Reviewed:
Nicholas is an outsider: orphaned as a teen and failed by the system, he spends three years in juvenile detention, half of it in solitary confinement. He survives this torture (and make no mistake, solitary is torture) through the chance discovery of ancient stoic philosophy. Once he gets out, he soon realizes that what got him through is not enough to make him a whole, healthy adult. The bridge that gets him there is the art of writing and the craft of carpentry.
The author has, as of this review, posted three stories with very consistent structures and themes. Based on the internal evidence, I believe he wrote Nicholas’s Story third. I could be wrong, but I’m reviewing his stories in this presumed order.
For one thing, everything that wasn’t quite right about the first two stories, here the author has applied the lessons learned. The prose is just as excellent, the overall arc of this character study is as well, and more to the point, the transitions between stops along the way are handled very well indeed. There is a touch too much explanation about the limitations of stoicism, but otherwise the balance between showing and telling is just about perfect.
If you only read one of these three stories, make it this one. But I’m betting that you’ll want more, afterwards. Recommended. (Please, though, ignore the story non-description and jump right in.)
Reviewed:
This story has not reached its end at the time of this review, but it follows its other brethren in terms of quality and appeal.
Writer 406 has written three great stories so far - 'Jacob's Story', 'Matthew's Story', and now 'Nicholas's Story'. All are different from each other in content, but have some similarities in style.
'Nicholas's Story' relates the life of a young man who as a teenager spent time in an adolescent reform prison, with 18 months in solitary confinement because of his insolence. During that 18 months, his only friends were cockroaches.
With much time on his hands, he started keeping notebooks of his thoughts about the meaning of life, and finally gained access to philosophy and psychology books, where he learned how to read better and, over time, assimilate knowledge at much higher and more sophisticated levels. In the end, you could say that he developed both maturity and wisdom.
That led to his realizing that life can have meaning if one does their best to achieve perfection, even as "just a handyman". His new behavior brings him into meaningful interactions and relationships with others, and some of these interactions will touch your heart.
I don't wish to expose more details of the story, but I highly recommend you give it a read. Same with his earlier stories. You'll be happy you did. They are very worth your time.