THE POWER OF ONE (Bryce Courtenay) - July 30/12

Oh sweet Jesus. Oh god. What a horrible, interminable book. I started this monstrosity months ago and had to keep taking breaks. It's unreasonably long but contains very little plot. (I'd guess that there's about 20 pages of plot in a 513 page book.) Courtenay wastes the readers time with long, drawn-out descriptions of things WE COULDN'T POSSIBLY CARE LESS ABOUT. This is especially true of a thunderously boring stretch towards the end in which Peekay becomes a "grizzly man" - I had to skim most of this stuff because it was more dull and dry than the most academic of texts. Courtenay might technically be a good writer, but the dude has to learn how to tell a compelling story. What an ordeal! * out of ****