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Their Solitary Way
THEIR SOLITARY WAY tells the story of Joseph Zorn, a boy raised in the forests of Michigan, whose rigorous homeschooling and social isolation produce a crippling alienation in him and his siblings.
At a young age, his father’s philosophy lessons cause an internal crisis in the young boy as he wonders about the way language interferes with his experience of external reality. Despite his desperate attempts to make direct contact with the world outside his head, he always seems to be defeated, and so remains confined in his abstract mental world.
When his older siblings eventually reach the age of college, the consequences of their upbringing are revealed. One of them elopes, another commits suicide, and a third turns to alcohol. When Joseph himself goes to college to study physics, he proves completely unable to make friendships or to establish any human connections whatsoever. He begins to wonder why his father raised him in such a way as to create this painful situation.
His father’s illness bring the three surviving children home, where they angrily confront the old man, and finally discover the truth of his motives. Their Solitary Way is an abstract and introspective work that confronts a series of philosophical paradoxes.
At a young age, his father’s philosophy lessons cause an internal crisis in the young boy as he wonders about the way language interferes with his experience of external reality. Despite his desperate attempts to make direct contact with the world outside his head, he always seems to be defeated, and so remains confined in his abstract mental world.
When his older siblings eventually reach the age of college, the consequences of their upbringing are revealed. One of them elopes, another commits suicide, and a third turns to alcohol. When Joseph himself goes to college to study physics, he proves completely unable to make friendships or to establish any human connections whatsoever. He begins to wonder why his father raised him in such a way as to create this painful situation.
His father’s illness bring the three surviving children home, where they angrily confront the old man, and finally discover the truth of his motives. Their Solitary Way is an abstract and introspective work that confronts a series of philosophical paradoxes.
322 pages, Paperback
Published February 19, 2021
About the author
Roy Lotz
1 book8,681 followersRoy Lotz is an English teacher living in Spain. Raised in Sleepy Hollow, New York, he studied cultural anthropology at Stony Brook University, graduating summa cum laude in 2013. He wrote his honors thesis on the music of Eastern Africa, a region he twice visited during his studies. Since 2015 he has been living and working in Madrid, where he writes a blog to document his travels around Europe. He also occasionally writes book reviews.
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March 8, 2022UPDATE: The ebook version is finally out! I have a discount code to download it for free. If you'd like it, just send me a message!
_________________________
I am excited to announce that, at long last, my philosophical novel has been published and is now available!
I wrote this book about six years ago—before I even moved to Spain—but I have been steadily working on it since. A philosophical novel with dubious commercial prospects, it took a while before I could find a publisher willing to release it. Thankfully, Adelaide Books agreed, and turned my little project into a reality.
In short, if you have ever read one of my reviews and thought “Boy, I wish that lasted three hundred more pages!” then have I got good news for you—you can! But be advised: I wrote this book when I was working under the combined influence of Marcel Proust and Ludwig Wittgenstein. While I would not dare compare my poor novel to their works, it does suffer from the attempt to emulate them.
In any case, to repeat the novel’s acknowledgments: “I am thankful to be part of such a wonderful online community of readers, and indebted to many members for helping me learn and grow.” It is no exageration to say that this book would never have been written, much less published, without you all on Goodreads. So thank you once again.
(Here is the link to the publisher’s website: https://adelaidebooks.org/products/th...)
_________________________
I am excited to announce that, at long last, my philosophical novel has been published and is now available!
I wrote this book about six years ago—before I even moved to Spain—but I have been steadily working on it since. A philosophical novel with dubious commercial prospects, it took a while before I could find a publisher willing to release it. Thankfully, Adelaide Books agreed, and turned my little project into a reality.
In short, if you have ever read one of my reviews and thought “Boy, I wish that lasted three hundred more pages!” then have I got good news for you—you can! But be advised: I wrote this book when I was working under the combined influence of Marcel Proust and Ludwig Wittgenstein. While I would not dare compare my poor novel to their works, it does suffer from the attempt to emulate them.
In any case, to repeat the novel’s acknowledgments: “I am thankful to be part of such a wonderful online community of readers, and indebted to many members for helping me learn and grow.” It is no exageration to say that this book would never have been written, much less published, without you all on Goodreads. So thank you once again.
(Here is the link to the publisher’s website: https://adelaidebooks.org/products/th...)
March 28, 2021
[Before reading]
I read an early draft of this and thought it was excellent. Delighted to learn that Adelaide Books felt the same way, and looking forward to seeing the final cut!
___________________________
[After reading]
As I said, I already liked the early draft I read a few years ago, and I liked the final version even more. It's a surprising book. A first-person narrative, purportedly composed by an elderly, asocial physicist nearing the end of his life, it tells the story of his early years. It's written in the kind of precise, slightly awkward language one would expect from an academic who has had an unusual upbringing, home-schooled with his three siblings by their brilliant and tyrannical German father in a remote house in the middle of the woods. Not much happens; the narrator hardly notices anything except for his own thoughts; there are few verbal fireworks. And yet it's absolutely unputdownable. I've been sitting here trying to figure out why.
In cases like these, there's often a rational explanation and an irrational explanation, and the rational explanation isn't necessarily the better one. My rational explanation goes as follows. I also had an unusual upbringing. It wasn't, of course, as dramatic as the scenario we see here, but my parents also wanted me and my siblings to be Special, taught us a lot of reasonably difficult things parents typically don't teach young kids, and inculcated us with various kinds of unusual likes and dislikes. I suspect this kind of background is not so uncommon among hardcore Goodreaders. (C'mon guys and gals, admit it. We're weird, we like reading. No one does that anymore. It must have come from somewhere?) I don't often talk about my upbringing, because it still feels a bit unpleasant and embarrassing. But when things are exaggerated to the extent you see in this book, they become something I can wrap my mind around. Okay, weird, but not as weird as this! I can, as it were, move past my own weirdness and look at it from the other side, and that's both interesting and in a way comforting.
Well, that was my rational explanation. My irrational explanation is much simpler: Joseph Zorn, the narrator, somehow just comes across as completely real. I can't explain why, and I don't think I want to know either. It's much better not to look behind the curtain. But I greatly appreciated this visit to the Emerald City.
I read an early draft of this and thought it was excellent. Delighted to learn that Adelaide Books felt the same way, and looking forward to seeing the final cut!
___________________________
[After reading]
As I said, I already liked the early draft I read a few years ago, and I liked the final version even more. It's a surprising book. A first-person narrative, purportedly composed by an elderly, asocial physicist nearing the end of his life, it tells the story of his early years. It's written in the kind of precise, slightly awkward language one would expect from an academic who has had an unusual upbringing, home-schooled with his three siblings by their brilliant and tyrannical German father in a remote house in the middle of the woods. Not much happens; the narrator hardly notices anything except for his own thoughts; there are few verbal fireworks. And yet it's absolutely unputdownable. I've been sitting here trying to figure out why.
In cases like these, there's often a rational explanation and an irrational explanation, and the rational explanation isn't necessarily the better one. My rational explanation goes as follows. I also had an unusual upbringing. It wasn't, of course, as dramatic as the scenario we see here, but my parents also wanted me and my siblings to be Special, taught us a lot of reasonably difficult things parents typically don't teach young kids, and inculcated us with various kinds of unusual likes and dislikes. I suspect this kind of background is not so uncommon among hardcore Goodreaders. (C'mon guys and gals, admit it. We're weird, we like reading. No one does that anymore. It must have come from somewhere?) I don't often talk about my upbringing, because it still feels a bit unpleasant and embarrassing. But when things are exaggerated to the extent you see in this book, they become something I can wrap my mind around. Okay, weird, but not as weird as this! I can, as it were, move past my own weirdness and look at it from the other side, and that's both interesting and in a way comforting.
Well, that was my rational explanation. My irrational explanation is much simpler: Joseph Zorn, the narrator, somehow just comes across as completely real. I can't explain why, and I don't think I want to know either. It's much better not to look behind the curtain. But I greatly appreciated this visit to the Emerald City.
July 22, 2021
This fictional memoir of a German-American academic exerts a strange, gentle pull, recounting no events of world-historical importance, but rather the internal epiphanies and quiet revelations of an introspective life. With its calm, precise prose and its examination of nothing less than the meaning of a fulfilling life, it comes across as something like a science-literate Paulo Coelho. I found its soft, almost hypnotic rhythms extremely rewarding.
March 26, 2021
We don’t get to choose our parents. Yet, those same parents, often create a profound effect on each of their children. Good, bad or indifferent. What kind of adults we become after childhood takes on many paths.
What if your father builds a house in the country, educating the children himself with lessons every day? He aims to instill wisdom so his children can “think” for themselves. Playing games with other children is never allowed. His children are small adults readying for university. Life is all planned. He has purposefully chosen a solitary path that refutes society. What will be the lesson learned?
This is how Ludwig Zorn, a highly educated Austrian, escaped Nazi Germany and raised his four children in America. The dream doesn’t quite work out, except for Joseph, who would follow in his father’s footsteps.
Young Joseph develops his love of science while clashing with philosophical issues. He is truly is cut from his father. Sadly, his siblings are not. Paradise is not for all. The title, taken from Milton, suggests “their solitary way.” Not all of want solitude.
Roy Lotz has written a fascinating story of the Zorn’s. While reading this story, Thomas Mann comes to mind. The focus on the strict family upbringing creates conflict and tension. The sense of wonder, loss and even love arise. Sprinkle in a lot of philosophy and you have an interesting take on this family.
What drives the story is the empathetic and very curious Joseph. His naivety and almost innocent brilliant mind skilfully unravels all the issues of youth. A lot happens that sets him going forward. Some things fail; but most succeed. What do we owe our parents? A worthy question.
What if your father builds a house in the country, educating the children himself with lessons every day? He aims to instill wisdom so his children can “think” for themselves. Playing games with other children is never allowed. His children are small adults readying for university. Life is all planned. He has purposefully chosen a solitary path that refutes society. What will be the lesson learned?
This is how Ludwig Zorn, a highly educated Austrian, escaped Nazi Germany and raised his four children in America. The dream doesn’t quite work out, except for Joseph, who would follow in his father’s footsteps.
Young Joseph develops his love of science while clashing with philosophical issues. He is truly is cut from his father. Sadly, his siblings are not. Paradise is not for all. The title, taken from Milton, suggests “their solitary way.” Not all of want solitude.
Roy Lotz has written a fascinating story of the Zorn’s. While reading this story, Thomas Mann comes to mind. The focus on the strict family upbringing creates conflict and tension. The sense of wonder, loss and even love arise. Sprinkle in a lot of philosophy and you have an interesting take on this family.
What drives the story is the empathetic and very curious Joseph. His naivety and almost innocent brilliant mind skilfully unravels all the issues of youth. A lot happens that sets him going forward. Some things fail; but most succeed. What do we owe our parents? A worthy question.
June 30, 2021
The author, Roy Lotz, contacted me earlier this year to let me know that he dedicated this book to my late father, Ted Schmeckpeper "the avuncular guardian of goodreads," and sent me a copy. My Dad spent hours writing reviews, reading books, and - I learned from Roy - offering helpful comments on earlier versions of this book. My Dad was a math major and made his career as an engineer, but in the 1970s he also worked towards his Master's in the History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Melbourne. (Only did not complete because he and my Mom moved back to the States and finishing up a thesis abroad would have been quite difficult - oh how times have changed!)
So, I can completely see why my Dad took an interest in this book - it is chock full the philosophical musings of a budding physicist. I don't quite have my Dad's aptitude for philosophy, but I did enjoy the story. Like others have reviewed, there was not a lot of action, but I found myself looking forward to reading the book when I had the chance. On more than one occasion, I found myself stopping to think about one of the philosophical life questions that the narrator raises. (I am obviously not the expert reviewer that my father was - I did not think to underline these passages to highlight in this review!)
Mostly, I loved that this book made me feel closer to my Dad. I finished it on vacation at the beach in North Carolina - a place we went as a family many, many times. And, as I read on the deck, overlooking the beach, I remembered all of the hours my Dad spent reading books on the deck and on the beach (and occasionally falling asleep!). So, thank you, Roy, for being so kind as to dedicate this book to my Dad and to encourage me to read a book that was a bit outside my comfort zone.
So, I can completely see why my Dad took an interest in this book - it is chock full the philosophical musings of a budding physicist. I don't quite have my Dad's aptitude for philosophy, but I did enjoy the story. Like others have reviewed, there was not a lot of action, but I found myself looking forward to reading the book when I had the chance. On more than one occasion, I found myself stopping to think about one of the philosophical life questions that the narrator raises. (I am obviously not the expert reviewer that my father was - I did not think to underline these passages to highlight in this review!)
Mostly, I loved that this book made me feel closer to my Dad. I finished it on vacation at the beach in North Carolina - a place we went as a family many, many times. And, as I read on the deck, overlooking the beach, I remembered all of the hours my Dad spent reading books on the deck and on the beach (and occasionally falling asleep!). So, thank you, Roy, for being so kind as to dedicate this book to my Dad and to encourage me to read a book that was a bit outside my comfort zone.
May 1, 2021
not to be completely corny but i think this book may have changed the trajectory of my life/education, so thanks roy tbh
March 25, 2021
“Books have a way of adhering to a curious mind, like sand clinging to wet skin” I don't know if I have a particularly curious mind but this book definitely stuck to it and I'm sure it will remain stuck for a while to come. There's a lot that is covered in this book but the thing that stuck with me the most was the idea of solitude begetting solitude. There are times in the book where the characters are struck by a painful event and often their reaction is not to pull together and share their pain, but rather to scatter off to their own little corners of the house, and into their own minds and thoughts. Of course, all this makes sense, the family has been built around the pursuit of knowledge and the furthering of understanding, so of course, in these difficult moments, the natural response for them is to seek to understand, to figure out why.
The narration of the book is particularly interesting and the form does a great job of reflecting the main character's personality. Each life event is studied and reflected upon and it never becomes dull or boring because the reader feels a part of the process.
All in all, a very engaging and enjoyable book that I look forward to rereading in the near future!
The narration of the book is particularly interesting and the form does a great job of reflecting the main character's personality. Each life event is studied and reflected upon and it never becomes dull or boring because the reader feels a part of the process.
All in all, a very engaging and enjoyable book that I look forward to rereading in the near future!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 27, 2022
I really loved this book. Hard to put down. Most of us today lead a life with variety in it. Life where we can move from task to task, we can spend our time in many different ways. Well, the father in this book would call all of that distractions and thought it best to raise his children in the middle of a forest with nothing but books and their own mind to keep their company. A life where it is not customary to talk with other people at all. Little bit like monks.
I am a little fascinated with this kind of single-mindedness. I like to cultivate it (to some small extent) in my life. What would it do to a person to be thrown in a pit of solitude with nothing but their own mind(and a limitless library)? Would it make the person extraordinary in what they set out to do? Yes, likely. Would it screw them up for the rest of their life? Yes, certainly, in a way.
Two issues with this book:
Quite a few spelling errors(that look like an auto-correct).
The book description on GR absolutely spoils everything in the book, for the love of God, who wrote that!
I am a little fascinated with this kind of single-mindedness. I like to cultivate it (to some small extent) in my life. What would it do to a person to be thrown in a pit of solitude with nothing but their own mind(and a limitless library)? Would it make the person extraordinary in what they set out to do? Yes, likely. Would it screw them up for the rest of their life? Yes, certainly, in a way.
Two issues with this book:
Quite a few spelling errors(that look like an auto-correct).
The book description on GR absolutely spoils everything in the book, for the love of God, who wrote that!
March 22, 2021
Their Solitary Way is, to me, a wonderfully sad book. The narrative is essentially archetypical: how to structure our children's environment, in order to maximise their chances of seeing through the illusory nature of our world?
That is the quest of Father, who, running from the Nazis, decides to raise his children in what he considers to be a garden of Eden. Remote, isolated, with a gigantic library of excellent books for his children to read.
Symbollically, Father represents knowledge, order, logic. Without the balance of the opposing feminine however, Father, by necessity, turns dictatorial. That is precisely the theme explored here. Again and again, I longed for the characters to hug each other, to show that they care, to embrace their hearts instead of their heads, but how could they?
That is the quest of Father, who, running from the Nazis, decides to raise his children in what he considers to be a garden of Eden. Remote, isolated, with a gigantic library of excellent books for his children to read.
Symbollically, Father represents knowledge, order, logic. Without the balance of the opposing feminine however, Father, by necessity, turns dictatorial. That is precisely the theme explored here. Again and again, I longed for the characters to hug each other, to show that they care, to embrace their hearts instead of their heads, but how could they?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 20, 2022
Just about under 4/5 in my opinion.
This was a strange book to me. I liked it quite a bit! But it’s certainly not everyone’s cup of tea. As with any fictional book it must be possible to sympathize with some subset of characters. The author certainly didn’t make it easy to do that with the MC. It didn’t help that some private thoughts of the MC simply read like merely the author’s amateur philosophical musings.
Despite that, somehow, the book was pleasurable. I never felt like it was a chore to read and the atmosphere of the MC’s mind and surroundings gave me a sense of calmness. The quiet reflections were charming and wonderful.
Perhaps some of the more “out there” components of the MC’s psyche could have been done without.
Especially the movie inducing intermittent hallucinations for the rest of MC’s life. I understand that the author wished to highlight the powerful effect movies had on the MC, but that just seemed weird for lack of a better word.
It is most skillful of an author, I think, to construct a “weird” character who one is yet capable of sympathizing with or even identifying with. It accentuates the sense of being dragged into their world due to their mind‘s and world’s contrast with our own. And the author almost managed that here! To the extent the author managed it, I found this to be a pleasant read.
The spelling mistakes were unfortunate but easily forgivable.
I am looking forward to future books of the author once they have ironed out their kinks. I doubt it’s an everyday occurrence for an author’s first book to be outstanding.
All in all, a middling book that may be appreciated by (perhaps among others) those who have felt in themselves, at some point in their lives, an affinity for a certain kind of Pythagorean or Platonic mysticism. That said, there are no ��deep” thoughts here.
This was a strange book to me. I liked it quite a bit! But it’s certainly not everyone’s cup of tea. As with any fictional book it must be possible to sympathize with some subset of characters. The author certainly didn’t make it easy to do that with the MC. It didn’t help that some private thoughts of the MC simply read like merely the author’s amateur philosophical musings.
Despite that, somehow, the book was pleasurable. I never felt like it was a chore to read and the atmosphere of the MC’s mind and surroundings gave me a sense of calmness. The quiet reflections were charming and wonderful.
Perhaps some of the more “out there” components of the MC’s psyche could have been done without.
Especially the movie inducing intermittent hallucinations for the rest of MC’s life. I understand that the author wished to highlight the powerful effect movies had on the MC, but that just seemed weird for lack of a better word.
It is most skillful of an author, I think, to construct a “weird” character who one is yet capable of sympathizing with or even identifying with. It accentuates the sense of being dragged into their world due to their mind‘s and world’s contrast with our own. And the author almost managed that here! To the extent the author managed it, I found this to be a pleasant read.
The spelling mistakes were unfortunate but easily forgivable.
I am looking forward to future books of the author once they have ironed out their kinks. I doubt it’s an everyday occurrence for an author’s first book to be outstanding.
All in all, a middling book that may be appreciated by (perhaps among others) those who have felt in themselves, at some point in their lives, an affinity for a certain kind of Pythagorean or Platonic mysticism. That said, there are no ��deep” thoughts here.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 1, 2021
Can I give this book 6 stars?
I would if I could. I’m not good at writing reviews and I would encourage you to not waste your time reading them. Just go and buy this book - it will make your world less solitary.
I would if I could. I’m not good at writing reviews and I would encourage you to not waste your time reading them. Just go and buy this book - it will make your world less solitary.
April 13, 2021
A truly great read! The way the book started as this strange, hermetically sealed life that periodically would be pierced by these incredible moments of insight, only to slip back into the total confusion and rage of the impossible life Joseph had forced on him, made me feel like I was really working through this entire process of learning how to live with him. An incredible exploration of not only philosophy, but how we live within the philosophies we learn.
June 1, 2021
Ah man, not this again -- I need to make a list of GR users who make a habit of plugging their GR friends' self-published books, just so I can avoid wasting my time. The prose is not bad, but overall this book is mediocre at best (imo), with the obvious misspellings ("the Golf Stream," "money at his disposable") that you would expect, etc.
May 23, 2021
I had the honor of knowing Roy Lotz (only by name) through Goodreads. Our reading interests have some overlaps. His reviews are always thoughtful and in themselves good reads. Thus I was pleasantly surprised that he published his first book, a philosophical novel. He was gracious enough to offer me a free copy, but I declined for fear that I would violate his work by not finishing it. Later on, I purchased a copy on Kindle, partly hoping that at least the minor monetary contribution could somewhat compensate for the travail of a great mind.
This is really just a roundabout way of saying that I already had some pre-formulated opinion about the author before I started the read. This has contaminated my thinking and prevented me from encountering the author in the crudest form.
A philosophical novel could take many forms, depending on its intended audience. One particular form is Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder, which I unfortunately did not finish. In my view, Gaarder’s attempt to combine pedagogy and literature lost utility in both - although maybe a more skillful author would have executed a better version. That being said, a common challenge in these endeavors is striking the right balance between philosophical discourse and its “wrapper”. Dostoevsky - for example - did a good job of having an engaging wrapper and some profound philosophy - although his works are not strictly philosophical novels. Postmortem For A Postmodernist by Arthur Asa Berger has a simple, almost superficial wrapper; but it somehow did bring together a hodgepodge of ideas into a semi-coherent (perhaps postmodern?) narrative.
Thus there is also often an emphasis either on the philosophy or the wrapper. In the case of Their Solitary Way, I sense that Roy Lotz wanted to focus on philosophy at first. The Socratic back-and-forth between Zorn and his father was well crafted. One of the earlier chapters had glimpses of Kant - although it was not explicitly pointed out. Then I sense that he decided to focus more on the wrapper - at the time when the first family tragedy hit. I think the story largely delivered what he intended to deliver. But because of the shift, the novel became somewhat ambivalent. I wish there was a more consistent focus either on philosophical discussions or on the story.
This brings to my other observation. Philosophical discourse and literary skills require great minds - which I think Roy Lotz does have. But in-depth stories require experiences of the real burdens in life - and that takes time. A young man’s encounter with the world will be different from that of an old man.
I also do believe world-class wrappers require deep, often traumatic experiences in life. Dostoevsky is Dostoevsky because he went through some really shitty experiences that neither you nor I dare to experience. This is not to say that mysteries or murder stories are not good wrappers - they are. It’s just they do not go beyond the level of being merely literary devices to thought-provoking instruments of their own. Or dare I say - Übermensch?
For these reasons, I think Roy Rotz needs a couple of more years to fully develop his potential. There will be a middle-aged version of Roy Rotz at some point, and there will be an elderly version as well. I look forward to these versions.
This is really just a roundabout way of saying that I already had some pre-formulated opinion about the author before I started the read. This has contaminated my thinking and prevented me from encountering the author in the crudest form.
A philosophical novel could take many forms, depending on its intended audience. One particular form is Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder, which I unfortunately did not finish. In my view, Gaarder’s attempt to combine pedagogy and literature lost utility in both - although maybe a more skillful author would have executed a better version. That being said, a common challenge in these endeavors is striking the right balance between philosophical discourse and its “wrapper”. Dostoevsky - for example - did a good job of having an engaging wrapper and some profound philosophy - although his works are not strictly philosophical novels. Postmortem For A Postmodernist by Arthur Asa Berger has a simple, almost superficial wrapper; but it somehow did bring together a hodgepodge of ideas into a semi-coherent (perhaps postmodern?) narrative.
Thus there is also often an emphasis either on the philosophy or the wrapper. In the case of Their Solitary Way, I sense that Roy Lotz wanted to focus on philosophy at first. The Socratic back-and-forth between Zorn and his father was well crafted. One of the earlier chapters had glimpses of Kant - although it was not explicitly pointed out. Then I sense that he decided to focus more on the wrapper - at the time when the first family tragedy hit. I think the story largely delivered what he intended to deliver. But because of the shift, the novel became somewhat ambivalent. I wish there was a more consistent focus either on philosophical discussions or on the story.
This brings to my other observation. Philosophical discourse and literary skills require great minds - which I think Roy Lotz does have. But in-depth stories require experiences of the real burdens in life - and that takes time. A young man’s encounter with the world will be different from that of an old man.
I also do believe world-class wrappers require deep, often traumatic experiences in life. Dostoevsky is Dostoevsky because he went through some really shitty experiences that neither you nor I dare to experience. This is not to say that mysteries or murder stories are not good wrappers - they are. It’s just they do not go beyond the level of being merely literary devices to thought-provoking instruments of their own. Or dare I say - Übermensch?
For these reasons, I think Roy Rotz needs a couple of more years to fully develop his potential. There will be a middle-aged version of Roy Rotz at some point, and there will be an elderly version as well. I look forward to these versions.
March 29, 2021
This is a great story, so tense and emotionally charged that I felt not as a reader but as a presence inside the story- sitting beside Joseph, accompanying him through his hardship. I was moved by his honesty and felt comfort to know that as conscious beings we share some deep concerns, that we laugh and cry at our condition both beautiful and disquieting. I wish there was more of it.
I loved it.
I loved it.
October 6, 2022
4.5 stars, it connected with me all the way through and was a pleasant read.
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