The Rest Is Illusion

“The Rest is Illusion” is told from the point of view of the main character (Dash) who is a dying protagonist. Dash is an openly gay college student with a dangerous disease that has already claimed his father. While Dash still has time, he tries to help his friends, Ashley, Sarah and Tony with their own problems. He tries to save their lives, but he can’t save his own. At times this book was difficult to read. There is no happily ever after here. This is a dark college story about hope, and it has a hidden spiritual message. “The Rest is Illusion" is an emotional haunting novel.

The Rest is Illusion by Eric Arven is a story that’s so encumbered by the writing that tells it that for the most part, it is a struggle to maintain interest in what the characters are doing and why. The writing tells more than it show, letting you know, without a shadow of doubt, that a character feels a certain way, without showing you the external signs and letting you determine for yourself how everybody’s feeling and why. The constant use of adverbs was off-putting. There were over 100 adverbs in the first chapter. Wow! Granted, I graduated from an academy and a university in which more than five adverbs in a paper, regardless of length, resulted in an F. But, it’s also just good writing: The Elements of Style (Strunk and White) and the Turkey City Lexicon both say that an adverb is a leech sucking the strength from a verb. As such, this book has the weakest of verbs. Another thing that resulted in an F during my educational experience was passive voice. A sentence in passive voice inverts the subject and the object of a sentence such that the subject faces change based on the result of actions by the object, or, the subject is a passive element in its subject (e.g., “The book was read by the unimpressed reviewer”). This too makes for unenjoyable reading. Thus, it should come as no surprise to you that this book contained plenty of passive voice sentences. Though it should be a surprise that any book nowadays does, since most word processors, during their spelling/grammar checks will tell you what percent of your writing is passive. While you have your Turkey City Lexicons open, let’s see the passage of Rod and Don conversations. (e.g.: “As you know, Don” said Rod, “we just robbed a bank, and as such the sheriff is on our tail!”) These bits of dialogue serve only to inform the reader about things that happened “off-screen,” but do so at the risk of breaking the hypnotic effect of The Story. If the dialogue doesn’t seem natural, organic, even, then the reader gets this feeling of being popped out of The Story, and back into that chair, as a person, reading a book. This book was rife with such. This book features altogether too many similes (e.g.: “x was like a y-ing z” or ). After a while, this became annoying. Much of this book felt like the author had taken advanced courses in linguistics and literature, without building a solid foundation upon the basics, and as such, purple prose bloomed left and right, but had no trellises upon which to cling. The author would use big, rare, and unique words on occasion, but built upon the sand that was the writing, the story could not withstand the slightest gust. The final qualm I had with this book were the sentence fragments. There would be incomplete sentences that existed, it seems, for the purpose of punctuated writing: the make the reader feel on the edge of a seat, or to indicate the importance of the previous statement. Nevertheless, it felt choppy, bumpy, and sometimes like the author was using a sledge hammer to drive his point home. This book could bear to have some heavy-handed editing to clear the above issues, because the story itself was not terrible. Until then, though, I recommend spending your time instead reading books by authors including Lev Grossman or Brett Easton Ellis for similar subjects and for stories not encumbered by amateur-sounding writing.

A stunning read!, September 30, 2010 By Mrs Mary Aris "Mrs Aris" (Oxford) - See all my reviews This review is from: The Rest is Illusion (Paperback) The Rest is Illusion The Rest is Illusion is the story of four college students who battle and come to terms with their own daemons. Young Dashel Yarnsbrook is dying. He finds comfort in a mystical tree which is also dying in the forest near Verona College. Sarah, his colleague, struggles to come to term with a controlling Father; Ashley learns to come to terms with his physical impediments and Tony questions his sexuality as he develops feelings for the dying Dashel. Together, the four college students at Verona Liberal Arts college form a bonding friendship as they each struggle with their own impediments. Not only must each of the Protagonists learn to overcome physical and mental anguish, but they face a foe--Wilder Rawls who is the son of a politician. The tree is the underlying force that brings solace and comfort to a dying young man and transforms the life of all four college students. Eric Arvin uses it as a symbol in this wonderful story of death, overcoming obstacles and the fight for survival. I enjoyed reading this allegorical tale--Eric Arvin's first published book.

I am long overdue in writing my review of this uplifting, magical debut novel. Like most GLBT fiction I've enjoyed, the hero of THE REST IS ILLUSION may be gay, but this is hardly a "gay" story. As a matter of fact, with its rural setting and underlying message about spiritual destiny, I'd go as far as to say it has more in common with John Irving's A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY than any of the countless frothy urban gay dramedies on the market these days. In brief, this is the story of a group of New England college students whose lives intersect during one chilly winter week. The book's primary conflict is precipitated by the scheming, upper-crust son of a right wing politician, who uses blackmail to control the lives of those he deems his social and moral inferiors. These include the book's protagonist, who may be dying of an unnamed, hereditary illness, a timid girl and a closeted athlete. Rounding out the story are the daughter of a conservative Christian minister and a charismatic albino with a genius IQ. For the most part, the characters are well defined and over the course of the story each undergoes a personal growth arc - some expected, others delightfully surprising. My only disappointment here was with the "villains" of the piece, who would have been far more intriguing as characters had Arvin depicted them with a lighter touch and perhaps offered readers more insight into their inner lives and motivations. The stolid, no-nonsense writing style nicely balances the book's supernatural elements. And although the book has a spiritual message at its heart, even a hardened atheist like me felt deeply moved by the ending. On the topic of the ending, the Epilogue reads a bit like it was tacked on to provide closure in the form of a tidy denouement which, for me, blunts the emotional impact of the book's haunting climax. But this is a minor caveat. I'd recommend this for fans of GLBT literature who seek thought-provoking and meaningful work.

The rest is Illusion was an interesting read but at times it was a bit hard to follow. I thought at times, the esoteric nature of some scenes interrupted the story. Even so, those scenes were beautifully written.I enjoyed how the author sensitively portrayed the struggles and insecurities of a group of college students. I would have liked more development in all of the characters. I wanted more history for all of them and the brief hints that were provided weren't enough. In the end, I wanted more justice for the characters who were so savagely wronged and abused,but I was moved by the author's message of forgiveness and tolerance. I don't think that neglect or abuse are excuses for abhorrent behavior and have my doubts that someone would truly be able to change, regardless of the circumstances. I didn't feel the consequences matched the crime. Forgiveness is one thing but allowing an abuser to move on without logical consequences is difficult for me to accept in a novel.I also thought the setting was a bit odd. It seemed like it might be a Bible college and I wondered if the level of tolerance for a young gay student was truly realistic. It would be wonderful, but I wondered about it as I read.Overall, I enjoyed this book and would consider this author again in the future.

This is not a romance. And, it was a difficult read for me. But don’t mistake me - the characters come alive and suck you in. I felt an emotional connection to them, and the private college setting was realistically portrayed. The problem is that it is sad, and at some points painful, to read. Most of us know the horror of being bullied, or the agony of losing someone we love. Both of these are major events in the novel. In some ways, this was reminiscent of “The Dead Poets Society” in tone and feel. And also like “The King of Cats” – it’s about life. And life can be hard.This is not done in the usual first person, or single character, POV. It has become almost unheard of these days, but this book rotates among several characters, slowly revealing who they are. Readers are not suddenly handed the “hero,” introduced to the object of his desire and boom! Dash is the protagonist, and he is dying. We never know of what because it’s not important. What is important are the people in his life, even his enemies. Because they are dying too, though not of disease. Unlike him, they can find a cure. The story alternates from his best friends Ash and Sarah, to the bully Wilder, to the popular jock Tony who's struggling with his identity. Readers spend time with each as threads and events slowly bring them together. And though nothing really substantial happens – no identifiable crisis, no murder mystery or complex plotline - I was strangely drawn in to these lives. I wanted to know, and the pages kept turning.I wouldn’t recommend this to people just looking to pass some time with a little fluff. This is NOT light reading, but it IS very good writing.