Love Letters to the Virgin Mary, David Richards

Love Letters to the Virgin Mary

David Richards

Storyline

David is a man who has spent his entire mortal life searching for a single woman on a planet with billions of people. At the start of the pandemic, he sees a post on Instagram of a woman; he knows he has seen the picture before. As the pandemic spreads, he wrestles with the dark night of his soul, only to begin to awaken to his identity. Then, with the fog of mortality lifting from his mind, David realizes his mission: unite the nations of Abraham and bring about heaven on earth. The time has come to awaken the gods. His greatest quest will be finding the strength to lift a certain hammer. His greatest challenge will be coming to terms with who he is.

Review

I had the opportunity to read and review this book through the platform onlinebookclub.com. Therefore, the full version of the review can be found on their website.

The narrative presents a distinctive first-person account by the author, accompanied by an engaging preface that piques the reader's interest in the text. The integration of references to films, contemporary scenarios, and the application of physics concepts within the narrative context is commendable. The interplay of grammatical and lexical structures with first-person narration cultivates an immediate sense of empathy from the reader towards the protagonist's experiences. The linguistic choices employed impart a philosophical dimension to the analysis, sustaining an almost-high level of engagement at the outset, although this intensity diminishes as the narrative progresses from the first chapters. Themes of love, devotion, and emotion are portrayed in a romantic and almost poetic manner, with frequent allusions to contemporary culture, encompassing not only temporal markers and social phenomena such as the pandemic but also citations from modern literary works, including those from the Marvel franchise and The Lord of the Rings.

Throughout the text, readers are encouraged to rediscover the inherent beauty of the human experience and are inspired to embark on their own transformative journeys of self-discovery. However, the brevity of sentences and paragraphs, characterized by statements that are subsequently elaborated upon in a somewhat convoluted manner, detracts from the overall coherence. While this stylistic choice may serve to underscore certain concepts, a preference for a more fluid narrative and less abrupt sentence structures would enhance the reading experience. Additionally, a reevaluation of paragraph organization is warranted, as the current structure conveys a sense of discomfort for the protagonist, exacerbated by the multitude of existential inquiries and the fragmented nature of the sentences. The author rapidly traverses a range of topics, alternating first-person narration between disparate subjects and situations, which engenders a degree of confusion that necessitates brief pauses for the reader to realign their thoughts with the narrative.

As previously noted, the narration lacks fluidity, and the overall style appears disorganized, marked by abrupt transitions between characters and time periods without sufficient connective tissue. While these elements may foster empathy with the author's thoughts and emotions, they simultaneously impart a sense of urgency that detracts from the reading experience. 

In conclusion, the initial engagement with the text is marked by a pleasant and thought-provoking exploration of profound questions regarding the purpose of life, the nature of time, and the pursuit of one's dreams, prompting the reader to reflect deeply. However, the overall experience is compromised by the chosen syntax and structural decisions, resulting in a disjointed narrative that lacks cohesion.