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nikkigee81's review against another edition
4.0
I remember a college professor talking about John Cheever one day, probably The Swimmer, but that's the only interaction I had with his work until now. I'm sure that when this was first published, much of the candid and frank talk of phalluses and homosexuality was shocking to the average reader.
Farragut is a former professor, current drug addict and prisoner at Falconer. He's been incarcerated for the murder of his brother. The mundane, dreary life of the penitentiary is intercut with Farragut's musing upon his past. It's very psychological, rather than plot-driven, and Cheever has quite an evocative way with words.
Farragut is a former professor, current drug addict and prisoner at Falconer. He's been incarcerated for the murder of his brother. The mundane, dreary life of the penitentiary is intercut with Farragut's musing upon his past. It's very psychological, rather than plot-driven, and Cheever has quite an evocative way with words.
thegrimmreader's review against another edition
5.0
What did I think? I thought it was fantastic. But also quite sad/melancholy. Very well written.
darwin8u's review against another edition
5.0
There is something both unsettling and beautiful about this compact Cheever novel. A novel of punishment and redemption, Falconer is also a story of addiction, of confinement, of an introspective man moving from his isolated past to his very human present. It is hard to compare Cheever's style to anyone, but there were moments where I felt I was floating in the same literary river as O'Connor, Dostoevsky, Chekhov, and Percy. His prose is amazing, his imagination is sharp, and the depth of his soul-searching is absolutely sublime.
arnie's review against another edition
2.0
Farragut is a wealthy man and a drug addict who murdered his brother and is now in Falconer prison. The novel involves a set of interwoven vignettes involving prison life and memories of life before prison. I think I should stick to Cheever short stories.
knowledgelost's review against another edition
2.0
This isn’t your typical correctional facility; in fact Falconer Correctional Facility is very boring, there is nothing happening, just a bunch of lonely men trying to make it through their sentences. No brutality, no abuse and the only riot that happens in the book is just as boring as the rest of prison life. The main character; Farragut is convicted of murdering his brother; he is from a formally rich family and a drug addict. The whole book is about him and his desire for methadone; nothing else really happens.
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