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A review by jdscott50
Wilderness by Lance Weller
3.0
Lance Weller's novel has all the elements of a good story. Lyrical prose and duality of the Wilderness. On one hand, it represents death and destruction and on the other healing. If he worked more on those elements I would have liked the story better. The sub-characters and sub-plots take away from the story and serve as a generic role for the changing of Abel (even the name itself makes too obvious a point).
Abel is an ex-soldier who fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War. Wounded in the Wilderness campaign he is healed from his wounds by ex-slaves that result in a change. It seems like there should be more probing into the character or the environment. I felt the strength of the story was Abel's connection to his dog. Abel is a hard man, made stone by the death of his family and the violence of war. One of the more powerful scenes for me was when he was carrying a wounded dog away from harm and tells only the dog, "I get so tired. I get so damned tired." As if in his harsh environment and as hard as he is, the dog is the only one he can confess and reveal his true self. The rest of the story seems hollow in comparison.
Abel is an ex-soldier who fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War. Wounded in the Wilderness campaign he is healed from his wounds by ex-slaves that result in a change. It seems like there should be more probing into the character or the environment. I felt the strength of the story was Abel's connection to his dog. Abel is a hard man, made stone by the death of his family and the violence of war. One of the more powerful scenes for me was when he was carrying a wounded dog away from harm and tells only the dog, "I get so tired. I get so damned tired." As if in his harsh environment and as hard as he is, the dog is the only one he can confess and reveal his true self. The rest of the story seems hollow in comparison.