Deus ex Machina: Logos

Sauer, Charles Matthew

ISBN 10: 1436314976 / ISBN 13: 9781436314978

Published by Xlibris, U.S.A., 2008

About this Item

Xlibris Corporation. Paperback. Book Condition: New. Paperback. 140 pages. Signed and inscribed by the Author. "To Tyler Here is a little mystery/horor novel I wrote. Hope you Like it! Charles Matthew O Sauer." Also Author has noted in the upper right hand title page in ink that "Misprinted Title: "Deus ex machina" The title reads Deux ex mahicna Logos on this softcover. 139 pages. Seller Inventory # 008881

Bibliographic Details

Title: Deus ex Machina: Logos

Publisher: Xlibris, U.S.A.

Publication Date: 2008

Binding: Soft cover

Condition: Very Good

Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket

Signed: Signed by Author(s)

Edition: First Edition

About this title

Synopsis:

Like the refracted silhouette of a person above the surface of the water, I cannot see you, reading this; but I can imagine your face. Every author misconstrues the audience. Yet, in an inexplicable way, text, in and of itself, is a shadow (a form externalized and framed), like the stretch and curvature of a moment bundled within clockwork. This is stated to explain the title, to some extent: Deus ex Machina is a haunted book.

"Poetically symphonic imagery... There is depth and sensitivity here." Kirkus Discoveries - A review service from Kirkus Reviews

See Also

The Author´s Web Site at Spectra Logos
Additional Information at Deus ex Machina; Logos

Review:

Sauer's laboriously perceptive psychological portrait of a woman who must untangle her past before she can resume her career.

The narrator, who grudgingly reveals herself as Cecelia Knoll, begins by conducting a soliloquized dialogue with the reader. In order to solve a complex puzzle, she petitions readers to suspend their personal beliefs and allow the story to take "possession" of them. She delineates her quandary--successfully completing the computer-programming code she's creating--and decides her only recourse is to take a vacation. The protagonist travels to Italy and develops an obsession with Pompeian culture and history. Upon her return, Cecelia compares the Rocky Mountains of Southern Colorado to Pompeii, then begins researching the history of Colorado and her family's place within it. She attempts to flesh out sketches of historical events and uncover the truth, but the more information she compiles, the more perplexed she is by the results. Her old family letters, photos and personal memories of relatives who overcame poverty and hardship don't line up with popular recorded historical "facts." Still unable to focus on work, Cecelia recruits an old friend Justin to accompany her on a visit to her childhood home in Old La Veta Pass. She secretly hopes to unearth a peculiar ancestral book rumored to hold the key to her past. Nearing their destination, Cecelia and Justin pick up Matthew, a sensual, mysterious hitchhiker who seems oddly familiar. She and Justin stay at an enigmatic old inn, where dreams begin to seep into reality and shards of nightmares form riddles in Cecelia's mind. She is infatuated with Matthew, yet finds that the more time she spends with him, the more reality seems to shift. The first-person narrative style dabbles in both poetically symphonic imagery and didactic scholarly ramblings, and uses metaphors from both Native American folklore and Greek mythology. Despite a sluggish start and overexplained concepts that hamper the suspension of disbelief, there is depth and sensitivity here.

A nuanced look at humans' need to find meaning in creation. -- Kirkus Discoveries - A review service from Kirkus Reviews