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Becoming
They wake and find themselves alone in a world where dreams are tangible. Some find the world dark, some find it home, but all look into the dark uncertainty of it and find themselves lost. For them, Becoming is a beginning, and it is from this beginning that they each find themselves wandering a dark world looking for some trace of their former humanity, if it was ever there to begin with. The hero, Mahavir, finds himself conflicted between losing his own life for the human beings that he despises or simply leaving them behind. As he comes to know Joseph and his father and Lila and her brother, he struggles to move away from the fate that dreams have allotted to him and realizes that even the power of those dreams cannot take away his choice. Regardless of the strength of the nightmares that plague the world around him, he knows that it's only his decision that will determine the fate of men.
348 pages, Paperback
First published January 4, 2010
2 people are currently reading
26 people want to read
About the author
Marc Johnson
2 books17 followersBorn. Grew up (sort of). Wrote, drank, and played music. Thought it was a novel idea to publish a novel. But novelty doesn't make you rich. So, still, I write.
Feel free to twit me on twitter or face me on facebook.
http://www.facebook.com/mjohnson1977
Feel free to twit me on twitter or face me on facebook.
http://www.facebook.com/mjohnson1977
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
July 4, 2010
Marc Johnson’s debut book, Becoming, is one of the most audacious that I have ever read. Johnson attacks the literary experiment most famously attempted by James Joyce in Finnegan’s Wake. Yet, where Joyce tries to create the lucidity of a dream, Johnson creates the confusion and sometimes terror of a nightmare. As opposed to Joyce’s nearly impenetrable Wake, Becoming is quite readable—with a little patience. Like a true nightmare, Becoming reads like a wave. There is great narrative that holds the story together, but fantasy, action, goar, passion and terror brings the story to the next level. Most impressively, Johnson brings the reader to places of utter bewilderment, like any true nightmare. This is Johnson’s true genius, you have to read it to experience it. The book is a seamless narrative roller coaster.
Marc Johnson’s background in philosophy is also apparent throughout this book. Not only does he impeccably use Plato’s poetic dialogue style in a conversation between one of the main Characters and the Queen, more importantly he fills the book with the great questions of the ages and the wisdom gained from years of confronting these questions. Unlike so many books, the reader will find depth and challenge when reading Becoming.
I would also suggest one reading this book to keep a keen ear towards the “meter and rhythm” as Johnson’s nightmare is filled with music and poetry from beginning to end.
Becoming is a great book for anyone willing to go on an adventure. Both a literary adventure and an adventurous story. My prediction is that if this book makes its way into the right hands, Johnson’s ability to capture the nightmare will be respected, studies, and emulated. What a great twist on the average fantasy book. A must read for anyone sick and tired of “the same old story, the same old song and dance.”
-Grant
Marc Johnson’s background in philosophy is also apparent throughout this book. Not only does he impeccably use Plato’s poetic dialogue style in a conversation between one of the main Characters and the Queen, more importantly he fills the book with the great questions of the ages and the wisdom gained from years of confronting these questions. Unlike so many books, the reader will find depth and challenge when reading Becoming.
I would also suggest one reading this book to keep a keen ear towards the “meter and rhythm” as Johnson’s nightmare is filled with music and poetry from beginning to end.
Becoming is a great book for anyone willing to go on an adventure. Both a literary adventure and an adventurous story. My prediction is that if this book makes its way into the right hands, Johnson’s ability to capture the nightmare will be respected, studies, and emulated. What a great twist on the average fantasy book. A must read for anyone sick and tired of “the same old story, the same old song and dance.”
-Grant
March 5, 2011
Becoming isn't normally a book I'd be interested it, but it had my name on the cover so I had to buy it. I've heard it described as Kafka-esque, which is probably accurate. However, with the exception of one or two stories, I'm not a big fan of Kafka.
My biggest problem with Becoming is that I have no idea what was going on. The book was very disorienting, especially in the beginning. I couldn't get a feel for the setting or when it was or what happened. Eventually, I did get understand the characters but that's more because they were all kind of generic. They were named hero, sister, brother, etc. Those pronouns also made it hard to follow. The long paragraphs also tired my eyes.
The book would have been a lot better and clearer if it was told in a more traditional story. It got very metaphysical and surreal at times, yet at others, it felt like a normal book. Those were also the times it was easier to understand. Things were also inconsistent. The characters could do amazing things yet at other times they couldn't. There were times when they got badly injured because of the training they did, and I was like, 'how could they survive that?' Was it set in a period that used iron or steel? Sometimes they ate meat raw, others cooked. Very confusing.
I'm still not sure what this book was about. Was it about the hero like the description said it was? Didn't seem that way to me. Instead, it seemed more about the little family of three guys.
It's a shame. Instead of being two mashed-up books, I probably would have enjoyed becoming if it was one-book especially since it had my name on it.
My biggest problem with Becoming is that I have no idea what was going on. The book was very disorienting, especially in the beginning. I couldn't get a feel for the setting or when it was or what happened. Eventually, I did get understand the characters but that's more because they were all kind of generic. They were named hero, sister, brother, etc. Those pronouns also made it hard to follow. The long paragraphs also tired my eyes.
The book would have been a lot better and clearer if it was told in a more traditional story. It got very metaphysical and surreal at times, yet at others, it felt like a normal book. Those were also the times it was easier to understand. Things were also inconsistent. The characters could do amazing things yet at other times they couldn't. There were times when they got badly injured because of the training they did, and I was like, 'how could they survive that?' Was it set in a period that used iron or steel? Sometimes they ate meat raw, others cooked. Very confusing.
I'm still not sure what this book was about. Was it about the hero like the description said it was? Didn't seem that way to me. Instead, it seemed more about the little family of three guys.
It's a shame. Instead of being two mashed-up books, I probably would have enjoyed becoming if it was one-book especially since it had my name on it.
July 2, 2010
In a classic tale of good vs evil, Marc Johnson takes a ragged troupe of characters and develops them into the ultimate saviors of mankind. His use of descriptors to help the reader tell the good guys from the bad guys are varied. His "hero" troupe goes up against the "dark army of the east". They are helped along the way by two shadowy figures known as Michael & Gabriel (archangels?). Determining when this saga takes place is left to the imagination of the reader. Is it our future, our past or a parallel universe? Does it matter? In the confines of the story, I don't think so. This book is action packed and full of characters who are expertly defined throughout. You get to know them, rooting for some; wishing others would just get out of the way. If I had a problem with this book, it was being able to determine which character was which, particularly in the battle scenes. There was so much action, so many characters involved, it was hard to tell who was where. It became even more confused when we had a good beast and a good dragon enter the foray. But Marc ultimately cleared the skies for the reader and brought his tale to an interesting "end". In a book that asks more questions than it provides answers, I expected nothing less of the ending than to do the same. A book that put me to mind of Stephen King's Gunslinger series or what I know of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, I thought this was an excellent first novel by an up and coming author.
March 31, 2011
I found the book an allegorical and metaphorical banquet, full of symbolism, with many of its characters standing as fantasy archetypes. Part myth, part dark fable, Becoming is a swirling gathering of lyrical thoughts, characters and images dancing outward in a non-linear story.
Becoming follows the quests of several characters: a boy, his father and their companion, a sister and brother and a hero as they wander through dreams and darkness. They embrace and fight against destiny but are inevitably drawn to their fate.
The book is a wonderful exposition that muses on the concept of the epic fantasy, while telling a tale of good and evil laced with a sense of the unreal. It is a caprice of obscure complexity that makes your head spin (in a good way). Threads of thought on culture, religion, human nature and society seem to float through the pages as well, sweeping into the mix and blending well.
The book is poetic prose, imagery, parable, and character study strung along a twisting surreal road, and the narrative is beautiful to read. I had no problems with the existential nature of this book, but it may not be for all tastes. But if you are in the mood for a mind-bending, thought-provoking voyage, I recommend Becoming.
Becoming follows the quests of several characters: a boy, his father and their companion, a sister and brother and a hero as they wander through dreams and darkness. They embrace and fight against destiny but are inevitably drawn to their fate.
The book is a wonderful exposition that muses on the concept of the epic fantasy, while telling a tale of good and evil laced with a sense of the unreal. It is a caprice of obscure complexity that makes your head spin (in a good way). Threads of thought on culture, religion, human nature and society seem to float through the pages as well, sweeping into the mix and blending well.
The book is poetic prose, imagery, parable, and character study strung along a twisting surreal road, and the narrative is beautiful to read. I had no problems with the existential nature of this book, but it may not be for all tastes. But if you are in the mood for a mind-bending, thought-provoking voyage, I recommend Becoming.
July 30, 2011
Becoming was exceptionally unique, poetic, and presents an exemplary display of modern epic writing with its own unique flavor and play.
The unique flavor and play paints the characters and scenario eloquently. The book cannot be written any other way to not only describe things, but to let the reader thoroughly feel and be part of the quest and its metaphors.
The metaphors, the scenery was unique too. We saw the transformation of each characters, who, while fighting the evil outside, have a bigger battle with the evil within, and see conflicts.
Lots of conflicts individually crafted to the characters and their personal changes.
Marc Johnson has really taken a great step in ensuring the book delivers more than it promises when the reader begins on the first page. He has appropriately titled his characters, giving more significance to descriptives over name, adjectives that brings us to the books of the ancient Greeks and Indian epic poetry that talk of tales, symbolisms, good and evil.
It is as good as the newer, newer testament of the hero, Mahavir.
Overall, a book worth reading slowly, to savor each and every word and its flavor in the palette.
The unique flavor and play paints the characters and scenario eloquently. The book cannot be written any other way to not only describe things, but to let the reader thoroughly feel and be part of the quest and its metaphors.
The metaphors, the scenery was unique too. We saw the transformation of each characters, who, while fighting the evil outside, have a bigger battle with the evil within, and see conflicts.
Lots of conflicts individually crafted to the characters and their personal changes.
Marc Johnson has really taken a great step in ensuring the book delivers more than it promises when the reader begins on the first page. He has appropriately titled his characters, giving more significance to descriptives over name, adjectives that brings us to the books of the ancient Greeks and Indian epic poetry that talk of tales, symbolisms, good and evil.
It is as good as the newer, newer testament of the hero, Mahavir.
Overall, a book worth reading slowly, to savor each and every word and its flavor in the palette.
June 3, 2010
I was pleased to review "Becoming" which is a highly polished original first novel by USA writer Marc Johnson. It is essentially a fantasy adventure work aimed at adults, which examines some basic human instincts and also dark themes along its way. "Becoming" sets up a clever scenario and has the reader considering the conclusion even from the outset of the novel. I feel that there are echoes of Peter Straub where Johnson darts between the real and the surreal and between the various cast's perspectives on the plot in the early stages, despite some graphic and occasionally disturbing narrative. I'm glad I had chance to read this during my vacation week. I particularly enjoyed Johnson's slick imaginative wordplay which he used to good effect throughout. Recommended and (genuinely) a name to look out for.
March 25, 2010
Review of Becoming
It’s a book that needs to be read again and again to first grasp its concept, and then to savour its almost poetry prose.
Marc Johnson tells a fine tale of humanity breakdown and survival. It also has a fantasy twist to it with a cast of beasts and dragons so fearsome you’d not want to turn the light out ever again! A fun book to entice the childhood imagination back from the subconscious.
The only downside for me was that it depended too much on the actual telling of the story and not enough emphasis on how the characters felt; their emotions, fears etc. Nevertheless I still enjoyed the story.
It’s a book that needs to be read again and again to first grasp its concept, and then to savour its almost poetry prose.
Marc Johnson tells a fine tale of humanity breakdown and survival. It also has a fantasy twist to it with a cast of beasts and dragons so fearsome you’d not want to turn the light out ever again! A fun book to entice the childhood imagination back from the subconscious.
The only downside for me was that it depended too much on the actual telling of the story and not enough emphasis on how the characters felt; their emotions, fears etc. Nevertheless I still enjoyed the story.
Currently reading
February 2, 2010just got this book today and am looking forward to reading it, marc!!
Read
January 31, 2010Can't review. It's mine!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews