Reviewed by Mick
A Leap of Faith
Reviewed by Mick
A leap of faith examines a man who is on a precipice (physically and metaphorically). He contemplates his life - present, past and future and reflects his emotions with the natural environment about him. Throw in a nasty little testamur and you have drama.
I found this story one of the hardest I have had to review. There were moments here when I was dazzled by some of the descriptive skills of the author and then others when my eyes glazed over and the room started spinning. This story is very heavy going and at times I felt it became a little self-indulgent. But there were moments when the words were beautiful and insightful. There is a struggle here and an interesting story to be told but I felt that it went just a little too long. Yet it is carefully constructed and I especially like the way the story began and ended swearing.
Some of the writing over used the environment and the physical nature of the story. At times the writing became repetitive - that nasty testamur seemed hell bent on drawing blood. It cut the protagonist's foot with a shard of glass and then splintered his finger only moments later and "Immediately blood begins to flow". Another shard of glass pierces his upper torso. Then whilst kicking the frame along the edge of a cliff the protagonist inadvertently falls over and does some more damage to himself.
The testamur is used metaphorically to represent the crucifixion of Christ and as the protagonist rises from his fall over the cliff we see the resurrection. At least that's what I read into the story (I hope it's there or I'm back to the doctor and those ink blots again!). I just found the physical probabilities of the testamur a bit of a stretch.
I use this example of the testamur to illustrate the point of "over cooking" some writing. Instead of becoming a powerful tool for narrative development it borders on the precipice of tedium. However this story is not really about physical nature it is about the complexities of inner life. A story about faith. Faith in oneself, faith in the church and faith in a life here after. The inner turmoil is dealt with quite nicely and occasionally is inspired.
There are some suggestions I might offer to improve this story. Cut it down, maybe even by half. Work on the testamur and make the physical interaction believable.
Overall I found it difficult to identify with the situation the protagonist found himself in. A short story needs to touch you some place and turn some lights on. If this tale can reach you then you are in for a treat and you will probably disagree with my comments regarding the overuse of some passages.
You're either going to love this story or .... not. Worth a look.
Reviewed by © Mick
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