4 out of 4 stars
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Every once in a while, we get to read books that would change how we see life. Rich Marcello brought such change in his literary fiction novel, The Beauty of the Fall. It explores ponderous issues such as overcoming grief, gender-based violence, and fighting one’s demons.
The book introduces us to the life of Daniel Underlight. After his divorce and his only son’s death (which he blamed himself for), he threw himself to work. He was in grief and he depended on his job to erase the pain. When his friend and RadioRadio co-founder, Olivia Whitmore, fired him, he thought his life was over. The only one he had to rely on was Willow. She was a poet, a women's rights campaigner, and Dan's closest friend. With her help, Dan found meaning in life again. He decided to visit the headquarters of the Fortune 500 companies across America. His visits and experiences helped him shape his start-up idea.
Dan recruited three former associates and started ConversationWorks. The company enabled real-time conversations of people in a virtual conference room. People could talk about solving substantial problems in the world. In a way, the company helped foster social change on a global scale. ConversationWorks, or CW, garnered initial successes after its launch. Yet, it also attracted enemies, with Olivia in the lead.
The Beauty of the Fall was an insightful and intellectual read. Dan’s team often talked about the possible benefits and drawbacks of their actions. Additionally, the poems in the book were heart-warming. Willow was a poet and she was the source of most of the poems in the book. Dan used those poems as inspiration and guidance when making critical decisions. The author put together an awesome set of characters.
Maggie, Charles, Zia, and Willow were the perfect set of friends for someone like Dan. They had varied perspectives when it comes to deciding what’s best for CW. They argue and voice out their concerns. In the end, they based their final decisions on the code of conduct that Dan made for the company. Plus, they never forget to listen to their employees. They were busy executives, but they care about their employees and consumers. They’re not difficult to love at all.
There are also profound lessons that readers could glean from the book. Anything I say here might spoil it for the readers. Instead, I will share my favorite line in the book: "Everything is emerging exactly as it needs to." While Dan did not understand this at first, he learned what it meant as the story progressed.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Beauty of the Fall. There were no grammatical or typographical errors so it did not disrupt my reading. There was moderation in the flow of the story: there were time skips, but it was minimal. Be warned though that some form of self-harming is present in the book. It was not graphic, but some readers may find it a bit disturbing.
With all these things in consideration, I give The Beauty of the Fall 4 out of 4 stars. This is for readers who love an intellectual read with profound life lessons and a host of inspiring characters.
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The Beauty of the Fall
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