Tantric Coconuts by Gregory Kincaid

Today I'm reviewing Tantric Coconuts, a novel by Gregory Kincaid.  I received a free digital reading edition of this book a few weeks ago, via Blogging for Books (see disclaimer at the end of the review).

I had high hopes for this novel.  But then I realized that this is not so much a novel as it is a treatise on spiritual awakening.  As such, I have no doubt that the author does a good job presenting the details of the main character's spiritual education (the main character, a lawyer named Ted Day, calls it “Spirit Tech").  However, the result of this emphasis on spiritual instruction renders the characters flat and lifeless – they come across as nothing but cardboard cutouts to help present the ideas that make up the bulk of the story.  When you take away all of that, what is left is a simplistic and not very compelling plot.

The novel starts out with promising and relatively eccentric characters, however: a lawyer, Ted Day, who takes his grandfather’s Winnebago out on a desperately-needed road trip to try and find himself; a young Native American woman, Angel Two Sparrow, who takes her aunt’s retrofitted bookmobile (nicknamed “Bertha”) out on the road to start her spiritual consulting business; and the aunt herself, Aunt Lilly, who is in prison for shooting her husband on the advice of a dream.  There’s also an intriguing premise: Ted and Angel get into a collision, and as part of their “settlement” over the damages to the Winnebago, Angel agrees to educate Ted in the basics of spirituality.  As they keep traveling, Ted and Angel make contact with several of Angel’s friends, all of whom are spiritual guides like her, and all eager to wax eloquent in the pages of the novel.  Most of the characters seem quite reluctant to actually do things of any consequence, however, preferring mostly to sit around and talk like they just stepped out of the pages of a philosophy book.  The reader keeps waiting for the plot to come back, and it never really does.  Ted does eventually get around to working up a defense for Aunt Lilly but it’s almost as an afterthought to the rest of the novel, and even though I am no lawyer, the defense seemed pretty flimsy to me.  It was clear that this plot element was being slotted in to serve the bigger “plot” of Ted’s spiritual education.

The book is well-written, and it has much to offer the reader who may be a seeker, looking to explore questions of religion and spirituality.  However, for the reader who wants a good, old-fashioned story with a plot and everything, there’s just not much of that here.

Disclaimer: I received a complementary digital copy of this book from the book's publisher via Blogging for Books (bloggingforbooks.org) for review purposes.  I did not receive any monetary compensation in return for the review.  All opinions expressed here are my own.

Dewey's Read-a-thon: Wrapup Post

As I anticipated, I woke up this morning around 6 AM and had an hour to read some more as the finish for the readathon.  So I took that opportunity to read my R.I.P. Deal Me In Lite stories for the upcoming week.  They were (are): "Reports of Certain Events in London" by China Mieville, and "Orchestra" by Stephen Mark Rainey.  I'll be posting about these at more length during the upcoming week, of course, but I liked the Rainey story much better than the Mieville story.

So this brought my read-a-thon activity to a close.  I accomplished a lot more than I thought I would, so I would say all in all, my read-a-thon was a success.

Here's my end-of-the-event meme:

1. Which hour was most daunting for you?  Oddly enough, it was along about hour 8 or 9 -- the middle of the afternoon.  I think it was probably just a normal middle-of-the-afternoon slump, and easily remedied with coffee and a snack.  I didn't stay up all night but if I had, I have no doubt that some of the higher-number hours would just about have killed me.
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?  None of my books were super high-interest, although once I got into the Gaiman, it chugged along pretty well on the interest meter.  I noticed that a lot of people were reading graphic novels this year, and I expect those would work pretty well for those times where interest might be flagging.
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?  Nope, this was my first read-a-thon so I don't have many expectations that were not met.  Maybe next time. :-)
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?  The cheerleading and posting at the main website seemed to go off really flawlessly.  I'm sure there must have been quite a bit of hair-pulling and cussing behind the scenes, but it was not at all evident.
5. How many books did you read?  Two, and two standalone short stories.
6. What were the names of the books you read?  All Hallows' Eve by Vivian Vande Velde; The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman; and the two short stories mentioned above.
7. Which book did you enjoy most?  Definitely the Gaiman.
8. Which did you enjoy least?  This doesn't really apply since I had only two books.  I really liked both of them.
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?  N/A
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?  Very likely.  I would love to be in the situation where I could actually try to read for the whole 24 hours -- maybe next time.  And next time, I might be willing to be a cheerleader.

Dewey's Read-a-thon: Hour 15

Progress: After supper, and after watching a couple of episodes of 24 season 5 (my guilty pleasure), I resumed reading the Gaiman.  And I did it -- I finished The Ocean at the End of the Lane.  I'll be reviewing it properly in the next few days, but for now, all I can say is...

WOW.

What a ride.  At first I was unsure of what to think about the story.  Everything seemed so weird and alien and not-quite-right.  But then (very quickly) the story heated up and it became one of those books that is hard to put down.  And it's also one of those stories that gets inside your heart and soul -- as I finished the story, I felt my chest getting tight and I was being overwhelmed with the beauty and bittersweetness of the ending.  I'm glad I read this book, and I hate that I put it off for so long.

Now what?

I did something today I didn't think I would do, at least not this early: I got through both of my books.  And it's just now 10 PM.  Granted, I am planning on being asleep for most of the remainder of the readathon (no staying up all night for this puppy, at least not this time around, maybe in the spring), but there's time to read a little more before bed this evening.  I think I may read a short story or two before bed, and then another short story in the morning, perhaps, before the end of the readathon at 7 AM.

Dewey's Read-a-thon: Hour 11

Progress: I am on page 107 of The Ocean at the End of the Lane.  It started out kind of rough, and slow-going, and then it totally sucked me in.  I shouldn't have any problem finishing it this evening, but for now I am going to take a supper break and do some other things, perhaps.  Back to the reading later!

Dewey's Read-a-thon: "Show It Off" Mini Challenge

OK, this one spoke to me so I am participating.  One of the Mini Challenges for this current timeframe is Show It Off!  The idea is to show off a book from one's shelves that one is proud of, or it's the book(s) that one would grab in case of a fire.  I don't know about any of that, but my entry is this:

It's a 4-volume set of The Count of Monte Cristo, published in 1900, that I picked up for a relative song in an antiquarian bookshop back when I lived in Nashville.  I would reckon I've had this set for 25 years or maybe a little more.  It's in good shape and even though I have thought several times about getting rid of it, I just can't.  Plus, I have actually read this edition -- it's not just taking up space on my shelf, looking pretty.  I have several signed editions of books that I also treasure, but for some reason this set has a special place on my bookshelves and in my heart.

Dewey's Read-a-thon: Hour 8

OK, I am back in the saddle again.  After lunch I started half-heartedly reading The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman.  I am not sure why I have been resisting starting this book, except that so many other people like it, I am afraid I am not going to.  And so far, I am on page 47 and it's... interesting.  Too early to say anything more about it, but it's not at all like I thought it was going to be.  I'm going to keep at it and see what develops.

In other news, I have been keeping up with everyone's progress and activity on all the mini-challenges, and Twitter, and Instagram -- and it's all a little overwhelming.  I haven't done anything with any of it myself, except maybe a little Twittering.  But it's all been fun so far!

Dewey's Read-a-thon: Hour 5

Progress: I finished All Hallows' Eve.  A magnificent choice of book to start off my read-a-thon, if I do say so myself.  Most of the stories were pretty short, and reading them was like eating a fun-size chocolate bar out of the bowl of Halloween candy (which I conspicuously DON'T have around the house yet, because I have no sense OR self-control and would eat the whole darn thing in one sitting).

I'm going to take a break from reading right now and pick up again after lunch by starting the Neil Gaiman book.  Hope the read-a-thon is going great for everyone else!