Review: Good, but not as good as Old Man and the Wasteland
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 27, 2014
I've rated this novel 4 stars because of it's price and the hangover "halo" effect of loving Old Man and the Wasteland. Otherwise it might have slipped to a 3.I found Savage Boy to lack some of the hopefulness of OMAW. While the imagery and descriptive text were excellent, the internal dialogue of the boy was stuttering and, to me, overly redundant. More McCarthyesque than Hemingway which I don't think is in it's favor.As others have said the results on the northern California coast were dissatisfying for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the familial association with the old general. Is the result at the market plausible within the context of the novel? Methinks not. The entire hotel scene lacked plausibility, especially the traps. The convenience of the Golden Gate roadbed activity was too cute by half.Overall, I enjoyed the novel because Nick does a great job at world building and description. The plot does work and avoids loose-ended sub-plots.