Once again we are back with another review which was postponed for more than 2 years now. During last year Diwali house cleaning, when I got 'Revenants: The Odyssey Home" by Scott Kauffman, I first checked how did the book ended up in our shelf. After going through emails, I found out that Vishnu had received this book almost 2 years back (March 2017) directly from author in exchange for an honest review, the book then transferred to me for review. So dear Scott we apologize for the delay. The culprit was not the book but circumstances, I was in the middle of exams & practicals when this book arrived, so it was shelved by my mother and I forgot about it.
Book Blurb
A grief-stricken candy-striper serving in a VA hospital following her brother's death in Viet Nam struggles to return home an anonymous veteran of the Great War against the skullduggery of a congressman who not only controls the hospital as part of his small-town fiefdom but knows the name of her veteran. A name if revealed would end his political ambitions and his fifty-year marriage. In its retelling of Odysseus' journey, Revenants casts a flickering candle upon the charon toll exacted not only from the families of those who fail to return home but of those who do.
".Revenants will not fade quickly as less substantial novels do but will resonate in the reader's heart and mind for years to come."-Mark Spencer, Dean, School of Arts and Humanities, Professor of Creative Writing, Master of Fine Arts Program, University of Arkansas at Monticello.
Coming to the book, it is the story of a family (rather a sister) of a war martyr. Her world was shattered when she heard the news about his brother's death in the Vietnam war. It took her time to get back to normal. She got a second chance as a nurse in a hospital. She met many war victims in the hospital, which had changed her perspective towards war victims. She decided to make a lifelong mission to improve the situation of such people. She also found a mysterious person admitted on the 9th floor, she took the task of locating his history and family. But things won't be as simple as she thought. Check the book to know more.
Most of the readers talked about the slow pace at the beginning of the book, but I felt that has created a platform for coming chapters. The author has wonderfully covered various aspects of war victims. Not just victims themselves but what happened to the people who they left behind. The mystery that was created around the hidden room and patient staying in that room, has bound normal (thriller) reader to this emotional journey. The main character of the story is Besty and she was portrayed nicely.
Overall a good read, one can give it a try if they want to read something new once in a while. Talking about ratings
- Cover - 4/5
- Character - 4/5
- Content - 3/5
- Overall - 3.5/5
Book can be found at Amazon India & Amazon USA
Review from other readers can be found at GoodReads
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment