One thing is for sure when you read an Athol Dickson novel: you won't be reading anything "ordinary". The Opposite of Art by Athol Dickson published by Howard Books, a division of Simon and Schuster, is no exception. A master at the newer genre classification of "magical realism", as you might expect by the term, the story wanders on a unique journey taking the reader to places and scenarios that challenge the imagination to keep up. Stuffed with symbolism and metaphor, it's an exposé in creative writing with a suggestion of purpose rather than a demand. Reminding me of David Athey's Danny Gospel, it does at times give one the sense of flashback to a drug-induced state . . . if you know what I mean.
We're introduced to Sheridan Ridler in his twenties, the cocky artist known just as Ridler to the world of art and Danny to the one he loves but pushes away with his demands, and we see a brash self-absorbed painter of nudes without faces. He doesn't "do faces". With successful siblings who gained his father's approval, Ridler's art seemed never to impress his dad, and he carries the defiance of rejection into his core being. The world embraces his work and even at his young age, he is quickly deemed a brilliant artist. According to Ridler himself, he "can paint anything". His explanation of why he doesn't paint faces epitomizes where his focus resides in his youthful state of mind.
When the one who truly inspires him walks out of his life, he realizes for the first time that she holds his heart and he chases after her but loses her in her Harlem neighborhood. Frustrated that he can't recall her address, he sees something in his artist's eye that draws him. As he pursues the image, he experiences a shocking event which sets the stage for and transforms the rest of the novel. Up to this experience, the story plays like a normal interpersonal conflict with an egotist and his girl falling apart without a deeper bond than their attraction to one another to cement them together.
Suffice it to say this event causes a cataclysmic change in the young artist and takes him on a journey to recapture the focus of what he experienced, but without his ability to suppress himself in his travels across the world's landscape, he never manages to advance in his core-persona, but he does manage to eliminate the requirements of religion without understanding why he must. Encountering a canvas filled with characters who are both kind and crazed, he continues to paint what he cannot fully grasp.
It's decidedly amazing to me that Athol can base an entire story on somewhat undesirable characters and pull it off. Honestly, I understood the 20-something Ridler a whole lot better than the Ridler-pilgrim who basically refused to see the obvious even when much later in his life it couldn't have been more plain. "Esperanza", the beautiful old woman – or was she? – made so much evident to him many times with her pointed questions and conversation if he would only listen and see. However, her prodding and hinting served to demonstrate the power of the human heart's resistance until it's truly ready to receive Truth.
Transporting the reader between reality and surreality, I was never quite sure if Ridler's often dreamlike state of existence gave us fact or fiction. Inside his perspective we explored the fantastical along with the deplorable, the mundane, the inexplicable, and the everyday. Both taxing and refreshing, this novel is an experience rather than a story. Exploring and examining the flawed hearts of man and his religions, we grow impatient with the obvious obstructions to the Truth. We're grateful for the conclusion in so many ways. "Magical realism" is not my favorite genre, reminding me of a form of contemporary fantasy of which I'm no fan. However, this novel is well worth the time it takes to invest in the experience of it.
There's some terrific and imaginative writing going on this novel mixed with incredible research and authenticity. I'm sure I missed some of the clever and intricate symbolism which extends to the title, but I gathered enough of it to be impressed. For those readers who enjoy something different, something that takes not only the protagonist but the reader on a strange journey through a maze of eery experiences and almost laughable jaunts with characters, The Opposite of Art is the novel for you. For those of you who want an exercise in literary writing: The Opposite of Art is it. For those of you who want not just artsy prose but earthy language when exposing what drives a man's soul: The Opposite of Art gives you both profound and almost profane.
As a final sidenote, I'd love to see Johnny Depp play Ridler. He could give the role of Ridler the depth this character deserves.
Father, you've given multiple giftings to Athol, and he has chosen to honor you with all of them. Please help him to continue to share his discoveries in the stories he writes. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
