Review by Amprye -- McDowell by William H. Coles

Amprye · Post by **Amprye** » 24 Apr 2018, 10:59

[Following is a volunteer review of "McDowell" by William H. Coles.]

3 out of 4 stars

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Hello all!

This is my first review, but I'm happy that I chose the book McDowell by William H. Coles to do it! I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. This book was very good, and had an ending I did not quite expect. I don't want to spoil anything for the people who are to read the book in the future, but it was very well written and that made it so much better to follow through with. I love that the book had illustrations that indicated part of what was to come in the next chapter/section, which almost made it like a children's book for adults. The photo almost foreshadowed the following chapter, which I thought was very cool and fairly unique for a book this long (it was over 300 pages). The book is very descriptive, which makes it very easy to imagine the landscape and what is taking place on the mountain and in all the various parts. For example, the horrible main character who cheats on his wife has an affair with someone that he meets in a music club. The book is so descriptive that you almost feel as if you are in the room with them.

Just to give a little more detail, the main character's mission is to climb every peak above 8000 meters in Nepal. The family dynamic is very interesting with one daughter and one stepdaughter that barely speak to their dad, a stepson who embraces his dad, and a wife who is pretty complacent in their marriage. It is sometimes difficult to follow the story, especially in the beginning with the introduction of many characters, but the longer you read the easier it gets. However, It disgusted me that the main character, Hiram, is cheating on his wife, but disgusted me even more that his wife, Carole, was mad that he was cheating with a woman of Color as opposed to just being mad at the fact that he was cheating. I'm not 100% sure when the book was written or of what background that William H. Coles is, but there are definitely some racially insensitive undertones throughout the book.

The main character is a man who is always trying to get ahead at whatever means necessary, like him making false promises to colleagues to get votes for a directorship, so maybe it was the author's intent to give someone with such a horrible personality a wife with one just as disgusting. Also, I know I'm harping a lot on this, but it also disgusted me that the main character cheated on his wife and continues to pursue other women shamelessly throughout the book. Not to reveal too much, but he even misses his wife's birthday to cheat on her! What a pig! It's no wonder he's been married three times!

Referring back to the writing of the book, there were some very minor errors. One of the characters mentions there were only two neurosurgeons in the 1960's and last year there were 200 and then proceeds to say that is a 100% increase. But I think that is a mistake because it is actually a 1000% increase. There was also another typo on page twenty. The author forgot to put a period after a sentence. It reads: "I want to believe it," she said, where after the word said there should definitely be a period. But other than these minor things I did not see any other typos and think the book is definitely worth a read for some intense fiction. Curling up with this book on a rainy day would be a very pleasant delight.

Best,
Amira

******
McDowell
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Chimereucheya Okoroafo · Post by **Chimereucheya Okoroafo** » 11 Jun 2022, 09:51

Wonderful review, I must confess. For a first, you were able to convince me about this book. And although you did not use the review of most reviews on this site, I still liked it.