Loch Raven Review on Jadeite: Ingenuity of Plot; Artistry in Surprising the Reader; Awe-inspiring

 

Loch Raven Review has published Editor Dan Cuddy’s stellar review of The Color of Jadeite. Cuddy’s review lauds the awe-inspiring scenery, ingenuity of plot, and artistry in surprising readers.

I don’t want to reveal too many of the details of the plot as it constantly twists and turns and doubles back on the readers as they follow it. So many surprises and discoveries! The novel is pure escapist fiction, which is needed in these days of real-world turmoil. The author toured China, took copious notes, did much research and fashioned in his words the sights, smells, textures of China.

It would be great to reveal the twists of the plot in the story, and praise the artistry in surprising the reader, but the less said the better on this. The individual reader should have their own experience.

Read the entire review in the most recent issue of Loch Raven Review.

 

https://thelochravenreview.net/eric-d-goodmans-the-color-of-jadeite-reviewed-by-dan-cuddy/

Goodman's Little Fetal Hippie Brat

Loch Raven Review published a new review of Womb: a novel in utero. 

At first, the reviewer “found Goodman’s little fetal hippie brat to be insufferable.” 

Then he admits, “Goodman’s all-knowing fetus, is, of course, a metaphor as well. It is used by Goodman as a literary device to help convey an important message to adults: stop stressing over nonsense and return to what is essential, the power of wisdom and love. When Li Po wrote, “We sit together, the mountain and me, until only the mountain remains,” he meant that, once ego is transcended, one becomes one, as it were, with the whole world. He was not advising seekers to become a pile of dirt! We should not take the great Chinese poet’s metaphor literally; similarly, we must not take the wisdom of an unborn tyke literally as well.”

Of the story beyond the premise, the reviewer wrote, “Here is where Mr. Goodman’s talent lies; he knows how to pace a story. Both Mom and Dad are Beautiful People who are in the process of learning what every fetus supposedly already knows. Yet Mom succumbs to the advances of a cad. How can a Beautiful Person ever sink so low? We find out why much later. This is but one example of the author’s ability to resolve situations gradually, and to provide the reader with just enough information to keep her turning pages with unchilled anticipation. The author certainly knows how to tell a story.”

Read Thomas Dorsett's review of Womb in the latest issue of Loch Raven Review.

https://thelochravenreview.net/eric-d-goodman-womb-a-novel-in-utero-reviewed-by-thomas-dorsett/