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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
I have mixed feelings about pretty much everything regarding this book. On the one hand, I really like how the writing style is evocative and avoids repetitiveness with its vivid descriptions of violence - on the other hand, it can get to be a bit heavy-handed at times. On one hand it's mostly grounded in gritty reality, but on the other hand it requires serious suspension of disbelief to get over how much abuse these characters are made to endure, and that fact that one character is imbued with magical foresight that doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the book. It sets up the Donnybrook as its nexus and leads the reader to believe that most of the action is going to take place there, but it actually only features that event towards its tail end, and even then only in flashes. At first that bothered me, but once I realized that these characters' entire lives were built out of the same kind of chaos on display at the Donnybrook, the title and focus of the book made a lot more sense - so just like everything else in the book, I appreciated it while also being a bit let down.
Ultimately I enjoyed it, despite cringing at some of the more violent parts, because it leads to a satisfying end. There aren't really any loose ends or wasted pages, so in terms of storytelling this book is solid. Aside from that it's a real crapshoot - the same things that work really well in some parts of the book work against it at other times.
Ultimately I enjoyed it, despite cringing at some of the more violent parts, because it leads to a satisfying end. There aren't really any loose ends or wasted pages, so in terms of storytelling this book is solid. Aside from that it's a real crapshoot - the same things that work really well in some parts of the book work against it at other times.
This is a mean and nasty book but with humor and authentic fighting seqences. Greasy, meth head, alchoholic bare knuckle brawlers with names like Elbow and Chainsaw Angus, this would make a great Grindhouse movie.
13/1 - This is some seriously sick writing! I don't know why the police even bother trying to catch the criminals, just let them kill each other (and themselves) and don't get in their way. Frank Bill has one of the most twisted imaginations (well, I hope it's his imagination) that I've ever read. He's possibly only bested by Edward Lorn, due to the horror factor that's an added bonus in Lorn's books. Bill's writing doesn't really have horror, as it feels too close to the truth of life in Southern Indiana (or anywhere else where corrugated iron shacks and rundown caravans are the best you can expect when it comes to accommodation). This is my second Bill book and now thanks to his horrifying imagery I now get the same feeling regarding visiting Southern Indiana as I do when contemplating the likelihood of my entering a dank and dark basement whose lights don't work - it is NOT happening. To be continued...
14/1 - There's just dead people (and their blood, brains, and guts) and meth everywhere. We're following a number of different characters on their individual journeys to Donnybrook (some kind of giant, famous, bare-knuckle fight with a $100,000 prize). Everywhere the characters turn there's dead people, or people that need to be made dead, getting in their way. Meth and death, makes for an interesting combination. There's only one possibly sympathetic character - Jarhead, a husband and father who committed armed robbery in order to acquire the money necessary for the buy-in at Donnybrook. He's the only one who hasn't killed anyone or cooked some meth, quite an achievement for this area of Southern Indiana. To be continued...
15/1 - God, what a mess! Not the writing, that was perfect for the type of book it was - broken, jumpy sentences with some of the best 'fight' writing I've ever read. The mess was the climactic Donnybrook scenes at the end - hundreds of drunk and drugged spectators turning into hundreds of drunk and drugged attackers. Everyone attacking everyone else, using anything that came to hand as a weapon, even (I can imagine, it wasn't actually said) other attacker's body parts when necessary. The end of the book talks about something bad coming, and it feels like there's going to be a sequel or some kind of follow up book. 3.5 stars, but I'm feeling generous.
PopSugar 2015 Reading Challenge: A Book with a One-Word Title
14/1 - There's just dead people (and their blood, brains, and guts) and meth everywhere. We're following a number of different characters on their individual journeys to Donnybrook (some kind of giant, famous, bare-knuckle fight with a $100,000 prize). Everywhere the characters turn there's dead people, or people that need to be made dead, getting in their way. Meth and death, makes for an interesting combination. There's only one possibly sympathetic character - Jarhead, a husband and father who committed armed robbery in order to acquire the money necessary for the buy-in at Donnybrook. He's the only one who hasn't killed anyone or cooked some meth, quite an achievement for this area of Southern Indiana. To be continued...
15/1 - God, what a mess! Not the writing, that was perfect for the type of book it was - broken, jumpy sentences with some of the best 'fight' writing I've ever read. The mess was the climactic Donnybrook scenes at the end - hundreds of drunk and drugged spectators turning into hundreds of drunk and drugged attackers. Everyone attacking everyone else, using anything that came to hand as a weapon, even (I can imagine, it wasn't actually said) other attacker's body parts when necessary. The end of the book talks about something bad coming, and it feels like there's going to be a sequel or some kind of follow up book. 3.5 stars, but I'm feeling generous.
PopSugar 2015 Reading Challenge: A Book with a One-Word Title
Things I Now Need:
Hot shower
Box of butterfly stitches
Fresh underwear
A round of antibiotics
Fighting lessons
Six weeks in rehab
And yes, this is a good thing.
Hot shower
Box of butterfly stitches
Fresh underwear
A round of antibiotics
Fighting lessons
Six weeks in rehab
And yes, this is a good thing.
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
I swear there is some Cormac in Frank Bill's writing.
Some Ben Whitmer too, and that is fine by me.
The violent and gritty stories of good - and not so good - folks from KY and IN trying to survive their lives with what they were dealt and seeking redemption though blood, adrenaline and gravel, all of it taking place in Southern Indiana and sporting the name everyone out in the sticks are talking about : Donnybrook.
A novel that isn't for the faint of heart and where lovers of Grit-Lit filled with meth, blood, puke, bareknuckle fights, murder, violence, spit, mud, dirt, and sometimes, sometimes, a little bit of grace, will most definitely enjoy.
Frank Bill's prose is one that you don't see on every corner of the street. Reminiscent of Benjamin Whitmer, Larry Brown some David Joy, William Gay and yes, Cormac McCarthy, he puts words on the pages that read as fast as a lightning bolt but that your mind and body and soul take a few paces to absorb.
Brace yourself for Donnybrook is only the beginning of it.
Savages out very soon.
Some Ben Whitmer too, and that is fine by me.
The violent and gritty stories of good - and not so good - folks from KY and IN trying to survive their lives with what they were dealt and seeking redemption though blood, adrenaline and gravel, all of it taking place in Southern Indiana and sporting the name everyone out in the sticks are talking about : Donnybrook.
A novel that isn't for the faint of heart and where lovers of Grit-Lit filled with meth, blood, puke, bareknuckle fights, murder, violence, spit, mud, dirt, and sometimes, sometimes, a little bit of grace, will most definitely enjoy.
Frank Bill's prose is one that you don't see on every corner of the street. Reminiscent of Benjamin Whitmer, Larry Brown some David Joy, William Gay and yes, Cormac McCarthy, he puts words on the pages that read as fast as a lightning bolt but that your mind and body and soul take a few paces to absorb.
Brace yourself for Donnybrook is only the beginning of it.
Savages out very soon.
3.5 out of 5. I'm tempted to rate the book higher, give it a full four stars (which I'll do here on Goodreads, for the hell of it) - but there's something stopping me. It's not the violence or the content - in fact, I actually rather enjoyed how many different ways to inflict pain or describe said pain Mr. Bill was able to deploy. I think it just was the maelstrom of characters and choppy structure that got to me. I wanted, of all things, just a little more cleanliness to the whole shebang - considering there's so much mess in the story itself. But gawtdamn this was a bullet crack of a read. I was shaking my head when I put it down - and laughing, too. It's as insane as all the hype tells you. I'd suggest taking the trip, if you're in the mood. You won't regret it, that's for sure.
Remember the line let the bodies hit the floor from Drowning Pool? That's the way this book starts and it never lets up. From the gun shop stick up at the beginning to the final scenes at the Donnybrook, people are droppin' like flies. All the way from "relatively" minor beatdowns to cold blooded, no second thoughts murder. Oh, best way to stick up a gun shop? Just bring ammo, guns are already there.
I can't say this was a fun read but it certainly was entertaining. If you're looking for a feel good book with distinct good vs bad characters, you better look somewhere else. Everyone was lowdown. You could maybe say Jarhead had some good points, he did start this to get his family away from their current life, but you would have to hold him up to the light and angle him just right to see it.
I guess Purcell wasn't really despicable and his soothsayer, fortune teller angle was something I didn't really expect. There was a strange undercurrent of "there's something coming and we have to be prepared" that leads me to hope there are more stories coming.
I'm not sure what to call this, hillbilly crime? Who cares. All I know is that I couldn't put this down. Just like an accident, I couldn't look away even though one scene was more brutal than the last. If you like [a:Donald Ray Pollock|784866|Donald Ray Pollock|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1240540889p2/784866.jpg] you will enjoy this book.
McGill squinted and said, "Is that spite or disrespect?
You making a threat?"
Angus told him, "I don't make threats. I offer moments
to reconcile one's shitty choices."
I can't say this was a fun read but it certainly was entertaining. If you're looking for a feel good book with distinct good vs bad characters, you better look somewhere else. Everyone was lowdown. You could maybe say Jarhead had some good points, he did start this to get his family away from their current life, but you would have to hold him up to the light and angle him just right to see it.
I guess Purcell wasn't really despicable and his soothsayer, fortune teller angle was something I didn't really expect. There was a strange undercurrent of "there's something coming and we have to be prepared" that leads me to hope there are more stories coming.
I'm not sure what to call this, hillbilly crime? Who cares. All I know is that I couldn't put this down. Just like an accident, I couldn't look away even though one scene was more brutal than the last. If you like [a:Donald Ray Pollock|784866|Donald Ray Pollock|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1240540889p2/784866.jpg] you will enjoy this book.
McGill squinted and said, "Is that spite or disrespect?
You making a threat?"
Angus told him, "I don't make threats. I offer moments
to reconcile one's shitty choices."
All the violence, meth addiction, pistol whipping and bare-knuckle batshit bonkers bloodletting of an Elmore Leonard fever dream without any of the humour. There is no let up here. Just a persistent pummeling of each of the characters (and there're a whole bunch of characters). Fingers are broken against skulls, arms are dislocated from shoulders, gun barrels are forced into mouths and the ending suggests that the whole thing is merely the prologue to whatever craziness the author is working on next. Wow.