CRUEL SUMMER by Bernard Jan.

" I'm lost in a world I do not understand and I'm trying to find myself."

It's mid-August and NYC is established as the main setting to this tragic and disconcerting story about Michael Daniels a 17 year old, suffering grievously from the recent death of his mother Melanie, losing the will to live.

We are plunged into a cold NYC suggesting that America is experiencing a new climatic disorder and establishing pathetic fallacy to set the scene for some shocking revelations.

It is " a perfect setting for his {Michael's} gloomy feelings and depressing thoughts." "Cruel Summer" is an apt title, ominous, reflecting Michael's mind and life. Young adults will understand and appreciate the intensity, dark moods and melancholic tones.



His relationship with his step-father, Hank is a brutal one. He works at RIRL-Roosevelt Island Research Institute which is directly supervised and conducted by the White House shrouded in secrecy, sounding unethical from the hints within the narrative. Neil Beresford is linked to Daniels, both father and son. He becomes Michael's psychiatrist for a short while. Beresford is a leading expert in biochemistry. Both men seem to have a lot of personal secrets, coined by Beresford as "pleasure trips." They fall stereotypically into the mould of villains- Daniels in an extreme way as a monster and a lunatic who won't tolerate defiance or disobedience. Beresford, on the other hand, is more subtle superficially, seems kinder and more generous. Michael inevitably becomes the victim of these two dangerous men.

Michael has a group of friends that share his obsession of skateboarding which balances the maudlin anxieties faced by Michael. The other guys seem  tougher and less emotional ( apart from Victor) than Michael, born survivors. This features throughout the story and we discover how skilled really is-one thing in his life that gives him this will to live as well as his undying love for sister Rebecca.

It's interesting that Michael's other interest is specifically in the poetry of Arthur Rimbaud, shot dead by his lover at 37. Both the protagonist and his idol suffered violent relationships and I believe that the character of Michael Daniels may have been partly modelled on Rimbaud.

Copyright 2021. This review must not be copied without permission from the writer of this blog.


 

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