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 Most excellent! May 04, 2009
Heroic & Inspiring. I read it in 2 days, could not put it down! I Highly recommend this book! I just can't wait to purchase this author's next book!
Gen LaCreca's Noble Vision Feb 09, 2009
I have just finished reading Gen LaCreca's first novel, Noble Vision, and I am eager to recommend it to others.
As my title suggests, this author has had noble vision, which has directed her through a very creative process leading to the production of this superb novel. Her writing virtues are numerous, - - to name a few:
The three most important virtues are creative skills applied while conceiving "plot, plot, and plot". LaCreca leads the reader through a multifaceted maze of intrigue and of adventure, making her novel continuously entertaining and difficult to put down. Her themes resonate with real-life truths and never waver in their ethical integrity.
Her heroic romanticism and her sense of life are top notch. A reader who appreciates such virtues is continually reminded of hers, as she seems to accompany one, making for an ever-pleasant experiential journey. Her heroes and villains leave little doubt about the depths of their character as they are developed via fine craftsmanship.
Another virtue which delighted me was her mastery in describing the beauty surrounding us, often through the eyes and imaginations of her heros. Such descriptions set the stage for the scenes through which one is skillfully lead.
Another virtue is the author's mastery of the English language. With a sensitivity for the poetic, one is rarely left with ambiguity, except perhaps when she is using it to lead the reader toward the next stage of one of her many underlying mysteries.
Another virtue is scientific curiosity. This one is evident for the extensive research into the background in which her novel is set. The reader is treated to crisp clarifying explanations of medical and political contexts, necessary for appreciating the world in which the novel takes place. This background information is woven through the novel in a manner that does not burden the reader with the unnecessary and yet provides the understanding necessary to fully appreciate the story being told.
In all, this novel is the result of these and other virtues, guided by LaCreca's own noble vision applied to important social issues and to the political world around us.
Finally, I wanted to share an experience, unique to my own reading of this novel. As I ventured into the novel's climactic ending, I found myself in tears and wondering about what was happening to me, as I slowed my reading rate to savor the complex mixture of my welcomed own emotions. As I unreservedly recommend this masterpiece of a novel, I wonder just how many reader have had and will have similar emotional intensity. My hope is that there are many individuals who will share similar experiences and enjoy this novel as much as I have.
With Full Appreciation, Richard
a glowing sense of life Sep 04, 2008
Ms. DeGenera has given us a universe in which it is a joy to spend time and characters it would be a privilege to know, as well as an intriguing plot--and a warning of what the bureaucracy that must always accompany socialized medicine will do to our freedoms.
Someone will always make the choices, according to whatever criteria of their own. In this story, we see what allowing politicians to make political decisions in the medical arena would mean.
David Lang, a brilliant physican dedicated to his work, is first hampered in his research and then criminalized for wanting to perform a vision-saving operation on the woman he loves--against the directives of the bureaucracy that controls his profession.
It was exciting to read about David's defiance of "the system" and his ultimate victory. If only such things could happen in the real world!
Perhaps, with more books like this one for inspiration, such things will begin to take place in the real world.
Thank you, Ms. DeGenera, for allowing me to return for the span of your book to the vision I had as a child of how the world should be.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
A cure for "Sicko" Aug 13, 2007
Since there is so much ado about Michael Moore's latest film Sicko that seems to essentially call for socialized medicine, I think people should know about an alternative medium that demonstrates just how evil government control of medicine really is.
This is the best book that does so and is Gen LaGreca's first novel and, boy, does it pack quite a punch! I can't wait for other books written by her.
The book takes place in the near future where surgeon Doctor David Lang takes a liking for a ballet dancer named Nicole Hudson whom he takes the time to see perform so Lang can escape the trappings of his marriage that is on the rocks. Lang goes so far as to send flowers to Nicole in which he is known to her as The Phantom.
As it turns out, Nicole gets seriously injured and ends up losing her eye sight and Lang decides to treat her with an experimental surgery he has developed that is deemed illegal by CareFree, New York State's socialized medicine program.
In the book, La Greca points to, based on extensive research she did, the onerous rules and regulations doctors, especially surgeons, have to submit to while the system itself penalizes the honest, dedicated doctors as means of trying to control costs.
It is also a novel of how humans struggle to survive under the iron grip of collectivism.
LaGreca seems to draw mainly from "The Fountainhead" since I noticed many similarities between it and Noble Vision, respectfully, and I am sure if Ayn Rand were alive today she would have kind words for the book and its author. Noble Vision also deserves to be immortalized on film too. Yes, its that good.
If you want a look at the reality of socialized medicine and want an excellent, well-written novel that is much a love story as it is a book on philosophy read Noble Vision. You will be glad you did.
4 of 5 found the following review helpful:
"An odd thing called integrity." (p. 265) Jun 04, 2007
When I finished Chapter 1, I knew that LaGreca was a talent; when I finished Chapter 3, I knew that this book was a masterwork. Any criticism is due to her philosophy because her craft is impeccable. Yes, as a first novel, "Noble Vision" is impressive. It has all the anti-collectivism of The Fountainhead, all of the plot-twists of 24 - Seasons 1-5, and just enough of "The Lifetime Channel" to keep the ladies interested.
This book sends chills up your spine. The government program CareFree is really a boilerplate for all extant government health care programs, plus the proposed HillaryCare from 1993. We need books like this to illustrate what would happen is such a chimera were ever to appear in this country. For background, read Chapter 30 in The Voice of Reason: Essays in Objectivist Thought (The Ayn Rand Library, Vol V).
Thoreau said:
"For government is an expedient by which men would fain succeed in letting one another alone; and, as has been said, when it is most expedient, the governed are most let alone by it. Trade and commerce, if they were not made of India rubber, would never manage to bounce over the obstacles which legislators are continually putting in their way; and, if one were to JUDGE THESE MEN WHOLLY BY THE EFFECTS OF THEIR ACTIONS, AND NOT PARTLY BY THEIR INTENTIONS, they would deserve to be classed and punished with those mischievous persons who put obstructions on the railroads." (Civil Disobedience and Other Essays (Dover Thrift Editions), 2).
I love the names, all of which are double entendres: CareFree is not carefree, nor is it caring and it is certainly not free. Malcolm Burrow can be burrowing, and he is also a burro. And he is defiantly "mal." David is, of course, the giant slayer.
LaGreca is a sorceress of images. She reworks the legends of Pandora, Prometheus, and Phaeton Metamorphoses (Penguin Classics), plus has the evil characters corrupt the story of Abraham and Isaac (Fear and Trembling (Penguin Great Ideas)). And on page 26, she uses the image of mixing good cognac with bad coffee as a springboard for a discussion on the half-and-half approach to things. Does the cognac improve the coffee, or does the coffee taint the cognac? A worthy successor to the paradoxes of Zenos and Buridan's Burro.
I see two flaws--David Lang is physically violent (pages 52, 176, 256, 259, 269-270, 303). In some cases, such as in the middle of surgery this is justified, but in other cases, he comes across as a bully. David should not be a Goliath.
Secondly, David cheats on Marie. There are no bones about this. Even thought hey have fallen out of love, and fallen away philosophically, this does not negate their marriage covenant. They must follow their hearts, but also follow just laws.
OF course this is the book's key issue: What do we do with unjust laws? One answer is to be an Antigone (Dover Thrift Editions). But Thomas Paine offered another solution:
"I have always held it an opinion (making it also my practice) that it is better to obey a bad law, making use at the same time of every argument to show its errors and procure its repeal, than forcibly to violate it; because the precedent of breaking a bad law might weaken the force, and lead to a discretionary violation, of those which are good." (Common Sense, The Rights of Man and Other Essential Writings of Thomas Paine (Signet Classics), 262).
A book like this should be essential reading for teenagers. They need to know that the world is governed by inner circles, cliques, cabals, factions, and secret combinations (read The Federalist Papers (Signet Classics) # 10; The Weight of Glory "The Inner Ring."). This book exposes the participants for who they are: shallow people desperately in need of affirmation form their peer gallery. They will do anything in order to be recognized by other people, including selling their souls. The question for the youth is: Which side of the circle will you be? Inside, or outside?
This is a question for all of us.
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