Goodreads 5 Star Review for Syncopated Rhythm
5 Star Review on Goodreads
Jan 31, 2016
Jan 31, 2016
The most razor-sharp prose I’ve read in years. While I loved James Halat’s other two books, I wasn’t prepared for the art and beauty of Syncopated Rhythm.
I work my way through the big books, the prize-listed books, the 600-page books, we all do, looking for a scintilla of the humanity Mr. Halat has produced in this (as far as I can tell) all-but-unknown work. The reader is given a main character unflinchingly self-aware, deeply perceptive of those around him, and descriptions of the world he moves through – textures, sounds, tastes, light, darkness – that are so perfect that I want more. But more would be too much. Somehow Mr. Halat knew that.
I can’t recommend this book strongly enough, especially to a reader who may be running as fast as she or he can to read every book that comes along trying to find something real, something true. A character who lives his own life on his own terms, not always joyfully, but always with an eye for things that make a day worth living.
Here I sit, surrounded by books, and I can’t imagine what I can possibly read next that will measure up to Syncopated Rhythm. I need to spend a couple of hours in front of a Mark Rothko.
EDIT: Six stars. The more I've read after this, the more I appreciate Syncopated Rhythm, its intricacies, its sensuality, its utter uniqueness. The deeply marled and engrossing solitude of its main character. This book needs to be read.
I work my way through the big books, the prize-listed books, the 600-page books, we all do, looking for a scintilla of the humanity Mr. Halat has produced in this (as far as I can tell) all-but-unknown work. The reader is given a main character unflinchingly self-aware, deeply perceptive of those around him, and descriptions of the world he moves through – textures, sounds, tastes, light, darkness – that are so perfect that I want more. But more would be too much. Somehow Mr. Halat knew that.
I can’t recommend this book strongly enough, especially to a reader who may be running as fast as she or he can to read every book that comes along trying to find something real, something true. A character who lives his own life on his own terms, not always joyfully, but always with an eye for things that make a day worth living.
Here I sit, surrounded by books, and I can’t imagine what I can possibly read next that will measure up to Syncopated Rhythm. I need to spend a couple of hours in front of a Mark Rothko.
EDIT: Six stars. The more I've read after this, the more I appreciate Syncopated Rhythm, its intricacies, its sensuality, its utter uniqueness. The deeply marled and engrossing solitude of its main character. This book needs to be read.
Grreat post
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