Review: An enjoyable novella filled with quirky wit
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 11 17, 2012
Just Past the Trees begins with a young man who works as a lawnmower and gopher at a local business in northern Florida. He is also a writer who stumbles across a story when he discovers a dead body while mowing the back field. Instead of being a simple cut-and-dried, straight out horror story, it ends up being commentary on the world of writing.It was not at all what I expected, and that is one reason I enjoyed it so much. I like surprises. I especially enjoyed Ratliff's use of simile throughout the story. More than once, his character's expressions and world views made me laugh out loud, and that's saying something because I read this story while my little girl played at a nearby McDonald's Play Place. I'm sure I received some strange looks.The only thing that, at times, slowed the momentum, was the lengthy narrative style. As a novella, it worked and didn't slow it enough for me to lose interest, but if Ratliff entertains the notion of developing this into a full length novel, he may want to introduce dialogue earlier in the story. I also didn't have a clear picture of what the two main characters looked like until I was nearing the end of the story.I hope Ratliff will continue writing and publishing his work. I've already picked up another of his novellas and am looking forward to reading more.