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4.13 AVERAGE
4.13 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
William Gay writes things that make my heart ache in their simple beauty. Every page holds words strung together in shapes and forms that lie deep in my subconscious. In the words of ani difranco, he writes the way my heart would sing if it finally knew just what to say.
So it's strange to say that about this southern gothic tale that ia essentially about nothing, on its end a tale of generations and the dark minds of men. It is loneliness. It is what loneliness does to your head. It is real, there are characters with no evil haunting them but they're shitty, just normal shitty people. Sly and everyday. It is people who lack book smarts but just know things all the same. It is whiskey and lemonade and the prettiest girl in the tri-county area.
Look, there's no way to explain this book. It would bore many people to tears (see the one star ratings) but it speaks to me as william gay's writing clearly does (this is my second). My copy is dogeared with moments, but when i look to quote them they lose form outside the whole, as is often the case with the writing i love the most. It is about atmosphere stretching across the pages and the subtleties of character that surprise you upon remembrance.
So it's strange to say that about this southern gothic tale that ia essentially about nothing, on its end a tale of generations and the dark minds of men. It is loneliness. It is what loneliness does to your head. It is real, there are characters with no evil haunting them but they're shitty, just normal shitty people. Sly and everyday. It is people who lack book smarts but just know things all the same. It is whiskey and lemonade and the prettiest girl in the tri-county area.
Look, there's no way to explain this book. It would bore many people to tears (see the one star ratings) but it speaks to me as william gay's writing clearly does (this is my second). My copy is dogeared with moments, but when i look to quote them they lose form outside the whole, as is often the case with the writing i love the most. It is about atmosphere stretching across the pages and the subtleties of character that surprise you upon remembrance.
More brilliance by William Gay in this novel of multiple generations of a family cursed by drinking and violence and hexes and abandonment, with perhaps one last chance at redemption through its youngest member. This book took me a long time to read, being almost entirely descriptive and simile-laden, each sentence requiring time to fully savor in its glory. That said, some similes fail and Gay did get overly attached to “yellowlit” and “revenant” and “leaf”, though the last two ring perhaps more as intentional. Sometimes the rhythm was very T.R. Pearson (another of my favorites), but I’ve never seen him listed as an influence. There was also quite a lot of humor in this book with some good belly laughs to bust up the tragedies. Thanks for that, Mr. Gay. Wish you were alive to hear it.
challenging
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Poetic. A previously unknown Southern author we all should know. Well worth reading.
What a great book. Easily one of the best books I've read this year. Like others have mentioned, the writing style of William Gay is very reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy, taking what at first glance is ugly or mundane and like a master craftsman, shaping and sculpting and molding until something beautiful and profound remains. But unlike McCarthy, Gay adds sprinklings of dark humor to make the story feel more immediate and human. Maybe more like a mashup of McCarthy and Larry McMurtry. This is a story filled with unforgettable and flawed characters, some oblivious and selfish, others striving for meaning and redemption. The whole time you are reading you're telling yourself to slow down, to let the writing wash over you, to revel in some of the most imaginative, immediate and precise mental images Gay's use of simile and metaphors calls forth, undeniably specific and wholly original, but you can't because you have to find out where all this is leading. Superb writing and a moving story, equal parts vengeance and redemption. One hundred percent American.
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was my introduction to William Gay & I'm impressed. This is a phenomenal story...easily my favorite book I've read this year!
This book was just not my thing. Normally I like Southern gothic, but this was too wordy, too descriptive, and none of the characters kept my interest.
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes