Something of a Reader's Challenge
936333
There are two distinct story lines in the first DCI Cyril Bennett series, and while I expected them to converge, they never did.  One is a tale of revenge, making those pay for transgressions upon the elderly, the infirm.  At its beginning, it was difficult to know just what was in the character's mind and where the story was going.  If you persevere, it does become clear.  This thread was the best part of the novel, to me.  The second is a long ago crime (1970's) that is discovered through the unearthing of two baby skeletons.  Not only does this crime date back almost 50 years, those responsible have continued a life of crime and debauchery, benefiting by human trafficking, prostitution, and organ harvesting while maintaining seemingly blameless lives.  This part of the book was less believable, less compelling, and I found myself skimming some parts, especially the very graphic descriptions of crime scenes and the commission of the crimes committed against those trafficked individuals.  I considered calling it quits,but I did want to find out the final act in the first case.  It did end rather spectacularly and fittingly.  I did like the DCI Bennett character, but he was not sufficiently drawn - I had no idea how old he is supposed to be, no real feeling for him, other than his nattiness and temporary Bell's palsy.  A number of times, he would say, " I'll do that tomorrow, if I don't forget," implying age?  There were some peculiar language errors that caused me to see if this book was a translation - no sir, this author hales from the locale of the book.  One instance, "Her vision were clouded;" another misuse of benefactor for beneficiary.  These lapses were often enough to be jarring.  I did like the writing style and the main character has promise, so I may try one more installment.
3679742
Let me begin by saying that Baty is not himself known as a novelist. Rather, he is the creator of a month-long, repeat-performance writer's "contest," in which novelists "contract" to write 50,000 words in 30-31 days -- in other words, some 1600+ words (or 7-8 pages of typescript) per day. this is approximately the length that lifts a story from the category of novella to (barely) that of novel. His schtick is to urge the writer to....well, write -- without, at first, paying much attention to the ongoing output. He claims that the process of undertaking such an intensive writing experience will yield writer's gold -- not necessarily in $$ terms, but in the discovery of plot and character. Maybe he's right. Confession: I have neither taken this challenge, nor have I yet finished the book, hence my equivocal review. And as a painstaking writer, I'm somewhat skeptical of Baty's quick-and-dirty approach as a worthwhile starting point for a serious novelist. But I also have found myself making more use of a highlighter as a read along, so on balance, I'd say this book is worth a look, at least.
1277834
To the one to three star reader, especially those that degraded his writing who obviously don't believe in the Nation Book Award, the Pulitzer Prize, a film for a book and a number of other awards. He is not an easy read which is probably beyond their IQ and or education. But he is a highly regarded by critics, award judges and intelligent readers. So for those of you that appreciate great writing and are willing to put in the effort, the reward is great.
465187
Some books are long, and therefore too imposing to open.  Other books are long and imposing, but curiosity compels the reader to open the pages, which soon tells the reader the initial reaction was correct.  Others are long and imposing, but curiosity or word of mouth compels the reading, after which the reader is not fully satisfied.  And, then there are the great novels - look big to easily hold - but worth every page of reading.&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/War-and-Peace/dp/0199232768/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">War and Peace</a>,<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Don-Quixote/dp/1466247843/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Don Quixote</a>,<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Gone-with-the-Wind/dp/1451635621/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Gone with the Wind</a>&nbsp;are a few.

This is not another of the great novels. This is a very good novel - but the story is difficult to sell.  It is not about the greatest issues of life like pitting man in the most difficult of situations - e.g. war delivering young people into adulthood in nanoseconds.

This is about the northeast.  Many may not like that.  It is about tennis bums.  Others may not like that.  It has a lot of social commentary about the people around the main characters which remind me of J.D. Salinger.  Acidic prose of bile cleverly displaying great insight of the corroded mind of the perplexing young man.

After reading that last sentence, you may ask yourself - do I want to rifle through hundreds of pages of northeastern establishment sarcasm regarding people in the late 20th century?  And, the insider's angle of this novel is Joyce-esque - a glossary of many pages is at the end of the book to explain names, people, labels and more so that the reader can understand what the colloquial or extremely local references mean.

And, as someone who trudged through&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Ulysses/dp/0679722769/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Ulysses</a>&nbsp;and other novels by Joyce, I can say that passages of this meet that high level.  But, when it comes to lying down with a nice book to comfort me during a rainy day - endless pages about neurological paranoia trumped by sarcastic wit and other impersonal characteristics are not what I crave to read in my spare time.  So, like Joyce, this is not a novelist whose works  I seek to dive into.  But, I  must say such a novel is one people should attempt to read.  It is that extremely well written.

In the end, I was done.  I am no better a person for having read it, and probably all of my friends have not read it, and a majority of my friends have never heard of it.  And, that is not their loss nor is it my gain. And, for that reason, I will not recommend this to others.  This literary swim is a decision they must decide to make on their own.
4122916
Not an easy book to read but an important one.
2214345
A useful and challenging, yet difficult to garner all the information to process and interpret. Nonetheless, the effort is worth the engagement in order to achieve the outcomes recommended in this dense and informative book.
4815083
Powerful reading for researchers willing to take a challenging and against-the-norm research approach.
2830570
An inspiring work of words and how we can use them. I was taken aback with the secret of the book. The hidden treasures that are throughout the work double every time I read it. I must say that the book is deceiving in its appearance, it looks simple, but it's far from easy. There are things to locate and unravel at the turn of every page. I found this work to be an interesting challenge to my thought on poetry and how it can work for the writer.

Love & poetry
1940966
In 'Philosophy', Rahmel Garner is trying to give his readers a new outlook on life. Garner is attempting to have the reader answer some deep questions about themselves such as who a person is, what they are, what their purpose is, and so much more. The focus here isn't on understanding society or a higher power but understanding one's self.

The viewpoint isn't for everyone and writing in a few areas seems to fall apart from overly used words or phrases.

How does it read though? I felt that some of the writing had a lack of examples to truly communicate what he was trying to say. There were areas which sounded more like preaching or sermon and trying to convince people of his belief system than to open one's eyes as to why it is true. Another part that worked against this was a tone that almost seemed to belittle the readers who disagreed with this viewpoint.

It is absolutely a different philosophy on life with some golden nuggets in it but with my complaints above it would be hard for many readers to make it to the book's conclusion.
580574
Somewhat difficult reading, and I had to read it a couple times to get out of it what I think the author intended.
3725288
Both my husband and I are having trouble really getting into the book.  While at spots interesting and written in a poetic manner, it is not welcoming and urging us to continue to read it.  Perhaps this is true because we do not have already enough background information to make it less difficult to read.  This despite the fact that I do have a general historical background that should make it easier.  Or it is because the style of the writer takes a lot of getting used to.  We hope to persist.
3400670
This book is extremely challenging to read because of the regional accents of the characters. It even says it is rewarding for those who will take the time to read it.
1028659
It looks like a jigsaw puzzle. Because author disregard the sequence of narration, we have to recover it in our brain. It belomgs perhaps to one of most difficult novels.
1192774
I rated it as challenging because, with several story lines, the reader can't put it down for too long without losing track. Although I would have to re-read a couple of pages each time I picked it back up, I won't be deleting it any time soon because I expect to read it a few more times simply because I enjoyed it that much.
I would recommend it to anyone that enjoys a good story told well.
2737214
This is not a book for readers who require a fairly conventional narrative with everything tied up neatly at the end.  It is, however, a book that keeps raising questions all the way to the end, with the biggest question coming at the very end of the tale.  It will have you talking to other readers of literary fiction who have read the book.  The prose is crisp and fairly straight forward, but not without a few quirks of style. Although not a difficult read, it requires one's attention for it to resonate most fully.  As for plot details, check out some of the other reviews and the Publishers Blurb
4119371
Many books recently seem to offer a step-by-step process to the Christian faith (Osteen's "Your Best Life Now") or a spititual pep-rally (McManus' "The Barbarian Way"), yet "Velvet Elvis" offers the reader something quite different: a challenge.  In this book, Bell's purpose is not to hit you upside the head with page after page of his own practical theology - it is to make you question yours.

Bell's style is captivating and his words are thought provoking.  By diging into the Jewish history behind scripture and challenging the church's attitude towards serving others, the reader will find "Elvis" hard to put down. Most importantly, the reader is encouraged to never stop testing and probing what they hear or read, including this book.  Perhaps those who find themselves disagreeing with what the author writes should take a moment to realize that in doing so - Bell has already achieved his goal.
225531
Written to challenge and to entertain-- and succeeds remarkably.