The Two Paths
R.P. Burnham
- The
- Two
- Paths
- begins
- at
- a
- lakeside
- cottage
- where
- a
- group
- of
- graduating
- seniors,
- all
- of
- them
- members
- of
- the
- football
- team
- that
- had
- won
- the
- state
- championship
- that
- year,
- are
- having
- a
- celebratory
- end-of-school
- party.
- One
- of
- them
- is
- Robbie
- Elder,
- the
- hero
- of
- that
- game,
- and
- it
- is
- he
- who
- later
- in
- the
- night
- violates
- in
- an
- ambiguous
- rape
- Cilla
- Whitten,
- a
- plain
- and
- socially
- awkward
- junior
- lured
- there
- by
- the
- promise
- of
- excitement
- and
- popularity.
- The
- rest
- of
- the
- novel
- follows
- these
- two
- into
- young
- adulthood
- while
- exploring
- the
- social
- conditioning
- and
- societal
- expectations
- of
- males
- and
- females:
- Cilla,
- as
- an
- unwed
- mother,
- roused
- to
- a
- life
- of
- helping
- others,
- and
- Robbie,
- both
- burdened
- with
- and
- helped
- by
- his
- fame
- as
- a
- football
- hero
- and
- desperate
- to
- escape
- his
- working
- class
- origins,
- ambitiously
- and
- single-mindedly
- pursuing
- wealth
- and
- status.
***
For
- you
- who
- have
- read
- R.
- P.
- Burnham's
- The
- Many
- Change
- and
- Pass,
- or
- any
- other
- of
- his
- engaging
- works
- of
- fiction,
- the
- publication
- of
- his
- new
- novel,
- The
- Two
- Paths,
- is
- indeed
- good
- news.
- Burnham
- has
- an
- uncanny
- ability
- to
- bring
- to
- life
- the
- characters
- he
- creates.
- The
- range
- of
- these
- characters
- is
- Dickens-like.
- This
- vividly
- realized
- but
- widely
- differing
- catalogue
- of
- persona
- compels
- the
- reader
- both
- to
- sympathize
- and
- make
- judgments.
- Played
- out
- in
- upper
- New
- England
- near
- the
- sea,
- the
- setting
- of
- the
- novel
- is
- as
- convincing
- as
- are
- the
- characters.
- The
- novel
- opens
- with
- a
- bang,
- a
- "gangbang,"
- out
- of
- which
- the
- conflict
- inevitably
- grows:
- raw
- sex
- vs.
- true
- love.
- The
- first
- path
- causes
- us
- to
- echo,
- "the
- pity
- of
- it
- all."
- The
- second
- makes
- us
- shout
- to
- ourselves,
- "yes,
- yes,
- yes!"
- Yet
- the
- path
- that
- is
- studded
- with
- dark
- depths
- of
- doubt,
- despair,
- and
- self-defeat
- has
- a
- seemingly
- stronger
- hold
- on
- humanity
- than
- does
- the
- path
- of
- illumination,
- self-understanding,
- and
- reconciliation.
- Which
- path
- it
- will
- be
- is
- convincingly
- rendered
- in
- Burnham's
- lucid
- and
- fluent
- prose.
–John Wheatcroft
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