Semaphore

by G.W. Hawkes

Book Overview

Joseph Carl Taft is a boy with a distinguished name and a remarkable ability -- he can see into the future. But his ability is a heavy burden to bear, especially for a boy who cannot speak. The... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 187844882X
• ISBN13: 9781878448828
• Release Date: August 1998
• Publisher: MacAdam/Cage Publishing
• Length: 222 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.3" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

What a relief to know a human can write like this!

I was about to give up hope on finding really great fiction, written, I love to believe "Just for me." I happen on this beauty and Mr. Hawkes is suddenly thrust into my must read list. Keep writing G. W. I'll read it all.

An American Graham Swift

An intriguing novel. Hawkes does an excellent job of revealing the personal disturbances and disorientation experienced by the main character, a non-talking boy who sees the future. The text describes the life of Joseph, a boy who does not talk although doctors cannot determine why. Joseph is plagued by visions of his future and the future of his family. The story weaves the future episodes and the present masterfully as the future events occur for Joseph. The descriptive text is excellent and an relates a very memorable story.The writing style of Hawkes reminds me of a more lucent Graham Swift (Waterland)type of writing.

We understand, ye our hero is mute and he sees the future

This is an amazing book in a number of ways. Joseph Taft is mute for no apparent physical reason. He inability to talk seems linked to his ability to forsee the future. Not every bit of future, just agonizing bits and pieces pertinent to his own family and situation. These kind of weird tableaus would normally appear on X-files and its imitators, yet Mr. Hawkes has been able develop this into real fiction and make it plausible all at the same time. And boy does this book work!! Joseph suffers for his talent. He is totally isolated from the outside world, partly due to being mute and partly by refusing to make the connection. He isn't always able to interpret his visions, they being incomplete, chaotic, and emotionally charged. And even those he seems to understand he is helpless to change. The death of his sister, which he madly trys to prevent, is ultimately inevitable. Joseph is able to make himself understood by those he really cares about. His father, his friend/eventual employer, and later his wife. Hawkes has the command of the language to make the story move and express. We can't help but feel for the young Joseph as we begin to understand what he is trying to say. Hawkes never allows us to fortell what is going to happen next, even as we share in Josesph's visions. Joseph shows us the whole gamut of human relationship and emotion without ever speaking a word. A very rewarding novel!