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sandin954's review
3.0
A collection of short stories and one novella all set in the rural woodsy part of South Alabama and featuring the men who hunt, fish, and drink.
bunnieslikediamonds's review
4.0
The snake venom had bleached the boy's pupils white, and the skin around his eyesockets had required grafts. The surgeons had had to use skin from his buttocks, and because his buttocks were hairy, the skin around his eyes began to grow hair too. In the years to come, the loggers who clear-cut the land along the river would occasionally stop in the store, less from a need to buy something than from a curiosity to see the hermit with the milky, hairy eyes.
That's Tom Franklin's idea of a happy ending.
The testosterone practically spurts off the pages in this country noir short story collection. I'm sure I could go on about it being a fascinating study of masculinity and all that, but all you need to know is there's lots of violence, hatred and general backwoodsy wickedness. The only thing missing was Burt Reynolds in a wetsuit, with a crossbow. I for one certainly don't feel like going poaching any time soon.
That's Tom Franklin's idea of a happy ending.
The testosterone practically spurts off the pages in this country noir short story collection. I'm sure I could go on about it being a fascinating study of masculinity and all that, but all you need to know is there's lots of violence, hatred and general backwoodsy wickedness. The only thing missing was Burt Reynolds in a wetsuit, with a crossbow. I for one certainly don't feel like going poaching any time soon.
cashleigh98's review
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
Normally, I’m all for supporting Alabaman stories, but this had some problems.
1. This did not add anything new to literature. Everyone has seen or heard the depictions of evil swamp children or alcoholic men working blue-collar jobs who hate their wives. Not original, no fresh perspective, it’s all reiteration of previous stereotypes.
2. The characters were neither likable nor redeemable. Even characters that had been through hell and back (Swamp Children, the sex worker from Instinct) were not given an ounce of compassion. Every character was flattened to their basest self, which is interesting if that was the intention, but I’m not convinced it was purposeful. It’s easier to feed into pre-conceived notions than to break the mold. Tom, if you know these people in real life, please go to therapy and get new friends.
3. Racism and misogyny galore. I read some of the most uncomfortable conversations between men about women with nary an introspection from the author about the meaning or implications of those conversations. Same goes for racial tensions. Slurs were used, Blaccent was abundant, and overall, every depiction was unflattering or fucking disrespectful. This had ‘my bitch wife’ energy throughout, so I don’t think anyone who actually likes women or Black people would enjoy reading this.
4. The stories get 1/2 point for some cool imagery and 1/2 point for being short stories. Fast read but interminable in the way that church is. Surprisingly caustic towards south Alabama from someone who is purportedly from the area.
1. This did not add anything new to literature. Everyone has seen or heard the depictions of evil swamp children or alcoholic men working blue-collar jobs who hate their wives. Not original, no fresh perspective, it’s all reiteration of previous stereotypes.
2. The characters were neither likable nor redeemable. Even characters that had been through hell and back (Swamp Children, the sex worker from Instinct) were not given an ounce of compassion. Every character was flattened to their basest self, which is interesting if that was the intention, but I’m not convinced it was purposeful. It’s easier to feed into pre-conceived notions than to break the mold. Tom, if you know these people in real life, please go to therapy and get new friends.
3. Racism and misogyny galore. I read some of the most uncomfortable conversations between men about women with nary an introspection from the author about the meaning or implications of those conversations. Same goes for racial tensions. Slurs were used, Blaccent was abundant, and overall, every depiction was unflattering or fucking disrespectful. This had ‘my bitch wife’ energy throughout, so I don’t think anyone who actually likes women or Black people would enjoy reading this.
4. The stories get 1/2 point for some cool imagery and 1/2 point for being short stories. Fast read but interminable in the way that church is. Surprisingly caustic towards south Alabama from someone who is purportedly from the area.
limdz's review
5.0
Great book, full of wonderful, solid details that speak as loudly as the characters' interiority. Progression of stories also enhanced the collection as a whole...the novella is wonderful.
cathiestrover's review
3.0
Dark and brooding stories from the american south.Invaded by a strong air of violence throughout, but I like the writing
tasmanian_bibliophile's review
4.0
‘I come back, where life is slowly dying, and I poach for stories.’
This is a collection of ten short stories following an introductory tale of the author’s childhood hunting days. This was Tom Franklin’s debut short story collection, which was first published in 1999.
These are bleak stories, in various settings along the Alabama River. The title story is a novella, and gives a more completely realised dark world which most of the other stories provide aspects of. For me, the memorable stories are ‘Grit, ‘Dinosaurs’, and ‘Poachers’.
In ‘Grit’, Glen, the plant manager of a factory owned by absentees is in debt to one of his employees who happens to be a bookie. Glen is blackmailed and becomes involved in an extortion racket. The arrangement works for a time, but then backfires - badly.
In ‘Dinosaurs’, a hazardous waste inspector takes a huge stuffed rhinoceros in exchange for not closing a gas station with leaking fuel pumps.
In ‘Poachers’, a legendary game warden who is avenging the murder of his predecessor, slowly and separately deals with three orphaned brothers - who have been a law unto themselves.
In all cases, the choices people make have consequences. In some cases, the choices have their own form of twisted logic. As the sign says, in the title story ‘Jesus is not coming’. These are flawed, very human people dealing with a world that is passing them by.
‘I poach because I want to recover the paths while there’s still time, before the last logging truck rumble through and the old dark ways are lost forever.’
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
This is a collection of ten short stories following an introductory tale of the author’s childhood hunting days. This was Tom Franklin’s debut short story collection, which was first published in 1999.
These are bleak stories, in various settings along the Alabama River. The title story is a novella, and gives a more completely realised dark world which most of the other stories provide aspects of. For me, the memorable stories are ‘Grit, ‘Dinosaurs’, and ‘Poachers’.
In ‘Grit’, Glen, the plant manager of a factory owned by absentees is in debt to one of his employees who happens to be a bookie. Glen is blackmailed and becomes involved in an extortion racket. The arrangement works for a time, but then backfires - badly.
In ‘Dinosaurs’, a hazardous waste inspector takes a huge stuffed rhinoceros in exchange for not closing a gas station with leaking fuel pumps.
In ‘Poachers’, a legendary game warden who is avenging the murder of his predecessor, slowly and separately deals with three orphaned brothers - who have been a law unto themselves.
In all cases, the choices people make have consequences. In some cases, the choices have their own form of twisted logic. As the sign says, in the title story ‘Jesus is not coming’. These are flawed, very human people dealing with a world that is passing them by.
‘I poach because I want to recover the paths while there’s still time, before the last logging truck rumble through and the old dark ways are lost forever.’
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
klnbennett's review
3.0
The stories in this book are incredibly well-written. The descriptions of rural southern living were heartbreaking and a little familiar, although uglier than anything I ever experienced myself. I found the women characters to be little more than props to all the men in these stories. The title story, poachers, read like a season of Fargo and would make a terrific thriller plot.