn a phrase. He has a good ear for dialogue, like the following exchange:
"I have everything I need in my backpack."
"Do you have cruelty in there?"
"I have a horsehair shaving brush in the pack. It was cruel to take it from the horse."
Knopf's flair for description can make you hear the squabbling seagulls and feel the ocean breeze. Ultimately, though, he failed to keep my interest. At the end of chapter 9, at 118 pages, I still didn't know what this story was about and didn't care enough about the characters to keep reading and find out.
Regardless of my apathetic reaction to the novel itself, I appreciate The Permanent Press and LibraryThing's Early Reviewers giving me the opportunity to try a new author.
And the cover art is gorgeous.
Let me tell you the good things. The novel opens with great promise and one of the best introductions to a character I've ever read: Gwendalynn's arrival in the coastal community of Elysiana, a semi-conscious passenger in the back of a convertible, flashing the truckers as she comes down from a three-day high. I liked her right off the bat. Sadly, she is one of only three characters I actually gave a damn about. The other two were Sweetie, a charming and independent 10-year-old with a penchant for wandering; and Jack, a coma survivor who lives in the rundown grand hotel once run by his family. Everyone else inhabiting this fictional island either annoyed the fire out of me, or engendered great dislike, or both. I can read a story when a couple/three characters are actively unpleasant, but a novel peopled almost entirely with folks I can't stand? Not happening.
It's too bad, too, because Chris Knopf can turn a phrase. He has a good ear for dialogue, like the following exchange:
"I have everything I need in my backpack."
"Do you have cruelty in there?"
"I have a horsehair shaving brush in the pack. It was cruel to take it from the horse."
Knopf's flair for description can make you hear the squabbling seagulls and feel the ocean breeze. Ultimately, though, he failed to keep my interest. At the end of chapter 9, at 118 pages, I still didn't know what this story was about and didn't care enough about the characters to keep reading and find out.
Regardless of my apathetic reaction to the novel itself, I appreciate The Permanent Press and LibraryThing's Early Reviewers giving me the opportunity to try a new author.
And the cover art is gorgeous.
April 15, 2010
I actually would like to give this book a 3.5. I enjoyed the character development, and found myself drawn into their lives. I kept forgetting this was set in the 70's though. There would be a reference to Vietnam, or beach boy's song and I would then remember the time period I was supposed to be reminded of. I guess I should have remembered with all the drug references, but not so much. Over all I liked how all the stories really wove around each other and came together in the end, and yet there was at points to much to remember. To many characters that had significance and I got confused as to who was who, and how they fit in the big picture. I think some of that was on purpose for the “big reveal” but I found myself rereading several sections trying to figure out who this person was and why what they did was important. I think if I didn’t get as lost I would have enjoyed the book more as the characters themselves really grabbed me. I LOVE a book with good character growth and this book had it! I felt muddled in the middle which is why the lower score, I really had to focus to keep myself reading, but once the big finale started, I was hooked and didn’t want to stop reading!
April 21, 2015
Set on a mythical barrier island off New Jersey in 1969, Elysiana suggests an idyllic summer retreat. The welcome mat belies the genuine point of view of a socially maladjusted town whose disillusioned inhabitants begin their annual war with tourists, surfers, hippies who missed the ride to Woodstock, and specifically each other.
Unconventional conglomeration of town council president, mayor, beach patrol, and drug dealer volley for exalted status with cavalier contempt thrust upon calculating usurpers. If such a diverse assortment fails to adequately provide the appropriate entertainment, the inclusion of a drugged-out Midwestern semi-amnesiac young woman who washes up on shore, a constantly disappearing parentally challenged young girl, a brain-damaged, but brilliant lifeguard offer sufficient distraction to muddle the endless sub-plots in this comic tragedy.
Chris Knopf’s impeccable choice of words, flawless writing, and amazing ability to tie this amorphous bundle of bumbling characters through the eye of a wildly unseasonal hurricane, and offer a gratifying cohesive conclusion provides an exhilarating reading experience.
Unconventional conglomeration of town council president, mayor, beach patrol, and drug dealer volley for exalted status with cavalier contempt thrust upon calculating usurpers. If such a diverse assortment fails to adequately provide the appropriate entertainment, the inclusion of a drugged-out Midwestern semi-amnesiac young woman who washes up on shore, a constantly disappearing parentally challenged young girl, a brain-damaged, but brilliant lifeguard offer sufficient distraction to muddle the endless sub-plots in this comic tragedy.
Chris Knopf’s impeccable choice of words, flawless writing, and amazing ability to tie this amorphous bundle of bumbling characters through the eye of a wildly unseasonal hurricane, and offer a gratifying cohesive conclusion provides an exhilarating reading experience.
April 25, 2013
**Spoiler free**
Thank you to Permanent Press for sending me an ARC of Elysiana.
To start off, I haven't read any of Chris Knopf's mystery books so I only know his style from Elysiana. Elysiana was an enjoyable book, but I kept waiting for the thriller I was promised. I liked how there were multiple main characters so when things got interesting later in the book, you see the situations from multiple perspectives/know what other characters are thinking. Knopf's style is very blunt when writing about emotions or intimate scenes, which stopped me from connecting with the characters and situations.
I grew up in New Jersey, so it was nice to have all the Jersey Shore references.
The reason I'm giving Elysiana 2/5 stars is because I couldn't connect with the characters and get drawn into the story. I found the storyline interesting and captivating, but I didn't have any emotional attachment to it.
Thank you to Permanent Press for sending me an ARC of Elysiana.
To start off, I haven't read any of Chris Knopf's mystery books so I only know his style from Elysiana. Elysiana was an enjoyable book, but I kept waiting for the thriller I was promised. I liked how there were multiple main characters so when things got interesting later in the book, you see the situations from multiple perspectives/know what other characters are thinking. Knopf's style is very blunt when writing about emotions or intimate scenes, which stopped me from connecting with the characters and situations.
I grew up in New Jersey, so it was nice to have all the Jersey Shore references.
The reason I'm giving Elysiana 2/5 stars is because I couldn't connect with the characters and get drawn into the story. I found the storyline interesting and captivating, but I didn't have any emotional attachment to it.
March 22, 2011
In Elsynia, Chris Knopf successfully develops a cast of colorful characters, intricately woven within a tale of mystery and suspense. He tells a story of a 1960's drug and alcohol induced summer on a small island off the South Jersey Shore. In the background, the pulse of a developing hurricane increases, as does the unfolding story of a corrupt local government official and the lives of those he tries to destroy. However, as Knopf''s plot development moves towards its conclusion, it begins to falter and, in the end, completely falls apart. He departs from his original creative direction and launches into a preacher-like, flowery prose. The ending comes too quickly and throws the whole story off balance. I would like to see the author re-work his conclusion; his book deserves better.
April 8, 2010
I wont this in the giveaway, my first win! So exciting.
I am maybe a quarter of the way into the book... its not a page turner, but I do think i'll finish it. the first several pages, I suppose to illustrate how the girl got to NJ, and how shitty it is to be a drug addict, etc.... were a little graphic and unnecessary. I'm hoping at least one of the characters grows on me, or I won't be able to finish it...
I am maybe a quarter of the way into the book... its not a page turner, but I do think i'll finish it. the first several pages, I suppose to illustrate how the girl got to NJ, and how shitty it is to be a drug addict, etc.... were a little graphic and unnecessary. I'm hoping at least one of the characters grows on me, or I won't be able to finish it...
May 29, 2010
This is a solid novel about a varied group of unusual characters who all find themselves on the New Jersey barrier island of Elysiana in the summer of 1969. Drug addled, brain damaged, gun crazy, or right wing nutsos, each character fits nicely into the intricate puzzle plot of the novel. While enjoyable to read, I never really got carried away by the story or the characters, but as a quick and fun novel, this does the trick.
June 14, 2010
I won this on Good Reads. I was a little slow getting into the story as the characters are are fairly eccentric. Once I read further into the book I found it quite interesting. The characters of this East coast town can likely be found in most any town, but here we meet them all at once. Interesting character studies. I haven't read any other of Chris Knopf's books but will be interested to try one.
April 12, 2010
I was not impressed with this book by Chirs Knopf, set in an island off New Jersey, has an oddball cast of characters whom you never really get close too. Set in 1969, the summer of the first man on the moon, this is a semi-thriller with a hurricane on the way to throw mother nature into the mix. What's one other thing to deal with?
October 20, 2010
I don't know what to think. It says "thriller" on the jacket, but didn't exactly have the break-neck pace I usually associate with thrillers. It meandered quite a bit. All of the characters were quirky. The two the author expects you to root for live relatively happily ever after. I did like Jack's musings on what it was like to be in a coma and come out of it.
July 22, 2011
well the title was nice its of course my name but when i red reviews of what happened I felt offeneded that things were happening i know its not really me in the book but it my name when i read something with my name on it i feel like it me so Chris Knopf cool book butt it looks scary and im not scary so yea its awesome u made a book but it kind of a weird one.
August 3, 2010
Not my favorite book. Disappointing and disjointed. Hard to get into.
July 26, 2010
My first time with this author and I have to say I really enjoyed the characters and the story. Zany story lines and zany times made for a fun summer read!
September 11, 2010
Not unreadable writing, just a story with no point whatsoever.
November 4, 2010
Fun read, especially if you're from Philadelphia and/or if you've spent any time at the Jersey Shore. Fast paced, plenty of sex, drugs, deceit.
September 9, 2012
I didn't think I would like this book because it's set in the 1960's, but I enjoyed it very much. Book drew me in and kept me interested.
June 30, 2015
Almost bailed on this one after first few chapters, but so glad I stuck out the set-up for the last two-thirds of this book. Well worth the read.
April 3, 2016
I liked it, but the ending was like the author just decided it was done.
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