When I first started reading Michael Winter's novel The Architects Are Here I kind of felt like a fish out of water. Or like a child wading out into an unfamiliar pool not knowing whether they will float or drown in the murky depths. I must confess I’m a horror lover threw to the bone and as I read the short summery on the inside cover I doubted that I would enjoy it. As a horror fan I like stories with thrills and suspence, most conventional novels lack either. However after the first paragraph it became clear this was more than a simple story of one mans life.
In fact the novel cares very little for the narrators life, sure it revolves around him but it is focused on the people he cares about. It works on the same level as the novel A Separate Peace. It’s all about the narrator looking back on his life and how it defined who he is but at the same time he is never really the focus. It is narrated by the character Gabriel, who tells his life’s story but focuses on his friend David and his lover Nell. The first lines of the novel make it clear that David is the focus of the piece and that to properly tell the story he must also talk about Nell. One of the more unique aspects to this style are the moments were Gabriel is almost omniscient. He seems to know the history of everyone he meets, especially David and Nell. It would be hard to summarise a novel like this because of the way it is broken up. It goes through different stages of life. Gabriel talks about growing up in Corner Brook Newfoundland, going to collage, Moving to Toronto and finally coming full circle and returning to Corner Brook. Each part seems like it’s own separate story, structurally, each ending in a climax and a falling point before moving on. But they all serve to develop the characters and in the end draw the plot and all the characters together.
This form of narration and the way Winter uses symbolic imagery to enforce the character building is brilliant, mostly. The fact that the narrator is not the focus may catch some readers off guard. They may begin to believe the narrator is god or a ghost; interacting with the characters but invisible to the reader. You know very little about him for the first bit of the novel and on a personal not I never even learned his name until page 78. Looking back I don’t even think it was mentioned until then. After that point you learn more about him but he is still motivated entirely by the rest of the cast. He is like an everyman character; he takes our seat in this adventure. For people who like to see the story through the eyes of the protagonist or the catalyst this may be a problem. The other problem lies with the narration itself. At time I was bothered by the overwhelming amount of knowledge Gabe had on the other characters. At times the he even knows what there thoughts and emotions are. Personally I didn’t mind this but it will be a problem for some people. There are also inexplicable segways and view sifts. Sometimes in mid conversation he will break off describing a back-story then at the end sift back into the conversation, it’s a bit distracting. There is also one scene where the view briefly swifts from first person to third person and the narrator starts referring to himself as Gabe other then I or me. I’m sure it had some stylistic relevance, probably showing that for a moment he wasn’t himself. However, clever or not it was a huge distraction that had me stumped. I kept rereading thinking I had missed something or was confused.
The novel is gritty which may or may not be a plus for you. As such I’m putting the grittiness on the fence. It is neither a strong point nor a weak one. There are moments where descriptions are very grizzly and others that are almost perverse but it fits with the story. This is not a feel good story, conflicts abound and so does tragedy. This fits the realistic tone of the novel and makes you feel like this story could really happen. Aside from a few events that seem farfetched, but are necessary to move the plot, the story keeps a very realistic feel. All the more far fetched moment are fine as well because they fit symbolically and only seem out of place because all these terrible things are happening to the same people.
Now for the good bits, I would say everything else and that would work because it’s the truth. The writing is smooth and clever. It features loads of symbolic imagery some of which is just stunning. The characters are amazingly deep and feel like real people. Each one has their own personal demons and fancies, even the small ones. And there isn’t a truly stock character in sight. All of the fore-mentioned points come together and lend to the complex web that is the story. A web that seems to shine with little drops of brilliance that it’s captured like dew in the morning air. Fancy metaphors aside, overall the novel is masterfully crafted with only a few minor scratches marking its well-polished construction.
This is defiantly an A book. With only small problems keeping it from an A+. It’s made me consider going out and picking up more of Winter’s work which is impressive. The only author I’ve read serially is Steven King and that’s due to my previously mentioned love of horror. So it has done the impossible and made me want to read books that have nothing to do with ghosts or zombies (a daunting task to say the least). With that in mind, I give it full recommendation to anyone who loves a good coming of age story, or for that matter anyone who loves literature.
In fact the novel cares very little for the narrators life, sure it revolves around him but it is focused on the people he cares about. It works on the same level as the novel A Separate Peace. It’s all about the narrator looking back on his life and how it defined who he is but at the same time he is never really the focus. It is narrated by the character Gabriel, who tells his life’s story but focuses on his friend David and his lover Nell. The first lines of the novel make it clear that David is the focus of the piece and that to properly tell the story he must also talk about Nell. One of the more unique aspects to this style are the moments were Gabriel is almost omniscient. He seems to know the history of everyone he meets, especially David and Nell. It would be hard to summarise a novel like this because of the way it is broken up. It goes through different stages of life. Gabriel talks about growing up in Corner Brook Newfoundland, going to collage, Moving to Toronto and finally coming full circle and returning to Corner Brook. Each part seems like it’s own separate story, structurally, each ending in a climax and a falling point before moving on. But they all serve to develop the characters and in the end draw the plot and all the characters together.
This form of narration and the way Winter uses symbolic imagery to enforce the character building is brilliant, mostly. The fact that the narrator is not the focus may catch some readers off guard. They may begin to believe the narrator is god or a ghost; interacting with the characters but invisible to the reader. You know very little about him for the first bit of the novel and on a personal not I never even learned his name until page 78. Looking back I don’t even think it was mentioned until then. After that point you learn more about him but he is still motivated entirely by the rest of the cast. He is like an everyman character; he takes our seat in this adventure. For people who like to see the story through the eyes of the protagonist or the catalyst this may be a problem. The other problem lies with the narration itself. At time I was bothered by the overwhelming amount of knowledge Gabe had on the other characters. At times the he even knows what there thoughts and emotions are. Personally I didn’t mind this but it will be a problem for some people. There are also inexplicable segways and view sifts. Sometimes in mid conversation he will break off describing a back-story then at the end sift back into the conversation, it’s a bit distracting. There is also one scene where the view briefly swifts from first person to third person and the narrator starts referring to himself as Gabe other then I or me. I’m sure it had some stylistic relevance, probably showing that for a moment he wasn’t himself. However, clever or not it was a huge distraction that had me stumped. I kept rereading thinking I had missed something or was confused.
The novel is gritty which may or may not be a plus for you. As such I’m putting the grittiness on the fence. It is neither a strong point nor a weak one. There are moments where descriptions are very grizzly and others that are almost perverse but it fits with the story. This is not a feel good story, conflicts abound and so does tragedy. This fits the realistic tone of the novel and makes you feel like this story could really happen. Aside from a few events that seem farfetched, but are necessary to move the plot, the story keeps a very realistic feel. All the more far fetched moment are fine as well because they fit symbolically and only seem out of place because all these terrible things are happening to the same people.
Now for the good bits, I would say everything else and that would work because it’s the truth. The writing is smooth and clever. It features loads of symbolic imagery some of which is just stunning. The characters are amazingly deep and feel like real people. Each one has their own personal demons and fancies, even the small ones. And there isn’t a truly stock character in sight. All of the fore-mentioned points come together and lend to the complex web that is the story. A web that seems to shine with little drops of brilliance that it’s captured like dew in the morning air. Fancy metaphors aside, overall the novel is masterfully crafted with only a few minor scratches marking its well-polished construction.
This is defiantly an A book. With only small problems keeping it from an A+. It’s made me consider going out and picking up more of Winter’s work which is impressive. The only author I’ve read serially is Steven King and that’s due to my previously mentioned love of horror. So it has done the impossible and made me want to read books that have nothing to do with ghosts or zombies (a daunting task to say the least). With that in mind, I give it full recommendation to anyone who loves a good coming of age story, or for that matter anyone who loves literature.
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