THE MONDAY VOICES

by Joanne Greenberg ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 24, 1965

Although the earnest editorializing and an idealized protagonist preclude depth of character, this involvement with an embattled Rehabilitation Department worker and his demanding case load nonetheless caters to the public fascination with institutional case histories. Ralph Oakland, like most of his co-workers, smoked too much and was probably ulcer-bound, as he attempted somehow to direct back into useful and more hopeful existence the handicapped, retarded, paroled, delinquent and lost, through training and job placement. There was, for example, the boy Ethwald, a terrified cripple, whose malady was self-induced; Alan Devereaux, trained as a barber in prison, but still a Jobless outcast; Ramirez, a passive misfit from a feudal society; lovely, retarded Andrea and her distraught parents; a Cuban refugee, reliving horror with dignity; Hans Marshak, an amputee who conquered pain but not isolation; and young John Kroll, hiding his intelligence in a pose of sullen anger. In spite of successes, the suicide of Marshak and plainly spotty future of John plunges Ralph into a melancholy despair until, through introspection and a colleague's help, he understands something new about the nature of heroes and cowards. Sociologically sound, conceptually and stylistically wobbly.

Pub Date: June 24, 1965

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Holt, Rinehart & Winston

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1965

Categories: FICTION