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Ray in Reverse
I have this thing for glass eyes. I guess you could say they've become one of my subjects, right in line behind fathers and dogs. In Big Fish, an old lady's glass eye is stolen by some college boys. In Ray in Reverse, there's a single mother with a glass eye, and all the kids in her neighborhood want to know whether her new baby has one, too. It's unclear to them whether you're born with a glass eye or get one, somehow, later. So they hatch a disastrous plan to find out. In real life, I learned everything I ever needed to know about glass eyes from my neighbor, Fred McGowan. He actually had a glass eye. He lost his real one when the blade of a tiny battery-operated helicopter spun off its bearings and impaled itself in his vitreous cavity, the very inside of the eye.Things were pretty good for me then. My father's business was doing well enough that we moved from Homewood, Alabama, to the suburb of Mountain Brook. Mountain Brook was all old money and big houses. It was like a picture book. My parents were in love, and my sisters were beautiful.
Fred McGowan lived across the street from me. Fred was my age, but he was shorter, and pudgy, with chalk-white skin and reddish-brown freckles. His bangs stopped about an inch above his eyebrows. I thought his haircut must have been a mistake, but he kept getting it again and again. He wasn't especially brilliant, and he wasn't good at sports, and with his puffy jowls and buck teeth, he looked like a chipmunk. Nobody really liked him.
Fred was in Mrs. Flower's sixth grade class with me. Given that we were neighbors, and knew each other right from the start, we were always teamed up when teaming was necessary. If we had a little math quiz,Fred graded my answers and I graded his. If there was a take-home project, it only made sense that Fred and I worked together. And when Fred had to wash his glass eye, which was three or four times a day, he always asked Mrs. Flowers if I could accompany him. It was a request she never refused. In the middle of a lecture or a reading or even a test, Fred would raise his hand and say, "Mrs. Flowers, I need to wash my eye". She would nod, and then Fred would ask, "Can Danny come?" And she would nod again. This was no doubt her first experience with a glass eye: who knew what strange protocol was necessary in its washing? Maybe it was a two-boy operation. But one thing was clear to her and to everybody: without a doubt, the eye could stand a washing. Over time a tiny gelatinous mush would collect around the eyelet, where Sleep collected in mine.
My presence wasn't really necessary; Fred just wanted me to be with him. I think he thought of me as his friend, maybe his only friend, though I wasn't, really. I went with Fred, not out of friendship, but because I was happy for any excuse that got me out of class.
In the bathroom, he and I would stand in front of the sink, not saying much, and he would turn on the tap, letting the water run for a moment. Then he would reach up to his face and, gently pulling back his bottom lid, insert his fingers beneath the lower edge of his eye, and out it would slip. He would hold it in the palm of his hand like a treasure, and let the water rush over it, until it glistened in the florescent light. It was green, and it was shaped like a seashell, or half of a hollowed-out, oblong marble. The pupil was piercingly black, and the green of the iris was deepand very real. It was so weird that Fred -- a boy, just like me -- would have this accessory in his life, the way my grandparents had false teeth, or my aunt wore a wig because she was balding, or the way my sister used a cane. I never asked to hold the eye and Fred never offered; it would have been too much for us both. I just watched as he took a brown paper towel from the wall dispenser and dried it, and then as he used the same towel to wipe whatever mush still clung in the corner. Then, the eye held in the soft tips of his fingers, he brought it to the socket and sort of ... pushed it ... and ... moved it ... around, until it felt good to him, in its place.
"Okay?" I said.
"Okay", he said.
Then we went back to class.
Why do I write about glass eyes? It's because of Fred McGowan. The children in Ray in Reverse are too young to know that life is a process of subtraction, and that much of your time is spent looking for ways to make up for the loss. When Fred removed his eye from his head, and he held it in the palm of his hand, I still felt it looking at me -- me, who had all my parts. It was like a preview of coining attractions.
Fred McGowan lived across the street from me. Fred was my age, but he was shorter, and pudgy, with chalk-white skin and reddish-brown freckles. His bangs stopped about an inch above his eyebrows. I thought his haircut must have been a mistake, but he kept getting it again and again. He wasn't especially brilliant, and he wasn't good at sports, and with his puffy jowls and buck teeth, he looked like a chipmunk. Nobody really liked him.
Fred was in Mrs. Flower's sixth grade class with me. Given that we were neighbors, and knew each other right from the start, we were always teamed up when teaming was necessary. If we had a little math quiz,Fred graded my answers and I graded his. If there was a take-home project, it only made sense that Fred and I worked together. And when Fred had to wash his glass eye, which was three or four times a day, he always asked Mrs. Flowers if I could accompany him. It was a request she never refused. In the middle of a lecture or a reading or even a test, Fred would raise his hand and say, "Mrs. Flowers, I need to wash my eye". She would nod, and then Fred would ask, "Can Danny come?" And she would nod again. This was no doubt her first experience with a glass eye: who knew what strange protocol was necessary in its washing? Maybe it was a two-boy operation. But one thing was clear to her and to everybody: without a doubt, the eye could stand a washing. Over time a tiny gelatinous mush would collect around the eyelet, where Sleep collected in mine.
My presence wasn't really necessary; Fred just wanted me to be with him. I think he thought of me as his friend, maybe his only friend, though I wasn't, really. I went with Fred, not out of friendship, but because I was happy for any excuse that got me out of class.
In the bathroom, he and I would stand in front of the sink, not saying much, and he would turn on the tap, letting the water run for a moment. Then he would reach up to his face and, gently pulling back his bottom lid, insert his fingers beneath the lower edge of his eye, and out it would slip. He would hold it in the palm of his hand like a treasure, and let the water rush over it, until it glistened in the florescent light. It was green, and it was shaped like a seashell, or half of a hollowed-out, oblong marble. The pupil was piercingly black, and the green of the iris was deepand very real. It was so weird that Fred -- a boy, just like me -- would have this accessory in his life, the way my grandparents had false teeth, or my aunt wore a wig because she was balding, or the way my sister used a cane. I never asked to hold the eye and Fred never offered; it would have been too much for us both. I just watched as he took a brown paper towel from the wall dispenser and dried it, and then as he used the same towel to wipe whatever mush still clung in the corner. Then, the eye held in the soft tips of his fingers, he brought it to the socket and sort of ... pushed it ... and ... moved it ... around, until it felt good to him, in its place.
"Okay?" I said.
"Okay", he said.
Then we went back to class.
Why do I write about glass eyes? It's because of Fred McGowan. The children in Ray in Reverse are too young to know that life is a process of subtraction, and that much of your time is spent looking for ways to make up for the loss. When Fred removed his eye from his head, and he held it in the palm of his hand, I still felt it looking at me -- me, who had all my parts. It was like a preview of coining attractions.
225 pages, Hardcover
First published April 7, 2000
10 people are currently reading
263 people want to read
About the author
Daniel Wallace
87 books440 followersDaniel Wallace is author of five novels, including Big Fish (1998), Ray in Reverse (2000), The Watermelon King (2003), Mr. Sebastian and the Negro Magician (2007), and most recently The Kings and Queens of Roam (2013).
He has written one book for children, Elynora, and in 2008 it was published in Italy, with illustrations by Daniela Tordi. O Great Rosenfeld!, the only book both written and illustrated by the author, has been released in France and Korea and is forthcoming in Italy, but there are not, at this writing, any plans for an American edition.
His work has been published in over two dozen languages, and his stories, novels and non-fiction essays are taught in high schools and colleges throughout this country. His illustrations have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Italian Vanity Fair, and many other magazines and books, including Pep Talks, Warnings, and Screeds: Indispensible Wisdom and Cautionary Advice for Writers, by George Singleton, and Adventures in Pen Land: One Writer's Journey from Inklings to Ink, by Marianne Gingher. Big Fish was made into a motion picture of the same name by Tim Burton in 2003, a film in which the author plays the part of a professor at Auburn University.
He is in fact the J. Ross MacDonald Distinguished Professor of English, and director of the Creative Writing Program, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, his alma mater (Class of '08). He lives with his wife, Laura Kellison Wallace, in Chapel Hill. More information about him, his writing, and his illustrations can be found at www.danielwallace.org and www.ogreatrosenfeld.org.
He has written one book for children, Elynora, and in 2008 it was published in Italy, with illustrations by Daniela Tordi. O Great Rosenfeld!, the only book both written and illustrated by the author, has been released in France and Korea and is forthcoming in Italy, but there are not, at this writing, any plans for an American edition.
His work has been published in over two dozen languages, and his stories, novels and non-fiction essays are taught in high schools and colleges throughout this country. His illustrations have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Italian Vanity Fair, and many other magazines and books, including Pep Talks, Warnings, and Screeds: Indispensible Wisdom and Cautionary Advice for Writers, by George Singleton, and Adventures in Pen Land: One Writer's Journey from Inklings to Ink, by Marianne Gingher. Big Fish was made into a motion picture of the same name by Tim Burton in 2003, a film in which the author plays the part of a professor at Auburn University.
He is in fact the J. Ross MacDonald Distinguished Professor of English, and director of the Creative Writing Program, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, his alma mater (Class of '08). He lives with his wife, Laura Kellison Wallace, in Chapel Hill. More information about him, his writing, and his illustrations can be found at www.danielwallace.org and www.ogreatrosenfeld.org.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews
November 9, 2022
Not impressed with this one really. Probably because the main character is a huge asshole and the ending was too cliche'.
Still, always happy to try new stuff, so not sorry I read it, just not my kind of book.
Still, always happy to try new stuff, so not sorry I read it, just not my kind of book.
September 28, 2020
This was an interesting little book about a life reviewed in reverse. Ray is not a very likeable adult, but as we watch his "progress" in reflections of events going backwards, we see a more rounded person, one we'd like to see do well in life. As a child, Ray wanted to and mostly did "do the right thing", even up to young adulthood. After that, his life takes a turn that happens to most people; he compromises his values, takes his life for granted, and in general, becomes jaded and little bitter. In that respect, Ray's a bit like "everyman". He started out so young and strong, only to surrender. See what I did there?
June 21, 2019
Ray in Reverse (2000)
Author: Daniel Wallace
Read: 6/14/19
Rating: 2.5/5
**** Spoilers ****
A Reverse Etheree for Reverse Ray
Without Wallace's usual whimsy,
but unique nonlinear format-
his life anecdotes, told backwards;
group therapy in heaven.
Ray's hard to really like-
worse in third person!-
homophobic,
unfaithful,
callous,
thief.
Some
stories
on their own
were short and sweet,
fun and insightful-
but together they make
a puzzling partial portrait,
frustratingly incongruous.
A lame end for a second-rate read-
Ray's "Last Words": "I wish… I had that penny."
#Etheree #ReverseEtheree #PoemReview #fantasy #fatherson #heaven #infidelity #LGBT #lifereflections #marriage #nameastitle #nonlinear #reversechronology #therapy
Author: Daniel Wallace
Read: 6/14/19
Rating: 2.5/5
**** Spoilers ****
A Reverse Etheree for Reverse Ray
Without Wallace's usual whimsy,
but unique nonlinear format-
his life anecdotes, told backwards;
group therapy in heaven.
Ray's hard to really like-
worse in third person!-
homophobic,
unfaithful,
callous,
thief.
Some
stories
on their own
were short and sweet,
fun and insightful-
but together they make
a puzzling partial portrait,
frustratingly incongruous.
A lame end for a second-rate read-
Ray's "Last Words": "I wish… I had that penny."
#Etheree #ReverseEtheree #PoemReview #fantasy #fatherson #heaven #infidelity #LGBT #lifereflections #marriage #nameastitle #nonlinear #reversechronology #therapy
February 28, 2008
One might say this book was not the brightest crayon in the box.
March 9, 2010
Most of you probably remember Daniel Wallace as the author of Big Fish, which was eventually turned into a fantastic movie staring Ewan McGregor. Fans of Big Fish will likely get the same sense of enjoyment from Ray in Reverse. I found this book on a bargain shelf at Books-a-Million and decided to read it. You'll see why I'm glad I did.
Ray in Reverse is a downright strange narrative with a unique and stunning conclusion. Ray Williams is dead and in heaven, where support groups collect people together to discuss various aspects of their lives. But Ray is in the Last Words group, where everyone is discussing the last things they said before death, and embarrassment is setting in: Ray's last words weren't all that interesting, let alone complete. What follows is a chronologically reversed narrative about Ray's life, starting from old age and taking leaps further and further back in time to his childhood, before finally returning back to Heaven. We learn about his triumphs and failures, his wants and desires, and, most of all, the kind of man he came to be through all the trials and tribulations of life.
Daniel Wallace has a pension for telling strange and engaging stories. I only saw the movie for Big Fish, but much of the magic and wonder that made that movie shine is also at work in Ray in Reverse. While the narrative does leave many questions open to speculation, the way Wallace has tried to capture the essence of a man, rather than the brilliance of a plot, is something worth noting. The narrative cannot possibly capture every moment in Ray's life to put together some sort of cohesive plot, but it can look into what makes Ray tick, and does so to great effect. We see Ray's life in glimpses in much the same way that we remember the most vivid moments of our pasts in glimpses. Certain memories stick out for us--just as they do for Ray--and when you put them all together they paint a unique picture of you. Ray's backwards motion glimpses do just that, and, by the end, we start to understand who he is, especially in terms of his faults. We also come to understand why the beginning of the novel is so prescient: Ray is the everyman looking back upon himself and wondering, "Who am I?"
Ray as everyman is a key thing to note about the novel. He's not perfect--not by a long shot. Ray cheats, thinks ill of other people, and succeeds and fails in much the same way that all of us do. Wallace doesn't pull punches for Ray, because to do so would take away from Ray's tragic, yet painfully average life. Flawed characters are strong characters. I think this is part of what makes the novel so enjoyable to read, because it takes what is so normal and everyday and makes it glamorous in its normality and flaws, for good or for bad. Wallace has a knack for doing just that, because even Big Fish has that kind of normality-turned-to-glamorous feel.
Wallace's adept storytelling, however, makes difficult for me to find fault with this novel. On the one hand, I loved the way the narrative was pieced together with glimpses; on the other hand, the glimpses also left a few too many holes for my liking, leaving me with a lot of questions at the end. But, at the same time, those questions are part of how the ending comes together, because even Ray is questioning his life. It's a Catch 22 for a reader, I suppose. Regardless, perhaps a few more glimpses could have made for a more rounded picture, but only if doing so wouldn't detract from the ending.
Needless to say, I loved Ray in Reverse. Ray is memorable, the structure of the narrative and the two Heaven scenes framing it make for a fascinating and engaging read, and the everyman has, finally, a little magic attached to the title. Hopefully we'll see more of Wallace in the future. For now, we have Big Fish and Ray in Reverse (and, apparently, a couple other novels I've never heard of before).
Ray in Reverse is a downright strange narrative with a unique and stunning conclusion. Ray Williams is dead and in heaven, where support groups collect people together to discuss various aspects of their lives. But Ray is in the Last Words group, where everyone is discussing the last things they said before death, and embarrassment is setting in: Ray's last words weren't all that interesting, let alone complete. What follows is a chronologically reversed narrative about Ray's life, starting from old age and taking leaps further and further back in time to his childhood, before finally returning back to Heaven. We learn about his triumphs and failures, his wants and desires, and, most of all, the kind of man he came to be through all the trials and tribulations of life.
Daniel Wallace has a pension for telling strange and engaging stories. I only saw the movie for Big Fish, but much of the magic and wonder that made that movie shine is also at work in Ray in Reverse. While the narrative does leave many questions open to speculation, the way Wallace has tried to capture the essence of a man, rather than the brilliance of a plot, is something worth noting. The narrative cannot possibly capture every moment in Ray's life to put together some sort of cohesive plot, but it can look into what makes Ray tick, and does so to great effect. We see Ray's life in glimpses in much the same way that we remember the most vivid moments of our pasts in glimpses. Certain memories stick out for us--just as they do for Ray--and when you put them all together they paint a unique picture of you. Ray's backwards motion glimpses do just that, and, by the end, we start to understand who he is, especially in terms of his faults. We also come to understand why the beginning of the novel is so prescient: Ray is the everyman looking back upon himself and wondering, "Who am I?"
Ray as everyman is a key thing to note about the novel. He's not perfect--not by a long shot. Ray cheats, thinks ill of other people, and succeeds and fails in much the same way that all of us do. Wallace doesn't pull punches for Ray, because to do so would take away from Ray's tragic, yet painfully average life. Flawed characters are strong characters. I think this is part of what makes the novel so enjoyable to read, because it takes what is so normal and everyday and makes it glamorous in its normality and flaws, for good or for bad. Wallace has a knack for doing just that, because even Big Fish has that kind of normality-turned-to-glamorous feel.
Wallace's adept storytelling, however, makes difficult for me to find fault with this novel. On the one hand, I loved the way the narrative was pieced together with glimpses; on the other hand, the glimpses also left a few too many holes for my liking, leaving me with a lot of questions at the end. But, at the same time, those questions are part of how the ending comes together, because even Ray is questioning his life. It's a Catch 22 for a reader, I suppose. Regardless, perhaps a few more glimpses could have made for a more rounded picture, but only if doing so wouldn't detract from the ending.
Needless to say, I loved Ray in Reverse. Ray is memorable, the structure of the narrative and the two Heaven scenes framing it make for a fascinating and engaging read, and the everyman has, finally, a little magic attached to the title. Hopefully we'll see more of Wallace in the future. For now, we have Big Fish and Ray in Reverse (and, apparently, a couple other novels I've never heard of before).
March 8, 2009
I enjoyed this story much more than I expected given so many questionable reviews. That should teach me something about reading too many reviews!
Agreed, not as good a story or as strong a character as Big Fish, but that's a tough comparison. This book worked for me on a different level. I thought the first and last chapters were fantastics bookends for the story and the organizational structure - very creative! Without giving any spoilers, the last chapter was great - very poignant - given what came before. Don't discount this book; it's a short, simple and enjoyable read - give it a try.
Agreed, not as good a story or as strong a character as Big Fish, but that's a tough comparison. This book worked for me on a different level. I thought the first and last chapters were fantastics bookends for the story and the organizational structure - very creative! Without giving any spoilers, the last chapter was great - very poignant - given what came before. Don't discount this book; it's a short, simple and enjoyable read - give it a try.
May 2, 2021
Not for me. Dnf.
Hopeless and depressing.
Hopeless and depressing.
April 9, 2023
The main character is a jerk but as he reflects back on his life you begin to sympathize with him. His life is nothing fascinating, but whose is?
July 7, 2023
Just….. wut?
March 22, 2025
Started off promising, I mean, in heaven in a support group for "last words"? Pretty funny.
Then, downhill from there. Really boring. Who cares? The guy was kind of an idiot. Oh well.
Then, downhill from there. Really boring. Who cares? The guy was kind of an idiot. Oh well.
February 12, 2016
2.5 stars, rounded down because I couldn't, in good conscience, give it 3. And I hate to give a 2 star rating here. I really do. In general, I like Mr. Wallace's books. He has written one of my absolute favorite books (Mr. Sebastian and the Negro Magician). But this one? It's an awkward read, lacking the requisite continuity of character to allow the reader to follow a backwards timeline with the main story shoehorned into arbitrary book-ends of "heaven" in a seeming effort to make sure he capitalizes on his reputation for somewhat fanciful, tall-tale narratives. It was clumsy and I resented the disconnect.
This is the story of Ray, a man assigned to the "Last Words" committee in heaven, a committee populated by those with the best last words...about which everybody lies because everybody's real last words suck. From there, we follow Ray in harsh narrative leaps backward through time, and...back to heaven again where he reveals the intent behind his own poor showing of last words.
And the idea was ambitious. I'll give it that. A story told in reverse. Why not. The idea, face-value, is interesting and in keeping with what seems to be Mr. Wallace's shtick of blending realism with an almost folk-tale feel. I was on board with the premise. And the committees in heaven were a fanciful fun thought...
but it melded NOT AT ALL with the meat of the story. It really felt as if the author was trying too hard to fit that fanciful element into a story that was anything but. The only possible exception is the very last flashback segment with Nancy's magical glass eye. And we get that...what...20 pages from the end? It's not enough to tie us into that world where a heaven like that is possible.
I would say that the author should have cut heaven out of the book, except that those were some of the most enjoyable scenes of the novel.
For the most part, we're jumping backward in time into various points of Ray's failures, harsh glimpses into a lackluster life wherein he seems to find joy nowhere. It's all one-note, really, and doesn't actually make sense in the totality of a lifetime.
Every life is bound to be lit by some manner of joy but the author seems dead-set on giving us none (save for heaven which is narrated from another POV altogether). It doesn't feel real.
And I'm not even sure I can say that every step backward in time was with the same Ray we started with. The leaps are so harsh and so jarring, we're not allowed to grow or see the development of personality. Each leap backward in time felt almost like stepping into a new character.
It was frustrating to read. And, in the end, I was left dissatisfied and let down.
This is the story of Ray, a man assigned to the "Last Words" committee in heaven, a committee populated by those with the best last words...about which everybody lies because everybody's real last words suck. From there, we follow Ray in harsh narrative leaps backward through time, and...back to heaven again where he reveals the intent behind his own poor showing of last words.
And the idea was ambitious. I'll give it that. A story told in reverse. Why not. The idea, face-value, is interesting and in keeping with what seems to be Mr. Wallace's shtick of blending realism with an almost folk-tale feel. I was on board with the premise. And the committees in heaven were a fanciful fun thought...
but it melded NOT AT ALL with the meat of the story. It really felt as if the author was trying too hard to fit that fanciful element into a story that was anything but. The only possible exception is the very last flashback segment with Nancy's magical glass eye. And we get that...what...20 pages from the end? It's not enough to tie us into that world where a heaven like that is possible.
I would say that the author should have cut heaven out of the book, except that those were some of the most enjoyable scenes of the novel.
For the most part, we're jumping backward in time into various points of Ray's failures, harsh glimpses into a lackluster life wherein he seems to find joy nowhere. It's all one-note, really, and doesn't actually make sense in the totality of a lifetime.
Every life is bound to be lit by some manner of joy but the author seems dead-set on giving us none (save for heaven which is narrated from another POV altogether). It doesn't feel real.
And I'm not even sure I can say that every step backward in time was with the same Ray we started with. The leaps are so harsh and so jarring, we're not allowed to grow or see the development of personality. Each leap backward in time felt almost like stepping into a new character.
It was frustrating to read. And, in the end, I was left dissatisfied and let down.
March 25, 2009
The inside front cover to this book states that the
novel achieves a happy ending by going in reverse. I
agree that the only way the Ray character could be
redeemed is if you show his life in reverse,
concluding with his one good deed - returning the
stolen child. I also felt that this deed of Ray's was
symbolically significant. He placed the child in a
"pile of pinestraw," which struck me as a Christ image
- the Christ child in the manger. This begs the
question: is Ray redeemed because he did this one good
deed many years ago? The author seems to suggest that
he has been redeemed, since he winds up going to
heaven. Perhaps God does not view our lives in
chronological order or expect us to get better as we
age.
I could definitely tell that Daniel Wallace is a short
story writer. I felt that the chapters read more like
short stories (self-contained units) than as novel
chapters. I kind of found this to be a weakness in a
way. I didn't always feel that the characters were
consistent from one chapter to the next, or that
Wallace's writing style remained consistent across
chapters. To illustrate by using an example, I
thought the chapter titled "Winter 1972: Cold Feet"
was the most ridiculous and out-of-place of all the
chapters in the book. I was not convinced that Ray
could have or would have written such a long,
prattling letter to his then girlfriend Mary. I found
certain things about this chapter amusing (relating
the story of the elephant in their backyard and how
his father's inappropriate reaction made his mother
want a divorce), but I just didn’t buy it. The Ray in
the rest of the book would never have written this
kind of letter.
Wallace does do some things well. I like his use of
symbolic imagery that is occasionally more subtle than
the Christ child image at the end of the book. I
thought the scene when Peter was sucking the blood
from Ray's finger was a pretty effective image -
conveying everything we need to know about Peter. I
also liked the scene when the Caravaggio painting
comes out of the sky and hits Uncle Eddy in the
forehead. It seemed at that moment that Eddy was
being punished for his ignorance. The art that he
could only understand as an object of commerce as
opposed to a thing of beauty wound up hitting him on
the head.
The final thing I want to comment on is the last
sentence of the novel, when Ray says: "I wish I had
that penny." I wondered if Ray was saying something more than just
that he wished he had his lucky coin. Does he mean
that he wished he could take that lucky object with
him into the afterlife? Is he saying that he wished
he was still alive and had never misplaced the penny? It could be
that the penny is sort of a meaningless "red herring"
as opposed to something significant, as in the movie
Citizen Kane, when Charles Foster Kane's utters his
last word: "Rosebud." The film shows us that
"Rosebud” was his sled, and helps us to understand why
he said that just before he died. I'm not sure if we
can read anything so significant into Ray's last
utterance.
novel achieves a happy ending by going in reverse. I
agree that the only way the Ray character could be
redeemed is if you show his life in reverse,
concluding with his one good deed - returning the
stolen child. I also felt that this deed of Ray's was
symbolically significant. He placed the child in a
"pile of pinestraw," which struck me as a Christ image
- the Christ child in the manger. This begs the
question: is Ray redeemed because he did this one good
deed many years ago? The author seems to suggest that
he has been redeemed, since he winds up going to
heaven. Perhaps God does not view our lives in
chronological order or expect us to get better as we
age.
I could definitely tell that Daniel Wallace is a short
story writer. I felt that the chapters read more like
short stories (self-contained units) than as novel
chapters. I kind of found this to be a weakness in a
way. I didn't always feel that the characters were
consistent from one chapter to the next, or that
Wallace's writing style remained consistent across
chapters. To illustrate by using an example, I
thought the chapter titled "Winter 1972: Cold Feet"
was the most ridiculous and out-of-place of all the
chapters in the book. I was not convinced that Ray
could have or would have written such a long,
prattling letter to his then girlfriend Mary. I found
certain things about this chapter amusing (relating
the story of the elephant in their backyard and how
his father's inappropriate reaction made his mother
want a divorce), but I just didn’t buy it. The Ray in
the rest of the book would never have written this
kind of letter.
Wallace does do some things well. I like his use of
symbolic imagery that is occasionally more subtle than
the Christ child image at the end of the book. I
thought the scene when Peter was sucking the blood
from Ray's finger was a pretty effective image -
conveying everything we need to know about Peter. I
also liked the scene when the Caravaggio painting
comes out of the sky and hits Uncle Eddy in the
forehead. It seemed at that moment that Eddy was
being punished for his ignorance. The art that he
could only understand as an object of commerce as
opposed to a thing of beauty wound up hitting him on
the head.
The final thing I want to comment on is the last
sentence of the novel, when Ray says: "I wish I had
that penny." I wondered if Ray was saying something more than just
that he wished he had his lucky coin. Does he mean
that he wished he could take that lucky object with
him into the afterlife? Is he saying that he wished
he was still alive and had never misplaced the penny? It could be
that the penny is sort of a meaningless "red herring"
as opposed to something significant, as in the movie
Citizen Kane, when Charles Foster Kane's utters his
last word: "Rosebud." The film shows us that
"Rosebud” was his sled, and helps us to understand why
he said that just before he died. I'm not sure if we
can read anything so significant into Ray's last
utterance.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 13, 2014
Daniel Wallace's 'Ray in Reverse' is a tragicomic, stream-of-consciousness type of novel which takes places mostly inside Ray's head. The story unfolds in a series of vignettes from his life in the reverse chronological order, but this backward progression of events does not really affect the novel in either a positive or a negative way, since there is no plot to the novel. Also, the events described are interlinked to each other in any apparent way.
I found the author's decision of using heaven's 'Last Words' group as a springboard for telling Ray's lifestory as unnecessary and rather cheesy for a book that was so introspective and brooding for most of its length.
I didn't find the events from Ray's life described in the book in any way illuminating towards his character. Some of the events were outright non-relevant even to Ray, such as the episode with his salesman uncle. To me, the most poignant and stimulating of the episodes were Although the various events of Ray's life described in the book were when he builds his son a treehouse, the time when an elephant walks into his parent's lawn, and when he steals the penny from his dead grandfather's pocket: the event that revealed his cold and rather selfish nature to us.
Moreover, Ray's last words wishing for his grandfather's lost penny again revelaed his self-centered disposition and also the underlying desire that he had better luck in his life since he always considered that penny to be a good luck charm for himself.
His encounter with the artist as well as his friend Kevin, which led to his girlfriend walking out on him, hint towards his tendency of suppressed homosexuality.
In conclusion, this was a short novel which was easy to read despite the lack of a plot and linear narrative. It had its moments of poignancy and dark humour. I rate it 3.5 stars out of five.
My favourite sentence from the book is:
'There was always somewhere else he wanted to be, somebody else he wanted to be with. Ray felt present only in the future and the past.'
I found the author's decision of using heaven's 'Last Words' group as a springboard for telling Ray's lifestory as unnecessary and rather cheesy for a book that was so introspective and brooding for most of its length.
I didn't find the events from Ray's life described in the book in any way illuminating towards his character. Some of the events were outright non-relevant even to Ray, such as the episode with his salesman uncle. To me, the most poignant and stimulating of the episodes were Although the various events of Ray's life described in the book were when he builds his son a treehouse, the time when an elephant walks into his parent's lawn, and when he steals the penny from his dead grandfather's pocket: the event that revealed his cold and rather selfish nature to us.
Moreover, Ray's last words wishing for his grandfather's lost penny again revelaed his self-centered disposition and also the underlying desire that he had better luck in his life since he always considered that penny to be a good luck charm for himself.
His encounter with the artist as well as his friend Kevin, which led to his girlfriend walking out on him, hint towards his tendency of suppressed homosexuality.
In conclusion, this was a short novel which was easy to read despite the lack of a plot and linear narrative. It had its moments of poignancy and dark humour. I rate it 3.5 stars out of five.
My favourite sentence from the book is:
'There was always somewhere else he wanted to be, somebody else he wanted to be with. Ray felt present only in the future and the past.'
June 24, 2010
I figured that since I am a recent transplant to Alabama, I'd give Daniel Wallace (author of the novel that the movie "Big Fish" is adapted) a try. I probably started with his worst effort. "Ray in Reverse", while showing much promise, is hardly a cohesive effort for Mr. Wallace. Eschewing normal conventions of novel writing, Mr. Wallace provides vignettes of the eponymous Ray...wait for it...IN REVERSE (yawn). We start with Ray in Heaven after having died of cancer at age 50, then are given mini glimpses of his life from age 50 to age 10, then come back to him in heaven. Some of these glimpses are really well written...others much less so. If there was a payoff at the end to justify this backward glance of an ordinary man's life, I didn't get it. I still plan to read his other works (based on the strength of a few of these vignettes, which held my interest and were quite compelling) but "Ray in Reverse" was an inauspicious novel to begin gleaning Daniel Wallace's talents.
October 2, 2011
I picked up this book at a library sale for the sole purpose that the author penned Big Fish as well, which I dearly loved (especially the movie adaptation). This had the same quality - a bit surreal, a bit make-you-think, a bit case study, development progress type thingy. I expected a big moment where it all came together for me and I am ashamed to say, it didn't. The book is tiny snippets of a man's life going in reverse. Some were incredibly riveting and others I kept trying to figure out the meaning behind it and how it tied into the others, and I was at a loss. I know Wallace had something huge to say, and I did not know what it was! Frustrating. I kind of hope this is made into a movie and the producers fill in the gaps for the dense ones, such as I, who just didn't quite get what the heck this book was trying to say. A beautiful, well written book - I love the way this author uses words - but either I missed the boat on this one, or the book itself did. Who's to say?
August 26, 2014
I picked this book on a random library sale. I haven't read The Big Fish yet so I didn't have any expectations when I started reading this but based on the description on the cover, I thought this will be something heart-felt but I was dead wrong.
The book is witty and is refreshing. It's been a while since I've read a narrative feeling nothing but entertained. The story is often humorous and delightful. Each of the chapters are stories of their own, mirroring the day-to-day encounters of a man's life. An easy read: nothing too deep but realistic, nevertheless. The dialogues were written excellently, giving life and character to the people speaking.
The reason for the two "un-star" is that I wasn't moved by the story. I was entertained but I was not excited for the next page and next chapters. Back to heaven, in the end, I am quite unsatisfied with what he wished for. I am itching for something more or maybe something deeper.
The book is witty and is refreshing. It's been a while since I've read a narrative feeling nothing but entertained. The story is often humorous and delightful. Each of the chapters are stories of their own, mirroring the day-to-day encounters of a man's life. An easy read: nothing too deep but realistic, nevertheless. The dialogues were written excellently, giving life and character to the people speaking.
The reason for the two "un-star" is that I wasn't moved by the story. I was entertained but I was not excited for the next page and next chapters. Back to heaven, in the end, I am quite unsatisfied with what he wished for. I am itching for something more or maybe something deeper.
May 30, 2008
well written... and the book is sort of growing on me at first I didn't like it at all -- and I was thinking how does something like this get published - it's not really a novel its more like a writing excercise .. One reason I started not liking it -- actually getting bored was that the main character is sort of a cad - but then he becomes a kid - not so bad for a kid and he has all these rather strange experiences - and I'm thinking that is what life is like it is the same, the same, the same puncutated with unusual or weird or quirky memorable experiences. I've found myself wondering who the narrator was and why I care what he thinks of Ray. At the end I happy to see that the narrator concludes that Ray is not the dullard he thought him to be. I'm thinking that the worst thing for us people to feel is as though we are not unique.
August 13, 2016
I bought this at a library resale because the idea of going backwards intrigued me. Unfortunately, I think this is a cooler idea in theory than in practice. I always felt like there was some kind of back-story that I wasn't getting, some history I wasn't understanding about the characters. Maybe it was intentional, maybe it was just impractical to include the back-story when we might get the back-story as we go, y'know... backwards. In general, I spent the time I was reading this book feeling irritated. I didn't especially like Ray, either, which just made it the whole thing harder to get through. I think Wallace was trying to say something with what Ray wished for as opposed to what he could have wished for, but it took so long to get to that point that I was too busy counting down the pages to really get the message.
January 2, 2017
Daniel Wallace is very gifted at writing sentimental works. A challenge though, in making this approach effective, is maintaining the story's emotional appeal evenly throughout. While each chapter presented an interesting anecdotal foray into some aspect of the title character's life, the author would have done well to omit the one or two chapters that did little to expand on the reader's understanding of Ray's perspective and personality.
I have read three of Daniel Wallace's books, and enjoyed each for different reasons, but have found that his strengths as an author seem to amplify his greatest shortcoming as a storyteller. He is tremendously talented at constructing an enjoyable, quirky narrative that incorporates aspects of the surreal or paranormal - but struggles to leave the reader with a satisfactory conclusion.
I have read three of Daniel Wallace's books, and enjoyed each for different reasons, but have found that his strengths as an author seem to amplify his greatest shortcoming as a storyteller. He is tremendously talented at constructing an enjoyable, quirky narrative that incorporates aspects of the surreal or paranormal - but struggles to leave the reader with a satisfactory conclusion.
March 3, 2009
In the Last Words group in Heaven, Ray Williams—dead from cancer at the too-young age of fifty—relives small vignettes from his life, one per chapter, in reverse chronological order. The result, along with Daniel Wallace being a brilliant observer and incredibly intelligent with his choice of details to write about, is a poignant and sweet story about an Everyman and the ups and downs of his life.
I enjoyed this book in small bits, not as an entity: it is better read as a collection of short stories, and would only hurt your brain if you try to think of how it works (or whether it works) as a novel. As I said, Wallace’s skill lies in the details and the way he so easily makes minor characters come to life. Not a bad choice for nostalgic nights in front of the fireplace.
I enjoyed this book in small bits, not as an entity: it is better read as a collection of short stories, and would only hurt your brain if you try to think of how it works (or whether it works) as a novel. As I said, Wallace’s skill lies in the details and the way he so easily makes minor characters come to life. Not a bad choice for nostalgic nights in front of the fireplace.
August 2, 2009
In Heaven, Ray Williams joins the Last Words group. But instead of peacefully listening and sharing his last words with the group, Ray has an outburst and flees the group. Now we learn about Ray's life through a series of vignettes, starting at the end and down through childhood.
What a huge disappointment this was. I didn't read any Daniel Wallace before, but I did see the movie of "Big Fish" and vaguely remember it as fantastical and delightful and this book was neither of those things. Ray is a pretty uninteresting character. I mean, the concept here was so unique and this just fell totally flat. When I think back on it, it doesn't even really feel like much of a story. One of the rare books where I feel like I wasted my time.
What a huge disappointment this was. I didn't read any Daniel Wallace before, but I did see the movie of "Big Fish" and vaguely remember it as fantastical and delightful and this book was neither of those things. Ray is a pretty uninteresting character. I mean, the concept here was so unique and this just fell totally flat. When I think back on it, it doesn't even really feel like much of a story. One of the rare books where I feel like I wasted my time.
November 13, 2021
Sample passage (p.40): “There was always somewhere else he wanted to be, somebody else he wanted to be with. Ray felt present only in the future and the past.”
This book is composed of a series of vignettes from a man’s life, from age 50 to age 10. Mr. Wallace is somehow at his most crisp and concrete when he veers into semi-magical territory: the strange coincidence of desires, the stories we tell to children, and the memories of childhood. Ironically, it is when he is on more prosaic ground that the sentences seem less assured.
The good news is that this means the book gets more vivid as it goes on – slogging through age so that it can dance trippingly through youth to its conclusion.
This book is composed of a series of vignettes from a man’s life, from age 50 to age 10. Mr. Wallace is somehow at his most crisp and concrete when he veers into semi-magical territory: the strange coincidence of desires, the stories we tell to children, and the memories of childhood. Ironically, it is when he is on more prosaic ground that the sentences seem less assured.
The good news is that this means the book gets more vivid as it goes on – slogging through age so that it can dance trippingly through youth to its conclusion.
January 10, 2008
My second Wallace book after enjoying Big Fish so much, this one wasn’t nearly as good. The book details a man’s life (Ray) by beginning in Heaven with Ray telling others about his last words on earth, and then heads backwards into Ray’s life through a series of related flashback scenes to explain the meaningfulness of his last words. I give him points for creativity, and there are some sentences in here that are so pure it makes you wince. But overall, the story falls flat. When you set up your book with the premise of fulfilling and explaining a man’s last words, you have to nail the ending and the last words. And the book fails to do either, really.
September 27, 2015
I read Ray in Reverse and from the get-go expected awe inspiring revelation and moments that were truly defining on a grand scale. After all, when the main character is sitting in a support group in Heaven reflecting on life and everything that made him into the man he was, be it good, corrupt, or anywhere in between, don't you expect moments of sheer beauty and understanding as everything finally comes together?
I waited.
I waited.
I got to the end, holding out for that last paragraph or section to really knock me off my feet and show me that there had been a master plan in Wallace's head the entire time.
It never came.
I waited.
I waited.
I got to the end, holding out for that last paragraph or section to really knock me off my feet and show me that there had been a master plan in Wallace's head the entire time.
It never came.
June 10, 2022
This one had a unique timeline. We start the novel (really a series of linked short stories) with our main character, Ray, in heaven. He doesn't connect with the group he finds himself in, so he wanders off to ponder his past life. We travel back through his life to see his relationship with his wife wax and wane. Events in his marriage, parenting, and interactions with others made Ray an unpleasant protagonist for me. The chapters I could connect with most were the ones at the end during his childhood which explained a little more thoroughly how he became who he was. Not a really uplifting picture of life.
March 27, 2011
This was an interesting book, written in an unique perspective. I was looking forward to reading the novel written by the author of Big Fish, which is one of my favorite movies of all time. Ray in Reverse is about a man who is in Heaven and has to explain his life story from reverse. The middle got a little stretched out, but overall, it's definitely worth the read.
May 13, 2011
I love Daniel Wallace's writing and some of his sentences are truly wonderful. But I like some of his other work much more than I did this book. Even as it intended to be told in backward episodes (beginning with Ray in a very curious vision of heaven) it was a little too disjointed for me. I did like the ending and the way it helped knit some of the pieces together.
February 11, 2013
The idea of this book is that you follow one man back through his life, from his first moments in heaven down to childhood. Sure. I get that. He had a lot going on in his life, and there was a lot of promise for the book to end on either a meaningful or provoking or heart-grabbing note. But really, in my opinion, Wallace dropped the ball here. I was very disappointed.
February 12, 2015
3 STARS
"Sitting in the Last Words support group in Heaven, Ray Williams ruminates on his short life of 50 years, his episodes of infidelity, his premature marriage proposal, his sexual confusion, the dog he accidentally killed, and the baby he unwittingly saved." (From Amazon)
An okay novel.
"Sitting in the Last Words support group in Heaven, Ray Williams ruminates on his short life of 50 years, his episodes of infidelity, his premature marriage proposal, his sexual confusion, the dog he accidentally killed, and the baby he unwittingly saved." (From Amazon)
An okay novel.
January 12, 2015
AESTHETIC. Daniel Wallace is such a great storyteller. The ending was my favorite part. I was astounded. DW did a unique narrative to this book. You might get confused with what is happening inside the story (with its reversed telling), but I kid you not when I say, it is worth reading til the end.
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