So Much Blue: A Novel

I have been a reader of Prof. Everett for only a few years. This is my fourth book and again I found this work very suited to my broad range of interest in literature. His manor of writing is so different[in a very good way] from so many other writers that stands him out from the crowd of novelist. This book has intrigue,adventure,human frailty,physical love,misplaced love but finally real soulful love of family. I truly enjoyed this book and you will also if you enjoy a strong and true ending.

Hello Percival Everett. I must admit to being unaware of this very good writer prior to reading the almost quiet, composed, understated novel that is So Much Blue. A middle-aged painter of some success, lives a life colored by events of his college days when he accompanied his closest friend to El Salvador to find said friend's lost? disappeared? brother. Their journey, and subsequent lives, are affected by the violence of a war-torn third world country that gives them little but takes away a great deal. There is death, and regret, and friendship, and anger that continues to live among the thoughts and feelings of the protagonist. There is great strength here, both in the story and in the writing. I would call this work a successful exploration of the underlying currents that define all our lives, the unshared thoughts and reflections that shape our hidden fears and desires and our relationships with others. Mr. Everett, I shall read you again.

Mr. Everett is a master story teller. There are three distinct plots in one novel. His references to history, philosophy, math, science, and literature are instructive and perfectly placed.

This book was a recommendation in my book club. The main character was revealed in three different scenarios that depicted his various personality traits. Once that was understood, the reading was more interestingly followed. it was interesting and unpredictable.

for a used book it was in great condition!

In light of the current climate, which has been how many women have felt all along, the older man/younger French woman affair turned me off. It was hard to get beyond that and appreciate the good writing and interesting story.I liked how there were secrets in the 3 story lines and how the protagonist doesn't use the color blue, the color of trust and loyalty. He can handle the guilt of the affair with the young French woman, and divulging his daughter's secret to his friend Richard but not to his wife as he should have, and his South American secret, but he can't handle the shame.When he did what he did in El Salvador, part of him "evaporated". It feels like he's disassociated and trying to put himself back together. The secret painting is a timeline with no clear points in time on it. So it must be a circle. Many brush strokes are covered up, layered. It's where he works out his depression, it's his therapy.The big reveal was not too much of a surprise. It's what's kept Freud and Jungian talk therapy alive for all these years. Secrets have a way of destroying a person if left untold.If it weren't for the affair, I would have liked it more. I simply could not feel compassion for the character. Pig comes to mind, even though the story was well-written and interesting.

One of the best books I've read in a very long time. Three stories interwoven and quietly enlarged upon. In the beginning, I felt as if the writer was painting a book about an artist. His prose is beautiful. I often skim so much in books because they give endless details that do not take the story anywhere, the writing is spare and beautiful. This is my first book by Perceval Everett, but I have the feeling it's going to be the beginning of a long relationship between the two of us

Generally, a story that held my interest. But there are two things about this book I didn't like. It has significant implausibilities, and it jumps around too much. First, he is in a war zone in Latin America, and sees the corpse of a child who had been killed recently. This is supposed to have had a shattering affect on the protagonist. Even more striking, someone is shooting at him, trying to kill him. He somewhat accidentally fires back and kills that person. Saying that he is plagued by guilt for 30 years is an understatement. He is driven to return to these scenes those years later, and happens upon a local resident in an empty building. It just so happens that she hears his story and promptly walks him to the home of the family of the dead infant girl, a few blocks away. This might be a plausible if only five or 10 people lived in that country. Beyond these specific details, I just did not find the protagonist plausible.The second element I disliked in this book was the chapters jumping from one time period to another. It seems that someone has instructed all modern writers to do this. I don't see that it adds anything, and makes it seem like television serials that have to get to a stopping point, leaving you anxious to get to the next chapter. Why is it that Dostoevsky, Melville, and Hemingway were able to write good stories that you didn't need this element? It is just an artifice. But the underlying stories and the writing quality were such that I would still give it four stars, deducting only one star for my peeves.