Sailor Song

Rating:
Summary: Sail On- Its OK that not all ends well
Review: I read 8 other reviews of this book, and I am still buying it, for the second time. I was captivated by the issues, characters, and story line that was depressingly promissing. Hope. I do agree that all could have been wrapped up differently in the end. It was too quick and well empty. But it is not the joy of the top of the mountain that has us climb. It is the climb. Enjoy the ride! Enjoy Sailors Song.

Rating:
Summary: Sailor Song: Where Art & Life Meet in the End
Review: Up front: I'm a long-time fan of Ken's -- including the videos, the CDs, and his classic periodical SPIT IN THE OCEAN. I liked SOMETIMES A GREAT NOTION a lot better as a book than a film. So that's where I'm coming from...

SAILOR SONG is superb, remarkable and unmatched in contemporary literature. Ken's grasp of the human condition is extraordinary: man/woman, inter-family, small town, international, global, you name it and Ken's got it in SAILOR SONG. It's an easier read than NOTION, but not as clearcut as NEST.

So many posts here question the ending; not me. I trust Ken ended this the way he saw fit, like the master he was. Life doesn't end cleanly, even though it begins with promise and evolves with careful plot. I don't think any other writer has addressed the scenario of the poles shifting, so while this isn't quite an "end of the world" tale, surely it's clear why Ken dubbed this his science fiction novel.

The characters are unforgettable, and yes the novel reads like a screenplay because it is so extraordinarily vividly written. There are plot twists and curlicues galore -- that's the skill and scope of Kesey coming across. SAILOR SONG, like his other novels, is brimming with quotable phrases and passages that ache for outboarding and inclusion in BARTLETT'S BOOK OF QUOTATIONS. He's that good.

The scenario overall is unforgettable, and the pace is so beguiling that despite the novel's length; when it was over my ONLY regret was that there wasn't more superb literature to keep me riveted. If you are anxious to be engaged, challenged and rewarded by a book time and again, savor SAILOR SONG to the last drop. There ain't no dregs here, just sweet wonderful language coming from a mind without equal. Ken's passing last November was a loss without measure, but we readers are blessed with these words. Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: The Kesey magic comes unravelled a bit.
Review: While the themes K. deals with in this novel are interesting and important (the vanishing of wilderness; pollution; the morally corrupting impact of capitalism and American mainstream entertainment in particular; the possibility of catastrophic environmental change in our lifetimes), much of this novel reads like a screenplay.

This distracts from K.'s ideas and from the creation of atmosphere....which K. can do so well. It's a shame to have Alaska's wilderness pushed so far to the background (and Australia, which Kesey has visited, dismissed rapidly and superficially early in the book). This is especially so as the human interactions are fairly predictable, as are even the most eccentric of the characters, and as the plot leans heavily on natural events and wild animals, especially near the somewhat frenzied ending.

Compared to earlier works, including the shorter, better focused pieces in Demon Box, Sailor Song is frustrating: on the one hand too short (spookily powerful descriptions of wilderness are cut off, interesting ideas such as the psychic life of indigenous people are only hinted at) and too long (we're given a lot of detail that leads us absolutely nowhere). Has Kesey been let down by his editors?