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nnyam33's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Well, to start, it's a great book to indulge in if you're curious about how a southerner lives. Though it can be very confusing when the characters are talking. Just a heads up, the author did use slurs such as N-word and the C word slurs (multiple time C words were used)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
Moderate: Ableism
Minor: Racism
wemedgeway's review against another edition
5.0
Another book I read slowly to savor. Strange story, memorable characters, and some beautiful writing.
A great book for aspiring authors to absorb.
A great book for aspiring authors to absorb.
ktrusty416's review against another edition
5.0
Felt like I was in a beautiful, slightly out of focus film. An amazing, sensory experience - smells, and sounds and the feel of things... I can't even rightly say what I loved about this book but I wish I'd written it.
pybrarian's review against another edition
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
matthew_p's review against another edition
2.0
Gay clearly has an intimate understanding of life in small town Tennessee, although sometimes the writing didn't do justice to his understanding. Provinces of Night also lacked a strong sense of place, which I think would be necessary to fully capture the lives of the characters. I enjoyed it, but wish it had been a littler "meatier."
kiwi_fruit's review against another edition
3.0
Southern lit. It starts slow and was confusing at first, I had difficulty in following the characters and connecting them to each other, but I was hooked on the beautiful descriptive language, as it puts a spell on you:
“The wind was at the trees like something alive and faint light quaked and died, flared and diminished far to the west and he held his breath waiting for the thunder. It finally came, so faint it was like a dream of thunder, a hoarse incoherent whisper, just a madman mumbling to himself in the eaves of the world.”
Gay's humor compensates the darkness of this gothic novel, the episode with the hog was hilarious!
I listened to the audio version by Dick Hill, which was great, his voice magically evokes the South for me.
“The wind was at the trees like something alive and faint light quaked and died, flared and diminished far to the west and he held his breath waiting for the thunder. It finally came, so faint it was like a dream of thunder, a hoarse incoherent whisper, just a madman mumbling to himself in the eaves of the world.”
Gay's humor compensates the darkness of this gothic novel, the episode with the hog was hilarious!
I listened to the audio version by Dick Hill, which was great, his voice magically evokes the South for me.
djrmelvin's review against another edition
5.0
I finished reading this book five days ago, and I am still thinking about what happened after the book ended. I've started and finished other books since then, and as I've read them, I've wondered how the characters of this book would have fit in to other stories. I wonder how the characters of these new books would have interacted with the Bloodworth family. How would they have fit in that tough little corner of south western Tennessee? William Gay is such a good story teller that his people and places will stay with you for a long, long time.
The jacket flap of this book will lead you to believe that this is a story of a father returning and the three sons that he never connected with during the hit and miss years he did live at home. It's not that story. This is the story of the grandson, Fleming, a young man who can not catch a break. Fleming dreams of being a writer (perhaps a bit of autobiographical writing for Gay?), and most of the story is told through his eyes. He is an observer, a kid who prefers to live on the edge and observe what goes on around him. Eventually, through the absence of his own father, the return of the grandfather he never met, and the ongoing presence an amazing (and never extraneous) supporting characters, Fleming decides to go "out among them". The story weaves and turns, characters are introduced and then dropped, but in the end, everything is brought back together believably. There are very sad parts to the whole story (even the creepy prologue isn't there just for atmosphere). Depending on your opinion of Fleming's reaction to all that has happened to him and his family, the ending is either sad or a window opening. Either way you look at it, the story will stay with you.
The jacket flap of this book will lead you to believe that this is a story of a father returning and the three sons that he never connected with during the hit and miss years he did live at home. It's not that story. This is the story of the grandson, Fleming, a young man who can not catch a break. Fleming dreams of being a writer (perhaps a bit of autobiographical writing for Gay?), and most of the story is told through his eyes. He is an observer, a kid who prefers to live on the edge and observe what goes on around him. Eventually, through the absence of his own father, the return of the grandfather he never met, and the ongoing presence an amazing (and never extraneous) supporting characters, Fleming decides to go "out among them". The story weaves and turns, characters are introduced and then dropped, but in the end, everything is brought back together believably. There are very sad parts to the whole story (even the creepy prologue isn't there just for atmosphere). Depending on your opinion of Fleming's reaction to all that has happened to him and his family, the ending is either sad or a window opening. Either way you look at it, the story will stay with you.
daaan's review against another edition
1.0
I'm willing to give this another go, it may be down to mood or ability to concentrate (this fought for attention with my 6 month old daughter), but I found this dull. The first 2 pages made a big promise that something bad on the way. Then for the next 30 I just could not find a reason to care about anything happening, none of the actions seemed to hold any significance, they were just a bleak painting. I find that I can't really get into a book if none of the characters have "colour", and by that I mean that they feel like a real person. I find unrelentingly bleak and/or serious characters colourless. If that makes up the whole cast, I get really bored really quickly.