Four Corners

Rating:
Summary: "Here's a book, Daddy. It's all about archaeology."
Review: Four Corners is a romantic novel written in third person. Judicious uses of slang, informal language, and potent visual imagery help to achieve a consistently romantic tone. Passages such as the one below and others set in Washington, DC and the Southwest illustrate this well. The gray-bearded driver nodded a greeting and opened the back door. "Wheah you goin', lady?" "The Chickawaukie Nursing home." "Youah not from around heah." It was a statement not a question. "I'll give you the scenic touah." As the cab passed the harbor crowded with boats, Anna saw the lobstermen in their yellow slickers sitting on their rope lockers, Winslow Homer foul-weather helmets covering their heads. They were staring out to sea. Their green vinyl-coated-wire lobster traps with their lines attached to their family's distinctively-painted wooden floats, were neatly stacked, waiting, begging to be baited and dropped into the ocean there to lure and capture their soft and hard shell prey. "No fishing today?" "Nope, see over theah? The entrance to the hahbah is blocked by the Coast Guard." Aside from illustrating the effective use of nonstandard language and visual imagery, the last sentence in this passage also introduces a passage that raises questions about issues such as cultural preservation and economic development. There is a continuous undercurrent of philosophical, political, and social issues that ebb and flow throughout the story. This is a distinctive characteristic of the manuscript that truly sets it apart from other works. Not only do the authors smoothly introduce these themes, but they do so in way that is both thought-provoking and inoffensive. Other highlighted subjects in the manuscript are investigative journalism, family values, the mass media, and the search for truth. Plot structure and characterization are skillfully handled. The basic plot is realistic. Events unfold in an orderly fashion that does not confuse the reader. Instead, effective use of subtle innuendoes and ambiguous statements tease the reader and keep him guessing about what turn of events will occur next. The climax is dramatic and in the end differences are reconciled and balance is restored to the world of Four Corners. Each character is precisely developed to carry out his role. There is a well-accented contrast between the main characters. Worthington is a champion of economic development; Anna a champion of cultural preservation. Important moral and psychological differences also exist between the two. Anna is depicted as promiscuous and somewhat unstable; Worthington is a model family man who generally keeps his troubled past in check. Symbolically the two are Yin and Yang. Their eventual union symbolizes the balance of opposing forces. Other characters such as Emily, Popé, and Dusty not only support the main characters, but, also act as symbols. Popé, Anna and Worthington's love child, is a symbol of hope for the future. Though romance readers are the most obvious target for this book, those interested in the behavioral sciences may enjoy this work as a refreshing, light alternative to the relatively dry works available on these subjects.