“Await Your Reply” Demands Your Attention | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Entertainment

“Await Your Reply” Demands Your Attention

Chaon’s prose keeps the book alive as the thrill of what comes next keeps it rushing forward.

43
“Await Your Reply” Demands Your Attention
Franki Hanke

Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon, is a book that demands an attentive reader to keep up with its pace, but like a confusing thriller film brought to life in text. With three storylines moving fully blast ahead, but constantly interweaving into their own pasts, it leads you wondering where it all leads until the final full stop.

Each storyline contained within the 324 pages seems like it could be a novel all of its own.

We see Miles Cheshire who’s rather obsessed searching for his twin brother, Hayden, who’s been missing for a decade. Miles constantly seems to be nearing the moment he finds his brother, yet Hayden always seems to slip away, escaping to a new place to a new job and leaving Miles wondering where he’s gone yet again.

Then there’s Lucy Lattimore who’s disappeared from Pompey, Ohio where she’s lived with her sister to run away with her former history teacher to a deserted town in the middle of nowhere, Nebraska. But, once they are there something doesn’t seem right.

Last, the first perspective one meets opening the book is Ryan Schuyler who’s suddenly unseated from his rather shit life when he learns news that makes him question his whole life. In response, he leaves his college campus, gets on a bus, and, to everyone who once knew him, disappears.

As different and separate as they all seem, every character eventually overlaps in some way, connected by a thread that doesn’t reveal itself until the final section of the novel. Every step of the way is fast and engaging with all the traits of a classic psychological thriller more about relationships and interconnections than crime or danger.

That’s not to say the book isn’t full of hard-to-swallow topics. In fact, the opening pages introduce the reader to the text with the following:

“We are on our way to the hospital, Ryan’s father says.

Listen to me, Son:

You are not going to bleed to death.

Ryan is still aware enough that his father’s words come in through the edges, like sunlight on the borders of a window shade. His eyes are shut tight and his body is shaking and he is trying to hold up his left arm, to keep it elevated. We are on our way to the hospital, his father says, and Ryan’s teeth are chattering, he clenches and unclenches them, and a series of wavering colored lights- greens, indigos- plays along the surface of his closed eyelids.

On the seat beside him, in between him and his father, Ryan’s severed hand is resting on a bed of ice in an eight-quart Styrofoam cooler.”

From there, Chaon doesn’t let up on the reader’s nerves till the book’s closed and finished. Besides the unique complexity of his plot, Chaon’s prose keeps the book alive as the thrill of what comes next keeps it rushing forward like the oxygen coming in is the plot and the prose provides the beating, pumping heart.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Featured

15 Mind-Bending Riddles

Hopefully they will make you laugh.

195960
 Ilistrated image of the planet and images of questions
StableDiffusion

I've been super busy lately with school work, studying, etc. Besides the fact that I do nothing but AP chemistry and AP economics, I constantly think of stupid questions that are almost impossible to answer. So, maybe you could answer them for me, and if not then we can both wonder what the answers to these 15 questions could be.

Keep Reading...Show less
Entertainment

Most Epic Aurora Borealis Photos: October 2024

As if May wasn't enough, a truly spectacular Northern Lights show lit up the sky on Oct. 10, 2024

18296
stunning aurora borealis display over a forest of trees and lake
StableDiffusion

From sea to shining sea, the United States was uniquely positioned for an incredible Aurora Borealis display on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, going into Friday, Oct. 11.

It was the second time this year after an historic geomagnetic storm in May 2024. Those Northern Lights were visible in Europe and North America, just like this latest rendition.

Keep Reading...Show less
 silhouette of a woman on the beach at sunrise
StableDiffusion

Content warning: This article contains descriptions of suicide/suicidal thoughts.

When you are feeling down, please know that there are many reasons to keep living.

Keep Reading...Show less
Relationships

Power of Love Letters

I don't think I say it enough...

460438
Illistrated image of a letter with 2 red hearts
StableDiffusion

To My Loving Boyfriend,

  • Thank you for all that you do for me
  • Thank you for working through disagreements with me
  • Thank you for always supporting me
  • I appreciate you more than words can express
  • You have helped me grow and become a better person
  • I can't wait to see where life takes us next
  • I promise to cherish every moment with you
  • Thank you for being my best friend and confidante
  • I love you and everything you do

To start off, here's something I don't say nearly enough: thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart. You do so much for me that I can't even put into words how much I appreciate everything you do - and have done - for me over the course of our relationship so far. While every couple has their fair share of tiffs and disagreements, thank you for getting through all of them with me and making us a better couple at the other end. With any argument, we don't just throw in the towel and say we're done, but we work towards a solution that puts us in a greater place each day. Thank you for always working with me and never giving up on us.

Keep Reading...Show less
Lifestyle

11 Signs You Grew Up In Hauppauge, NY

Because no one ever really leaves.

28065
Map of Hauppauge, New York
Google

Ah, yes, good old Hauppauge. We are that town in the dead center of Long Island that barely anyone knows how to pronounce unless they're from the town itself or live in a nearby area. Hauppauge is home to people of all kinds. We always have new families joining the community but honestly, the majority of the town is filled with people who never leave (high school alumni) and elders who have raised their kids here. Around the town, there are some just some landmarks and places that only the people of Hauppauge will ever understand the importance or even the annoyance of.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments