MixedThe Washington Independent Review of BooksJiles skillfully brings the Texas landscape to life ... Simon’s interior landscape, however, is lacking. He does not like people, which seems at odds with his career, and he takes his friends for granted. When one of them dies, the reader is told that Simon is upset, but we can’t actually feel it. Simon seems not to fully notice what’s happening around him and rarely feels emotions, which make the reader not feel anything, either ... For the most part, the story is told through Simon’s point of view, but occasionally the author hops into another character’s head just long enough to describe Simon’s appearance or to explain how another character is feeling. This head-jumping deadens the emotional experience; the reading would have been richer had we either remained in Simon’s mind entirely or else been given more time with others ... Simon’s primary goal throughout the book is to get to (and wed) Doris, despite never having had a real conversation with her. And he assumes she’ll love him in return. Such a lopsided crush feels insufficient to propel an entire novel ... While there are episodic conflicts throughout Simon’s travels, none is big enough to make the reader worry that he might fail ... Some elements of the setting and time period are touched on only briefly, which is also a shame. The months and years after the Civil War and, especially, the unique Texas setting, with its mix of cultures and landscapes, are underexplored ... Tension heightens and the pace picks up when Simon finally reaches San Antonio and Doris, and the relationship actually becomes believable, but it’s too little, too late.
