January River by Bernard JanMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
A masterclass in storytelling...
January River by Bernard Jan is a wonderfully written and richly descriptive novel with brilliantly drawn characters and settings. It’s a unique work that will captivate the reader from the opening chapter. Skillfully constructed, this well-written life affirming tale will have you turning the pages from beginning to end. There’s also plenty of imagery in the writing style that makes you feel you are right there in the story, and that’s something I look for in a good book.
This was a captivating read that had me immersed from the beginning. The story flowed from scene to scene with ease, and the author shows exceptional ability when it comes to storytelling. I enjoyed the story, character development, and dialogue. There were plenty of interesting moments that I didn’t see coming and that added to the book’s mystique. When I stopped reading to work, I found myself wondering what happened in the book, and replaying parts of the novel in my head to see if I could figure more out. It has been a while since I enjoyed a book this much.
There’s no doubt that January River is an exceptionally well written book. The contrast between tone and content is a characteristic talent of only a few authors. The author pays as much attention to his sentences as he does to his plots, shifting or consolidating meaning with the use of a single word. His writing is impeccably honed, full of juxtapositions and qualifications that help to create an allegory about fears and anxiety, about the place of the sensitive person, the thinker, the human, within society’s social order, in a world in which human beings are the only animals who despair of their lives.
It’s one of those books that come along occasionally that makes you want to read it non-stop until you get to the end. I’m giving nothing further away here. And this, I hope, will only add to the mystery and enjoyment for the reader. I’ll be looking forward to reading more from Bernard Jan in the future. I would highly recommend this book and would add that it has a distinctly cinematic feel to it. A well-deserved five stars from me.
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