A Perfect Night To Go To China

[Paula]

Hello:

Has anyone read David Gilmore’s book entitled A Perfect Night To Go To China. It begins with a parent’s worst nightmare, the disappearance of his/her child. It is a very fast read, engaging – actually I could not put it down, but its the ending. It is so open to interpretation, that having other reader’s comments would be so interesting.

Hopefully I will hear back from some of our readers,

Thanks, Paula

[Publisher]

Hello Paula

Your question intrigued me enough to pick up this book!

If this main character portrays a real man in a modern world, I sure haven’t met him yet. And that I am thankful for.

I wondered whether Roman is believable. I was surprised Roman felt that his boy Simon was calling him. There’s no indication that he has felt psychic pulls before. In his diary, he writes about women, not about their souls, but of their bodies, tasting them. Then when his boy disappears, he enters an inner world that comprises of following his Simon’s image and voice, and talking to his dead mother in the underworld. He asks his mother whether she has seen Simon. Her affirmation is his evidence that Simon still lives.

Roman’s world is all about him, confirmed by his career as a television host. Superficiality pervades his encounters with people. At a funeral for a previous university girlfriend who died of cancer, he finds it very odd that the woman’s daughter wants to remember her mother when she was beautiful, not how she looked when she died. He worries about people liking him and making a good impression.

I loved the scene when Roman dines with his makeup woman’s family at a restaurant. A little bit of alcohol and after-effects of morphine created a fiery scene between two generations of like-minded men. Roman’s efforts with women including his ex-wife, Simon’s mom shows his unawareness of soulful perceptions. But this shallowness is not just with women. He does not understand that police suspect he took Simon himself and has hidden him somewhere. Behind that suspicion is no question on motivation for such an act comprises a characteristic intention Roman does not possess.

He does have spunk, though. Roman understands something is wrong with life as he battles his grief. At the end, does he find Simon? I don’t think so. Nothing every works for Roman when he plans it. He just falls into situations.

[Author]

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