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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a reread for me, though the last time I read this book was ten years ago when it first came out. After reading Dead in the West I thought I'd give Lansdale another try. He's an accomplished author though I haven't read a lot of his stuff.
The Bottoms takes place in Eastern Texas during the depression and is told from the point of view of a 12 year old boy whose father is the constable of a small community. The ravaged, mutilated bodies of colored women start appearing in the woods near the community, nicknamed the Bottoms. The rash of deaths, and the constable's insistence on solving the murders, leads to much racial tension that threatens to tear the community apart.
This book is good. So very very good. Like a darker version of To Kill a Mockingbird, it handles a lot of the same themes, but obviously in a more adult way. I love the way Lansdale uses the first person narrative from a younger child's point of view, one who is on the cusp of manhood but is learning new truths of how the world works, especially in a time of much upheaval and sadness. Despite having read the novel before (though I'm not sure that having read it a decade ago counts) this was a real page turner, and it had been long enough ago that though I had vague recollections of who the culprit was, I was still surprised and thoroughly satisfied at the reveal.
All the characters are fleshed out and not at all one dimensional, villanous or otherwise, and the descriptions of the Bottoms and life in Texas in the 1930's were interesting and painted a vivid picture. I can't recommend this book strongly enough. If you enjoy historical fiction, and murder mysteries, this one is for you.
The Bottoms takes place in Eastern Texas during the depression and is told from the point of view of a 12 year old boy whose father is the constable of a small community. The ravaged, mutilated bodies of colored women start appearing in the woods near the community, nicknamed the Bottoms. The rash of deaths, and the constable's insistence on solving the murders, leads to much racial tension that threatens to tear the community apart.
This book is good. So very very good. Like a darker version of To Kill a Mockingbird, it handles a lot of the same themes, but obviously in a more adult way. I love the way Lansdale uses the first person narrative from a younger child's point of view, one who is on the cusp of manhood but is learning new truths of how the world works, especially in a time of much upheaval and sadness. Despite having read the novel before (though I'm not sure that having read it a decade ago counts) this was a real page turner, and it had been long enough ago that though I had vague recollections of who the culprit was, I was still surprised and thoroughly satisfied at the reveal.
All the characters are fleshed out and not at all one dimensional, villanous or otherwise, and the descriptions of the Bottoms and life in Texas in the 1930's were interesting and painted a vivid picture. I can't recommend this book strongly enough. If you enjoy historical fiction, and murder mysteries, this one is for you.
Really more like a 3.5, but I can’t really tell if my criticisms are well-founded, or if the trappings of mystery fiction don’t really work for me. Like the exposition you get from the villain once they’re found out…I get that it’s part of the whole *thing*, I just find it so tedious. I’m also a really slow reader, and because of that I usually have more time to stew and figure out “who” it was that “dunnit” and unfortunately this is no exception.
However, Lansdale’s greatest strength is Voice, and in The Bottoms, as well as everything else I’ve read by him, it’s truly a joy to go along for the ride, even one that’s as sad and cruel as this one is at times.
However, Lansdale’s greatest strength is Voice, and in The Bottoms, as well as everything else I’ve read by him, it’s truly a joy to go along for the ride, even one that’s as sad and cruel as this one is at times.
This is Joe Lansdale paying homage to Harper Lee's [b:To Kill A Mocking Bird|29008550|To Kill A Mocking Bird|Harper Lee|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1582303449l/29008550._SX50_.jpg|3275794], I reckon. And, as you'd expect from him, it's a solid offering. It's most definitely a depressive read as it digs deep in mankind's darkest side - hatred, that is, the sort of hatred based on the amount of melanine one was born with - but, at the same time, it's weirdly uplifting.
Anyways...I KNEW IT, HA! I fucking knew, from the very opening pages, who the culprit was. So, in the momentous apex of the closing chapter, I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow & chuckle.
Anyways...I KNEW IT, HA! I fucking knew, from the very opening pages, who the culprit was. So,
Spoiler
when the perpetrator looks straight in the eyes of the main character, revealing himself,
The Bottoms is one of those novels I have been saving for the right time. Joe R. Lansdale is one of my favorite writers best known for his series Hap and Leonard and the Movie Bubba-Ho-Tep based on his short story. If you are not familiar with Lansdale he is a master story-teller who grew up in east texas. He writes some southern gothic, some horror but really Lansdale is just Lansdale an effective story teller who normally makes me laugh a lot in the time I am reading his work.
The reason I decided now was the time to read this novel was the news that a film of the Bottoms was on the way. Not only that but it will be written and directed by the team that made Frailty. That movie was the best horror movie of the year it came out and also a serial Killer story set in Texas.
The Bottoms is less horror and more mystery than Frailty but I see now this is a perfect fit. The novel has it’s horror elements including the legend of the Goat Man who provides many moments for Lansdale to show his horror chops. That said this a mystery set against the rural poverty of east Texas in the depression.
I am not a fan of first person narrative, but Lansdale being a master pulls it off to the point of being invisible most of the book. You forget at times this is a story being told by a man in an old folks home. The story works on many levels, as a mystery, an exploration of racism, A coming of age story and the unintended truths uncovered by a mystery.
Is it the most fun I have had reading Lansdale? Probably not I laugh a lot reading Hap and Leonard novels but this is the best Lansdale I’ve read. This is modern classic and a must read novel.
The reason I decided now was the time to read this novel was the news that a film of the Bottoms was on the way. Not only that but it will be written and directed by the team that made Frailty. That movie was the best horror movie of the year it came out and also a serial Killer story set in Texas.
The Bottoms is less horror and more mystery than Frailty but I see now this is a perfect fit. The novel has it’s horror elements including the legend of the Goat Man who provides many moments for Lansdale to show his horror chops. That said this a mystery set against the rural poverty of east Texas in the depression.
I am not a fan of first person narrative, but Lansdale being a master pulls it off to the point of being invisible most of the book. You forget at times this is a story being told by a man in an old folks home. The story works on many levels, as a mystery, an exploration of racism, A coming of age story and the unintended truths uncovered by a mystery.
Is it the most fun I have had reading Lansdale? Probably not I laugh a lot reading Hap and Leonard novels but this is the best Lansdale I’ve read. This is modern classic and a must read novel.
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
East Texas’ version of To Kill a Mockingbird, intertwined with the hunt for a serial killer.
"To Kill a Mockingbird" for adults. I'd like to go back in time and make this movie with the kid from Sling Blade.
Also, if Joe Lansdale's house got broken into, I'd find the people who did it and chop their heads off. That is how much I love Lansdale. After the honor of meeting him at the 2005 WHC in NYC and getting to talk to him for about a half hour, my love for him has multiplied thousandfold.
You got a problem with him, you got a problem with me.
Also, if Joe Lansdale's house got broken into, I'd find the people who did it and chop their heads off. That is how much I love Lansdale. After the honor of meeting him at the 2005 WHC in NYC and getting to talk to him for about a half hour, my love for him has multiplied thousandfold.
You got a problem with him, you got a problem with me.
dark
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The Bottoms by Joe R. Lansdale is a mesmerizing short novel set in Depression-era East Texas. The protagonist, Harry Collins, is an older man recounting his experience as an 11-year-old boy while living on a farm outside of Marvel Creek, near the Sabine River bottoms.
When Harry and his sister, who goes by Tom, discover the corpse of a young black woman tied to a tree in the forest, the children assume it is the work of a figure out of local lore — the Goatman. However, his father — a barber, farmer, and local constable — insists there is no such thing. Yet, the inhuman treatment of the body suggests a different kind of monster, if not the infamous Goatman.
Theories of who killed this woman, a local prostitute, abound during a distinctly amateur investigation. As little progress is made, a very active contingent of the Ku Klux Klan decides to take swifter and more careless action than Harry's father. Meanwhile, the Goatman is still out there, and Harry and Tom have set their sites on exposing a creature they've seen with their own eyes.
Set in a poverty-stricken and racially divided community, Lansdale tells a tale of how people once scraped by in a rugged and less hospitable environment. The story is memorable and authentic, exploring men and women who can be both kind and noble or cruel and vulgar. A surprisingly epic and unforgettable story for its size.
When Harry and his sister, who goes by Tom, discover the corpse of a young black woman tied to a tree in the forest, the children assume it is the work of a figure out of local lore — the Goatman. However, his father — a barber, farmer, and local constable — insists there is no such thing. Yet, the inhuman treatment of the body suggests a different kind of monster, if not the infamous Goatman.
Theories of who killed this woman, a local prostitute, abound during a distinctly amateur investigation. As little progress is made, a very active contingent of the Ku Klux Klan decides to take swifter and more careless action than Harry's father. Meanwhile, the Goatman is still out there, and Harry and Tom have set their sites on exposing a creature they've seen with their own eyes.
Set in a poverty-stricken and racially divided community, Lansdale tells a tale of how people once scraped by in a rugged and less hospitable environment. The story is memorable and authentic, exploring men and women who can be both kind and noble or cruel and vulgar. A surprisingly epic and unforgettable story for its size.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced