Logic

Rating:
Summary: I Now Know The Meaning of The Word "Transcendent"...
Review: ...because it's exactly what this brave book is. Its main character, an innocent girl named Logic who's been damaged in about every way a human person can be, nevertheless has her own internal logic, seasons, reasons, and yearning for God. She makes angel wings out of old coathangers, and the book really begins to hit its stride early on when she asks her defeated parents how to spell the word Heaven. Logic is pregnant by her own father; her mother, willfully ignorant, wishes Logic had died in that accident that damaged her brain. But there's nothing wrong with Logic's heart/soul, which knows unspeakable secrets. She gouges out the eyes of her doll and staples its lips shut. Even the family next door can't help her, especially after the prostitute mother dies and those kids' own fates are now up in the air. By the time you find out why Logic wants to spell Heaven, you'll be under a spell yourself in this dark dreamworld. Olympia Vernon writes like an angel new to planet earth, speaking languages of the soul, not the mind. Her words swoop like flight, fall like leaves, layer upon layer, in an almost painterly way: impressionistic, gut-wrenching, startlingly beautiful. Flashes of wit and love light up the darkness from time to time, but it always falls again and its only bright spot is Logic's inner radiance. It seems to me that Vernon has almost had to invent her own vocabulary here, because "dark" is not dark enough for this world, nor is "innocent" adequate to describe this lovely lamb-like child who is at the center of the novel. Vernon has had to find a way to go beyond conventional narration, and damn if she hasn't pulled it off. Her pages just bleed. You close the book, reach for a kleenex, and just go "Wow".

Rating:
Summary: A Lamb to Slaughter
Review: Abuse, neglect, resentment, and torture are all things that the title character in Olympia Vernon's LOGIC endures. While Logic is growing up, it seems that those around her are regressing. Logic's mother, Too, resents her for the attention Logic's father gives to his daughter. If Too could only see that that type of attention is the type that no one wants, perhaps she would be better equipped to care about her daughter the way a mother should. Logic is forced to go it alone, clinging to the faithful prayers to get her through as she kneels and hums her praises and pleas. While she dreams of angels and butterflies, her reality runs over with the blood of a sacrificial lamb, which happens to be herself.

Logic's story is heartbreaking, tragic, outrageous, and haunting. In many instances, I was caught off guard by some of the prose and it became difficult to concentrate on the storyline. However, it's my suspicion that Vernon wanted the characters to drive this book, rather than the plot or storyline. Logic and the people she knew left a mark on me; they were all so different, but in many ways, so much alike, but too blinded by their afflictions to recognize it. It seems to me that this is often the case in the real world. We have the most conflict with those who are reflections of ourselves. While the sequence of events these characters experienced was notable, it was their individual essences that left their marks on me.

In the end, I was able to piece it all together and was presented with a memorable reading experience. Vernon's works are not effortlessly consumed; it takes thought to comprehend the latent meanings behind her strings of words, her alphabet, as she calls it. There are still some things I would like to ask her about - things that escaped me. Nonetheless, this was not a novel that was just a story, it was one that was a lesson in literature.

Reviewed by CandaceK
of The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers


Rating:
Summary: Vernon Surpasses Herself
Review: In Olympia Vernon's new book, "Logic" she surpasses herself. She demonstrates genuine growth in her skills and maturity in her writing. "Logic" is quite a work of art and something for her to be proud.

In her first book, "Eden", she broke new ground in literature by writing in daring ways. There's an innocence and newness to her first book, a boldness that allows her to stand out. It's ludicrous for her to be compared to Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, or Richard Wright. Not only is her writing very different from theirs, but as she has stated many times at book signings and other public appearances, she has never read any of their books. Certainly there may be similiarities that can be drawn between this set of writers and Vernon simply because of their similar backgrounds (African-Americans and mostly 20th Century Southerners). However, her voice is so unique that such comparisons (in my opinion) are signs of laziness or prejudice on the part of any reviewer who would make them.

In her second and latest novel, "Logic" the innocence and rawness found in "Eden" is decidedly missing. It's a shame, but it was too be expected. A writer cannot remain unaffected by the natural personal growth that comes from time or unaffected by exposure to readers and reviewers. To my delight, however, Vernon compensates the reader with a more skillfully written novel. In "Eden" the first ten or so chapters are boldly written and are extremely engaging. About half way through the novel, however, the language softens and its challenging nature is replaced with poetic prose that makes one stop a few times per page to re-read and to appreciate marvelous phrases and sentiments. By contrast, "Logic" is thick with such poetic prose from start to finish, demonstrating Vernon's growth as a writer. Nearly every sentence is worthy of a re-read. There are some lines that even weeks after finishing reading the novel one will find oneself repeating and considering further.

Some readers find Vernon's artistry difficult and criticize her for it, accusing her writing of being incomprehensible at times. But, isn't that always the way with poetic prose? Don't most common readers balk at Shakespeare? For those who complain at the rough issues that Vernon makes the reader face, isn't it likely that they would also reject Dostoevskii's "Crime and Punishment"? And for those who find Vernon's challenging, rule-breaking style confusing, are they not the same people who would never read Laurence Sterne's "Tristram Shandy"?

For readers who can appreciate writing for which the very words themselves make you stop and ponder, for readers who aren't afraid to face real life problems of the poor and oppressed, for readers who have the intellectual agility to keep up with an original voice, I recommend they read "Eden" and "Logic". I recommend reading "Eden" first and then reading "Logic" in particular in solitude and at a leisurely pace so that you may enjoy its richness and so that you may consider it properly in the complete canon of literature.

Rating:
Summary: Undescribable
Review: It was the cover of Ms. Vernon's novel Logic that first caught my eye; it was her original prose that caught my brain and would not let go. I have met and emailed Ms. Vernon, and have found a refuge like one finds in a friend, in her words.
Logic is a tale of a people. Not a black southern people, but of a forgotten people. Logic speaks out about the people who are dying from the inside out, and they know it. These are the people that make up the majority of our society. Even the 13 year old protagonist fully understands her fate.
I still do not know if I like Logic like I like ice cream, but the words can not be ignored. Ms. Vernon's prose is different, you will not understand every single connection she is trying to make, but the journey is well worth it. I have not stopped thinking about the novel since I finished it,and I doubt I ever will.
This book is like nothing I have ever read. That, to me, is the greatest achievement of an author.

Rating:
Summary: Hauntingly Powerful!
Review: Logic
Olympia Vernon 5 stars

Vernon has once again woven a hauntingly powerful story with Logic, taking us back to the Deep South. Logic is the story about a young girl named Logic who hasn't been right she fell from a tree. Her mother Too, wishes Logic died from the fall. Now Logic barely speaks she prefers to hum instead. Her father who seems to be lost in the traffic of his own mind has taken a keen interest in Logic, with a gentle tap on her knee he leads her time and time again to the operating room and has his way with her. Logic holds this secret that she refers to has the butterflies floating inside. Because what happens to little girl sometimes happens to their dolls Logic staples Celesta's mouth closed so she can't speak, so she can't tell.. Celesta also holds the secret of the operating room.
Too, who is unable to get her husband to touch her takes the record player into the bathroom and listens to the Johnson's, Robert Johnson, which brings to mind the blues legend that sold his soul to the devil. With the magic of her own hand, Too gets lost in the blues. Logic becomes friends with the boy across the way; she calls him " The Tallest". The town folks call him the elephant boy because of his protruding forehead. Raised by a prostitute the Tallest struggles with his own sexual identity.
I fell in love with little Logic and her wild ways. She captured my heart and I was struck with fear for her at times. I liked the friendship of Logic and the Tallest, two outcasts lost in their own worlds.
Vernon's story of the strange happenings in the Deep South is powerful. The characters haunting. An even blend and well-balanced story that lingers in the mind.

Reviewed by
Dawn
Mahogany Book Club
(...)

Rating:
Summary: The Poetry of Logic
Review: My spirit gasped as I read the Prologue of Logic. The parallels of spirit and world, this life and His being in it. Olympia Vernon's voice is a moment standing still. The quiet and smooth grasp of a moment, in time. Logic Harris' innocence is like pinpricks in her belly, like the 'butterflies' fluttering inside her. She is a child, a daughter, a victim of her surroundings. These surroundings are not nurturing but numbing. Olympia's metaphor of the lamb reminds me of how every character needs to be picked up and mended by Him, spiritual imagery remains throughout the novel. Too Harris, the mother that no one wants to have or be. Logic, her daughter, helpless and simple. Born into a life without frills, without light; longing, unknowingly for light to burn through and shine on the darkness of this time, uncivilized. Its children, the products of un-civilization. The Tallest, a neighbor, although growing up with the love of his mama, must find his own way. The Tallest and Logic are a team together, unknowingly piecing their world together like a map. Logic's best friend, Celesta, is made of stuffing, stitching and sometimes staples. The Missis, employer of Too, tries to make good of the bad and the weakness she feels. There is an inner battle of spirit and man, between sin and what's right. This is underlined as a constant struggle with David and Too Harris. Logic is the constant reminder of how they are not the goodness that God wants. David Harris knows he is filled with the darkness of sin, he cannot stand near Logic when she prays. The day to day life in Valsin County, Mississippi is an eyeful of how death lives in life. Olympia Vernon's words are poetry running through these dark pages with sparks of light, like the lighting bugs (fireflies) trapped in the 'operating room'. Logic is the voice that can let them out by opening the window, her soul on every page. There are parts of this novel that will make you cringe. Your legs tingle with unbelief that this stark reality is even happening in your mind, in the world. The picture of words are slowly taking place in your imagination and you read, en-captured by the rawness of the text!

Rating:
Summary: Indecipherable Agony
Review: Nothing can describe the Creative Writing short story that this novel purports to be. The story lacks much, and in attempting to emulate more skilled literati like Angelou and Toni Morrison, Vernon has cut and pasted emotionally-invoking scenes without a clear method of comprehension. A regrettable waste of an afternoon.

Rating:
Summary: Logic: Another Vernon Masterpiece
Review: Olympia Vernon is a national talent that continues to eclipse the reader's consciousness with dizzying word portraits that tell with resounding truth of lives experienced without pity. Logic, her latest work, employs characters that exist within worlds built upon memory, perception, and traditions steeped in the South and the Western religious perspective. Vernon's words do not simply rise from the page; they take flight as words dissolve into metaphorical and allegorical geographies of the mind. Told from the mind of a "retarded" girl too simple, yet too proud to regard herself as disabled, Logic's story is of the sensual and the tactile. The intimacy of flesh is revealed through the story, and Vernon does not allow the reader pause to reflect upon their pity for these characters. Instead, the beauty of Vernon's words is in the immediacy of their actions and visions. We are in the hands of a master storyteller whose characters will live unashamed within America's history of the inequities against ignorance, the poor, and the exploitation of the innocent.

Rating:
Summary: mesmerizing
Review: Once I started reading Logic, I couldn't put it down. Had I not had my family to take care of and work to go to, I would have finished it that same day I started. Olympia's writing guides you into a world of a young teenage girl being molested by her father and ignored by her mother. She spends her days with the old white lady across the street or her young transsexual friend who is also trying to discover who he is and how he fits into the puzzle that is their world. You want to make friends with the characters in Logic, to become bosom buddies and have them cry out all what's going on in their heads. I found myself wanting to step inside the book, wanting to kill the wimpy father and the mother for allowing him to hurt their daughter. Olympia's command of literary language is beautiful and raw. Her bluntness is refreshing and provokes you to tell the truth about everything rather than say what others want to hear. This is how powerful she is. She is truly an awesome writer. This book is a must read.

Rating:
Summary: mesmerizing
Review: Once I started reading Logic, I couldn't put it down. Had I not had my family to take care of and work to go to, I would have finished it that same day I started. Olympia's writing guides you into a world of a young teenage girl being molested by her father and ignored by her mother. She spends her days with the old white lady across the street or her young transsexual friend who is also trying to discover who he is and how he fits into the puzzle that is their world. You want to make friends with the characters in Logic, to become bosom buddies and have them cry out all what's going on in their heads. I found myself wanting to step inside the book, wanting to kill the wimpy father and the mother for allowing him to hurt their daughter. Olympia's command of literary language is beautiful and raw. Her bluntness is refreshing and provokes you to tell the truth about everything rather than say what others want to hear. This is how powerful she is. She is truly an awesome writer. This book is a must read.