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CM . . . . Volume XVIII Number 27 . . . . March 16, 2012
excerpt:
In a profile of the author in CM Magazine in 1999, Eric Walters is quoted as saying, �Life does not have to just 'do to you.' You can make a decision that you're going to do things for yourself and overcome. There's nothing more wonderful than overcoming adversity, to stare it in the eyes and to win.� That sentiment is one of two favourite themes that recur in Walters� books, and his latest YA novel, Just Deserts, certainly follows the trend. It�s a classic journey story, inspired by an incredible athlete, Ray Zahib, with life and death consequences raising the stakes to the highest plane, and challenges that will tax the protagonist on every level of his being.
Further to that, his father writes, Ethan has another choice to make: he can complete the walk within seven days and gain a substantial financial reward, or he can take his own time and perhaps end up alive, but without resources. Again, the choice is his. True to his typical reaction to crises, Ethan decides he doesn�t want to die just then, and he takes the first steps. He finds his guide who leads him to a camp where three kids his own age are waiting. The guide introduces him to them as a member of the �team�, a word that makes Ethan shudder with disgust. They, Ethan discovers, will be travel mates, and every one of them is a superior athlete in superb condition. So how is he, a drunk who has not done anything more physically strenuous for more than a year than puking on the floor or into a toilet, supposed to keep up? And more to the point, he�s spent a lifetime honing his isolation skills; he�s not about to buddy up with three over achievers who can do nothing for him. Walters� main characters are complex, and so the straightforward plot and subplots take on a larger scope. First, there is Ethan. Spoiled rich boy who has pushed the boundaries of bad behaviour and drinking way past his ability to control the outcome; poor little rich boy who is unwanted and unloved and has sought solace in denial, arrogance and alcohol; misunderstood youth whose superiority is not recognized; intelligent youth who misuses his intelligence to denigrate others or try to destroy them. But there�s more to him. Next, there is the desert which, in spite of the physical appearance of �empty space� and �sameness� it presents to the newcomer at first sight, becomes a true antagonist. Enter the guide, Larson, a man who speaks four languages but does not speak much, who disappears without warning and reappears silently and suddenly, as if materializing from thin air, who is skilled in first aid, has accomplished physical feats almost beyond belief, is a humanitarian, and dispenses wisdom in the form of �bumper sticker� slogans. Ethan�s peers�Andy, Connor and Kajsa (pronounced Keesa)�however, are peripheral characters who mainly provide fairly stereotypical foils for Ethan�s mental and physical struggles. Even their choices of personal heroes are stereotypical, and Kajsa, the only female in the entire book, is portrayed as the weakest link, the member of the team who continually holds the others up because of a bladder the size of a walnut. Andy has arthritis in his knees, but that doesn�t slow him down. In the same profile cited earlier, Walters says he hates weak female characters. So one wonders why he chose to portray Kajsa this way. There is no doubt the author knows the desert and what it is to push oneself beyond what one thinks one can endure. Those facts are well explained in the �Author�s Note� and are evident throughout the book. The desert is not a lifeless wasteland, but an ecosystem filled with its own life, and a murderous adversary for the unwary and unprepared. And running an ultramarathon for 115 days straight in the desert, as Larson is said to have done, is not impossible, a fact that is also explained in the �Author�s Note� wherein Walters describes an epic journey Zahab accomplished with two other ultra marathon runners. In addition, Walters� strong background in psychology and social work shows, particularly as it relates to how Ethan views the world, how the �team� around him understands what�s necessary to turn �impossible2possible�, and how a short, intense journey that demands a person uses every skill he possesses just to survive and takes him to the brink of death can create an environment for rapid, internal change. What is difficult to buy into for this reader is Ethan�s apparent immunity to the effects of suddenly being deprived of alcohol when he has spent years drinking to excess. There is one, one line mention of him with a shaking hand. Otherwise, the reader sees no sign at all that Ethan�s drinking has affected him in any way. And he not only suffers no consequences from cold turkey withdrawal, he is also able to keep up with the super athletes in spite of having done no physical exercise for more than a year, and with blisters forming on blisters at a speed Larson has not seen before, and toenails so damaged Larson thinks he will lose them. In the �Author�s Note,� Walters tells readers he did the same walk across the Sahara he has his protagonist take, also with a group of trained athletes. But Walters trained hard for six months prior to the beginning of the walk, and even then �had no illusions I could keep pace with these amazing athletes.� The fact that Ethan suffers no consequences from his alcoholism and lack of physical training, other than blisters, turns him into something of a cartoon character, much like the roadrunner who is pummeled, trampled, flattened and squished, but pops up to run the race again. It simply isn�t real. In the end though, the story, itself, with its fast pace, realistic and often humorous dialogue, snapshots of interesting historical facts, exotic setting, and memorable main characters is not likely to fail to catch and hold the imaginations of young readers, and it may well serve as an inspiration that convinces some they can achieve more than they dreamed. Recommended. A writer, editor and publisher, Jocelyn Reekie lives in Campbell River, BC.
To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca. Copyright © the Manitoba Library Association. Reproduction for personal use is permitted only if this copyright notice is maintained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without permission.
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