Red as Apple

"Red As Apple" is a poetic novel about rural America. The author is a master of describing the environment. I enjoyed the vivid imagery he created in the pages of the book. The book is slow and philosophical. The dialog is thought-provoking. It is a type of book that one enjoys reading slowly; the enjoyment comes not from what is happening in the story but from how it is described.

This is a very poetic novel about life in rural America in the late 1980s. I loved the writing style and the story/themes. However, I do feel like the story was a little short.

I kept waiting for the story to lead somewhere. Disappointing, I was not a fan of this book, it just wasn't my favourite style of writing although others may differ and enjoy it.

The rich detail included in this book paints a vivid picture of each scene, smell, and emotion. It almost takes you back to rural living and simpler times. Quite the page turner

Steven Simon is an excellent writer. whose detailed and descriptive pen few writers could come close to, let alone manage. But sadly for me the storyline in Red as Apple fell far below the quality of his writing. I thought he went overboard with his description so that it bogged down the flow of the story and at times I thought he was more concerned with his ability to use the language than with the reader's ability to follow the story.

The story did not excite me and when it became interesting near to the end it ended abruptly. It was really too short.

The characters were good also the dialogue but I thought he held back the characters and didn't allow them to shine.. This would have allowed for a more engaging story...at least for me.

This could have been a much better book if Simon had concentrated more on giving us an excellent story without much of the descriptive fluff, some of which I though was unnecessary and impeded the flow of the story.

Overall a good book. But next time give us the eloquence and the magic of the language in smaller doses.