The Fruit of Stone

This is the first book I've tried by this Author and I'm not sure I'll try another. I read the two reviews available and thought it sounded great. This book was frustrating for me. Although there was much indulgent detail about rocks, trees, water and the breeze, there didn't seem to be much about the characters! I felt there was little character development and it left me unable to engage. The switching back and forth between childhood and the present was not done with clear transitions at all and was a little irritating.

i like this better than "Unfinished Life," the characters are more fully realized and engaging... now i want mark spragg to write a book about ansel's life! it's also a delight to me because the men's pilgrimage in search of the elusive Gretchen takes them through some of my favorite parts of the country, so it's a bit like a tiny visit back home to read it. the dialog is excellent, but when he tries to get all poetic and lyrical he invites comparison with Cormac McCarthy, and that writes a check his prose can't cash. i must whinge a bit about spragg's narrating his own book: not a good choice. he's a writer, not a reader. his delivery is rather monotonic, and he runs out of breath in the damnedest places, which causes stops and gasps that disrupt the flow and interrupt your chain of thought as you listen. he does, however, get big points for pronouncing both Dubois (DOO-boys) and Absarokas (ab-SOAR-kas) correctly! :-)

I really enjoyed this book. I hope someday there is a sequel.