đģ đ️ đŠ️ "These Nameless Things" (2020) đŠ️ đ️ đģ - Book Review
MY REVIEW
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Revell (June 30, 2020)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0800735307
ISBN-13: 978-0800735302
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Picture for Purchase Information
“Before Dan opened his door to find a wounded
woman who had escaped from the tormentors in the mountain, his life had become
rather quiet. He and the eight other people in the mostly abandoned town had
become friends. They spent peaceful evenings around the campfire and even made vague
plans to journey east one day and leave the ominous mountain behind.
But the woman's arrival changes everything.
But the woman's arrival changes everything.
Who is she? How does she know so much about Dan's brother, who is still held captive in the mountain? Why are long-forgotten memories rising to the surface? And why does Dan feel so compelled to keep her presence in his house a secret?”
Thank
you in advance to the publisher, Revell, for providing a complimentary review
copy through the Revell Reads Blogger Program. A positive review was not
required or requested and all words are my own.
I had
heard good things about Shawn Smucker’s “The
Light From Distant Stars”, but, I have not yet read it. This is the
first book I’ve read from the author.
The premise
was interesting – Dan being held captive, his escape, leaving his brother,
hoping his brother escapes, and the arrival of a mystery woman. I honestly
wanted to see where this was coming from and where it was going. Yet, that’s
what I spent most of the time reading the novel wondering about – what were the
nameless things and where was this novel going to end up? Where were we going
on how were we going to get there?
Let me just
state this – this is a very well written, descriptive novel given the topic
being dealt with.
Since
it is a Revell title, immediately I knew it’d be a clean read and also thought
there would be some Christian/Faith themes in it. It is more of a “magical
realism” read though. For someone who has read a lot of Christian Fiction, this
doesn’t seem to cover anything in that genre. There are no scriptures, church
references, or even mentions of God.
The
cover is absolutely stunning, yet haunting and surreal. It makes the reader
wonder what the correlation is to the title and premise.
I didn’t
seem to connect with any of the characters. They seemed like, outside of the
situation they were in, they could be great people. But, they also seemed flat
and empty. They were just “there” so to speak – people for Dan to converse with
or to move the story along. Dan was obsessed with waiting for his brother to
leave or be released. The story is told entirely from Dan’s POV in first
person.
The
other people’s voices were the stories they told him or his interactions with
them. They didn’t seem to have much of a background and noticeably there were
no concerned and/or connected family members. No jobs, no real source of income.
So, this should’ve been a hint to me as to what I was reading about.
It was
hard to connect with these people as I had virtually no clue what was going on.
The author states this book has a “connection” to Dante’s Inferno, a book I’ve never read.
By
chapter six (6), I was beginning to have a lot of questions – what were these
people doing on the mountain, what place did they escape from, what were they
running from, what were they doing there, how did they even get to where they
were coming from? Jobs? Family? Where are they?
What
was with the “leaving” ceremony?
This
was a grand ceremony as the people there weren’t made to stay forever. It was
an “in between” space – from the mountain to the place “East”. It involves a
bonfire with people burning their possessions, even books. And, I honestly
couldn’t get into this.
One woman,
Mary, was able to leave.
Admittedly,
I wanted to just stop at this point. I honestly felt lost reading it. Still, I
kept going. I didn’t know what to make of it. I really wanted to like this book
and tried to see where the author was going. What was he trying to tell us?
Most of
the memories at the close of part one (1) seemed to revolve around Dan’s
brother and a plane crash (Adam was the pilot) that occurred –
Circe –
lost a daughter
Mrs. B –
lost her husband
Misha –
first responder
Miho –
lost her mother
Po –
lost his wife
We find
these people have also been waiting for Dan’s brother (Adam) to leave the mountain.
It was a freak storm that brought the memories. It was also a storm that seemed
to have caused the events prior to the novel.
In part
two (2), Dan goes back to the mountain to rescue his brother. This is spurned
on by a woman (Kathy) who arrives in the village – actually, there are two (Kathy
and Lucia). There is also a fire in the village that causes everyone to want to
leave immediately despite an unspoken agreement to stay there and wait. And,
another question emerges – more actually.
We then
learn in part two (2) that there is no rescuing someone from “the mountain” –
they can only leave of their own free will and by grace. They are held there by
guilt. Yet another question pops up.
It is
in this part that Dan fully recalls the events surrounding the plane crash –
the reason for the existence of the people in this story, the reason his
brother is “missing”. Dan is also responsible for the crash as well.
It is
after this that the journey to bring Dan’s brother out really begins and the
reader begins to have suspicions as to what is represented by the mountain,
village, and the “moving East” part.
However,
what isn’t explained is the people prior to Circe, Mrs. B, Mar (the one who
left), Misha, Miho, and Po. There were others there that escaped the mountain,
stayed in the village, and left. Again, more questions.
The
ending is not something I can explain without giving it away. And, even right
at the end, I didn’t know what I was supposed to be seeing or feeling. I didn’t
know what was being accomplished.
I
couldn’t figure out was Abe’s part in this story. That is never really
explained. There were no real references for me as to who he was, how he got
there, why he was there, and why he was seemingly the leader. More questions.
It had;
for me; a dark, eerie, foreboding type of tone. It wasn’t a feel good read at
all. I was still left with many questions. It is at times a slow-burn read and
a rapid pace read.
Very
seldom does a Revell title leave me this confused or “down”. If I had known
what the tone of this was and the message – I probably wouldn’t have requested
it, or read it. I am glad I got to read it, but not sure I would re-read it.
Fans of
the genre and/or author might be interested in this book.
RATING:
3 ⭐⭐⭐/5⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Goodreads
3 ⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Bookbub
3 ⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Personal Rating (see rating
explanation in this blog: https://readingexcursions.blogspot.com/2020/01/rating-system-2020-changes.html)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shawn Smucker is the award-winning author of Light
from Distant Stars, the young adult novels The Day the Angels Fell and The
Edge of Over There, and the memoir Once We Were Strangers. He
lives with his wife and six children in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. You can find
him online at www.shawnsmucker.com.
You can
follow him on the following social media accounts:
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/shawnsmucker
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