Godfires

by William Hoffman

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0670803294
• ISBN13: 9780670803293
• Release Date: June 1985
• Publisher: Viking
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.36 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A bit of an acquired taste

I assume the typical reader of this review is someone who found Hoffman's recent series of novels (starting with Blood and Guile) entertaining and may be considering some of the earlier ones. My credentials are a bit unusual, in that I have been reading all his novels chronologically, at a pace of one or two a year, and haven't yet reached Blood and Guile. On the other hand, I have read Godfires and all the Hoffmans that preceded it, starting with his first, The Trumpet Unblown, a WWII novel published in 1956. So I can't draw comparisons with the later books -- but I do know Godfires. Godfires is a kind of gothic tall tale. When you're done, you'll look back and wonder how people could behave the way they do in this book. And yet, it's a mark of Hoffman's talents as a storyteller that he sweeps you up in his story and doesn't let you exhale until it's over. It's an unwilling suspension of disbelief. Not only that, but there's an obvious mystery at the very center of the story that only gradually stands revealed. Having never encountered anyone else who's read the book, I can't tell you whether I caught on quickly or was laggard -- but catch on I did, just as Hoffman intended, so that by the time the solution was actually announced I already knew it. Give Hoffman the credit for setting it up that way. I suppose I should point out that some particularly sensitive people may be offended by the treatment of religion in this book. All I can say is that Hoffman never endorses anything said by his characters -- he just tells you what they say and do and let you draw your own conclusions. In fact, this is about as nonjudgmental a novel as I have ever read, in which respect it is typical of the part of Hoffman's oeuvre I've read and probably of his later novels as well (from what I've seen of reviews of them). This book won't change your philosophy of life, but it's one helluva good read. You could do a lot worse.