A Scottish film fan contemplates his life and the influence cinema has had on it in this moving tale which was a launch release from new Scottish e-book publishers Blasted Heath.
The highlight of young Roy Batty’s year was the annual family holiday to a small coastal town in Scotland but it wasn’t sandcastles and paddling Roy was interested in, it was the guaranteed cinema trips that made his eyes light up. Roy and his Dad would go to see classic Westerns such as The Magnificent Seven and the young lad developed a life-long love of the escapism these heroic tales would provide.
Time passes and as Roy gets older all the important events in his life are punctuated by the films of the time and we discover tragic events that have taken place which push him deeper into the fantasy on-screen world.
The author obviously shares his main character’s love of cinema. Films such as The Graduate, Braveheart, ET and Blade Runner are all described in a manner that illustrates the fondness felt for them. Unfortunately the descriptions do contain huge spoilers for all the films mentioned (and many others) so beware if you read this and plan to see them. The lengthy descriptions are also to the detriment of the novel’s plot. The story of Roy’s life gets lost amongst the memories of movies and I even found myself skipping parts of the descriptions of films that I’m familiar with.
The Man From The Seventh Row is a poignant journey down one man’s memory lane but the love of films could have been used more effectively by omitting all movie plot points except the ones essential to the character’s story.
Ric’s Rating: Good
The highlight of young Roy Batty’s year was the annual family holiday to a small coastal town in Scotland but it wasn’t sandcastles and paddling Roy was interested in, it was the guaranteed cinema trips that made his eyes light up. Roy and his Dad would go to see classic Westerns such as The Magnificent Seven and the young lad developed a life-long love of the escapism these heroic tales would provide.
Time passes and as Roy gets older all the important events in his life are punctuated by the films of the time and we discover tragic events that have taken place which push him deeper into the fantasy on-screen world.
The author obviously shares his main character’s love of cinema. Films such as The Graduate, Braveheart, ET and Blade Runner are all described in a manner that illustrates the fondness felt for them. Unfortunately the descriptions do contain huge spoilers for all the films mentioned (and many others) so beware if you read this and plan to see them. The lengthy descriptions are also to the detriment of the novel’s plot. The story of Roy’s life gets lost amongst the memories of movies and I even found myself skipping parts of the descriptions of films that I’m familiar with.
The Man From The Seventh Row is a poignant journey down one man’s memory lane but the love of films could have been used more effectively by omitting all movie plot points except the ones essential to the character’s story.
Ric’s Rating: Good
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ReplyDeleteGood, that was the entire point of the book. BP