Hi, Metaphysical Journey. This review comes from Showering Acts of Joy!
The Abyss is a fascinating account of a man's faith, and how the death of his dog, and the words his preacher told him affected him for the rest of his days.
I didn't totally understand the first paragraph, and the title, except that to me, the abyss seems to refer to his feeling of not going where he will go in the end. Anyway, I think the first paragraph had its proper effect since I didn't dwell on it or the word abyss afterwards. Starting with the second paragraph, I wanted to read every word that came next.
The words that described how his dog screamed were hard to read, but to me, necessary. It was the words that described his sadness that were the most important, because from there, he began to ask his questions about God.
His mother seemed to have never questioned anything she had been taught about God, but then, so many people, right or wrong, do the exact same thing. Not everyone would seek more answers, as her son did. I think she did try to have the best answers for him.
I thought the preacher showed an incredibly callous attitude, in answering the eight year old boy's question about his dog . Many of us would remember something like that, even if heard at that age. Surely, anyone with a compassionate bone in his body would have said something different. After that, the boy's attitude toward the preacher seemed perfectly understandable, especially a few years later. I tend to think that some of the boy's anger came out so passionately because he had become a teenager, since... that's what they do.
At this point I must point out a few typos and errors: New should be knew, coarse should be course, Gomoro should be Gomorrah, enlighten should be enlightened, drown should be drowned, maybe should be may be, and man should be man's. In the paragraph which began with his mom looking very tired, the phrase Mom had quietly struggling with... looks like it needs the word: been between had and quietly. Practicing your proofreading - reading paragraphs over again until you know you're finished with them will help you catch simple errors like these.
I do want to say that, those aforementioned errors aside, this story was written exceptionally well. Even when I realized that the story was told from the other side--it worked for me, plain and simple. Actually, I don't know how the story could even exist without having done it. Sometimes you gotta try, and I think many readers will not even notice. I don't want to say so much that I give the story away.
The character's questions about God, heaven and life after death, his beliefs, and his doubts are things that everyone who has ever lived has thought and asked themselves at one time or another, but I have never known of anyone being able to put it into words so well.
To me, the next to last sentence was stunning. And I would not say that if I didn't mean it. Whether it could be that way or not, whether a dream or not, if we personally believe or question, or whatever anyone might say about it, it happened in the story, and it was stunning. The entire story, and especially the ending, is incredibly thought provoking, and will foster even more questions. Excellent writing!
I hope everyone reads this.
Harry McDonald
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