Review by djr6090 -- Cooperative Lives by Patrick Finegan
4 posts
[Following is a volunteer review of "Cooperative Lives" by Patrick Finegan.]
[rbc=4]id375327-125[/rbc]
In the early part of the book, the affluent residents of the high-rise are introduced as selfish, preoccupied with career, or just self-indulgent. In succeeding parts, the writer does a good job of showing that people set apart by wealth still experience the trials and tribulations of common lives. He makes us empathize with them by using a closer look at the individuals involved. His character development shows a deep understanding of human nature.
Finegan situates his actors in realistic settings. They not only reside in New York; they interact with it. The author uses an introductory paragraph for each chapter to dramatize the crush of humanity. He depicts the crowds of pedestrians at a crossing, anticipating the Walk/Don’t Walk signs. Just as the surge of action ebbs and flows at the corner, so does the intersection of various lives in the story. The reader can feel the vitality of the metropolis.
Cooperative Lives contains a pictorial warning at chapter headings where the story is jumping forward or backward in time. The author’s red, yellow, and green mini-streetlights help keep you oriented and focused on uncovering the motivation and buried detail underlying the plot. I am probably not the only reader who skims past date headings in chapters. Too often have I had to flip back to register a character’s prior experiences to explain a current attitude. I am happy to say I did not get lost in time once, because of the author’s emphasis. He deserves gratitude for being so innovative.
The one thing I liked least was the vocabulary. I had to interrupt my concentration to look up a few twenty-five-dollar words. In the author’s own words, there are places where the narrative is, “marred in semantic hell.” One sentence reads, “Bonobos are frugivorous.” I still don’t know what a bonobo is.
Semantics aside, Cooperative Lives is complicated yet easy to understand. I thoroughly enjoyed the complexity. The few errors I found were minor typos, and the editing was professional. The overall message is that things are seldom what they seem at first glance. My rating is four out of four stars, with a recommendation to readers of mystery or espionage tales. My warning to this audience, though, is that Finegan’s Cooperative Lives are anything but cooperative.
******
Cooperative Lives
View: on Bookshelves |
In the early part of the book, the affluent residents of the high-rise are introduced as selfish, preoccupied with career, or just self-indulgent. In succeeding parts, the writer does a good job of showing that people set apart by wealth still experience the trials and tribulations of common lives. He makes us empathize with them by using a closer look at the individuals involved. His character development shows a deep understanding of human nature.
Finegan situates his actors in realistic settings. They not only reside in New York; they interact with it. The author uses an introductory paragraph for each chapter to dramatize the crush of humanity. He depicts the crowds of pedestrians at a crossing, anticipating the Walk/Don’t Walk signs. Just as the surge of action ebbs and flows at the corner, so does the intersection of various lives in the story. The reader can feel the vitality of the metropolis.
Cooperative Lives contains a pictorial warning at chapter headings where the story is jumping forward or backward in time. The author’s red, yellow, and green mini-streetlights help keep you oriented and focused on uncovering the motivation and buried detail underlying the plot. I am probably not the only reader who skims past date headings in chapters. Too often have I had to flip back to register a character’s prior experiences to explain a current attitude. I am happy to say I did not get lost in time once, because of the author’s emphasis. He deserves gratitude for being so innovative.
The one thing I liked least was the vocabulary. I had to interrupt my concentration to look up a few twenty-five-dollar words. In the author’s own words, there are places where the narrative is, “marred in semantic hell.” One sentence reads, “Bonobos are frugivorous.” I still don’t know what a bonobo is.
Semantics aside, Cooperative Lives is complicated yet easy to understand. I thoroughly enjoyed the complexity. The few errors I found were minor typos, and the editing was professional. The overall message is that things are seldom what they seem at first glance. My rating is four out of four stars, with a recommendation to readers of mystery or espionage tales. My warning to this audience, though, is that Finegan’s Cooperative Lives are anything but cooperative.
******
Cooperative Lives
View: on Bookshelves |
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