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corrompido's review against another edition
2.0
2 stars might be a bit harsh, but I struggled to get through this book and the ending left me unsatisfied. The writing itself was pretty interesting, as was the premise of the story. The book follows two members of a family who survive after men come and kill the rest of their family on a remote farm in upstate new york in the 1800s. The setting was one of the best parts of the book, and while the writing itself was interesting the way the story was constructed made it hard to enjoy. Interesting book, but ultimately failed to really draw me in.
ponderinstuff's review against another edition
2.0
Read about 75% of this and just couldn't finish. I lost interest in it at about 25% through, but forced myself to keep reading in hopes it would get better. It just wasn't my kind of book though. Also, I've heard others complain about the ending, so that didn't create any incentive for me to keep reading.
prof_shoff's review against another edition
2.0
Rather unsatisfying read, between the lack of character development and the questionable narrative choices. Reminded me of Frazier’s Cold Mountain: an author tries to be clever and loses the potential of a good story.
thrifty_librarian's review against another edition
I clicked on a Goodreads ad for this because it looked super interesting. However, I will not be reading it. If the writer/editor/publisher can't even properly use grammar in the first sentence of the teaser, God only knows what a mess the rest of the book will be:
"Set in rural New York state at the turn of the twentieth century, superb new talent James Scott makes his literary debut with The Kept--a propulsive novel reminiscent of the works of Michael Ondaatje, Cormac McCarthy, and Bonnie Jo Campbell, in which a mother and her young son embark on a quest to avenge a terrible and violent tragedy that has shattered their secluded family."
So either James Scott is roughly 130 years old and was dropped in New York as a child, or somebody didn't take enough composition courses in college before graduating with a degree in ceramic ashtray making. BOOM!
This is mostly a warning to myself, but I was feeling snarky. Haters will note that I did not give the book a rating.
"Set in rural New York state at the turn of the twentieth century, superb new talent James Scott makes his literary debut with The Kept--a propulsive novel reminiscent of the works of Michael Ondaatje, Cormac McCarthy, and Bonnie Jo Campbell, in which a mother and her young son embark on a quest to avenge a terrible and violent tragedy that has shattered their secluded family."
So either James Scott is roughly 130 years old and was dropped in New York as a child, or somebody didn't take enough composition courses in college before graduating with a degree in ceramic ashtray making. BOOM!
This is mostly a warning to myself, but I was feeling snarky. Haters will note that I did not give the book a rating.
wendysawatzky's review against another edition
4.0
In midwinter 1897, midwife Elspeth Howell returns after months away to her family's remote homestead in upstate New York to find her husband and four of her children killed in cold blood.
The lone survivor of the massacre, troubled 12-year-old introvert Caleb fears his mother's approaching footsteps, thinking they harken the killer's return. He strikes out blindly, gravely wounding his last family member with his own shotgun.
Thus the theme is set for the rest of James Scott's debut novel, an exploration of the unintended consequences of acts that seemed right when they were committed -- set against a beautifully drawn backdrop of stark winter.
Scott unfolds his characters' secrets in a series of skilful flashbacks while weaving together twin narratives: Elspeth's flight from her sins and Caleb's hunt for justice. Both protagonists are tormented by things they've done, and each dreads and hungers for the conflict that awaits them.
The mother and son make unlikely travel companions. Despite the two being in one of life's most intimate relationships, there is a yawning chasm between them. "Elspeth and Caleb exchanged a look that neither could decipher, something of confusion and weariness." Neither has much to say to the other and both struggle to understand their own thoughts and actions, never mind those of the other.
The text is spare, even as it describes the inner life of its characters. "He had a new hollow in his chest where he assumed his heart had been and he dressed as fast as possible." This frugality, along with the time period, has drawn comparisons to Patrick DeWitt's The Sisters Brothers. The style is similar, but where DeWitt includes dark humour, Scott instead adds a dark dash of magical realism, with people haunted by ghosts and snow that falls in a constant blanket.
And the winter! It's obvious Scott, raised in upstate New York, is familiar with long stretches of bone-chilling cold. He describes snow, for example, with almost loving attention to detail: by turns soft or crunchy or crusty or slick, or drifting in great powdery dunes over ominous lumps in a hillside. "She stomped through the unbroken snow, her knees high. He watched her carve a straight line across the perfect surface, wind-blown ripples frozen like tiny waves."
The novel is peppered with interesting twists and turns: Elspeth spends a period impersonating a man to haul ice for the Great Lakes Ice Company; her son is taken under the wing of the wealthy owner of a brothel.
Characters who play smaller roles in the novel -- Elspeth's husband, or her colleague at the Great Lakes Ice Company, for example -- have complex inner lives that add to the novel's investigation of identity. That this is the general rule makes curious the book's few exceptions. In particular, one Western cliché -- the wise young prostitute with a heart of gold -- protrudes as a paper cutout among the other more carefully cultivated characters.
Another weak point, unfortunately, is the book's ending. Scott satisfyingly wraps Elspeth's and Caleb's searches for the meaning of family and identity -- but then tacks on another 20 pages of increasingly puzzling decisions, culminating in a battle royal more suited to a Quentin Tarantino film.
That said, The Kept is an affecting study on the weight of secrets and the depth of identity, unrolled with a slow urgency that keeps the reader turning pages.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition March 1, 2014 page G6
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/entertainment/books/a-snowy-story-of-right-and-wrong-247991411.html
The lone survivor of the massacre, troubled 12-year-old introvert Caleb fears his mother's approaching footsteps, thinking they harken the killer's return. He strikes out blindly, gravely wounding his last family member with his own shotgun.
Thus the theme is set for the rest of James Scott's debut novel, an exploration of the unintended consequences of acts that seemed right when they were committed -- set against a beautifully drawn backdrop of stark winter.
Scott unfolds his characters' secrets in a series of skilful flashbacks while weaving together twin narratives: Elspeth's flight from her sins and Caleb's hunt for justice. Both protagonists are tormented by things they've done, and each dreads and hungers for the conflict that awaits them.
The mother and son make unlikely travel companions. Despite the two being in one of life's most intimate relationships, there is a yawning chasm between them. "Elspeth and Caleb exchanged a look that neither could decipher, something of confusion and weariness." Neither has much to say to the other and both struggle to understand their own thoughts and actions, never mind those of the other.
The text is spare, even as it describes the inner life of its characters. "He had a new hollow in his chest where he assumed his heart had been and he dressed as fast as possible." This frugality, along with the time period, has drawn comparisons to Patrick DeWitt's The Sisters Brothers. The style is similar, but where DeWitt includes dark humour, Scott instead adds a dark dash of magical realism, with people haunted by ghosts and snow that falls in a constant blanket.
And the winter! It's obvious Scott, raised in upstate New York, is familiar with long stretches of bone-chilling cold. He describes snow, for example, with almost loving attention to detail: by turns soft or crunchy or crusty or slick, or drifting in great powdery dunes over ominous lumps in a hillside. "She stomped through the unbroken snow, her knees high. He watched her carve a straight line across the perfect surface, wind-blown ripples frozen like tiny waves."
The novel is peppered with interesting twists and turns: Elspeth spends a period impersonating a man to haul ice for the Great Lakes Ice Company; her son is taken under the wing of the wealthy owner of a brothel.
Characters who play smaller roles in the novel -- Elspeth's husband, or her colleague at the Great Lakes Ice Company, for example -- have complex inner lives that add to the novel's investigation of identity. That this is the general rule makes curious the book's few exceptions. In particular, one Western cliché -- the wise young prostitute with a heart of gold -- protrudes as a paper cutout among the other more carefully cultivated characters.
Another weak point, unfortunately, is the book's ending. Scott satisfyingly wraps Elspeth's and Caleb's searches for the meaning of family and identity -- but then tacks on another 20 pages of increasingly puzzling decisions, culminating in a battle royal more suited to a Quentin Tarantino film.
That said, The Kept is an affecting study on the weight of secrets and the depth of identity, unrolled with a slow urgency that keeps the reader turning pages.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition March 1, 2014 page G6
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/entertainment/books/a-snowy-story-of-right-and-wrong-247991411.html
teresamannella's review against another edition
4.0
Would have given five stars if it weren't for the ambiguous ending.
jwmcoaching's review against another edition
4.0
4 and 1/2 stars. This is a brutal, intense read that, nonetheless, is highly entertaining. It's near perfect and is definitely the best book of '14 that I've read, so far. It's reminiscent of many films and novels, but also has its own things to say about the brutality of the world and the people who live in it. It's a western/family drama/mystery/coming of age tale that will keep you entertained, but also grab your heart at the same time. I also loved the fact that the setting isn't your typical Western location; instead of taking place in the West or on the Plains, it is set in upstate New York.
baggman's review against another edition
4.0
I'm not big on westerns, but other than the period during which the story takes place, this is not what I would describe as a typical western novel. Whatever gene it falls into, I enjoyed it. I kept thinking that it could be described as an updated version of True Grit, or that the book itself would make a terribly good major motion picture.
While the author claims to have spent 6 years writing this book, it's not exactly a unique plot: a family is viciously attacked and killed by strangers and for reasons unknown; the surviving family members set out for revenge. What in the world could have taken 6 years for this? I really like the book, but it isn't War and Peace.
The book consists of two characters. That's not entirely true since there are other minor persons that enter in and out of the plot. But, 98% of the novel is represented by the actions and memories of a mother and her son. Everyone else is a minor piece of a puzzle.
I liked this book for many reasons. For one, it seemed to be an actual representation of what life was like during this period of time. There was no sugar coating, no lawman ready to cross the globe to bring justice to a small town in the middle of nowhere. You were pretty much on your own for both survival and justice. Children grew up fast. It wasn't just convenient, it was necessity. Life wasn't pretty, it was just another day to get through. For another, I greatly enjoyed the author's writing style. It was verbose at times, but fluid at the same time. The dialog was simple, but at the same time rich and descriptive. Maybe that's what took the author 6 years, getting every word correct, every paragraph perfect.
"Something about Ellabelle made lying more difficult. He couldn’t concentrate on what he meant to say—words tumbled out of his mouth without his guidance. Lying, he’d come to understand, took two things: forethought and memory. Both had been disabled in Ellabelle’s presence."
While the author claims to have spent 6 years writing this book, it's not exactly a unique plot: a family is viciously attacked and killed by strangers and for reasons unknown; the surviving family members set out for revenge. What in the world could have taken 6 years for this? I really like the book, but it isn't War and Peace.
The book consists of two characters. That's not entirely true since there are other minor persons that enter in and out of the plot. But, 98% of the novel is represented by the actions and memories of a mother and her son. Everyone else is a minor piece of a puzzle.
I liked this book for many reasons. For one, it seemed to be an actual representation of what life was like during this period of time. There was no sugar coating, no lawman ready to cross the globe to bring justice to a small town in the middle of nowhere. You were pretty much on your own for both survival and justice. Children grew up fast. It wasn't just convenient, it was necessity. Life wasn't pretty, it was just another day to get through. For another, I greatly enjoyed the author's writing style. It was verbose at times, but fluid at the same time. The dialog was simple, but at the same time rich and descriptive. Maybe that's what took the author 6 years, getting every word correct, every paragraph perfect.
"Something about Ellabelle made lying more difficult. He couldn’t concentrate on what he meant to say—words tumbled out of his mouth without his guidance. Lying, he’d come to understand, took two things: forethought and memory. Both had been disabled in Ellabelle’s presence."
bkmckown's review against another edition
3.0
A sad and dark tale, but it was also fairly slow and unexciting. There were really good plot points but they weren’t tied together well so the story fell flat.
bossman8680's review against another edition
3.0
Overall I liked the story in this book. I did find a few sections that just too me seemed to drag the action of the story down.
For starters I thought that the beginning could have moved a a slightly faster pace. In particular the chapters where Caleb is caring for his mother. I felt that they could have all been condensed into a single chapter rather than spread out over several chapters.
I was also not a huge fan of the way the story ultimately ended. In all honesty I fell that there is actually no ending to the story. It is left open to interpretation which in my opinion is not a way to end a story.
I did thoroughly enjoy the middle section of the story which to me was the real meat of the story. I in particular like the accident at the ice-house and the description of the scene and the injuries incurred. The description of the town as a whole worked really well and helped show how life in the 1890's was like.
One other thing that I liked is that you don't find out the real reason for the death of the family until near the end of the story. That in particular kept me guessing all the way through the story. I will also admit part of my thinking for that section was based on what the climate was at the time for couples such as them.
For starters I thought that the beginning could have moved a a slightly faster pace. In particular the chapters where Caleb is caring for his mother. I felt that they could have all been condensed into a single chapter rather than spread out over several chapters.
I was also not a huge fan of the way the story ultimately ended. In all honesty I fell that there is actually no ending to the story. It is left open to interpretation which in my opinion is not a way to end a story.
I did thoroughly enjoy the middle section of the story which to me was the real meat of the story. I in particular like the accident at the ice-house and the description of the scene and the injuries incurred. The description of the town as a whole worked really well and helped show how life in the 1890's was like.
One other thing that I liked is that you don't find out the real reason for the death of the family until near the end of the story. That in particular kept me guessing all the way through the story. I will also admit part of my thinking for that section was based on what the climate was at the time for couples such as them.