Days After the Crash (Audible Audio Edition) Joshua Fields Millburn, Monty Lewis Sauerwein, Asymmetrical Press Books
Download As PDF : Days After the Crash (Audible Audio Edition) Joshua Fields Millburn, Monty Lewis Sauerwein, Asymmetrical Press Books
There is wreckage in the rearview. Jody Grafton's world is crumbling around him.
To get away from it all, Jody moves from his native Ohio to Brooklyn to sort through the rubble of his self-indulgent 20s. His marriage is over. His new girlfriend is pregnant. And his career as a pseudo-famous singer-songwriter has fallen apart gone is his record deal, his money, his fame - even his desire to create new music. While he stares at the ruins of his musical career, his mother becomes ill, and Jody starts drinking heavily to deaden his new reality. After months of struggle, he attempts to put the pieces of his life back together the only way he knows how through music.
Days After The Crash is a novella about a troubled man struggling to reconcile the demons of his past. To fade the scars of the last decade, Jody must face his self-inflicted wounds head-on if he plans to discover a brighter future on the horizon. But does he have the strength to piece his life back together?
Days After the Crash (Audible Audio Edition) Joshua Fields Millburn, Monty Lewis Sauerwein, Asymmetrical Press Books
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Days After the Crash (Audible Audio Edition) Joshua Fields Millburn, Monty Lewis Sauerwein, Asymmetrical Press Books Reviews
Two things first
1) It is hard to put yourself out there, in any medium. To do so opens yourself to praise, as well as criticism. I commend Joshua for putting himself out there.
2) I am not a reader of Josh's theminimalist.com blog. My wife is though, and that's how I became aware of this novella. If you haven't read Josh's blog you may find my review to be coming from a more neutral place, given that many of the reviews seem to be a little over the top (comparisons to Picasso and Faulkner for example).
I'm mostly going to focus on the foreword because the author's opinions on storytelling affect the novella greatly
1) "'Nobody reads fiction anymore. The novel is dead. Nobody has time to read made-up stories these days.' We've all been told these lies for years". ***I've never heard this before in my life. For instance Fantasy, James Patterson's stuff, Harry Potter, Twilight, Hunger Games, etc.
2) "While genre fiction - vampire, teen, paranormal, and the like - may have given birth to a new kind of readership, not nearly as many people read serious, literary fiction in today's busy, entertainment saturated world." ***This made me leery because it suggested that the author saw his kind of work as the only work that matters.
3) "...literary fiction is the only creation that can provide an exchange of consciousness between its author and its reader, conveying raw emotion and internal feeling far better than Hollywood movies... or even narrative nonfiction." ***This is an incredibly - and I wish I could use a different word - arrogant statement. Watch Life is Beautiful or Saving Private Ryan and tell me those don't convey raw emotion. Also, there is no exchange between author and reader in a book; it is a one way street. A lot of people are going to dismiss this entire review based on my next comment, but like them or hate them the only true "exchange" in a creative medium is in video games, given that they actually alter the content based on the person's experience. BTW, in the interest of full disclosure I am a game designer, although this doesn't preclude me from reading a tremendous amount of fiction, including "literary fiction". I assume Dickens, Dumas, and Austen suffice Josh's standards.
4) "...this book is short, but it's also reasonably difficult; it can be read in a few sittings, though you'll also be challenged by its more rigorous aspects like, for example, the 714-word sentence that ends the first chapter - a sentence I spent a month crafting." ***Nobody knows how long a sentence was unless they meant it to be long. And it's a good paragraph, don't get me wrong - I understand the intention of building momentum through that sentence. But you shouldn't KNOW the sentence length unless that was important to you, and that is the case here. Also... why on earth would you WANT your writing to be perceived as challenging to read?
So in general? This is a story about writing, and by that I mean that the author was more interested in writing a piece of "serious, literary fiction" than an entertaining novella. The words are heavy and overwrought, often sacrificing meaning for a clever turn of phrase. Metaphor and simile are cast about like confetti at a wedding that is beautiful in its creation, but cold and dormant in its aftermath (see what I did there?).
At any rate, if you liked the short stories they made you read in high school this will knock your socks off. Otherwise I'll leave you with a quote from one of those companies that is incapable of "conveying raw emotion and internal feeling"
"You gotta keep in mind what's interesting to you as an audience, not what's fun to do as a writer. They can be very different."
- Pixar
I agree with the reviewers who claim that the author is going overboard with the metaphors and similes. I have the feeling that Josh is constantly trying to show how clever he is and injecting himself into the story. Fiction should flow more smoothly and let the reader develop his own thoughts and feelings. There is no need to spoon feed everyone. As with Josh's last book, this one could have been vastly improved by editing away all the fluff and flowery phrases. Read Hemingway or Cormac McCarthy, and you'll see how it should be done. The "faded rock star" main character is also quite cliche, along with some of his experiences and the horrendous song lyrics that are pasted in every once in a while. That being said, some parts are very well written. Those parts are the ones where Josh simply lets the writing flow, without trying too hard. The part where the main character gets a hysterical call from his alcoholic mother and then goes to see her seems very "true." I'd venture to say that it was based on Josh' own experience, an experience so powerful that he for a moment forgot about his own troubles and saw the world more clearly, without the constant filter of thinking, analyzing, trying to impress, etc.
Wow...okay, so first (and surprisingly) there are a lot of words in this short story...a lot of words.
Example
"Taverns such as this one carried a desolation that swept aside words and dull sentiment. The troubled man asked the barkeep for another round-a shot and a pint. He coiled his fingers through the mug's handle; his eyes weren't his own when he peered down at the liquid inside. The mug was filled with hope. He closed his eyes and brought it to his ready lips. It tasted like truth, though he knew it was filled with lies, as the truth often is...."
So yeah, a LOT of words. It felt almost like the author was going for profound, but missed the mark and for me at least, it ended up killing much of the story's potential power and emotion.
DAYS AFTER THE CRASH is probably best described as a self-reflective write up of an individual who rises from a damaged home life and somehow manages to overcome his bad hand and "make it big"; only to see all he has accomplished in his young life to come crashing back down around him. And finally, while cogitating on his many mistakes, he is slowly rebuilding his life again.
In the end, did I love it?...No. Like it?...Yes, I did like it. It's obvious Millburn knows how to write, but I personally felt a lack of connection to the character and think it might have been a stronger more enticing read if all those words were spread out a bit. As is, the compactness of the novella felt unnecessarily... heavy.
I wanted to like this - I read his blog and downloaded this during the free offer period. My actual rating would be 1.5 stars, as I waiver between hating it & not liking it.
Unfortunately, I never was able to establish any connection with the characters or the mindset; in fact, I was ready to quit reading when I realized I was almost through with the book, so I read the remaining couple of pages. As others said, it appears the author believes literary fiction merits the term if he writes a lot of big words, overdoes the imagery, and includes some very long sentences. I didn't find the syntax or overblown language believable as being how the protagonist would actually think, even if he is a song writer. A few specific phrases just didn't make any sense to me. I think Joshua would benefit from going through a publishing house (& the rejection slips & editorial support that involves) or at least working with an established editor rather than going the direct self-pub route.
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