Some final thoughts on Mark Slouka's Brewster

Sure the end may be a little over the top, but there's plenty of action, emotion, and even surprises in the final pages of Mark Slouka's novel Brewster. In yesterday's post I wondered if there would be any "look back" in the narration - after all, it's a contemporary story written by a guy looking back at his high-school years, his coming of age, his confrontation with a crisis, and maturation - and it kind of cries out for some info on what the narrator has done w/ the intervening years of his life and why he's chosen to look back on this particular period. Slouka does, in the final pages, give us a sense of the course the narrator's life took, at least in the ten or so years after the events of the novel - the rest is a blank screen. I found the conclusion pretty satisfying, tying up all of the loose ends of the novel and showing how fate can change people, for better or for worse. I think the novel would have been slightly stronger if Slouka had begun, as well, with a look-back statement, something dramatic (like the way D Tartt began The Secret History), such as: This is a story about the worst thing I ever did, and the best. Or: This is a story I have never been able to tell until now. I found the evolution of the narrator's character very credible and moving - unlike in many sport-themed novels, he doesn't (completely) triumph in the end. I found the evolution of his best friend's character a little sketchy - he's a much nicer, more sympathetic guy by the end than at the outset, and I'm not sure if he's really changed, or if Slouka is presenting him in a different light (it may be that he hasn't changed but our view of him changes - tho he certainly starts out looking like a thug and ends up quite different). I think the girlfriend's character is a little underdeveloped - would like her to explain, at some point, what draws her to Ray Cap, and would like to know a little bit about what did become of her in the end. Surprised that Slouka so effectively introduced issue of racial tension and then did not develop this - though he does use the clash of cultures beautifully in one scene, when narrator Jon learns from one of the black kids that his best friend, Ray, has not been leveling with him. Altogether, a very satisfying novel, emotional and dramatic and even cinematic, and I hope if finds its readership.