Official Review: Reunion by Ronald Baron
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- Chipochashe
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Official Review: Reunion by Ronald Baron
Hoover meets Roger for the first time while serving food to the homeless. Something about Roger fascinates him and he goes to sit with him as he eats. Roger has reached another level of low in his life as his car has been towed along with all his possessions. Now he has to live in Tent City along with the other homeless people. He watches his life disintegrating into entropy. He lacks the will power to fight his drug addiction and reclaim his life. It has now been years since he communicated with his parents. He gets in touch with his sister once in a while. An unexpected turn of events finds Roger at the brink of death. Will this finally bring his broken family back together?
Bekka is an angry self-righteous woman who thinks that anyone who is not supporting her cause is an enemy including her parents. Sam, Bekka's and Roger’s father, is busy running an oil company and has almost forgotten that he has a son from his first marriage. Karla wants to help her son, but she doesn’t know what to do. She only knows that he is alive from the birthday presents he leaves in her mailbox from time to time. This family is desperately in need of a reunion and more importantly, reconciliation. Could Roger’s accident bring them back together? Reunion by Ronald Baron is a story about reuniting a broken family.
The story is narrated by Hoover in the first person. Hoover becomes Roger’s friend and they get to know each other. Hoover narrates both the present and the past. Some events are narrated as they happen; some are narrated as Hoover’s thoughts. Although there is some meandering, where Hoover starts thinking of seemingly unrelated issues during another event, the story is relatively simple to follow.
I enjoyed the author’s ability to inject some humour while portraying the irony of certain things. In one instance while showing the difficulties that doctors face, Hoover remarks, “Being both savior and killer in a single day is possible.” A surgeon can be thanked by one family for saving their loved one and sued by the other for failing to save theirs. The author also portrays the complexities of the human mind, especially when faced with difficult circumstances. Some of these include the tendency to want to blame God for what went wrong while at the same time professing that there is no God. The author does not show any leanings towards any religion or secular beliefs, although he does close with a quote from the Book of Colossians.
What I found the least enjoyable was when Hoover was in trouble and he realized that he needed to pray and he prays to Darwin. It must have been meant to be ironic and funny, but I just found that very disturbing. Other than that, there were a few errors but not very distracting. There a lot of philosophical and societal concerns that the author addresses and they do not always seem to be placed right, as the story then seemed to meander.
I mostly enjoyed this book. The Hobart family is complex and each individual brought in a different outlook. This book will be enjoyable to anyone who enjoys stories about family relationships. It is also good for those who enjoy philosophical musings. There are a few profanities and no erotic scenes, but I think the subjects covered such as drug addiction make the book suitable for a mature audience. I am deducting a star due to the meandering, thus I rate the book 3 out of 4 stars.
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Reunion
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- Tbregman
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There's always something happening in every family. I also enjoy the part of an, "...outsider as the narrator".
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Sounds like an interesting story, I hope I'll get a chance to read this! Thank you for a very nice review!
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- kljrox
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- Chipochashe
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You are welcome. It is quite an interesting family. Thank you for your comment.
- Chipochashe
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Enjoy the reading Nwaogazi, thanks for commenting.Nwaogazie Goodness wrote: ↑07 Jul 2020, 01:37 This is beautiful. Family and all. And I'd love to know how Roger's life turned out.
- Chipochashe
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Enjoy the reading Slater, thank you for the feedback.
- Chipochashe
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You're welcome. Thank you for the positive feedback Valkyrie.