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clfirlik's review
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Stalking
Moderate: Sexual assault
whipsmile's review against another edition
3.0
It's a very simple story with lots of dialog. I can understand how others might compare to Cormac McCarthy Lite, but it's not quite as heavy as Cormac's books. But I understand the feeling it gives off.
sarahpottenger's review against another edition
3.0
One of those small stories where not much happens. What's interesting is the group of men who periodically comment on the action like a Greek chorus. Interesting narrative device.
Great dialogue. Reading this was like attending a workshop on how to write good, realistic dialogue.
Great dialogue. Reading this was like attending a workshop on how to write good, realistic dialogue.
djrmelvin's review
4.0
I've seen reviews that compare the writing of this novella to the style of Cormac McCarthy, and I'd say that reviews are correct, especially in how the setting of the story defines the feeling. The deep woods of New England have more shadows and dark spaces than the open plains of McCarthy's best works, and those dark spaces make this story quite creepy, despite all the very talkative characters. Like McCarthy, Freeman has a great economy of words, letting his characters say and see only what is needed, with no wasted action.
aceofknaves88's review
3.0
Very put-downable. Took me much longer to read than it should have given its very short length.
Still, the story wasn't awful even though it wasn't the most engaging and the author does write the best Vermonters I have ever read, which is a pretty amusing to me since he's a flatlander. But he's got woodchuck speak down pat and that's a win in my book.
Still, the story wasn't awful even though it wasn't the most engaging and the author does write the best Vermonters I have ever read, which is a pretty amusing to me since he's a flatlander. But he's got woodchuck speak down pat and that's a win in my book.
amandamagdic's review
1.0
I found this book very painful to get through. Between the style of writing which seems to be stuck in the 70's, to the horrible spacing ( spaces in the middle of words etc) that seems to be very frequent across all pages it was difficult to read. Also the basically pointless conversation between the men at the mill that did nothing for the plot line seemed quite repetitive. Not a book I would recommend to anyone.
canadianbookworm's review
4.0
This is a very odd, but engaging book. It is short, only 160 pages, filled with dark humour, and gave me a sense of the existential. Set in the New England backwoods, it begins with a young woman asleep in her car, armed with a paring knife, waiting for the sheriff to arrive at work.
She is being stalked by a local man, and is afraid for her life. The sheriff tells her that he can't help her, but directs her to a group of men who congregate at a nearby factory. There, she is joined by two men, one young and one old in her uncertain cause. As the three roam the area searching for her victimizer, we move back and forth between the three searchers and the men at the factory. The odd, disjointed conversations and reminiscences of the men add to the strange atmosphere present throughout the tale. The actions and attitudes of Lester and Nate, the two men who are searching for Blackway are both offhand and deliberate. This book is different from any other book I can think of, but I couldn't put it down!
She is being stalked by a local man, and is afraid for her life. The sheriff tells her that he can't help her, but directs her to a group of men who congregate at a nearby factory. There, she is joined by two men, one young and one old in her uncertain cause. As the three roam the area searching for her victimizer, we move back and forth between the three searchers and the men at the factory. The odd, disjointed conversations and reminiscences of the men add to the strange atmosphere present throughout the tale. The actions and attitudes of Lester and Nate, the two men who are searching for Blackway are both offhand and deliberate. This book is different from any other book I can think of, but I couldn't put it down!
rosseroo's review
5.0
This outstanding novella is a master class in fiction writing -- perfectly paced, perfectly plotted, filled with dark, sardonic humor, age-old themes, and unlikely heroes. Or to put it another way, it's a Coen Brothers movie turned into prose: combining the questing gumption of O Brother Where Art Thou with the dark modernization themes of No Country For Old Men, populated with the small-town heroes and thugs of Fargo. It's elegantly simple, the outcome is rather predictable, and yet it's impossible to stop turning the pages.
Set in the depressed backwoods of Vermont logging country over the course of a summer day, the story kicks off when the town sheriff discovers a haggard young woman asleep in her car outside his office. It seems a local thug named Blackway scared off her boyfriend, killed her cat, and is stalking her. Unfortunately, as the sheriff points out, there's not a whole lot he can do unless she has a witness to any of this -- which she doesn't. Unwilling to send her away emptyhanded, he suggests she go to the old sawmill, where a crippled old-timer sits court amidst a revolving cast of local men, playing cards, drinking beer, and generally passing the time. There, he suggests, she will find someone to go with her and talk to Blackway.
She does indeed find someone to go with her, but not the person the sheriff thinks. Instead, two locals -- a crafty old-timer and a dour young colossus -- agree to help her. The odd couple are entirely unlikely heroes, and as she travels with them to various motels and bars to track down Blackway, she grows increasingly uneasy about what she's gotten them into and their ability to emerge unscathed. Meanwhile, the story continually returns the reader to the sawmill, where the Greek chorus of local men discuss this and that, gradually filling in a newcomer on the lay of the land, and just what a sticky situation the young woman is in. The overall effect is of a slightly surreal, somewhat mythic confrontation, all deeply tinged in black humor and a rural noir sensibility reminiscent of Scott Wolvern's excellent short stories in Controlled Burn. Brilliant stuff worthy of multiple readings.
Set in the depressed backwoods of Vermont logging country over the course of a summer day, the story kicks off when the town sheriff discovers a haggard young woman asleep in her car outside his office. It seems a local thug named Blackway scared off her boyfriend, killed her cat, and is stalking her. Unfortunately, as the sheriff points out, there's not a whole lot he can do unless she has a witness to any of this -- which she doesn't. Unwilling to send her away emptyhanded, he suggests she go to the old sawmill, where a crippled old-timer sits court amidst a revolving cast of local men, playing cards, drinking beer, and generally passing the time. There, he suggests, she will find someone to go with her and talk to Blackway.
She does indeed find someone to go with her, but not the person the sheriff thinks. Instead, two locals -- a crafty old-timer and a dour young colossus -- agree to help her. The odd couple are entirely unlikely heroes, and as she travels with them to various motels and bars to track down Blackway, she grows increasingly uneasy about what she's gotten them into and their ability to emerge unscathed. Meanwhile, the story continually returns the reader to the sawmill, where the Greek chorus of local men discuss this and that, gradually filling in a newcomer on the lay of the land, and just what a sticky situation the young woman is in. The overall effect is of a slightly surreal, somewhat mythic confrontation, all deeply tinged in black humor and a rural noir sensibility reminiscent of Scott Wolvern's excellent short stories in Controlled Burn. Brilliant stuff worthy of multiple readings.
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