Fiction | Book Chatter

Kngs of the Earth Kings of the Earth
By Jon Clinch
Random House
July 2010
416pp

The Short of It:

Stark, gritty but beautiful to behold.

The Rest of It:

At the beginning of the year, I read and reviewed Finn, which was Clinch’s debut novel. I knew then, that I’d be looking for his next book and sure enough, Kings of the Earth managed to find its way into my hands.

Kings of the Earth tells the story of the Proctor brothers, Vernon, Audie and Creed. The Proctors live on a dilapidated farm in upstate New York. Vernon, the oldest Proctor, believes he is dying of the same cancer that took his mother many years ago. Audie is feeble-minded and often oblivious to what’s going on around him. Creed is the youngest, yet the only one who’s seen the “real” world, so his time on the farm is especially tragic.

Work and woe had done to these men not their worst but just their usual, which was enough. (152)

Besides the boys, there is a sister, Donna. Donna somehow manages to slip away from farm life and lives with her husband in a nearby town. She visits the boys often and does what’s needed on her end, but she is careful and keeps her distance when possible. Mostly as a protective measure because it’s clear that she loves her brothers dearly.

The story opens with Vernon’s death. It’s assumed that cancer is the cause, but an autopsy says otherwise. Clinch tells the story in short, snippets. Not chapters really, but brief, alternating points of view. We hear from the brothers, Donna, the parents, the neighbors and law enforcement while going back and forth in time.

Although this method of storytelling is complex and not easy to pull off, Clinch manages to do it beautifully. Clinch’s description of farm life left me with dust on my shoes and a bit of grit in my mouth. I have a term that I like to use for novels like this, “atmospheric fiction.” The other books that I’ve read that have fallen into this category are Cormac McCarthy’s Outer Dark and Child of God. All of them being incredibly detailed and rounded with rough edges.

Although very rich, and nicely told, I was expecting (and wanting) a slightly different ending. However, I sat on my reaction for several weeks and let it roll around in my head. Now that some time has passed, I see the appropriateness of the ending. It really could not have ended any other way.

I was not aware of it as I was reading the book but the Proctor brothers are loosely based on the Ward brothers who also lived on a rural farm in upstate New York.

If you choose to pick-up this book, I don’t think you will be disappointed and in fact, you may find a new favorite author to add to your list.

Source: Sent to me by the publisher.

Vacation Book Cover Vacation
By Deb Olin Unferth
Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
March 2010
240pp

The Short of It:

Beautiful, rhythmic prose that begs to be read aloud. Vacation is a treat for the brain that’s gone soft (mine).

The Rest of It:

You know how you feel after missing the gym for say a month…or maybe even two months? You feel sort of sloggy and wonky and a bit out of sorts? Well, I’ve been feeling that way lately with my reading. Not saying that I didn’t enjoy the books, quite the opposite, but my brain needed a bit of stimulation. Something different to get the brainwaves firing again. Vacation did just that.

Myers and his wife have lived a decent life, but one night, Myers notices that his wife has gone missing. Turns out, that every evening around the same time, she becomes “absent.” She tells Myers that she needs to work late, but what he finds out, is that she spends her evenings following Gray, an old classmate of his. Myers immediately thinks the worst. In flashbacks we see how it used to be between them:

She had touched his face when he was tired, when he had another bad day at the office. He remembered that, the way she used to do that, the way she expected nothing back, it was gentle. As nice as rain. (31)

Myers, determined to get even, decides to follow Gray as he treks across the world, but has this to say about his wife before he goes:

She had arrived as one thing, and now, as he parted, she was another, some strange folded-up broken thing—and at last he had done nothing to stop it and at the most he had caused it all. (31)

What Myers doesn’t know is that his wife (who goes through the story without a name) has no idea who Gray is, and Gray has no idea who she is. They are complete strangers to one another. Myers decides to find Gray, who has left the country. He sends him friendly emails and the two get to know one another again. They decide to meet on Corn Island, so Myers packs his things and takes a “vacation.”

What Myers doesn’t know is that Gray is suffering from an inoperable brain tumor and has no idea where he is. So as Myers corresponds with Gray via email, the quest to find Gray becomes a bit of a joke. Additionally, Gray’s ex-wife is also looking for him and Gray’s daughter, who is really not his daughter, decides to seek out her true father who happens to be a dolphin un-trainer.

Wild, eh? This book is a roller-coaster of a ride. It takes you from one side of the world to another. There are natural disasters to contend with, dolphin rescues taking place, men struggling to find out who they really are, weird, island folk and cabbies with personality. It’s sounds like an awful lot to contend with, and it is, but it makes for one, satisfying read.

Source: Purchased

Chatting with friends about books and life…