≡ Read CAGED A Short Reads Novella edition by Dermot Davis Literature Fiction eBooks

CAGED A Short Reads Novella edition by Dermot Davis Literature Fiction eBooks

Download As PDF : CAGED A Short Reads Novella edition by Dermot Davis Literature Fiction eBooks

CAGED A Short Reads Novella edition by Dermot Davis Literature Fiction eBooks

<i>Ruth Judges Joshua</i> is a thought-provoking novella by Dermot Davis that feels like a theater play. Reminiscent of Samuel Beckett, Davis has written an episode in one man's life in which nothing happens, yet the reader is compelled to find out how it ends. --Not an easy accomplishment; from writers less skilled than Davis, literary novellas such as these can drag on. However, Davis shines in dialogue, and in brave choices of characters and themes.

The main character is Oisin Devlin, aka Josh. Despite the novella's title, the name 'Joshua' never appears in the text. Joshua is from the Hebrew name '''''''''' (Yehoshu'a) meaning "YAHWEH is salvation". Interestingly, the other principle character is named Ruth, which is derived from the Hebrew word '''''' (re'ut) meaning "friend". I enjoy stories where the character names work well with the theme. I have to wonder if it, like Lyle Lovett's album, was meant to be "a pun made up of the names of three books that appear sequentially in the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, and Ruth."--wiki

Incidentally, Ruth comes across as the worse kind of modern 'empowered' woman, which I would like to think is merely the man's interpretation, but suspect there is a bit of truth in it. Josh, on the other hand, appears much too superior. His shine, too, is a facade.

The dominant theme, for me, revolved around individual hunger, especially the kind which can never be quenched. Here, I must be careful not to give anything away because the main perks of the novella are its surprises. If I had to boil the theme down to its essence, I'd use a bit of the quote Davis includes as an introduction: Life is hell when one's needs can only be fulfilled by the interaction/approval of other people. General statements of theme are mere templates. Mine excludes the richness in the novella itself, such as its religious and social explorations--and here is where Davis is his most courageous. My theme statement also fails to hint at the optimism, or tenacity, that rides through to the end.

I wish this were a play, because my criticism all revolves around the descriptive prose and what I consider a huge flaw in logic. I care quite a lot about words and the flow of sentences. The first three sentences made me lose hope that I'd enjoy reading the rest of the novella. I don't know if Davis recruited an editor, but the lack of sentence variety was seriously off-putting. It also forecast a writer's tic that would plague the story to the end. In addition, too many sentences used words repetitively, when a different word would have made the sentence smoother, and more professional. And many sentences need to be rewritten.

Lastly, I was struck at the end by a glaring logic flaw. The flaw springs from my understanding of the real events, and I won't give details that might spoil the story--but the ending makes the situation pretty damn clear. Unless I'm wildly off the mark, I would beg the author to fix the injustice in his ruse by having the POV begin with Josh, in the elevator first...and then Ruth enters. And by all means, turn this into a play.


Tags : CAGED: A Short Reads Novella - Kindle edition by Dermot Davis. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading CAGED: A Short Reads Novella.,ebook,Dermot Davis,CAGED: A Short Reads Novella,Expression Unleashed Publishing,Fiction Literary,Fiction Short Stories

CAGED A Short Reads Novella edition by Dermot Davis Literature Fiction eBooks Reviews

This is a novella with an interesting premise and an implied twist at the end. I tend to like stories with very limited settings, where the outside world can be disregarded for the time being in order to concentrate on what’s of immediate concern.

The novella features just two rather unlikable and stereotypical characters, unless you consider the elevator itself as a third. Their relationship evolves through just about every stage in a short period of time, forced along by their imprisonment. They travel quickly from flirtation through honeymoon, marriage, betrayal, and divorce, figuratively.

Unfortunately, there were quite a few typos, misused words, and punctuation errors which distracted me from becoming immersed in the story. There was also quite a bit of head-hopping (quite a trick when you start out with just two characters!). I had a hard time accepting the implied twist at the end due to the main point-of-view through which most of the story was seen. I would have enjoyed it more had it been a little cleaner (writing-wise).

Still, it’s an interesting snapshot-type story and fans of literary fiction will enjoy it. I found the main characters believable and unique, particularly Ruth, and the situation believable, particularly with the twist at the end (previously I had my doubts). I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this to folks who enjoy redemptive stories.
As I was reading this novella I was soon asking myself how is this peculiar story going to end? Let me tell you. The ending, just as the entire story, is brilliant and utterly unpredictable.
A man and a woman find themselves stuck in an elevator. The emergency facilities that are meant to alert someone to rescue them don’t work.
As far as the values, beliefs – the personalities – of these two people are concerned, they could not be more contrasting, even conflicting. In their normal life, this man and this woman would hardly spent more than five minutes together.
But here they are stuck in an elevator. They have no choice but to be together. What are they going to talk about? What are they going to do? Are they just going to sit there and wait? Are they trying to do the action movie hero stuff?
I could never forgive myself if I gave away even the slightest hint of what’s going on. The events that take place in this elevator are fast moving, they encompass the entire range of human emotions and ultimately, they are life changing for both the man and the woman, even a bit mysterious.
I enjoyed this book very much. It is one of those rare books that made me slow down my reading towards the end, because I didn't want to arrive at the end. This is literary fiction at its best.
<i>Ruth Judges Joshua</i> is a thought-provoking novella by Dermot Davis that feels like a theater play. Reminiscent of Samuel Beckett, Davis has written an episode in one man's life in which nothing happens, yet the reader is compelled to find out how it ends. --Not an easy accomplishment; from writers less skilled than Davis, literary novellas such as these can drag on. However, Davis shines in dialogue, and in brave choices of characters and themes.

The main character is Oisin Devlin, aka Josh. Despite the novella's title, the name 'Joshua' never appears in the text. Joshua is from the Hebrew name '''''''''' (Yehoshu'a) meaning "YAHWEH is salvation". Interestingly, the other principle character is named Ruth, which is derived from the Hebrew word '''''' (re'ut) meaning "friend". I enjoy stories where the character names work well with the theme. I have to wonder if it, like Lyle Lovett's album, was meant to be "a pun made up of the names of three books that appear sequentially in the Old Testament Joshua, Judges, and Ruth."--wiki

Incidentally, Ruth comes across as the worse kind of modern 'empowered' woman, which I would like to think is merely the man's interpretation, but suspect there is a bit of truth in it. Josh, on the other hand, appears much too superior. His shine, too, is a facade.

The dominant theme, for me, revolved around individual hunger, especially the kind which can never be quenched. Here, I must be careful not to give anything away because the main perks of the novella are its surprises. If I had to boil the theme down to its essence, I'd use a bit of the quote Davis includes as an introduction Life is hell when one's needs can only be fulfilled by the interaction/approval of other people. General statements of theme are mere templates. Mine excludes the richness in the novella itself, such as its religious and social explorations--and here is where Davis is his most courageous. My theme statement also fails to hint at the optimism, or tenacity, that rides through to the end.

I wish this were a play, because my criticism all revolves around the descriptive prose and what I consider a huge flaw in logic. I care quite a lot about words and the flow of sentences. The first three sentences made me lose hope that I'd enjoy reading the rest of the novella. I don't know if Davis recruited an editor, but the lack of sentence variety was seriously off-putting. It also forecast a writer's tic that would plague the story to the end. In addition, too many sentences used words repetitively, when a different word would have made the sentence smoother, and more professional. And many sentences need to be rewritten.

Lastly, I was struck at the end by a glaring logic flaw. The flaw springs from my understanding of the real events, and I won't give details that might spoil the story--but the ending makes the situation pretty damn clear. Unless I'm wildly off the mark, I would beg the author to fix the injustice in his ruse by having the POV begin with Josh, in the elevator first...and then Ruth enters. And by all means, turn this into a play.