Review of The Slippery Road.
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Mike011
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Review of The Slippery Road.
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Slippery Road." by L. M. Bollers.]
The Slippery Road by L. M. Bollers is a non-fictional narrative that delves into the lives of Monty and his family right from his childhood in British Guyana. It explains how they lived amidst all sorts of challenges like violence, poverty, political turmoil, and racism. Monty was born into a family of nine to Ewart and Elizabeth Bollers. Ewart, his dad, worked as a civil engineer with the city's Public Works Department. He was a drunkard, smoker, and lady's man, attributes that were completely contrasted to those of his wife Elizabeth, who was God-fearing, decent, hardworking, and faithful. When Ewart could no longer find good-paying projects, he resigned. Soon there were severe cuts in household allowances, and they had to limit their spending.
Later on, Ewart collapsed at his new job and was rushed to the hospital. His drunkenness and smoking led him to suffer from liver cirrhosis and kidney infections. He soon passes on. A week after he died, his family moved to their new home, which he had acquired at Agricola. To Mavis, life was more tough in the absence of her husband. She, however, managed to raise her kids on her own. Her strong, devoted, and prayerful nature helps her go through the struggle. The author says that, from a young age, he was exposed to violence and crime in their street. It was most intensified during the political and racial tension in their country, where he witnessed a lot of robbery, looting, and bloodshed from frequent attacks on people. He even started picking up bad behaviours like smoking and gambling, which were flared by his father's absence, who used to whip him whenever he wronged. Being the oldest man in the house at the age of 12, he did various jobs.
I was thrilled by the smooth flow of the book. It actually impressed me most, as it draws readers maximum attention. His narration was excellent and exceptional, which made it easy to follow the events in the book. There was little suspense. The author employed humour in his narration, which made it more interesting. One particular part that left me laughing was when the author says that they were brought up under colonial rule, referring to the strict rules of his dad. I was impressed by how the author was detailed in his description. However, in my opinion, the characters were not well developed, for instance, his mother. There was no background information provided about her that could give us more information about her.
Nevertheless, I find this book a top-notch read. It is a very interesting book, and I was absorbed by it right from the beginning. Apart from the flaw I have mentioned, I didn't dislike anything else in the book. It was well edited and original. Based on the reasons mentioned above, I gladly rate The Slippery Road by L. M. Bollers 5 out of 5 stars.
This book should definitely be a must-read for non-fiction lovers. There are profane words used, and I thus recommend it to those over 13 years of age.
******
The Slippery Road.
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
The Slippery Road by L. M. Bollers is a non-fictional narrative that delves into the lives of Monty and his family right from his childhood in British Guyana. It explains how they lived amidst all sorts of challenges like violence, poverty, political turmoil, and racism. Monty was born into a family of nine to Ewart and Elizabeth Bollers. Ewart, his dad, worked as a civil engineer with the city's Public Works Department. He was a drunkard, smoker, and lady's man, attributes that were completely contrasted to those of his wife Elizabeth, who was God-fearing, decent, hardworking, and faithful. When Ewart could no longer find good-paying projects, he resigned. Soon there were severe cuts in household allowances, and they had to limit their spending.
Later on, Ewart collapsed at his new job and was rushed to the hospital. His drunkenness and smoking led him to suffer from liver cirrhosis and kidney infections. He soon passes on. A week after he died, his family moved to their new home, which he had acquired at Agricola. To Mavis, life was more tough in the absence of her husband. She, however, managed to raise her kids on her own. Her strong, devoted, and prayerful nature helps her go through the struggle. The author says that, from a young age, he was exposed to violence and crime in their street. It was most intensified during the political and racial tension in their country, where he witnessed a lot of robbery, looting, and bloodshed from frequent attacks on people. He even started picking up bad behaviours like smoking and gambling, which were flared by his father's absence, who used to whip him whenever he wronged. Being the oldest man in the house at the age of 12, he did various jobs.
I was thrilled by the smooth flow of the book. It actually impressed me most, as it draws readers maximum attention. His narration was excellent and exceptional, which made it easy to follow the events in the book. There was little suspense. The author employed humour in his narration, which made it more interesting. One particular part that left me laughing was when the author says that they were brought up under colonial rule, referring to the strict rules of his dad. I was impressed by how the author was detailed in his description. However, in my opinion, the characters were not well developed, for instance, his mother. There was no background information provided about her that could give us more information about her.
Nevertheless, I find this book a top-notch read. It is a very interesting book, and I was absorbed by it right from the beginning. Apart from the flaw I have mentioned, I didn't dislike anything else in the book. It was well edited and original. Based on the reasons mentioned above, I gladly rate The Slippery Road by L. M. Bollers 5 out of 5 stars.
This book should definitely be a must-read for non-fiction lovers. There are profane words used, and I thus recommend it to those over 13 years of age.
******
The Slippery Road.
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: The Prison of Power by G Michael Smith
