Official Review: The Boxcar Traveler
Posted: 07 Jun 2016, 08:39
[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Boxcar Traveler" by Christopher Morosoff.]
3 out of 4 stars
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Imagine yourself living the life. You have a great job on Wall Street, a supportive mother, and a beautiful wife. Now imagine yourself when the stock market crashes in the 1920s and everything has fallen apart. You have no job, the true colors of your spoiled wife comes out, and now there is nothing to your name. This is exactly what happens to Harry Donegan in Christopher Morosoff's first novel, The Boxcar Traveler. This book is categorized in the Historical Fiction genre.
Feeling a little lost, Harry decides to join his buddies on a job hunting trip to Chicago after he loses everything. Unfortunately, the job hunt ends up being a dead end, and everyone is left stressed and crestfallen. At this point, our protagonist meets Bob. Bob calls himself a 'Boxcar Traveler'. He explains to the young Harry that this type of traveler jumps from freight train to the next, sometimes with a destination in mind and sometimes not. However, it is a lifestyle that never has a dull moment.
Feeling he is left with no other choice and a bit intrigued, Harry decides to take up this lifestyle for a while. This naive and impressionable man meets an array of people on his travels. From sweet, helpful people to people who will hold no qualm in taking your life away in an instant. Come follow Harry as he learns who he truly is and learn what will become of his life as a boxcar traveler.
Overall, this story was entertaining. I found myself unwilling to put the book down in order to learn more about Harry's well-developed character. There were times when I thought he was such a lovely, sweet-natured person, who was always willing to lend a helping hand to whoever needed it. Then, there were times when I wanted to slap him upside the head and ask 'Seriously?'. As the reader, I got to know Harry very well, while the supportive characters were a bit more one-dimensional. However, many were the people he met while he was jumping freight trains.
Although there were few grammatical and punctuation errors, there were times when characters' names would be switched. For instance, one woman that Harry met on the road said her son's name was Gregory; however, next time they meet, her son's name was 'Paulie' but within a couple of pages, his name went back to 'Gregory'. This only happened twice from my count, but still the switching was a bit distracting.
In addition, the formatting of this book is something I've never seen before, which I am not putting the blame on the author whatsoever. I'm unsure if it's the copy I received, but I would read something like this: “He thanked his Mom for working so hard and taking care of 6 (space) THE BOXCAR TRAVELER (space) him.” (Page 9) The title or the author's name were mentioned at least once per page, along with, I think, the page number. This was very off-putting and confusing, at times.
Throughout reading, I was unsure of what rating this book deserved. If it wasn't for the ending and the sweet lesson within its pages, I probably would've gone lower. But, even with its rushed feelings at times, I really enjoyed learning about the struggles some people faced when the stock market crashed and how the book ended. Therefore, I give this book a 3 out of 4 stars. I would recommend Boxcar Traveler to those who enjoy traveling books that focuses on the growth of one character.
******
The Boxcar Traveler
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3 out of 4 stars
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Imagine yourself living the life. You have a great job on Wall Street, a supportive mother, and a beautiful wife. Now imagine yourself when the stock market crashes in the 1920s and everything has fallen apart. You have no job, the true colors of your spoiled wife comes out, and now there is nothing to your name. This is exactly what happens to Harry Donegan in Christopher Morosoff's first novel, The Boxcar Traveler. This book is categorized in the Historical Fiction genre.
Feeling a little lost, Harry decides to join his buddies on a job hunting trip to Chicago after he loses everything. Unfortunately, the job hunt ends up being a dead end, and everyone is left stressed and crestfallen. At this point, our protagonist meets Bob. Bob calls himself a 'Boxcar Traveler'. He explains to the young Harry that this type of traveler jumps from freight train to the next, sometimes with a destination in mind and sometimes not. However, it is a lifestyle that never has a dull moment.
Feeling he is left with no other choice and a bit intrigued, Harry decides to take up this lifestyle for a while. This naive and impressionable man meets an array of people on his travels. From sweet, helpful people to people who will hold no qualm in taking your life away in an instant. Come follow Harry as he learns who he truly is and learn what will become of his life as a boxcar traveler.
Overall, this story was entertaining. I found myself unwilling to put the book down in order to learn more about Harry's well-developed character. There were times when I thought he was such a lovely, sweet-natured person, who was always willing to lend a helping hand to whoever needed it. Then, there were times when I wanted to slap him upside the head and ask 'Seriously?'. As the reader, I got to know Harry very well, while the supportive characters were a bit more one-dimensional. However, many were the people he met while he was jumping freight trains.
Although there were few grammatical and punctuation errors, there were times when characters' names would be switched. For instance, one woman that Harry met on the road said her son's name was Gregory; however, next time they meet, her son's name was 'Paulie' but within a couple of pages, his name went back to 'Gregory'. This only happened twice from my count, but still the switching was a bit distracting.
In addition, the formatting of this book is something I've never seen before, which I am not putting the blame on the author whatsoever. I'm unsure if it's the copy I received, but I would read something like this: “He thanked his Mom for working so hard and taking care of 6 (space) THE BOXCAR TRAVELER (space) him.” (Page 9) The title or the author's name were mentioned at least once per page, along with, I think, the page number. This was very off-putting and confusing, at times.
Throughout reading, I was unsure of what rating this book deserved. If it wasn't for the ending and the sweet lesson within its pages, I probably would've gone lower. But, even with its rushed feelings at times, I really enjoyed learning about the struggles some people faced when the stock market crashed and how the book ended. Therefore, I give this book a 3 out of 4 stars. I would recommend Boxcar Traveler to those who enjoy traveling books that focuses on the growth of one character.
******
The Boxcar Traveler
View: on Bookshelves
Like hsimone's review? Post a comment saying so!
Your story was pretty strong to keep me entertained, but with the more edited version, I'm sure it would be an even greater read! Harry is definitely a character that I will remember. 