How Long to Read Monoville

How Long Does it Take to Read Monoville?

It takes the average reader 10 hours to read Monoville by Kenneth B. Lifshitz

Assuming a reading speed of 250 words per minute. Learn more

Description

Those who seek a rational existence at the peripheries of society while evading its aims and standards often find themselves trapped in a process of marginalization until their actions become the equivalent of and even indistinguishable from criminality. Their only true rationale then may be found in the commission of actual (or further) crime(s). This is the position in which Mandelbrot Feuerstool finds himself at the beginning of this novel. The American West was transformed not just with the Colt 45 but also the moral imagination. When that becomes atrophied and incapable of fully defining the new physical spaces we seek to inhabit, it expands those boundaries by inflating itself with darker and more mercenary forces. That is when the gun comes in to play as a moral arbiter of those boundaries and then and only then do we learn what physical or emotional line we are willing or not to cross. So Feuerstool must learn to navigate not only the uncharted, sometimes brutal waters of the Pacific but the shifting boundaries of his own twisted physical and moral imagination. This complex, compellingly written novel set in post-gold-rush California and Washington State revolves around members of the U.S. Coastal Survey. Our proto/anti-tagonist is the lowly ship's steward aboard the U.S.C.S Ewing who lurks amongst the ships scientists, artists and engineers, tracing his path of iconically creative/destruction. Feuerstool's disaffection with conventional standards and morality begins with a trivial disagreement with the Captain of the Active, John Alden, over the ship's milk ration which occurs in the context of the shipboard suicide of the Captain of the sister ship U.S.C.S. Ewing, Archibald MacRae, and it is the former not the latter that seems to preoccupy the mind of Captain, John Alden. Subject to the inevitable suspicions of his shipmates for having been the last to see Captain MacRae alive, Feuerstool jumps ship only to find he is then paradoxically even more adrift both physically and mentally; Unable to answer the questions that pursue him he will seek his answer in the commission of yet (another?) murder,-- and then another as he acquires a talent for this gruesome form of dialectic. Thus assailed by demons real and imagined, he reaches the perhaps despicable conclusion that one is always left with the option of accepting punishment and judgment while rejecting the position of that judgment as being central to his existence. We are spectators to the transformation that results in the creation of a sometimes totally amoral society (of the West) but there is also a corresponding unwilled but also inevitably amoral reinvention of Feuerstool himself,--into what and thru whom? We find he is also pursued by the newly elected legistlator T.N. Machin for the alleged murder of his prospecting partner Kirlew Hume committed on an Indian sacred site. Machin's choice comes down to whether to continue this pursuit of Feuerstool or abandon it and take up his elected position in the legislature. Increasingly their choices hinge on both their ability to make sense of the crime or crimes, (realizing there are consequences also for those who either abandon or defer the pursuit of justice). Machin acquires a more powerful position in society through forfeiting the moral high ground. Feuerstool will do the same (but without seemingly forfeiting anything). Like the west itself, the characters do not reach out and welcome the readers judgment but seek to evade it. Like T.N. Machin, the reader must determine for themselves why and if the search for meaning and justice should be abandoned and when continued. Feuerstool in the end is forced to create for himself the form of his own retribution and it is the utterly convincing rationality of his irrationality that makes the punishement so bizarre and him such an intriguing character.

How long is Monoville?

Monoville by Kenneth B. Lifshitz is 600 pages long, and a total of 150,000 words.

This makes it 202% the length of the average book. It also has 183% more words than the average book.

How Long Does it Take to Read Monoville Aloud?

The average oral reading speed is 183 words per minute. This means it takes 13 hours and 39 minutes to read Monoville aloud.

What Reading Level is Monoville?

Monoville is suitable for students ages 12 and up.

Note that there may be other factors that effect this rating besides length that are not factored in on this page. This may include things like complex language or sensitive topics not suitable for students of certain ages.

When deciding what to show young students always use your best judgement and consult a professional.

Where Can I Buy Monoville?

Monoville by Kenneth B. Lifshitz is sold by several retailers and bookshops. However, Read Time works with Amazon to provide an easier way to purchase books.

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