Rating: 1 star
Headline: In attempting to drive home a serious message about climate change, this short story feels a bit flat
Review:
Lincoln and Rachmaninoff Walk Into a Bar by Cherie Magnus is a short fantasy, following the adventures of an unnamed narrator as they race across America to save the world from the perils of forest fires and climate change. Their quest is supported by a cast of comrades living and dead, notably including former American president Abraham Lincoln and the Russian-American composer Sergei Rachmaninoff.
As far as plotting is concerned, this is not a particularly well thought-through book. The overall premise of Lincoln and Rachmaninoff Walk Into a Bar is somewhat questionable and the triggering incident is not introduced until about halfway through the story. This comes after a succession of scenes where characters talk about their past achievements while trying to comprehend modern technology in the 21st Century. Only when a spiritual figure appears to inform Rachmanioff and Lincoln they are to compose and write the lyrics for a song to save the planet does the story start to develop a sense of pace. It is a plot that is never fully realised, at least not in a way that provides a satisfactory conclusion.
The first person narrator’s statement in the opening lines that they had a dream they met Lincoln and Rachmaninoff rather sets the tone for the rest of the book. The dream statement is touched upon several times in the story, yet there is no moment of “and then I woke up”, leaving readers to guess for themselves the blurred lines between what could be reality and what could be a dream sequence. Is the whole story a work of character imagination?
The book has a lot of grammatical and spelling mistakes and the overuse of unnecessary adverbs becomes very grating, very quickly. There is also a strange subplot in the story where Destiny, a music student, and Lincoln strike up a flirtatious relationship. This part may have been intended as comedy but instead it feels more uncomfortable than funny.
The intended climate change message of Lincoln and Rachmaninoff Walk Into a Bar is lost in its poor execution. It is not to a high enough standard to recommend it to other readers, even if the historical research is commendable.
AEB Reviews
Links:
Reedsy Discovery Review: AEB Reviews – “Lincoln and Rachmaninoff Walk Into a Bar” by Cherie Magnus
Purchase Link: “Lincoln and Rachmaninoff Walk Into a Bar” by Cherie Magnus (Amazon)
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