The Emperor of Ocean Park [Deckle Edge] [Hardcover]

 

 

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...a lot.

But then, with 654 pages of novel 'there', that's to be expected. Unfortunately, in the case of 'The Emperor of Ocean Park' (lousy title, by the way, just plain bad...and ill-chosen...and bad...), what's 'there' doesn't add up to the majesty that you'd figure 654 pages of novel might deliver. SHOULD deliver.

And yet...

And yet when I was only ten percent of the way into the book, I sent Mr. Carter an email, telling him that I had already enjoyed the novel enormously. That it reminded me in its quality of one of my favourite sections of literature, the opening forty-or-so pages of DeLillo's 'Underworld'. I was that impressed, that hopeful for the remainder of the novel.

But here's the thing: Mr. Carter has some sizable literary talent. And when I say 'sizable', I mean that most writers, the overwhelming majority of writers would be grateful were they blessed by his ability to craft it-hangs-together, sparkling, hardly-a-wasted-word, engaging narrative. He has a very nice way with words, he has an ability to craft a compelling paragraph, and Lord knows he has something to say. At almost every turn. There are segments in there that are beautiful. Gorgeous, even. Without being pretentious or self-involved. The man knows how to write. (Yes, I am aware that this was his début, his rookie effort as a fiction writer, and that ten years later, he's undoubtedly improved substantially.)

Unfortunately, in 'Emperor', his storytelling skills lag ponderously behind his facility with words. To be blunt: this novel, which is at its core a mystery, should have been half its length. Had the author been true to his mission, had he not gotten so caught up in sideways declamations of race and culture and the politics of money and class (which really weren't presented very well at all, but this was mostly the fault of his choice of perspective, that of first-person present-tense; more on this presently) and instead, focused on the story being told, this reader's experience would almost definitely have been a far more rewarding one.

Look; this is a pretty basic mystery tale. Some little twists and turns. But Mr. Carter seems to have felt the need to turn it into a polemic. (And as I suggested, a not-very-effective one at that.) It's reminiscent of a cookbook whose writer decided to spend more time talking about say, the realities of chemical-based agriculture, and therefore isn't a particularly useful tome for producing great meals. But the most frustrating thing for me was...that Mr. Carter has this ENORMOUS talent (for most things; dialogue and character development being two that do not fall in this category...except I have to say that I HATED the narrator's wife; I cannot stand the thought that there are such self-involved, un-evolved people running around in the world) that kept awing me...and therefore kept me reading long after some readers would have gotten fed up and used the book as a doorstop.

OK; seeing as I'm on a roll about what he didn't do well (as I believe I've stated my case positively about his writing ability in general), allow me to deal with this: 'The Weaknesses of Having a Flawed Narrator in the First-person, Present-tense'.

The first one is that if your narrator isn't strong enough, isn't effective enough (this doesn't mean in-your-face; you can have an effective narrator with a benign voice, but you sure better have some considerable compensatory factors at play, either lyricism or ecclecticism or some other notable -ism), then your story won't be told effectively. And while 'Emperor's narrator has his own way about him, I found him to be a little too much of a prat; he was annoying.

The second one is that the way the character tells the tale should reflect who that person is. So their vocabulary, their phrasing, their style...should indicate the character's personality. And often, with the alacrity, the broad, refined approach to the narrative that was taken, I couldn't reconcile the doofus that Talcott Garland truly is. (By his own admission.) The writing is lovely...but the contrast between it and Talcott's behaviour often grated.

Finally, in this instance, there was something deflating about Talcott telling his own story. It was as if any sense of real suspense or mystery of tension was constantly being attenuated by his own feelings of either low self-esteem or doubt or general angst. Perhaps this had me shaking my head even more than the excessive width of the novel; I kept thinking 'Third-person, past-tense! Why didn't you write it in third-person, past-tense?!?' I don't think that Talcott ever had me on his side. And if the story's putative hero doesn't have you on their side...then isn't all hope lost?

I suppose my final observation on 'The Emperor of Ocean Park' has to do with Mr. Carter's racial energies. How a writer chooses to write their novel, the slant they take, the spin they impart... That's entirely up to them. And as a white person, I wouldn't in a million years tell anyone of colour whether or not their infusion of racial realities into a story is valid. But what I can say is that I didn't find the 'darker nation' and all the concomitant issues attached to it to have been particularly well presented. In fact, it all came off as being 'whiney'. Which is a shame, obviously. But eliciting genuine emotion in the reader is one of the headiest challenges for any writer. To be able to rouse emotions on a subject without actually laying it out in black and white (no pun intended, honestly), without essentially holding up placards and instructing the reader as to how they should feel obligated to react...this is a rare skill. And in 'Emperor', Mr. Carter shows little of this skill. So little in comparison to his other considerable skills, as to be jarring...and frankly, embarrassing. (I'll confess that because of its presentation, I really didn't care. At all. Though I did find his description of the 'red' he sees when racial moments pop up, to be effective.)

This novel was clearly a stepping-stone for Mr. Carter, from his career writing non-fiction. (Which just as clearly served him well.) There's some really good writing in there, but I can't say that I'd recommend it to the average reader. Keeping in mind what the payoff is after having gotten through so much, it's just not worth the effort.

But I am curious about what he's written lately, a decade on.

Personal rating: 7/10.

I freaked when i saw how many reviews amazon had on this book!

My library is across the street so I check out mountains of books. I read a few chapters (or a paragraph) to determine if any book will 'keep me'. This book does 'go on' - but the author DOES 'keep me'.

I am an off-white non-christian late in life diploma educated canadian woman fascinated with what a rich academic american black man has to say about his (peers) society - or society in general. He has 'dead on' observations about our money & buying culture, affirmative action, race relations, etc.

The mystery could be tongue in cheek to keep those insatiably curious to plonder on - only to find more of his well phrased philosophical musing's.

He fleshs out the characters bit by bit (when you are certain he has done a thorough & tidy job the first time).

The book is long & so are his sentences but overall, culturally & literally, it's a heads up - make a cup of tea, cozy up & enjoy!

Excellent, just excellent! I'd originally stayed away from "Emperor" because I'd read - skimmed, maybe -- a couple of Carter's non-fiction books, and thought they were simplistic, unoriginal and failed to state much of anything new. When I finally picked up "Emperor", I was fully prepared to put it down, if it didn't grab me. Imagine my surprise when I discovered I was hooked right from the beginning, and couldn't bear to stop reading!

This is an amazing book. It's so good, on so many fronts, it's hard to know where to start. The characters are believable, interesting and jump right off the page. The plot is great -- I finally figured out what he'd do in the last few pages, but it was suspenseful throughout. I agonized with the characters, found myself wondering what I would do, in their situations. I just loved "Emperor" -- it's on my short list of 'best books ever'.

And let me add one more thing: I'm an observant Jew, and I greatly appreciated the fact that the protagonist in this book is an unabashed Christian, a man who is not afraid or embarrassed to admit that he prays, that he struggles with his faith and his G-d, a man who sincerely tries to live up to what he believes is expected of him as a Christian believer. Kol hakavod, much honor, to Mr. Carter, for creating such a literary hero. What a delight to find a novel by a Christian that's 'kosher' in terms of morality and tznuit, modesty. This is a really great book -- don't miss it!

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3.0 out of 5 stars Too Much Descriptions and Other.......
The story was pretty good. But there was just to much description and too much detail that made the story long very hard to read. Read more

Published on July 15 2004 by Lorraine Brown

1.0 out of 5 stars Spend your time on something more worthy of reading
I thought if I would read long enough and gave this book a chance, it would start to get interesting, or that I would begin to care about what happens. Read more

Published on July 8 2004

1.0 out of 5 stars I skipped whole passages and it still droned on and on and..
One of the worst writing styles I've ever encountered. He repeats himself constantly and the minutiae of every little thing, thought or action irrelevant to the plot of the... Read more

Published on Jun 23 2004

1.0 out of 5 stars Easily the worst book I've read in the past 10 years
Don't believe the hype! How such dreck commanded the attention and praise of the Today show producers and real critics is beyond me. B-O-R-I-N-G. Read more

Published on Jun 20 2004

3.0 out of 5 stars Kinda slow...
I have been reading this book since October 2003, and it's been a struggle. One of my friends told me about this book, so I went out and purchased it. Read more

Published on May 27 2004 by LoVe2ReAd

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth the money
This book was not at all what I expected. Having read all the bad reviews from customers and critics alike, I was prepared to hate it. Read more

Published on May 24 2004

1.0 out of 5 stars 881 pages of complaints and oh yeah a mystery to be solved
I would suggest anyone wanting to buy this book to read some reviews which have rated it less than 3 stars. Read more

Published on May 21 2004 by Bram

4.0 out of 5 stars Very well-written thriller!
I was curious when I heard that Stephen Carter, the highly regarded Yale law professor, had written a legal thriller. Read more

Published on May 20 2004 by CoffeeGurl

5.0 out of 5 stars The Emperor of Ocean Park
I was captured in chapter one and could not put the book down until I finished it. Carter's writing is eloquent while not being elaborate. Read more

Published on May 10 2004

3.0 out of 5 stars Good to listen to - but to read????
This book got a lot of press when it first came out but I resisted the urge to pay full price for it. A few months ago I found it on the sale table and took the plunge. Read more

Published on May 8 2004 by Cecelia E Connally

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