Field of Vision (Jarvis)

Field of Vision 
Michael Jarivs, 2012
Field of Vision Books
373 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780988538924


Summary
Photographer Jake Mayfield, undertaking a personal quest for artistic integrity, finds beauty, passion, and racial discord on the lush and feral Caribbean island of Soufriere.

On his first day there he has a run-in with Rollo Joseph, a dangerous pseudo-rasta whose presence haunts him both physically and psychologically as their conflict escalates by surprising yet almost inevitable degrees. Mayfield takes refuge in the company of Sheila Faber, the German proprietor of the Red Ginger Restaurant, and in the arms of her employee Rita Blanford, a reticent native girl.

In a panorama of island life the story moves back and forth from the streets of Granville, the capital town and Rollo’s turf, to the verdant surroundings of the Red Ginger and the tropical forests of the island’s highest peak, to the ramshackle seaside village of Pagan Bay, as Mayfield’s journey spirals downward into paranoia and criminal tourism.

Part existential adventure, part love story, this earthy and idiosyncratic novel is a descriptive and sometimes humorous account of man’s essential dilemmas, a microcosm of sex, war and survival.

Author Bio
• Birth—N/A
• Where—Montgomery, Alabama, USA
• Raised—Alabama, Texas, Ohio, Guam, Georgia, England
• Education—B.F.A., B.A., Florida International University
• Currently—lives in Miami, Florida


Michael Jarvis was born on a U.S. air force base and traveled regularly, living as a child in Guam, Georgia, and England. He graduated from Florida International Univesity and lives in Miami, scouting locations for various film projects and writing fiction.

His short story "American Kestrel" was published in The Secret of Salt: An Indigenous Journal (Key West) in 2008. (From the author.)

Visit the author's website.
Follow Michael on Facebook.

Book Reviews
   This gritty novel is both an adventure and a love story, but ultimately it’s a tale of survival in a paradise-like setting turned dark and threatening.... This is a skillfully written tale, with fully rendered characters, a keen ear for dialogue and dialect, and an eye for description. There is a fine balance between the beauty of an island escape and the threat that seems always to linger just beyond.The author is adept at continually raising the stakes, and fulfills the reader’s expectation that he will see the story line through to a realistic end.
BlueInk Review

 
Field of Vision is the lyrical, simmering story of a jaded photographer occasionally named Jake who, at age 27, is unafraid to take pictures of a man who threatens to kill him....
   As he slowly surveys the physical and human landscape of tropical Soufriere....[he] is as absorbed in the chaotic beauty of his surroundings as much as in the gradual awakening of his own soul....
   Author Michael Jarvis writes masterfully. There are very few wasted sentences here; even casual descriptions, such as that of a meal in a restaurant, are seeded with life... Each character comes fully formed, and with an engrossing story of their own.... Much like a diamond cutter paring away at a gem, Field of Vision is excellence in its rawest form, awaiting the seasoned eye of a talented editor. Readers of literary fiction will rejoice in the majestic sweep of the text, and the sultry atmosphere that pours out of every page. 
Julia Lai - IndieReader

Discussion Questions
1. Does the book grab your attention at the outset and hold it throughout? Why? Do you feel the story is plot-driven, like a thriller, or are there other elements that keep you reading? Does the story seem slow, or is the pace to your liking? Is anything in the story predictable?

2. How do you feel about the main character? Are you sympathetic to his situation? Do his actions disturb you in any way? Are his actions justified? Does he surprise you?

3. How do the book’s descriptive passages affect your reading experience? Do you get involved in detailed renderings of nature and island life? How does the present tense contribute to your reading experience?

4. The main character is a photographer and the story is told through his eyes. Does this make the story feel cinematic in its unfolding? Does it seem like you’re there?

5. The narrative point of view shifts from first-person to second-person in the fourth part, then back to first-person for the final section. How does this shift affect your involvement with the story? What was the author’s purpose in making this change?

6. Did the various characters engage you? What about the animals? Who was your favorite character? Why?

7. Is the ending satisfying? Did you wish something else had happened? Were you shocked by anything?

8. What themes does the author explore? How do the title and the epigraphs affect your understanding of the novel? What did you learn by reading this book? Would you read more fiction by this author?
(Questions courtesy of the author.)

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