The Journey by Dan O'Brien

***This book was received as a free advanced readers copy***

Ok, I freely admit that I really just did not get this book. But I enjoyed the language in it for the most part, and thought it was interesting. It just made me feel a little dumb.

A being called The Lonely sets out on a journey. There a shape shifter called the Crossroads points him in the four directions of the compass, to meet a different kind of being at each end. To the North, a being of logic, the South, one of passion, the West something a little more wild, and to the East, something peaceful. Each of them has a lesson to impart and only after speaking with them can he continue on his journey, to try to figure out who or what he is and why is on this journey in the first place. And ultimately the journey is about knowledge.

The Lonely was kind of pretentious. I'm not going to lie. For a guy who claims to now know what's going on or where he is, he sure does like to argue with these all powerful type beings and try to show them up. But hey, at least he has spunk. The beings themselves are all very different from one another, and that's in both appearance and the messages that they have to impart. I actually think I liked the South the best out of all of them, just because she was a little wild and warm. She'd probably be a good friend. The last figure kind of confused me as I wasn't sure the lesson he was trying to drive home.

So aside from the book making me feel like an idiot with some of its ideas, I did like the imagery. I could actually picture the different places that the Lonely visited and enjoyed the concept of finding a different person in each direction. It was just the conversation (and this book is mainly conversation) that left me at a loss sometimes. I don't consider myself a genius or anything, but some of it was pretty high level and I don't think it could be enjoyed by a wide group of people, I certainly had some trouble in parts anyway. This book is probably for a chose few who like philosophy and figuring out life's lessons and deeper meanings. Its definitely one of those books you have to think about.

I'm still pretty confused and may have to go back and read it again just to see if I can figure a little more out. But considering I read for pleasure I'm more likely to be distracted by something a little more brain friendly.

The Journey
Copyright 2011
176 pages