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A review by underwater_reader
Perfume River by Robert Olen Butler
5.0
Wow. Wow. I loved this novel. LOVED it.
On the surface, it seems like a simple story about an estranged family reconnected by a health issue suffered by the patriarch. The deeper story is so much more impactful, though. It's the story of how war and those who experience it and choices and those who make them can impact all of the people near to them. This is also a powerful story of communication and how the lack of it can be harmful to people for many generations. I love reading family stories and this was such an amazing take on a family dealing with both external and internal struggles. It was refreshing for me to read a story about fathers and sons for a change instead of mothers and daughters. Robert Olen Butler named two of his characters Robert/Bob and I wonder about this choice. For an author to name two characters after him, I have to wonder how much of the story was autobiographical.
This is also a story of lost loves and secrets and guilt and daily routines and marriage and homelessness and mental illness and I'm sure if I were to read it again, I would discover several other topics that it is also about. The best part of the book, in my opinion, was the authentic characters who stayed with me after the last page. I found myself cheering for all of them and hoping for the best for them and mourning with them. The prose is also so beautifully written and the descriptions are vivid and wonderful. I am so excited to read more by Robert Olen Butler in the future. I highly recommend this one.
On the surface, it seems like a simple story about an estranged family reconnected by a health issue suffered by the patriarch. The deeper story is so much more impactful, though. It's the story of how war and those who experience it and choices and those who make them can impact all of the people near to them. This is also a powerful story of communication and how the lack of it can be harmful to people for many generations. I love reading family stories and this was such an amazing take on a family dealing with both external and internal struggles. It was refreshing for me to read a story about fathers and sons for a change instead of mothers and daughters. Robert Olen Butler named two of his characters Robert/Bob and I wonder about this choice. For an author to name two characters after him, I have to wonder how much of the story was autobiographical.
This is also a story of lost loves and secrets and guilt and daily routines and marriage and homelessness and mental illness and I'm sure if I were to read it again, I would discover several other topics that it is also about. The best part of the book, in my opinion, was the authentic characters who stayed with me after the last page. I found myself cheering for all of them and hoping for the best for them and mourning with them. The prose is also so beautifully written and the descriptions are vivid and wonderful. I am so excited to read more by Robert Olen Butler in the future. I highly recommend this one.