Jack A. Langedijk’s maiden novel was a up and down somewhat dark novel. Not dark like a Cormac McCarthy novel, but dark with mental stress and tension. There were chapters in this novel that I thought were overdone, such as the long superfluous pages spent on enlightening the reader about Troy. Most of the pages about Troy were rather boring and unnecessary (maybe because the chapter was too long). On the other hand, the chapters written about Nancy and Philip seemed like relevant lead-ins for the novel’s conclusion. The author’s use of ellipses was way overdone (this coming from me, who loves the three dots “...”) to a point that it was annoying. Yes, there were some bumps in the road along with some blue-chip writing. I also didn’t have a firm handle on what our main character, Robert(o) Sanchez did permanently for a living at the time of the accident. What does running workshops mean? How do you make money with a study group? Who pays for the trip to Mt. Everest and all the sherpas needed?
On the contrary, Mr. Langedijk’s 28 pages of chapter 39 were moving. The story of the Ugandan doorman, Aaron Aboga, made the novel for me. Whereas I drifted through some parts of the novel, I was totally riveted when the Ugandan told his life’s story to our protagonist, Robert Sanchez. This chapter set the tone for the ensuing pages... all the way to the big windup. Superb writing by the author. These 28 pages turned my bias of the novel completely around, even though I thought some parts of novel were too sanctimonious. One last minor dislike before I tell you about the story...I’m not a big fan of flashback writing. Did the author avoid the many pitfalls of flashback writing? Yes, he did because Writer’s Digest defines flashback writing by saying, “It can make plausible a character’s motives, by showing what events in his past compel him to act the way he is now.” That is so germane to the author’s story. Well done, Mr. Landedijk.
Basically,the novel flashbacks from the present to the past in rotating chapters during a six month time frame. Robert/Roberto Sanchez is in therapy at a rehab center. He has lost his legs in an avalanche on Mt. Everest. He is in a rehab center for therapy and interviews with Dr. Seema Pourshadi who is doing an assessment for an insurance company. He was a world-class climber and now feels has no purpose in life. He takes out his aggressions with everybody including his family and Dr. Seema. The trip to Mt. Everest was part of a workshop he runs that tries to put troubled youths back on track. The avalanche occurred at the base camp on Mt. Everest as Robert and the three students (Troy, Nancy and Philip) that he took with him were preparing to leave the mountain. The novel bounces back and forth between Robert’s deteriorating home life with his wife and daughter and exacerbated talks with Dr. Seema. The reader still doesn’t know if the three students survived the accident. Robert continues to have a hostile attitude towards everybody. He feels that he no longer has a reason to live. He buys a gun.
The middle chapters tell the story of the three problematic students who eventually join Robert’s workshop at school. I thought that this was the weak part of Mr. Langedijk’s novel. Why? Because (isn’t that the title of the book?) it wasn’t necessary. Yes, we needed to know about the kids, but not in such depth. The focus of the novel was on Robert Sanchez. Will he come out of his funk or not? Will he kill himself? What will it take for Robert to realize that he still has a life to live and a family that loves him with or without two legs? Meanwhile, the reader learns that Robert agreed to give a teamwork/motivational speech for Greg Wong (CEO of Elevation) at a luncheon meeting for his merger with two other companies. Robert’s wife is a valued employee of Elevation’s management. Caveat! Robert agreed to the talk before he lost his legs. What will happen now? How can Robert give a motivational talk while feeling worthless? He arrives at the hotel for the luncheon meeting carrying a heavy leather bag accompanied by his wife. What’s in it? In the meantime, Robert’s daughter, Jenny, receives Robert’s journal in the mail. It’s significant because her father told her that she couldn’t read his journal until he was dead.
This is where I stop the story and advise the reader to buy his/her own copy of this surprisingly good nascent novel. I know it’s hard to write a story...so many things can go wrong... and I usually find them. However, I also like to tell the reader about the good things the author did. This author, in my mind, wrote a very electric chapter 39. What if the entire novel was similar to that chapter? Wow, who knows? By the way, what happened to the three amigos (Troy, Nancy and Philip)? And what did Robert Sanchez do when it was his turn to talk on stage? Maybe you noticed that I like to ask a lot questions to perk the reader’s interest. My other favorite tools are: idioms, metaphors, ellipsis and parentheses (you probably noticed). By the way, kudos to Virginia Cam for the awesome cover design. Buy this book.
RATING: 4 out of 5 stars
Comment: Normally I would have compared Mr. Langedijk’s novel to a similar novel, but I couldn’t come up with a book or novel that I read that was comparable. The closest book that I could come up with was Jon Krakauer’s, Into Thin Air, but it really wasn’t a match. Has Mr. Langedijk come up with a new slant on Mt. Everest climbing? My favorite is still Dan Simmons’s (one of my favorite authors) 2014 novel, The Abominable: A Novel (see my review of 1/08/2014)
Anyway, I promised you that I would reveal thegreatestbooks.org’s next five greatest books, 11 through 15. Here they are:
11) The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky. “Dostoevsky’s last and greatest novel is both a brilliantly told crime story and a passionate philosophical debate.”
12) One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia. “One of the 20th century’s enduring works is a widely beloved and acclaimed novel known throughout the world.
13) Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (see my review of 12/17/2012). “Revered by all of the town’s children and dreaded by all it’s mothers…” 14) The Iliad by Homer. “The Iliad is an epic poem in dactylic hexameters, traditionally attributed to Homer.”
15) Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. “The book is internationally famous for it’s innovative style and infamous for it’s controversial subject…”
Well, there you go. Very interesting books. Do you want to see novels 16 through 20? Okay, I’ll think about it, my little chickadee. What?