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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
Wow. I'm not sure how I can describe this book, except to say that the characters led lives I hope I never do, but I was a very enthralled voyeur into their world. Such fierce emotions, and stark landscape, both emotional and physical. Stay tuned for Tom McNeal's new book, To Be Sung Underwater, coming from Little, Brown in spring 2011.
Not my favorite book but was interesting. At first I thought it was a book about Randall...but then it became a book about Marcy(with a side of Randall)...then I think it was about Dorthy (with a side of Marcy and Randall)..then it was about Lewis and sorta Dorthy...before finishing with being about Randall and Marcy. There were ups and downs....mainly downs. Nebraskans are not hicks is what I want to say after reading this. Marcy traveled to California and was told 'I think of Nebraska as a kind of English-speaking foreign country...All that swaggering and roping and branding.' She responded 'they don't brand so much anymore.' (p242) bam take that?
Well, I feel bad that I didn't like this as much as other people did. Maybe if you are from a small town, it resonates more with you? I felt like some of the details didn't mean anything to the story but were there just for the sake of detail. I wanted this to have a big finish, that all the background I was reading up to that point would come together in some way as to mean something extraordinary. I am giving this 3 and 3/4 stars, I did really love Marcy's parents and their story, even though it ended so tragically. I was turned off by the kind of person Randy began to be and that he would be friends with the guys who hung out at The Eleventh Man bar. Based on his escaping such a dreadful life in Utah, I thought Randy was destined for a better life than that. I was just left with the feeling that living in a small town, you are doomed to live a dreadful life, which I don't think is true. I think the movie Tully, which is based on Tom McNeal's short story, does a much better job of helping you see the beauty of small town living. Having my brother in the movie helps, too (grin).
On one hand, it was a depressing, somewhat cliched look at life in small-town Nebraska. On the other hand, I liked it. There was a sweetness at the end that made the muck OK.
