Carlson's writing, particularly of late with five skies and the signal, is linking a chain to in the style of hemingway and carver. It's contemporary and relevant, but a wink to that time of spare, evocative style not dependent on metaphor stacked on metaphor, but rather elegant, mater of fact description where setting is a pivotal character. Less is more.This book also has just the right amount of hope. The first chapter was enthralling, and I did devour the rest of the story, but mostly to find out what "the signal" was, not because I cared that much about this fairly cliched main character or his underwritten ex-wife. My fictional dream was pierced more than once by dialogue that seemed forced and unnatural--romantic in the way of manly-male literary authors like Hemingway and Cormac McCarthy. Too many times, I thought "no one talks that way." Which is such a shame because there were also many wonderful moments of dialogue between the two former lovers, good examples of the pithy and wordless shorthand that evolves for those in synch with each other.The story almost seems beside the point. The idea of a tenth-year anniversary hike in such a glorious place in the mountains is too romantic to resist. I wished this couple well because of their deep appreciation for the beautiful, wild terrain they were traversing, not because I really knew them.
What do You think about Le Signal (2000)?
stopped reading ... this is not worth my time!
—BELLA
