Ogden’s Proverb
by John McCluskey
188 pages paperback
Genre: Novella, Family Drama
Price: $19.99 paperback, also available on Kindle
Publisher: New Plains Press
ISBN: 9781734571974 (ISBN10: 1734571977)
To Order: www.amazon.com
www.barnesandnoble.com
(Target and Walmart online as well)


Reviewed by Michael Escoubas

Her name was Ann. She was, to my mind, a girl of world class beauty. Her yellow hair fell in cascades half way down her back. She was quiet, unassuming and smart. I took care not to let her see me looking at her, studying her. A faint smile towards my adolescent, awkward self, made my day. Author John McCluskey opens his intensely personal novella with a similar account out of his youth. He could have been writing about me, or, for that matter, about many young boys. Ogden’s Proverb, has that universal feel of familiarity. Ogden Skully’s life-chronicle drew me in. I know this guy! I am this guy!


A Word About McCluskey’s Writing Style

Early on I felt a sense of catharsis … McCluskey writes in long sentences drawn from the deep forest of memory. This is a book he had to write. This is a book the author could not live without writing. Once he captures a thought, it flows like a river resolute on reaching the ocean. Ogden’s Proverb “Had me from hello.” Here’s McCluskey’s tone-setting opening paragraph:

          “Yes, that’s exactly when I knew, when she appeared on those basement steps leading up and out of the old building at Hamden Academy on what was a most notable, and quite tense (however treasurable, frankly), fatalistic Friday afternoon. Up and out and into the golden, autumn sunlight she rose, the one rich girl in prep school worth considering, who was unnecessarily nice, with ever so light sixteen-year-old blond down on her thighs, and who, thankfully, was already slated to marry the wealthiest of our classmates (and future steward, no doubt, of the economic fortunes of half the free world).”


A Word About the Importance of Ogden’s Proverb

In these my later years, I regret that my family never gave my brothers and me any significant details about our forebears. They were interesting people (I’ve learned) who led exciting lives. In some cases dangerous lives. Little was ever shared, possibly, for fear of opening the proverbial “can of worms” of childish questions. That, to my mind, is reason enough to purchase a copy of Ogden’s Proverb.

So what “is” this proverb which pervades McCluskey’s title? The elephant in the room. If I tell you, I wouldn’t be doing my job.

Suffice to say, however, that the way John McCluskey structures this work speaks for itself. Key players in the shaping of young Ogden’s life are given plenty of space. Going back to the bleak years of the Great Depression, Ogden recalls his Grandfather and Father whose abuse of alcohol left an indelible mark on his young life. Of no small importance is Ogden’s observations of that abuse on his Grandmother and Mother. They suffered in terror. Ogden, slowly, by fits and starts, begins to draw his own wise conclusions.

For example, this excerpt lifts the curtain on alcohol abuse:

“The repeated instances of my young father being hit and abused as a child, which I didn’t know about until much later, and long after my days at Hamden, surely had much more to do with everything I’m talking about, and it seems to me that the reach of my dark and distant Irish grandfather’s hand while clenching a belt was so much longer than he could have possibly known.”

McCluskey develops his narrative with gentle, mature insight. He is honest, but not vindictive. Though one might argue that he had every reason to be. As the work proceeds, I felt growth in Ogden’s life. This is what your reviewer looks for: Do characters grow and change for the better?

By the way, Chloe (unnamed) is the girl McCluskey features in his opening paragraph. Chloe means “blooming,” and refers to delightful spring colorations as nature transitions from the barren branch to flourishing green. Only the author knows if he intends a direct metaphorical connection between the two. For this reviewer, however, finding out has been among the most enjoyable of reading experiences.


 


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