This morning I scrolled to the
end of the ToB judgment with my heart in my throat because I love THE SON so,
so much. Luckily, it survived, and as you know from my post about the
pre-bracket round, I want THE SON to go all the way. So let’s get administrative
details out of the way first:
Round winner: THE SON
Really excellent runner-up,
though: AT NIGHT WE WALK IN CIRCLES
I liked both of these books
quite a bit (my top 4 in the tournament are THE SON, WOKE UP LONELY, THE PEOPLE
IN THE TREES, and AT NIGHT WE WALK IN CIRCLES, in that order). I first heard of
the Alarcon from my dad, who must have heard about it on NPR. When he and I
talked about it, he was halfway through and didn’t like it, but he doesn’t read
much fiction. I don’t read much Latin American fiction (though I should!) so
perhaps I liked this novel even more than someone familiar with the history of
Peru would have. The plot is strongly driven by motion and by events—Nelson’s
travels with the theatre troupe Diciembre, the staging and rehearsals and
production of The Idiot President in far-flung markets and schoolrooms, and
Nelson’s subsequent captivity, at Rogelio’s house, by Ixta’s pregnancy and remoteness,
and then later in Collectors. The tension continually escalates, partially
because of the device of the unknown narrator—we understand that Nelson is
unavailable, and possibly dead, but don’t know how, or who else might be
involved. This was a novel in which I felt progressively more afraid for each
of the characters; every decision and every missed opportunity, starting with
Nelson’s failed attempt to get a US visa, seemed like a tightening of the
noose.
Having been on a theatre tour
of small and non-standard venues in England, performing a German absurdist
play, I also felt strongly connected to Nelson, and to the itinerant actor’s
struggles to stay involved in life at home while giving oneself over to the
world of the play and the acting troupe.
Alarcon has also done a lot of
research on the real-life prison communities that Collectors is based on, and
the horrors he exposes in his nonfiction articles for the New Yorker deeply
informed the events and descriptions in ANWWIC, making Nelson’s story real and
urgent. It wasn’t a novel I would recommend to everyone without restraint, like
THE SON, but I think a fan of Calvino or Saramago would enjoy it.
THE SON, though. Oh my god.
This multi-narrated epic of the settling of the Texas frontier, of oil and
Comanches and Mexicans and changing mores and means of employment. I have to
say that when I started reading this book it came as a shock that Native
Americans were ruthlessly violent. I mean…they were, certainly, but hipster
revisionist history holds that they were and are only the victims of white
oppressors, which of course is not the fully story. I, too, liked the Colonel’s
parts (Eli McCullough’s) the most—who wouldn’t? His story is harrowing and
adventurous and emotional, and he’s a humorous narrator. I didn’t realize it
until relatively late in the book when, describing a German woman who was held
captive by the Comanches and lied about her treatment to retain her social
status, he mocks her story “She still had it, thanks to me, honor honor honor, that
was all.” Until then, his story is darkly funny in parts, but we aren’t sure
whether he knows it as a narrator (vs. the author ensuring it). But he DOES,
and this made me love him all the more. Peter McCullough and J.A. McCullough
are delightful in their own ways. J.A. delivers perceptive and biting insights
into relationships, feminism, business acumen, and aging. Peter’s story is dark
but redemptive, and when he finally stands up for himself and chases after what
he wants, I was ecstatic. I want to see the movie of THE SON just to see Peter’s
confrontation with his estranged wife. Well, and also to see the Comanche camp.
And the hunting retreat where J.A. confronts being the only woman in an old
boys’ club. I can’t even write coherently about this book yet because I loved
it so much, but I’ll get another chance to write about it next week, and I’m so
glad.
Read the delightful official
ToB review here.
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