Gabriel Urza

All that Followed tells the story, over several years of the interactions of three very different people with each other and their small town in the Basque country in Spain. This is the debut novel from Mr. Uzra, although he has written a number of published short stories.

The writing was adequate, but far from spectacular or beautiful. The alternation between three different narrators over a span of fifty years was unique and worked fairly well.

I really had trouble getting into the story because all the characters, while very real, were simply not nice people. The story was supposed to be this deep exploration of how terrorism (in this case Basque separatists) affects a small town. I just didn’t get into the characters to really feel what they felt or to suffer with them.

Urza’s story almost felt like a demonstration piece of literary devices--repetitions of phrases, insertion of Spanish and Basque words and phrases, metaphors of transplants, parallels storylines, historical flashbacks, juxtapositions across history, typecast Spanish grandmothers, and more. I have learned to be wary when an author has an MFA or has been to the Iowa Writer’s Workshop--they just feel so full of technique. Years ago, I read a review where this criticism was made and I didn’t get it--but now I do. You almost feel like you are reading a class assignment more than a story into which someone has really poured their heart.

The blurb calls this book ‘psychologically twisting’--I’m not really sure where that idea comes from--I felt it to be very straightforward. My perspectives of people were never subjected to psychological manipulation. If that is what you are looking for, it’s just not here.

Perhaps it was simply too subtle for me--I just didn’t get that much out of this one.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book with the expectation I would provide an honest review.… (mais)