Wonderfull by
William Neil Scott
– Reviewed by Angie Abdou for The Fernie Fix’s September 2008 Issue
Buy this book from Amazon.ca
 When I began this book column, I decided that I would only write very positive reviews. Already, too many people in Canada don’t read. A 2007 study noted that 31% of Canadians hadn’t read a single book in the past year. Why, then, write a bad review? Why waste ink telling people not to read a book that they weren’t going to read anyway? I decided, instead, I would sift through the many Canadian books available and point out some of those worth reading.
This month, though, I have picked a book that I cannot give a fully positive review, a book that aspires to greatness but doesn’t quite reach it. Wonderfull is the first novel written by William Neil Scott, a twenty-seven year old Calgarian. The first page of this book sent shivers down my spine—it’s beautiful, complex, resonant, and full of metaphorical potential. I immediately prepared myself to hate William Neil Scott, to be overwhelmed by jealousy at his brilliance and his early success. The book never quite reached that height again, and it didn’t (to my mind) fully deliver on the hinted potential.
William Neil Scott works in the genre of magic realism. His book is filled with ghosts, magicians, and clairvoyants. It is set in Garfax, a city that does not exist on paper. To give credit where credit is due, Scott does the magic well. Very well. We believe in the weird characters. We believe in the fairytale setting. We come to love the Garfaxians in all their bizarre complexity. We care deeply about Lizzy who was fat and then beautiful and then cripple, about Sara who smells of rainwater because her hair has not dried since her mother abandoned her, about Emma who can remember the future, about Cadmus who visits other times and places as he sleepwalks. Scott’s talent as a storyteller, as a spinner of tales, is enviable. His authorial voice is surprisingly sure.
However, the parts don’t quite come together as a whole. At the start of the novel, readers are told that the book’s events are set into motion when Emma Brodie (the narrator’s mother) takes to the water for seven days and seven nights. But the connection between this event and the novel’s other events never becomes satisfyingly clear on any level. Instead, Wonderfull often feels more like a series of interconnected short stories than a novel.
The book does, of course, have some central themes. Particularly, Scott stresses the importance of story. He encourages readers to look for the magical—the wonderful—in everyday life and to share that sense of wonder through story. Perhaps because Scott places himself in the tradition of the great Gabriel Garcia Marquez, I expected more. I thought in the end the events would carry more political resonance, more social commentary.
In his acknowledgements, Scott thanks his friends and family, noting “Everyone who is important to me is in this book, in one from or another. Thanks for sharing your stories.” One does get the feeling that Scott has put every person and every story into this book, that perhaps he was afraid that Wonderfull would be his last book as well as his first. Connections between the various stories are often under developed. Characters frequently drop out of the narrative before they accrue any thematic significance. One gets the feeling that Scott could have spent less time including and more time crafting.
So, Wonderfull is not perfect. It does not quite become what it could be, or even what it promises to be. Does that mean it’s not worth reading? No. Read Wonderfull. Read it for the engaging stories, for the complex and imaginative characters, for the early peek into the work of a writer headed towards greatness. Put away your expectations and revel in the talent—even the pure joy—of someone who clearly loves to tell good stories.
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Angie Abdou is a local writer. Angie is teaching Creative Writing 101 at the Fernie Campus of College of the Rockies this fall. Call 423-4691 to register. |
