I had long been wanting to read something by Dennis Lehane (I'd heard him speak about his work as a social worker in Boston on NPR as part of the publicity for the Clint Eastwood-directed Mystic River, based on Lehane's novel of the same name), and something or things that he said moved me and I made a mental note that I wanted to read Lehane sometime. Moonlight Mile is on the bestseller lists now, and I’m sure that prompted me to be interested in this novel.
I chose this novel because it was the first in a series and I think it’s generally better to read the first book in the series first. Well, now I have.
Did anyone else read this novel?
I found the first four chapters or so a bit of a slog. Perhaps that’s a rookie finding his footing: I think this was Lehane’s first novel. In fact, I accidentally skipped a few pages in what I think was the fourth chapter and when I realized I had, I said to myself, "That's okay. It was boring, anyway." I thought his portrait of the Irish pols was utterly cliched and somehow unengaging. If his point was that these old-time politicians acted like they were members of a street gang, I got his point.
However, there were some other things I liked very much about this novel. I liked the portrait of the two black sisters; his attempts to both understand and manipulate them remind me of some things I have experienced. Because this is new to me, in the larger context of my life, I admire Lehane for bringing it to life on the page: the hopelessness, the wariness and lack of trust.
Lehane's portraits of Patrick and his feelings about Angie, his work partner and obsession interest, seem weaker to me, probably just because I did not find them as engaging. But, I did find Angie to be a strong and complicated character, and found something in her complicated relationship with her husband rang very true. Patrick loves Angie but is unable to woo her. That makes their relationship a kind of platonic office romance, but Patrick thinks of it constantly and I think his obsession exhausts him.
Somehow, “A Drink Before the War,” was a title that initially made me think of espionage. When you come to the scene in the novel from which that phrase is taken, you’ll see how very far it is from menace disguised by good manners.
I think one could get swept up in the staggering rising action as the novel draws to a close and miss that it raises some very troubling questions. I see that there are themes in Lehane’s work and I admire his attempt to grapple with questions and issues I find too overwhelming to contemplate for very long.
One other point I'd like to make: right now I'm reading Jo Nesbo's "The Devil's Star." It's set in Norway and the detectives in it look to America for information about the patterns and behaviors of serial killers. I find myself thinking about the violence in The Reliable Wife and in this novel and find myself wondering, is violence among us, even within the family, the natural consequence of unbearable pressures?
6/13/2018
I think if you liked this book, you would probably also like The Whites by Richard Price (writing as Harry Brandt) and Brighton by Michael Harvey. When people ask me what kind of book I like, I never know what to say, but I think this is the kind of book I like: urban setting with sharply drawn characters.
I chose this novel because it was the first in a series and I think it’s generally better to read the first book in the series first. Well, now I have.
Did anyone else read this novel?
I found the first four chapters or so a bit of a slog. Perhaps that’s a rookie finding his footing: I think this was Lehane’s first novel. In fact, I accidentally skipped a few pages in what I think was the fourth chapter and when I realized I had, I said to myself, "That's okay. It was boring, anyway." I thought his portrait of the Irish pols was utterly cliched and somehow unengaging. If his point was that these old-time politicians acted like they were members of a street gang, I got his point.
However, there were some other things I liked very much about this novel. I liked the portrait of the two black sisters; his attempts to both understand and manipulate them remind me of some things I have experienced. Because this is new to me, in the larger context of my life, I admire Lehane for bringing it to life on the page: the hopelessness, the wariness and lack of trust.
Lehane's portraits of Patrick and his feelings about Angie, his work partner and obsession interest, seem weaker to me, probably just because I did not find them as engaging. But, I did find Angie to be a strong and complicated character, and found something in her complicated relationship with her husband rang very true. Patrick loves Angie but is unable to woo her. That makes their relationship a kind of platonic office romance, but Patrick thinks of it constantly and I think his obsession exhausts him.
Somehow, “A Drink Before the War,” was a title that initially made me think of espionage. When you come to the scene in the novel from which that phrase is taken, you’ll see how very far it is from menace disguised by good manners.
I think one could get swept up in the staggering rising action as the novel draws to a close and miss that it raises some very troubling questions. I see that there are themes in Lehane’s work and I admire his attempt to grapple with questions and issues I find too overwhelming to contemplate for very long.
One other point I'd like to make: right now I'm reading Jo Nesbo's "The Devil's Star." It's set in Norway and the detectives in it look to America for information about the patterns and behaviors of serial killers. I find myself thinking about the violence in The Reliable Wife and in this novel and find myself wondering, is violence among us, even within the family, the natural consequence of unbearable pressures?
6/13/2018
I think if you liked this book, you would probably also like The Whites by Richard Price (writing as Harry Brandt) and Brighton by Michael Harvey. When people ask me what kind of book I like, I never know what to say, but I think this is the kind of book I like: urban setting with sharply drawn characters.
No comments:
Post a Comment