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Ghoti: Gulliver Road
By John Cotter

Ghoti: Issue No. 13

John Cotter’s Gulliver Road is a clear, concise little tale of youthful hijinks gone horribly wrong. It’s an expertly crafted work which explores with the everyday troubles of two young boys, Paul and Taylor, in a frank, genuine manner.

The plot is refreshingly simple: it begins as best friends Paul and Taylor find a rifle in a parent’s room, and culminates in a nasty incident where Taylor breaks multiple bones and a concussion after jumping from his home’s roof into a nearby tree.

The story is expertly crafted, divided between half a dozen separate scenes. Cotter slices his story between sentimentality and tragedy, cinematically shifting from “‘You get your work done alright?’ Paul’s father quizzed Taylor at dinner. ‘It seems like Mrs. Greenfield ladles it out’” In one scene to “‘Don’t fuck with me,’ Taylor hollered, pointing the unloaded Colt at Paul and kneeling in the crotch of an old oak” in the scene directly following.

The character development, too, is superb. The characters come across as authentic and textured, as the story is devoid of the preteen clichés–candy, girls, and playing games–and instead digs deeper into the boys’ deepest and most pressing concerns. The two young boys, Paul and Taylor, think and speak and act as would any mixed up, uncertain preteen. They discuss their family lives, and most intimate fears: “I don’t pretend stuff, you know? I get scared of things that might actually happen. I don’t know, real stuff. That my parents might fight and break up.” They worry about their parents’ financial problems, Marijuana use, and become afraid of trivial things such as residing in a large, empty mansion.

Adequate background is provided for each of the main characters, including a particularly impressive passage where Paul’s life story is explored: “Paul’s father married his mom when they were both still in high school. As soon as they graduated, Paul was born. Then, as his father put it, ‘Things started going south. Your little brother was DOA, and the money she said her parents had…uh…”

But not all is well in Gulliver Road. Unfortunately for the reader, there’s little buildup to the tragedy that ultimately defines the piece. The scarce buildup that is present is incredibly predictable: two pre-teen boys carelessly goofing around with a parent’s rifle is a dryly obvious hint that one or more of those characters involved will get seriously injured.

And the work ends too abruptly to even make sense of the plot. What happened to Paul after his jump from the roof? What significance did that have in the lives of the two boys? The story reads like the third chapter in a twenty-chapter novel–great stuff, but incomplete. The slice of life between these two boys is an interesting read, but it needs to be grounded in something larger and more substantial.
With such crisp dialogue and skilled organization, it’s a pity that the work’s lifeless climax is a fatal defect that leaves it too easily forgotten.

As it stands now, the work runs the risk of coming across as unrewarding. Read the story for yourself and tell me if you felt disappointed.

About the Reviewer
Robert Lewis graduated from California State University - Sacramento in May 2007, where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in English Composition and composed sports features pieces for the college newspaper publication. He currently writes for Associated Content in his idle time.

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