When
Phil Rossi first asked me to review
his novella, Soldier Hill, I have to
admit, I was a little skeptical. First
off, it’s YA, and you people know how I feel about YA. Secondly, it’s a novella, and to me, novellas
often smack of author ambiguity and indecision—as if they started to write a
novel and didn’t know what to do with it after a while, so they just cut it off
and called it a novella (for this presupposition, just or unjust as it may be,
I blame Stephen
King). And three, it’s an indie
title. Any one—or even two—of those
caveats, and I probably wouldn’t have had the same reaction. But all three? No way, Jose.
I was all set to run for the hills, but Phil managed to convince me to
give it a shot. He was in need, he said,
of some honest feedback, and he thought he could get it from my corner of the
blogosphere. And as I always say,
flattery will get you everywhere.
Now
that I’ve read it, I’m really glad I caved.
Soldier Hill is the story of two
teenage boys living in the 1980s in… well, I don’t think it ever really
says. Maybe the Northeat somewhere? It doesn’t really matter. It could be anywhere in the U.S. , and it
wouldn't change the substance of the story one iota. That’s the point, I think—an “every man”
generic setting to better draw the reader into the story. Anyway, through the various trials and
tribulations of growing up as a social misfit (i.e., not one of the cool kids),
the boys take it upon themselves to save the memorial of a local soldier who
fell in the Vietnam War. The memorial, a
tree with a simple plaque, will soon be torn down to make room for an expansion
to their school.
A
simple enough story, right?
Heart-warming, nostalgic, and a bunch of other words you’d use for a
made-for-TV movie on the Hallmark channel.
In other words, something I wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole. And truly, I probably would have dropped it
like a bad habit had it not been for Rossi’s style and diction. Look-ee here and you’ll see what I mean.
“I left worried for
him. The early night, already so black
and blue. Old Crow his cut man, patching
and gauzing. Joe was my friend, and I
was his. Like that night over Normandy , so long
ago. He’d crash the dark drop, not
knowing where he’d land. I knew he’d land. I knew he’d be in for a tough one. I prayed he could bob and weave these demons,
round by round.”
To quote a Guiness commercial, “Brilliant!” The entire book was like that—short, dense sentences chock full of metaphors and slang. It reminded me a lot of James Ellroy, which probably part of why I liked it so much. That being said, it’s also the reason why I say the Soldier Hill really doesn’t qualify as Young Adult fiction. Sure, it features teenagers as protagonists (and that seems to be the most stringent criteria for something being YA these days), but the writing level is a good bit higher than that of most teens. Would the book’s themes—civic responsibility, compassion toward one’s neighbors, and judging not by looks alone—sit well with a lot of young readers? Of course, but I worry they wouldn’t be able to grasp everything they were reading (such as what a “cut man” is), or worse, be turned off by the difficult to comprehend style.
With
that being said, Soldier Hill is a
story that just about anyone can read and find something to identify with. That’s part of its charm, I think. Rossi has a great grasp of character and
dialogue, and while the narrative had a flinty, hardboiled edge at times, it
worked well with the plot. Anyway, I
happen to like a flinty, hardboiled edge to my fiction (it adds a touch of Noir
to any literary dish!), so I didn’t mind.
As for how such a style fits in with a YA coming of age-type story,
well, it helped to reinforce the “legend in my own mind” vibe given off by the
young protagonist. I mean, the narrator
calls his bike a “chopper,” refers to authority figures by unflattering
epithets, and uses vast amounts of slang.
But who didn’t, when growing up, view the events of their lives with a
whole helluva lot more importance than they warranted? So in the end, the technique worked—for me, at
least. Like I said, I was familiar with the
style going into it. And while I’m not a
veteran myself, I have multiple family and friends who are, so the aspects of
the story about military service, sacrifice, and the honoring of that sacrifice
sat well with me. But then again, I
doubt there are many readers who would ever say that it didn’t. After all, this
is America . If you don’t at least give lip service to
supporting the troops, you look like an a-hole.
What
didn’t work for me? Well, the narrative
structure was a little messy for my tastes.
Oh, it came together at the end all right (saving the memorial tree and
all that), it just spent the first half of the book kind of meandering. And the meandering bit would have been fine
if the main narrative thread had been there from the beginning, but it wasn’t. It took a while to work up to it, and because
of that, the first half felt a bit aimless.
Then again, life as a teenager is kind of aimless to begin with, so what
do I know? There were a few typos and
grammatical errors that I noticed, as well as a couple of word choice
selections that confused me for a minute or two, but nothing major to report
overall.
At
one point during our email conversations, Phil did mention to me that other
reviewers had suggested fleshing out the characters a little bit with some
added wordage, but I disagree. I
appreciate a lean narrative style. It is
more efficient (most of the time), requires more artistic chops to pull off,
and more actively engages the reader.
During the reading of Soldier Hill
I got an accurate sense of the characters—who they were, how they thought,
why they did what they did. Rossi did it
with fewer words and more style than a lot of writers out there, and to dilute
it with unneeded fluff would only weaken the strong style and narrative form he’s
got going. If you want my advice (and I
assume Mr. Rossi does, considering he sent his book to me for review), I say change
the plot structure if you’re going to change anything. Or tweak it a little. Maybe give it the stinkeye for a while. Whatever.
Most of it’s great the way it is.
I give it four stars.
And
if Soldier Hill sounds like something
you might like, then hang around. In the
next few weeks I’ll be having Phil Rossi by for a chat and giveaway of his
work. We’ll do our best not to
disappoint.
I, like Mr. Rossi will go with your review because well you're good at it so you know I'll be back for the interview and giveaway.
ReplyDeleteAs always, you're too kind. I'll look forward to seeing you for the giveaway. Hopefully you'll win this time. Sorry the cards haven't fallen in your favor yet. :/
ReplyDeleteNo problemo I have bad luck on these things. A friend had a ton of giveaways on her blog I entered all and didn't win she even said statistically speaking I should have won at least one. Go figure but anyway one thing I don't know if you're aware or if you do this on purpose or just a frequent mistype but when you comment on my blog you sign it as Jomathan not Jonathan. I've been meaning to mention it and now is when I finally remember to do so. So yeah what's the deal Jomathan?
DeleteHa! Sorry about that. Most of the time that I read other blogs, it's when I'm at work. Anything social media-related here is blocked, so I have to read and comment with my phone. And since my phone has an on-screen keyboard and I have huge fingers, I'm prone to typos. I am normally a stickler for proper grammar and try too to fix all my mistakes, but sometimes I miss things or misread something (in the case of "Jomathan"). So if you see anything like that in the future, you can surmise I was posting from my phone.
Deletelol okay cool I just honestly found it hilarious that your name was spelled like that. I figured it had to be a mistype but I'm easily amused like that.
DeleteThis is a great review and, as always, I want to find and read this (I do love me a good novella) but I wanted to make a special comment about this sentence: "After all, this is America. If you don’t at least give lip service to supporting the troops, you look like an a-hole."
ReplyDeleteThat sort of brutal honesty takes some serious cajones, bro. Couldn't agree more.
Thanks, Ryan. And that's just one of the reasons I love you. Platonically, of course.
DeleteHey Jonathan,
ReplyDeleteI have nominated you for the Leibster blog award. Congrats!
Details on my post here: http://threecatsandagirl.blogspot.ca/2012/06/liebster-blog-award.html
Sarah :)
younk you Sarah, you're too kind!
DeleteThis is a really good review! I really enjoy going through your blog since I like finding new books.
ReplyDeletewww.modernworld4.blogspot.com
Jonathan,
ReplyDeleteGreat review. This sounds like an excellent book. It makes me think of 'The Things They Carried'-a book my 20 y.o. son convinced me to read. And, I'm glad. I'm entering the giveaway. Can't wait to read it and will review it as well.
All the best...
Great review Jonathan and kudos for reading the novella. I have a similar litmus test as you.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ManOfLaBook.com
Thanks, Z. Birds of a feather, I guess. :)
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I do have to the story did turn out pretty good, being as it helps you remember our soldiers back then and even now.
ReplyDeleteAt the end where there was a memorial put in remembrance to Billy and other soldier's I thought that was really sweet and caring. Especially with the change that was going on around in the town.
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