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fablejack's review against another edition
4.0
This was a netgalley ebook that I took a while to read for some reason. I certainly enjoyed the writing and the first third pulled me in and kept me there.
The narrator, father and sister were fascinating and flawed, and their flaws were revealed in such engaging writing with some unique words interspersed which was appropriate given the family's penchant for reading. At times I wondered if the author was showing off with those words, but figured if you've got it, flaunt it. I related to the father's characterization so much through my own experience. And the gothic house they lived in was so intriguing and stood as its own separate character rather than just a backdrop. The book was appropriately literary throughout and it made me want to read more in general, which felt like a gift.
(spoilers ahead...)
Because I enjoyed the first section so much, I was disappointed when the narrator left for college. Something had to happen, of course, for the plot to move on but, honestly, from then on the story seemed a bit more haphazardly pasted together. I wish we could have spent more time with his sister earlier and, later, with his quirky and (almost too) smart and nerdy college friends. Also, Buller! Probably my favorite character.
I think we were supposed to believe the narrator was forever an outsider like his sister, but he seemed to fit in well wherever he went the more he experienced, making friends and drawing people to him. His fascination with the love interest was portrayed in fairly realistic terms of the kind of obsession a crush has at that age, but I can't say I was as interested in that relationship as others even as it developed. I began to feel the novel was trying to cover too much ground. Again, I understand the plot must go on....
Ultimately, I was left feeling rather unresolved about his relationship with his sister Threnody and felt more time/space devoted to that would have been time well spent. I had a lot of "why" questions for her character and answering some, not all, could have left her with some mystery intact. Her big reveal wasn't particularly surprising considering how much the narrator thought about it, which is ok. How it played out in her life wasn't much addressed except through the mother's comments and I was interested.
Overall, very enjoyable and I could have kept reading. I might even say I savored it, especially toward the beginning. If one entire book had focused on the narrator growing up and ended when he left for school, I would have looked forward to reading the second book. As it is, I'll look forward to another book by this author and check it out.
The narrator, father and sister were fascinating and flawed, and their flaws were revealed in such engaging writing with some unique words interspersed which was appropriate given the family's penchant for reading. At times I wondered if the author was showing off with those words, but figured if you've got it, flaunt it. I related to the father's characterization so much through my own experience. And the gothic house they lived in was so intriguing and stood as its own separate character rather than just a backdrop. The book was appropriately literary throughout and it made me want to read more in general, which felt like a gift.
(spoilers ahead...)
Because I enjoyed the first section so much, I was disappointed when the narrator left for college. Something had to happen, of course, for the plot to move on but, honestly, from then on the story seemed a bit more haphazardly pasted together. I wish we could have spent more time with his sister earlier and, later, with his quirky and (almost too) smart and nerdy college friends. Also, Buller! Probably my favorite character.
I think we were supposed to believe the narrator was forever an outsider like his sister, but he seemed to fit in well wherever he went the more he experienced, making friends and drawing people to him. His fascination with the love interest was portrayed in fairly realistic terms of the kind of obsession a crush has at that age, but I can't say I was as interested in that relationship as others even as it developed. I began to feel the novel was trying to cover too much ground. Again, I understand the plot must go on....
Ultimately, I was left feeling rather unresolved about his relationship with his sister Threnody and felt more time/space devoted to that would have been time well spent. I had a lot of "why" questions for her character and answering some, not all, could have left her with some mystery intact. Her big reveal wasn't particularly surprising considering how much the narrator thought about it, which is ok. How it played out in her life wasn't much addressed except through the mother's comments and I was interested.
Overall, very enjoyable and I could have kept reading. I might even say I savored it, especially toward the beginning. If one entire book had focused on the narrator growing up and ended when he left for school, I would have looked forward to reading the second book. As it is, I'll look forward to another book by this author and check it out.
matwolinski's review against another edition
2.0
Nie, nie i nie. Lewis robi najgorszą rzecz – doprasza się o uwagę i uznanie. Jest mnóstwo zdań w tej książce, które krzyczą wręcz „chciałem napisać wielką powieść”.
Nie jest nudno, bo pomysł i konstrukcja są całkiem przyjemne. Niestety wprowadzona konwencja 'southern gothic' nie wytrzymuje materii, rozmywa się gdzieś w trakcie. Podobnie jak język, który chce być, chce pokazać bogactwo, ostatecznie jest pretensjonalny i rozczarowuje. Im bliżej końca, tym gorzej niestety również z fabułą, która zmienia się momentami w ckliwe migawki o zakochaniu.
Nie warto.
Nie jest nudno, bo pomysł i konstrukcja są całkiem przyjemne. Niestety wprowadzona konwencja 'southern gothic' nie wytrzymuje materii, rozmywa się gdzieś w trakcie. Podobnie jak język, który chce być, chce pokazać bogactwo, ostatecznie jest pretensjonalny i rozczarowuje. Im bliżej końca, tym gorzej niestety również z fabułą, która zmienia się momentami w ckliwe migawki o zakochaniu.
Nie warto.
sadrbb's review against another edition
5.0
i think this will be one of those books that stays with me for a while. just the way it handles depression, it was so real. the author, or protagonist i guess, so eloquently portrayed that feeling of not being able to go on, of feeling that you’ve hurt others too much already. at the same time, the reader cannot escape the feelings of also being the one who has lost someone. although, the storyline with story felt very out of place and meaningless. i guess it was supposed to mean that everyone has shit going on in their life, regardless of how perfect they seem. either way, it was a beautiful book
dreesreads's review against another edition
4.0
I struggled to get into this book, but once I did I really liked it. Lewis' writing is somehow very calm--which I think is why I struggled. No matter what might be happening, the writing is calm, the narrator (Henry Jr) almost narrating an out-of-body experience.
Yet, somehow, this really works to evoke a place that Henry describes as a place where people don't trust you if you talk fast. Rural Appalachian North Carolina (or maybe Tennessee? I was never quite sure which state Old Buckram is actually in).
With Henry Sr coming home to raise his family (which is a defeat for him), as Henry leaves for college and law school, accidentally following in his father's footsteps, as he essentially abandons his younger sister Threnody, as he then returns himself—that calm narration moves on. I really do want to know what happens n these characters' lives in their next 10 years. The house? The BOOKS? Does Threnody forgive Henry? Does Henry marry Story? Where does everyone live? ARGH I need more!!
Yet, somehow, this really works to evoke a place that Henry describes as a place where people don't trust you if you talk fast. Rural Appalachian North Carolina (or maybe Tennessee? I was never quite sure which state Old Buckram is actually in).
With Henry Sr coming home to raise his family (which is a defeat for him), as Henry leaves for college and law school, accidentally following in his father's footsteps, as he essentially abandons his younger sister Threnody, as he then returns himself—that calm narration moves on. I really do want to know what happens n these characters' lives in their next 10 years. The house? The BOOKS? Does Threnody forgive Henry? Does Henry marry Story? Where does everyone live? ARGH I need more!!
kazemiko's review against another edition
5.0
I was unsure of this book when I first started it. It was full of words that you wouldn't know unless you grew up with a hobby of reading the dictionary in your spare time. He eventually does overcome this and stop using words that the common reader will not understand.
I wondered why it was stressed that his father had become a lawyer was. It was never actually touched upon besides in references to his father's past as a lawyer. Before Henry L. Aster became the reclusive writer that he was, he was a lawyer for a little firm in Old Buckram. I didn't know why it was important.
The story was rather irrelevant almost until about 200 pages in. It was mostly random description that seemed to have very little to do with anything else. Once it got to the part where the father actually vanished from their lives, it picked up.
Henry, named after his father, spent years reading in his father's study. They would periodically go on adventures up in the woods before the death of his grandmother and his father's subsequent isolation and further alcohol abuse. One day their father just left. There was no proper explanation for it and they didn't know where he had gone. Not long after that, Henry left for college.
He went in for music then when he graduated, he went to law school. This decision paralleled one made nearly twenty years earlier by his father, who had first gone to college for something else and ended up as a lawyer. Much like his father before him, Henry even ended up working at the same law office.
I enjoyed the story. The way Phillip Lewis told it as though it were happening in real time and then in the past at the same time was a nice way to do it. I also liked the inclusion of Story's...well...story, as part of the narrative instead of a huge block of italics very good. It's definitely not clear what happened to his father. I think I guessed it back when we were introduced to his second sister. The story between Henry and Story was very near what happened with his parents. I just wish that we were told what actually happened to Henry, Story, and Threnody.
I rated this story a 5/5 and I would probably re-read it. I've already suggested friends to read it.
I wondered why it was stressed that his father had become a lawyer was. It was never actually touched upon besides in references to his father's past as a lawyer. Before Henry L. Aster became the reclusive writer that he was, he was a lawyer for a little firm in Old Buckram. I didn't know why it was important.
The story was rather irrelevant almost until about 200 pages in. It was mostly random description that seemed to have very little to do with anything else. Once it got to the part where the father actually vanished from their lives, it picked up.
Henry, named after his father, spent years reading in his father's study. They would periodically go on adventures up in the woods before the death of his grandmother and his father's subsequent isolation and further alcohol abuse. One day their father just left. There was no proper explanation for it and they didn't know where he had gone. Not long after that, Henry left for college.
He went in for music then when he graduated, he went to law school. This decision paralleled one made nearly twenty years earlier by his father, who had first gone to college for something else and ended up as a lawyer. Much like his father before him, Henry even ended up working at the same law office.
I enjoyed the story. The way Phillip Lewis told it as though it were happening in real time and then in the past at the same time was a nice way to do it. I also liked the inclusion of Story's...well...story, as part of the narrative instead of a huge block of italics very good. It's definitely not clear what happened to his father. I think I guessed it back when we were introduced to his second sister. The story between Henry and Story was very near what happened with his parents. I just wish that we were told what actually happened to Henry, Story, and Threnody.
I rated this story a 5/5 and I would probably re-read it. I've already suggested friends to read it.
aribookie's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars. Why did it end so abruptly? Also, still kind of wondering what happened in this book. But it was beautifully written.
gretel7's review against another edition
3.0
I received this ARC from netgalley.com in exchange for a review.
Set in current day in a small Appalachian town in North Carolina, Henry grows up at the foot of his father's writing desk. Tradegy tips his father 'over the edge' and we watch this family unravel.
From the description ... "Mythic in its sweep and mesmeric in its prose" ... in my opinion the writing is voluminous, capacious. "Cadaverous ambience" is just a small example that made me chortle. Too many words describing a very minute thing.
Watching a family spiraling down in a free fall makes good reading. Overall, the story was interesting. The writing was a bit over the top for my taste.
3 ☆
Set in current day in a small Appalachian town in North Carolina, Henry grows up at the foot of his father's writing desk. Tradegy tips his father 'over the edge' and we watch this family unravel.
From the description ... "Mythic in its sweep and mesmeric in its prose" ... in my opinion the writing is voluminous, capacious. "Cadaverous ambience" is just a small example that made me chortle. Too many words describing a very minute thing.
Watching a family spiraling down in a free fall makes good reading. Overall, the story was interesting. The writing was a bit over the top for my taste.
3 ☆
janp's review
2.0
Don't waste your time, unless you like dark and dreary books about bright but highly dysfunctional
families who wallow in their misery.
families who wallow in their misery.
riversong's review
4.0
This is a brilliant debut novel that tells a multi-generational story about a family. I'm still reeling from all the emotions it made me feel.You can trace the family dysfunction from through each generation. It definitely provokes commentary about child rearing and family life. Lewis' use of Henry as a narrator tugs at your heart so much at times you want to put the book down. The trouble is you keep picking it back up because you want to know what happens. There are a couple of twists in the story that don't necessarily knock your socks off, but they do answer questions that brew as soon as you're in the story. In the end, this was a great read and I could see myself re-reading again and again.This is a beautiful story from beginning to end. Read More
kaybee435b2's review
3.0
I received an ARC of this book from the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program.
‘The Barrowfields’ is a debut novel in the literary gothic tradition from Phillip Lewis, a writer and lawyer from North Carolina. Set in current times in a dark and brooding Appalachian landscape, it tells a story of a brilliant but failed writer and his family. Told from the view of his son, Henry, it has moments of true eeriness, some warm and romantic interludes, and tragedy that is finally elucidated late in the story. I really loved the amazing, detailed descriptions of the “monstrous gothic skeleton” family home, especially the vast library. Book lover’s dream! Lewis does a good job of walking us through this enormous and complicated, horrible structure. However, I had a more difficult time understanding the motivations and actions of the people in the novel, especially the female characters. Henry and his father are flawed but described well; his mother, sister, and girlfriend just seemed flat and formulaic in some ways. I feel that this book could use some expert editing. For me, the impact of the writing style was bumpy and segues were uneven as Henry progressed through his life. It was a relief to land at the denouement of this brooding narrative.
‘The Barrowfields’ is a debut novel in the literary gothic tradition from Phillip Lewis, a writer and lawyer from North Carolina. Set in current times in a dark and brooding Appalachian landscape, it tells a story of a brilliant but failed writer and his family. Told from the view of his son, Henry, it has moments of true eeriness, some warm and romantic interludes, and tragedy that is finally elucidated late in the story. I really loved the amazing, detailed descriptions of the “monstrous gothic skeleton” family home, especially the vast library. Book lover’s dream! Lewis does a good job of walking us through this enormous and complicated, horrible structure. However, I had a more difficult time understanding the motivations and actions of the people in the novel, especially the female characters. Henry and his father are flawed but described well; his mother, sister, and girlfriend just seemed flat and formulaic in some ways. I feel that this book could use some expert editing. For me, the impact of the writing style was bumpy and segues were uneven as Henry progressed through his life. It was a relief to land at the denouement of this brooding narrative.