The Little Voice: A rebellious novel

This was a great great book to read. I remember reading another book by Joss and that completely tore away my thinking about how the world is evolving and how close minded we are getting.

And this book was like that too. It tore my thinking down. And that's the best part about his books. The fact that it is written so simply, you think that the book is nothing much to write home about and that it will be light and meaningless, but it has such deep nuggets of wisdom inside.

Yew written backwards is WEY, and as I write the review, I think that Joss means Yew to be us. About how our educational institutions and the whole basis of society is to get people to conform and do what they think is right. And how to crush rebels.

I've felt this in my life too. I've always wondered what stopped people from questioning the order of society. Who was it that said that you would be successful or good in the society by following what other people did and by acting like a part of the crowd? That sort of thinking got nobody nowhere. And that's what hit me about the book. The fact that somehow, in our life, in our quest for greater recognition, for greater wealth and even greater displays of wealth, we've simply forgotten what our desires are, what our dreams are.

And that egot, somehow signified that for me. Our hidden desires which somehow inspired us to do something different than what was laid down in front of us. I especially liked the use of the psychological examples. And the fact that we were taught a lot of things but nothing that would bring us closer to nature.

I really appreciate this book. Once again, this was a cracker of a read and one that gave me a lot of mind chow.

Short and easy to read. I enjoyed reading it but the character, Yew, and his melancholy story made me feel uneasy. "The voice" takes the reader on a journey through Yew's life from childhood to adulthood. Along that journey Yew self identity is crushed as he conforms to society. No matter how hard he works or how hard he tries to fit in he's never happy and success never comes to him. In the end he finds a kind of solace. The message is clear be yourself.

It grabbed me from the first page. A fascinating story of rambunctious rebellion, attempts to control and conform, and ultimate self-realization and peace. My only frustration was with the multiple variations of his Teachers name - O'Donnel, or McDonnel, and the occasional misspelled word.

Joss Sheldon’s novel, “The Little Voice,” is an odd sort of book. I don’t know what to make of it, perhaps that is the author’s intention. It’s been described as radical, a “Crime and Punishment” for the twenty-first century (certainly not as lengthy), whimsical, and other glowing testimonials, but I need to see more of what the author says before I join the admiration parade. Unfortunately, I don’t see many Joss Sheldon quotes.

The protagonist is a wildly conflicted free spirit named Yew Shodkin. He spends most of his time discussing psychological studies and quoting the founder of Taoism, Lao Tzu, as he struggles with defining his character. In a letter to the readers, from the back cover, Shodkin talks about the two opposing forces; the pressure to be true to oneself and the pressure to conform to social norms.

The book follows Shodkin on his journey from childhood to becoming an adult, all the while struggling under mixed signals. As a schoolboy he is guided along the path of transgression by an inner creature he calls egot. But he is converted by punishment into a reluctant sycophant, a transformation that kills off the inner voice. As a toady, he goes to college, takes mundane employment, falls into boring relationships, becomes a social activist, goes astray with booze and drugs, and eventually tries to end his life, only to be resurrected by a kindly black nurse. Eventually he settles into the life of a blissful hermit.

That’s about it. About all I took from the book is the thought process that drives the homeless under leaky tarps and onto street corners trying to beg a few bucks. It was not inspiring for me, although it might have something to do with the author being described as a “scruffy nomad, an unshaven layabout, and a good for nothing hobo.”

Schuyler T Wallace
Author of TIN LIZARD TALES

This little story holds many bigger truths. He incorporates bits of psychological research and philosophy than may interest many ,especially those who are not familiar with them.
The lesson to me is floating along with his process, one we all share of moving through life, sorting ourselves out, finding our real-self and meaning in a very confusing overstimulating world.

The Little Voice is the story of Yew Shodkin, told in his own words, from his early years as a rebellious child to his current days. Rather than a prosaic retelling of events, it's an exploration of the psyche. Sheldon takes you on a journey through the mind of his character, his desires, his hopes and his dreams.

It's a story of self-discovery and self-reflection, wherein Yew first fights against his true nature before attempting to embrace it.

Sheldon's writing talent is unquestionable and his style distinctive. The narrative is addressed directly to the reader and this gives a personal note to the revelations within. It feels like Yew is confessing directly to you and this invokes a more direct empathy with the character.

He also uses an interesting mechanism of repeatedly quoting earlier segments of the book. Sometimes the narrator informs you of this, drawing your attention to something he wrote earlier, sometimes it is constructed more subtly with the reuse of phrases and descriptions taken word-for-word from earlier sections. The author uses this to draw parallels and contrasts between the narrators state at different points. This was a brave decision, with a lot of room to become cliche or even worse lazy. But the device is used with precision and really adds to the emotional effect of the novel.

The politics, or perhaps philosophies more be a more accurate description, within the book are very clearly influenced by Sheldon's own views and experiences. The journey of discovery that he takes us on seems analogous to his own, more literal, journey around the world, to the point where I'm led to wonder if this novel isn't, at least to some extent, autobiographical.

Sheldon rages against the structures of modern western society, taking swipes at the stifling nature of the education system, the monotony of trudging to an uninspiring nine-to-five and the crushing qualities of societies expectations of normality. His words are, however, not just angry ramblings but rather a series of pointed questions that will lead you to question your own beliefs and influences.

The author refers to a number of psychological studies, often in detail, to support the points that he, or the narrator, is making. Constantly questioning the accepted constructs of the world that we have created around ourselves. He is heavily, and blatantly, tied to the philosophical teachings of the ancient Chinese philosopher and "Father of Taoism" Lao Tzu and the text is peppered with quotations. At no point does the book descend into a lecture, quite the contrary as I was gripped from start to finish.

Sheldon treads a fine line with this work. It's difficult to maintain that balance between being overbearingly preachy and hammering home his points with the passion that he clearly holds for his subject matter. In my assessment he pulls it off with ease, but I can see it grating on some.

It really is a marvelous work and while none of the conclusions are earth-shatteringly new ideas, it will make you question some of your own preconceptions. What more can you ask for from a book?

I've found myself a new author to count among my favourites, I urge you to do the same.

This book was well written and quite quirky. It is great for someone who has an open mind and wants to open it further. The character in this book writes about his life and of the things that inspire him and his journey to reach those aspirations.

I quit after the first couple of chapters, having already highlighted several phrases that irritated me. One of my peeves is for a writer to put adult thoughts, vocabulary and motivation in the mind or mouth of a young child. It makes the child seem more astute, cunning and clever. It strips away their innocence and wonder.

The little voice in my head is much more interesting than this book. Takes a bunch of quotations and psychological trials and attempts to weave them into the story about a man looking for meaning. Suggest you look else where.

This is a story that will keep you on the edge of your seat. It has a uniqueness that keeps the audience guessing, and wondering what The Egot will do. I like that it's written in first person, and I think that is why the story works and flows so well. POV is always important to how the story is told, and what the reader sees and knows, or thinks they know. This book keeps the reader both wondering and satisfied. "To me, the egot wasn’t a ‘demon’. It was a friend." I also find it interesting that that main character "talks" to the reader. Well written and amazing story.

I received this book free in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. ~Amy's Bookshelf Reviews

The author explicates certain times of the life of a boy, particularly his youngness, when he had a strong trust in him-self. But early his nature, which was in same time happy and quietly, changes following the evolution of its growth. The difficulties look like so that he could superate them, but they are too big for his weak character. The love for a woman doesn't be so strong as he can return to the happiness which he had as young. In this way his life will have more illusions than successes, and he will live into the limits of his fantasy.