Just finished reading Isaac's Gun and here is my review:
Isaac’s gun is a story (dated 2006) wrapping around a second story (dated 1943), which wraps around a third story (dated 1877.) This creates a unique structure, a telescope that allows you to refocus your attention between past and present, and see how the lives of the characters, and our lives as well, are touched by earlier lives, across the boundaries of time, culture, and circumstance. The author, Dan Strawn, writes the outermost story in third-person narrative, and the inner story in first-person narrative, which does wonders to pull us back into history, into the core.
Reading through many of the journals, bequeathed to her by her grandfather, Megan Holcomb becomes immersed in the view of three generations of Americana portrayed in them. These journals open in San Diego, California in 1943, where Martin Holcomb finds himself in a Naval hospital, trying to heal from his wounds, both physical mental. “My next to last waking thought has something to do with the peace I find in wondering about the inconsequential events of ordinary people living a life. My last thought: can I get through one more night without nightmares?”
Martin falls in love with Sherrill O'Toole, and learns of Isaac Ramsey, her grandfather, and his journals, dated back to 1877. “I would love to get my hands on those journals,” he says, “but don’t dare ask. Who knows, maybe later. For now, I’ve got a ton of notes which need to be read and refined.” These older journals, in turn, conjure up war memories that will show Martin a way to heal. “The wayward afternoon breeze lifts the edge of my half-filled journal notes. I look at the straight lines on a blank page. What will I write of my tomorrows? My yesterdays?”
In the end, the act of refocusing is bequeathed to you, the reader, as the main character is left knowing that more reflection is yet to be done, and more mysteries yet to unravel. “When Megan’s mom came bouncing into the house with an armload of groceries, Megan put the box of journals and the case into the bedroom and forced herself away from the urge to lie on the bed and finish reading.”
I love this yet unresolved, open-ended end. It allows the story to linger in your mind, inviting you to write its future possibilities. Five stars.
Isaac’s gun is a story (dated 2006) wrapping around a second story (dated 1943), which wraps around a third story (dated 1877.) This creates a unique structure, a telescope that allows you to refocus your attention between past and present, and see how the lives of the characters, and our lives as well, are touched by earlier lives, across the boundaries of time, culture, and circumstance. The author, Dan Strawn, writes the outermost story in third-person narrative, and the inner story in first-person narrative, which does wonders to pull us back into history, into the core.
Reading through many of the journals, bequeathed to her by her grandfather, Megan Holcomb becomes immersed in the view of three generations of Americana portrayed in them. These journals open in San Diego, California in 1943, where Martin Holcomb finds himself in a Naval hospital, trying to heal from his wounds, both physical mental. “My next to last waking thought has something to do with the peace I find in wondering about the inconsequential events of ordinary people living a life. My last thought: can I get through one more night without nightmares?”
Martin falls in love with Sherrill O'Toole, and learns of Isaac Ramsey, her grandfather, and his journals, dated back to 1877. “I would love to get my hands on those journals,” he says, “but don’t dare ask. Who knows, maybe later. For now, I’ve got a ton of notes which need to be read and refined.” These older journals, in turn, conjure up war memories that will show Martin a way to heal. “The wayward afternoon breeze lifts the edge of my half-filled journal notes. I look at the straight lines on a blank page. What will I write of my tomorrows? My yesterdays?”
In the end, the act of refocusing is bequeathed to you, the reader, as the main character is left knowing that more reflection is yet to be done, and more mysteries yet to unravel. “When Megan’s mom came bouncing into the house with an armload of groceries, Megan put the box of journals and the case into the bedroom and forced herself away from the urge to lie on the bed and finish reading.”
I love this yet unresolved, open-ended end. It allows the story to linger in your mind, inviting you to write its future possibilities.
Five stars.