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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
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
Pollock tells an interesting and funny story, filled with an unusual cast of characters, some of whom are likable, but most of whom are not. Similar to other writers in the Souther Gothic tradition, Pollock’s story and most of his characters are off-putting, and at times, this book was a bit too crude and vulgar for me. But the ending was surprisingly quite redeeming; as Pollock notes on one of the last pages of the book: “salvation is sometimes found in the strangest places.”
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There’s something about characters eking out a living, by hook or by crook, in lawless, uncharted lands that makes for good stories. When I heard about The Heavenly Table by Donald Ray Pollock, I was immediately intrigued.
The Heavenly Table begins with two down-and-out families from the American Mid West in 1917: the Fiddlers and the Jewetts. The young Fiddler son runs away, and the father now has to make ends meet with one fewer pair of hands. The Jewetts live in abject poverty, but Pearl, the patriarch, believes that suffering is the price it takes for the family to gain seats at ‘the heavenly table’ in the after life. The book kicks into gear when Pearl passes away, and his three sons go on a crime spree in an attempt to leave poverty behind.
This is also where the quality of the book takes a nose dive. Instead of following the two families on their very different trajectories, which is what the first third of the book does brilliantly, Pollock spends untold amount of time on side characters that have little to do with the two families.
There’s the army lieutenant who’s grappling with his homosexuality; the black drifter running away from the law; the bartender who’s a serial killer; the black pimp who runs a makeshift brothel; the sanitation worker with a huge penis — the list goes on. Also, every random character gets a few paragraphs of backstories. The bank owner gets one, the bank manager gets one, the travelling musicians get one, the store clerk who gets shot gets one, the guy who finds the store clerk’s corpse gets one, the bounty hunters all get one each — it’s the Oprah Winfrey Show all over again.
Ultimately, this book is an unfocused mess written as if by a first-time writer. The ending, too, leaves a lot to be desired.
However, every review that I’ve read so far says that Pollock’s other book, The Devil All the Time, is better, so I wouldn’t waste my time with this one.
There’s something about characters eking out a living, by hook or by crook, in lawless, uncharted lands that makes for good stories. When I heard about The Heavenly Table by Donald Ray Pollock, I was immediately intrigued.
The Heavenly Table begins with two down-and-out families from the American Mid West in 1917: the Fiddlers and the Jewetts. The young Fiddler son runs away, and the father now has to make ends meet with one fewer pair of hands. The Jewetts live in abject poverty, but Pearl, the patriarch, believes that suffering is the price it takes for the family to gain seats at ‘the heavenly table’ in the after life. The book kicks into gear when Pearl passes away, and his three sons go on a crime spree in an attempt to leave poverty behind.
This is also where the quality of the book takes a nose dive. Instead of following the two families on their very different trajectories, which is what the first third of the book does brilliantly, Pollock spends untold amount of time on side characters that have little to do with the two families.
There’s the army lieutenant who’s grappling with his homosexuality; the black drifter running away from the law; the bartender who’s a serial killer; the black pimp who runs a makeshift brothel; the sanitation worker with a huge penis — the list goes on. Also, every random character gets a few paragraphs of backstories. The bank owner gets one, the bank manager gets one, the travelling musicians get one, the store clerk who gets shot gets one, the guy who finds the store clerk’s corpse gets one, the bounty hunters all get one each — it’s the Oprah Winfrey Show all over again.
Ultimately, this book is an unfocused mess written as if by a first-time writer. The ending, too, leaves a lot to be desired.
However, every review that I’ve read so far says that Pollock’s other book, The Devil All the Time, is better, so I wouldn’t waste my time with this one.
This did not seem at all like something I'd be into but I'm so glad it ended up in my hands. I LOVED this. It's very cinematic and grisly and funny and cool, kind of Quentin Tarantino without being so self consciously hip all the time. I'm definitely going to go back and read everything he's done.
I thought Pollock's other work veered too far into the depressing and disgusting. This book finds the line and tells a compelling story.
3.5 stars
If I didn’t know better, I would have thought this book was written by Patrick DeWitt. In fact, it feels as if this story takes place in the same universe as Sisters Brothers.
The Devil all the Time had a massive amount of violence and disturbing content, but it felt like there was a clear purpose to it. With this book it felt like the author included gross sex/grit/violence just for shits and giggles.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed this often funny, gritty story and can still see the strong writing that captured me in his first book but at the same time the story felt a little all over the place.
There are a lot of little side stories that zig zag their way through the novel, but the main focus is on the Jewett brothers, who after the death of their father ride off to make a life for themselves by robbing banks.
All the characters were colourful and vivid, even the itty-bitty characters get the technicolour treatment.
The story is a little shallow in a dark yet entertaining sort of way. It won’t be imprinted on my memory like The Devil all the Time but it was worth the read.
Recommended.
If I didn’t know better, I would have thought this book was written by Patrick DeWitt. In fact, it feels as if this story takes place in the same universe as Sisters Brothers.
The Devil all the Time had a massive amount of violence and disturbing content, but it felt like there was a clear purpose to it. With this book it felt like the author included gross sex/grit/violence just for shits and giggles.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed this often funny, gritty story and can still see the strong writing that captured me in his first book but at the same time the story felt a little all over the place.
There are a lot of little side stories that zig zag their way through the novel, but the main focus is on the Jewett brothers, who after the death of their father ride off to make a life for themselves by robbing banks.
All the characters were colourful and vivid, even the itty-bitty characters get the technicolour treatment.
The story is a little shallow in a dark yet entertaining sort of way. It won’t be imprinted on my memory like The Devil all the Time but it was worth the read.
Recommended.
not quite as daring and gripping as 'The Devil All the Time', and probably not as well written either, but: it's not only gruesome and haunting, it's also quite funny, which is a big + for me.
This is really a 4.5, definitely a great read. Hearkening from the time where folks didn't shower, woke up and put on the same crusty clothes they'd been wearing for months, and went out to do a hard day's work in the woods, it's disgusting and fantastic all at once. Don't read it on your lunch break if you don't want to be surprised by stomach-churning references to eating tadpoles and prostitutes traveling by horse and carriage with their skirts hiked up to air their foul privates. I loved it until the ending, which is true for a lot of books I read, making me wonder if I am subconsciously concocting my own conclusion to the story only to be disappointed when the author presents his own.