Download The Same Deep Water as You Chad Lutzke 9781791711511 Books

Product details Paperback 120 pages Publisher Independently published (January 6, 2019) Language English ISBN-10 1791711510

The Same Deep Water as You Chad Lutzke 9781791711511 Books Reviews

• I'll start simple I love me some Chad Lutzke!
  
  THE SAME DEEP WATER AS YOU is yet another tale from the author I view as the one most able to make me cry. If there was a ribbon for that, he would take blue for first place.
  
  As always, Chad put together an intimate story where his writing is top notch. The language is plain but the words are put together in such a way that they make you feel. They're like tiny little word arrows shot into your heart.
  
  " You can put life on hold for a whole year dating someone, getting to know them, and then it all falls apart. Your heart is broken and you can’t do s*** for another half a year without thinking of them, missing them, missing all that wasted time. I suppose with each one we walk away learning something about ourselves, about life, about how to love. Maybe we’re all just stepping stones for each other. We’re all helping somebody get somewhere. From here to a better there.
  
  While I did enjoy this novella, I didn't feel the same poignancy that I normally experience when reading Chad's work. I've been thinking on it and I've come up with this for the reason why the time period in which it's set. I came of age of with ACDC, Motley, Judas and Ozzy. I'm pretty sure The Cure came after that?? That means that all references to them went right over my head, (other than those to their most popular songs.) Being more familiar with the band and their music would probably have provided that extra connection or nostalgia I felt I was missing.
  
  This is still Chad Lutzke though, so it's all good. It's still a story that grabs you and makes you think. It still has phrases put together in such a way that they touch your heart. It still builds into a satisfying tale in the end and what more could you ask for?
  
  Recommended!
  
  *I bought this book with my hard earned cash. *
• Last year at this time, I wrote a review on Chad Lutzke’s “Stirring The Sheets”. I said, jokingly, how much I hated him because his novella forced me to go beyond my standard treadmill workout (read my review for the whole story, but I loved his comment of, “Never had another man’s thighs angry at me…I’ll take it!”). Because of that, I learned my lesson – this time, I read “The Same Deep Water As You” in paperback, and not on the treadmill… and he STILL managed to cause me pain! Only this time, it wasn’t physical, it was emotional.
  
  Chad fancies himself a horror writer, and while he is good in that “box”, he excels in the “coming of age” story – by leaps and bounds! Many people who write those types of stories usually do so like they are outside looking in. Chad, on the other hand, writes them like he lived them. Whether it’s about a boy living at home with his dead mother in order to win a spelling bee, or a boy with a skull for a face, or just a bunch of friends trying to survive a summer, his writing comes across as autobiographical. Because of that, his stories have a magic that only a few writers are able to convey.
  
  “The Same Deep Water As You” was one of those stories that you can’t put your finger on. As you read it, you’re not sure what the end game is. At times it meanders, gets disconnected, takes a left when you were expecting a right, and seems completely random – but in the context of the story, it works beautifully, in a way that defies logic.
  
  In it, we follow the escapades Jax, a skateboarding, beer drinking, music listening, 19-year-old with little direction; like most of us at that age (and if you can’t relate, you are either younger than 19, or you’re full of it – you may not have been drinking, but the rest is 100% true. Don’t lie.). He has the typical friends we all did, the rich kid, the joker, the screwup, and all the other’s from “The Breakfast Club”. Only one has a horrible secret and let’s Jax in on it.
  
  You will read the last sentence with your heart torn out of your chest, and a lump in your throat – and you will be just as pissed as I am at Chad, because he follows the old adage “Leave them wanting more.”
• I've enjoyed some of Lutzke's previous work and was especially looking forward to this one knowing that the title and chapters were taken from my favorite band, The Cure. I knew going in that this wasn't going to be horror and was intrigued by a story set decades ago with punk/metalhead/goth/skater kids (my high-school scene in the 90s). Lutzke illustrates that world accurately, but the story lacks tension, a strong central conflict, and the horrific things that do happen failed to have a gut-punch impact on me. As seen through the main character Jex's point of view, the tragic events fell flat- I expected to feel a deeper connection with the other characters through Jex. Despite the fact that this story didn't do much for me, it's a faithful depiction of everyday life as a counterculture teen/early adult in the 80s/90s (yes, including all the tragedy) and would certainly be worth a read for those interested in exploring or revisiting that life.
• Chad Lutzke is a great writer, and I adored OF FOSTER HOME AND FLIES.
  
  THE SAME DEEP WATER AS YOU is a different kind of book. It's almost like someone sitting next to you and telling you one crazy year in their life. It's not a horror story and may have more in common with the movie KIDS (which I am not a fan of).
  That said, Lutzke sprinkles enough of his writer magic throughout to make it worth reading.
  
  Definitely a different gear, but that's not a bad thing.
  
  I recommend it if you're looking for an interesting break between horror stories.