“BOOMERS: Tales from the Subjected Plain”
Author: F. Korn
I’m unsure where to begin in my review of “BOOMERS: Tales from the Subjected Plain.” A week or so ago I was asked if I would be interested in reviewing this title by author F. Korn. I did my usual research and while I found the book’s cover to be unappealing at least the jacket blurb seemed…different and unusual…so I agreed. “BOOMERS: Tales from the Subjected Plain” is supposed to be a daytime soap opera set in a time before high-speed internet when, for the “Boomer” generation Friday nights meant singles bars and Sunday nights were for singles at church. Anyway, my copy arrived and I found a secluded corner and began to read.
First things first; I read the two short passages Korn provided in lieu of a dedication. The first, a quote from Paradise Lost, was interesting and I idly wondered if that was where the author derived some inspiration for part of the book’s title. The second paragraph, from Heinrich Heine, was in German and I was slightly taken aback. Couldn’t Korn have provided an English translation for those of us who aren’t fluent in German? Well… Okay… Fine… I chalked it up to the author’s artistic style and continued reading.
Next came the Prologue. I’m sure I had a look of complete bewilderment on my face as I read it. Once I’d managed to work my way through those three pages I immediately flipped the book over to read the back cover again. Nope, it hadn’t changed; it was still understandable. This is more than I can say for the Prologue or even for the remainder of the book. In all honesty, if the jacket blurb had read the same way that this entire book reads I would have turned the review request down in about three seconds flat.
My eyes continued down the back cover when I was stopped by the words “he has published poetry and prose in a variety of journals.” Mm hmm… The universe is starting to make sense again. While I appreciate the fact that there are many types of genres for books I also understand that there are some unspoken rules for writing which really shouldn’t be broken. For instance, poetry can be a wonderful tapestry of words that can elicit powerful imagery or heartfelt emotions. I’m sure anyone who has ever read poetry understands the way it “flows.” The way it conveys its message in short clips that in any other genre would require much more explanation and/or description. In other words one wouldn’t right a novel the same way one would write a poem. Or at least one shouldn’t. Books usually tell a story – the key word in this sentence being tell. Unfortunately “BOOMERS: Tales from the Subjected Plain” reads like a cross between an eclectic foreign poem recently translated into English and the hastily scribbled notes a psychoanalyst might take during a session with his or her client. “BOOMERS: Tales from the Subjected Plain” might have been “darkly humorous” and have had “unforgettable characters” as promised on the back cover if the author had actually taken the time to bring each person to life instead of providing us with a clinical dossier that seemed to lack all the key elements.
To sum up? “BOOMERS: Tales from the Subjected Plain” was a very weird read for me. Because of how it was written I felt as though I was being forced to read it at a break-neck pace not to mention that I found the writing style itself to be severely lacking and peculiarly composed…