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Hot Springs (2010)

by Geoffrey Becker(Favorite Author)

3.31 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0982053940 (ISBN13: 9780982053942)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

Tin House Books

review 1: A strong 4.Quirky characters (including a child) take off on a hasty road trip, which certainly made me think of The Flying Troutmans, as well as Little Miss Sunshine. Contrary to some other opinions, I think the author does a very good job of making the major characters feel real, thus making the reader interested in what will happen to them, flawed as they are. Maybe the plot isn't totally believable, relying on too much coincidence to move things along. And we don't get fully into the mind of the adoptive mother right away, so it's hard to understand why she didn't go right to the police, but I think that gives us a clue to her character; she knew what had happened, and was practicing what she preached and believed. Of course, this is set in contrast to her hypocritic... moreal husband, who like some other lesser characters was more one dimensional. It would have taken many pages and subplots to bring them out more, and that might have detracted from the main story.
review 2: It started off so unbelievably good--sound writing, sympathetic characters (even though not particularly likeable, but then I think there's too much emphasis in contemporary fiction on characters that are likeable or, worse, that "we can relate to"), painful human situations: it started off so good. Then, it got cute, quirky, and amid the writing we got descriptions of things that "smelled like fifty year old toast." What?I know this is a sweeping generalization, but what happened with contemporary fiction that there always have to be eccentric characters? Where did the real people go? And why do all situations, even the most unpalatable, need to be made so palatable? This novel revolves around a kidnapped child, but if you want a genuine rendering of that, read Curnutt's BREATHING OUT THE GHOST. It flinches from nothing. It depicts the effect of such an incident on real people, not characters perfect for a movie. less

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