The Topeka School


The Topeka School

by 

3 Stars

The Topeka School was a mixed bag for me. First, I should admit that it’s not the kind of book that would ordinarily be my first choice for reading material.  It’s a study of a young man and his family, each of them dealing with more than their fair share of personal and emotional troubles.  Their stories are at times compelling and the writing style, jumping repeatedly from past to present, is an interesting one.  The writing itself is at times wonderful; elegant, flowing prose that’s a pleasure to read.  But at other points it degenerates into seemingly endless run-on sentences that just simply get lost.

The book also strives to be a contemporary social and political commentary, and falls kind of flat for me in that respect.  Again, I must admit I don’t particularly agree with the message, but I also didn’t find that message to be very well conveyed.  It’s a bit of a weak back drop to the story.  Perhaps subtlety was the author’s goal, but I found it a bit too subtle.

All in all, it’s an interesting work that’s worth your time.  Most of it is very well written, the characters are interesting (perhaps because they’re all so flawed), and the writing style keeps you turning pages to finally unravel their entire stories.

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