In the Shadow of the Cypress - Review

I borrowed this book from my Public Library, with hopes (encouraged by the jacket flap info) of having an interesting story and presentation.

I was disappointed.

The story is in two parts, with the historical segment of finding artifacts near the Pacific Grove Chinese community in 1906. The interest, consternation and subsequent handling of the items covers the first half of the book. Then is the contemporary story of Charles (Luke) Lucas who stumbles upon some of the 1906 information and begins his own quest to learn more.

Thomas Steinbeck is an articulate wordsmith. More than 80% of the first segment is narration. But with narrative writing, I expect to be tantalized by creative prose. It didn't happen. Throughout the book, the prose was very dry and journalistic, with such time-worn phrases as, on page 179, "the rain started to come down in buckets..." (A phrase I've always had trouble imagining). The "main" character, Lucas, was fairly flat. The descriptions of the 1906 Chinese community are intriguing, although they have a NatGeo feel about them.

I also found the early time presentation troublesome. The first section presents journal entries from Dr. Charles Gilbert. The first date is in June 1906 when a fire rages through the Chinese community; but the rambling length gives details about events that happened much earlier (such as the April San Francisco Earthquake)--information I would think a true journal keeper would have imparted closer to the time events occurred. The next Gilbert "entries" are from late in thie year, with more information on artifacts and the Chinese community. Then there's the shift to 1906 and character Dr. Lao-Hong. The events his segment tells are in June 1906--the ones written by Gilbert in November.

I did like the art work and proverbs that separated the different sections

What I perceive as an editorial glitch is the Prologue and Epilogue that aren't part of the story; they are Thomas Steinbeck's comments on his background and life. Both are in first person, and I assumed, when reading the Prologue, I was reading about one of the book's characters. NOT. Perhaps Foreword and Afterword would have been better labels

Why did I keep reading this book when I was so dissatisfied? I kept wanting something to happen. I knew the answer to the slight mystery by page 100, so I wanted the characters, especially Charles Lucas, to come alive and offer me something. (sigh) Oh, well; maybe the next book