Review: Sketches of Alice by Laeth
With a new Laeth book coming soon, and me toiling away on a longer writing project, I thought it would be a great time to share this brief review of his most recent work, Sketches of Alice. [ ebook / paperback / goodreads ] This is a beautiful book, and you can read it quickly, just in time for the next one which I am very excited to get my hands on when it is released. If you’re not familiar with Laeth, he is a true original. If he was not a friend his writing would still be a personal favorite. Review below…
If you have read Laeth’s other books, you will not be prepared for this one. Sketches of Alice is a vibe like nothing that I’ve ever experienced. It is difficult to even explain it, though I will make an attempt at it. Reading it put me in an unusual mood. The story felt like a concept jazz album, where each chapter was a different track. I have rarely felt a story as strongly as this one. The places were real. The conversations were real. The people were real.
I internally rebelled at the unusual premise, a love story about a young man, and a woman twenty years older, but that was part of the magic and tragedy of this book. The characters felt too real to simply alter them for the audience’s sake.
The greatest crime an author can commit is to be boring, and this book was never in the remotest danger of that. It’s a page turner from start to finish, and it’s a quick read. You will feel yourself transported through an old and fascinating place, with sights, sounds, and society to grab your attention at every turn. Jazz is a major theme, but you need not be a fan of the genre to enjoy this book. You don’t need to be a fan of whaling to enjoy Moby Dick either but perhaps it helps.
As a fan of the author, this one really caught me off guard by showing a whole new side of his writing talent that I was unaware he possessed. Where his last books were supernatural, religious, grandiose, and allegorical even, this one was messy, human, and intimate. The characters didn’t represent anything or anyone other than themselves. And that is what life is all about. Real people. Not ideas.
If the author or anything about this book interests you, l recommend giving it a try. You can fly through it in a few days, like I did, or probably one sitting even.
thank you Sean :)