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obscuredbyclouds's review against another edition
3.0
Willy Vlautin is one of my favourite authors, so it pains me to give his latest novel only 3 stars. Three stars normally for me mean a book is solid but not amazing overall. Here it's different. The first 3/4 of "Don't Skip Out on Me" waver between four and five stars and then... I'm not sure what happened there, but it really didn't work for me at all.
Okay, first the good part - the majority of the novel. Horace Hopper is a 21 year old boy who works and lives on the elder Mr. Reese's ranch. Mr. & Mrs. Reese see him more of a son than a worker, and he sees them in a similar way. He's got a tragic back story. A father who left when he was 3, a mother who left him with her racist grandmother, where he lives until he moves to the ranch. His grandmother constantly reminds him of that being half native American (and half Irish) is not a good thing, so it's little wonder that Horace wants to be someone else. He dreams of becoming a professional Mexican boxer. Despite not speaking any Spanish, he changes his name, throws away all his Slayer CDs and moves to the city to pursue his dreams.
While some of the dialogue felt a bit forced and the main characters are all of so incredibly good and moral, despite life being so horrible to them, overall I loved it. Willy Vlautin is so good at describing working class poverty, setting atmospheric scenes and at making you care about the characters. The boxing scenes and the sheer brutality of the sport was also really intriguing. At the best of times it read like a mixture of a great Bruce Springsteen song and a Carver shortstory. And then...
I don't like happy endings, I'm super open to really tragic heart-breaking endings. So it's not that I'm opposed to on principle. I re-read the last page several times to see if I'd missed something. It was so abrupt and the whole just felt very out of character in the way it was written. I understand it was an act of desperation but it just didn't ring true. I'm not sure what happened on the last page because it also felt really rushed. Maybe Vlautin was going for the shock factor, the "Oh shit no! That can't be right!" moment, which I did experience. But it wasn't in a good way. I put the novel aside and and stared at my fiancé, going "Well, shit. That's... shit." (He was reading "Nineteenth-Century Britain: A Very Short Introduction", so I'm not sure he understood what I was on about...)
I feel, I might have given this a better rating if it was another author, but as it stands it's a good book, but a disappointing one. Maybe I'll like it better when/if I re-visit it, when the ending won't come as such a surprise. It's not just the last two pages, though, the last chapters all felt very constructed. I could see Vlautin sitting in his chair going "Mhm, this is a great start of a novel, but how can I let this end super tragic in less than 100 pages?" Maybe I'm far off and he's had this planned out the whole time, but that still makes me wonder why he decided to change the pacing for the worse. I love the feeling of the first part of the novel - and of most of his other ones. The one where time feels to drag, where the lonely and poor and unfair lives seem to go on forever and ever, and there's no escape.
Oh well.
Okay, first the good part - the majority of the novel. Horace Hopper is a 21 year old boy who works and lives on the elder Mr. Reese's ranch. Mr. & Mrs. Reese see him more of a son than a worker, and he sees them in a similar way. He's got a tragic back story. A father who left when he was 3, a mother who left him with her racist grandmother, where he lives until he moves to the ranch. His grandmother constantly reminds him of that being half native American (and half Irish) is not a good thing, so it's little wonder that Horace wants to be someone else. He dreams of becoming a professional Mexican boxer. Despite not speaking any Spanish, he changes his name, throws away all his Slayer CDs and moves to the city to pursue his dreams.
While some of the dialogue felt a bit forced and the main characters are all of so incredibly good and moral, despite life being so horrible to them, overall I loved it. Willy Vlautin is so good at describing working class poverty, setting atmospheric scenes and at making you care about the characters. The boxing scenes and the sheer brutality of the sport was also really intriguing. At the best of times it read like a mixture of a great Bruce Springsteen song and a Carver shortstory. And then...
I don't like happy endings, I'm super open to really tragic heart-breaking endings. So it's not that I'm opposed to
Spoiler
the main protagonist's deathSpoiler
"claiming to have cancer"-thing Mr. Reese does to get Horace back to the ranchI feel, I might have given this a better rating if it was another author, but as it stands it's a good book, but a disappointing one. Maybe I'll like it better when/if I re-visit it, when the ending won't come as such a surprise. It's not just the last two pages, though, the last chapters all felt very constructed. I could see Vlautin sitting in his chair going "Mhm, this is a great start of a novel, but how can I let this end super tragic in less than 100 pages?" Maybe I'm far off and he's had this planned out the whole time, but that still makes me wonder why he decided to change the pacing for the worse. I love the feeling of the first part of the novel - and of most of his other ones. The one where time feels to drag, where the lonely and poor and unfair lives seem to go on forever and ever, and there's no escape.
Oh well.
bettyvd's review against another edition
4.0
Een boek waarin nu eens wel veel wederzijds begrip wordt getoond, waarin de personages elkaar niet proberen te dwingen, waarin kwetsbaarheid en zorg voor elkaar gevierd worden. En ik heb niks met boksen, maar ik las op het puntje van mijn stoel de matchen van Horace, voor wie kampioen worden zoveel betekent. Enig punt van kritiek: het einde. Het mag slecht gaan en het mag slecht aflopen, geen probleem, maar niet op de allerlaatste pagina! Ik voelde me een beetje bedot door de schrijver, alsof hij het zelf ook niet goed wist en dan maar gedobbeld had over die laatste keuzes.
braxwall's review against another edition
4.0
En skildring från Nevadas utflyttningsbygder. Vi får följa en ung mans sökande efter en plats i tillvaron och försök att förverkliga sina drömmar. Det är en existensiell kamp i samhällets utkanter. Författaren ömmar verkligen för sina karaktärer och det blir därför en väldigt fin skildring trots att det mestadels går i moll. Högst läsvärt!
dberrdy's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Sparse prose, loneliness, a brutal ending.
Easy read and brilliant.
Easy read and brilliant.
tommooney's review against another edition
5.0
DON'T SKIP OUT ON ME by Willy Vlautin.
Thank god for that; I needed a good one. And boy, was it ever a good one. This is Vlautin's masterpiece. All of his books are superb but this is where he tips into Haruf quality.
Horace, a half-white, half-Indian hired hand on a remote Nevada ranch, dreams of another life. He dreams of becoming a champion boxer. So he packs up and leaves his adopted family to head for Tuscan, Arizona, where he adopts the moniker Hector Hidalgo (because all the toughest boxers are Mexican and everyone thinks he's Mex anyway).
What follows is a stunning, heartbreaking meditation on lonliness and identity.
Vlautin must now be one of the greatest American writers and his books would find a happy home on the shelves of all the lovers of Drury, Haruf et al. Bloody read him, or else.
Thank god for that; I needed a good one. And boy, was it ever a good one. This is Vlautin's masterpiece. All of his books are superb but this is where he tips into Haruf quality.
Horace, a half-white, half-Indian hired hand on a remote Nevada ranch, dreams of another life. He dreams of becoming a champion boxer. So he packs up and leaves his adopted family to head for Tuscan, Arizona, where he adopts the moniker Hector Hidalgo (because all the toughest boxers are Mexican and everyone thinks he's Mex anyway).
What follows is a stunning, heartbreaking meditation on lonliness and identity.
Vlautin must now be one of the greatest American writers and his books would find a happy home on the shelves of all the lovers of Drury, Haruf et al. Bloody read him, or else.
arrankrelle's review against another edition
emotional
sad
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
5.0
koozerice's review against another edition
5.0
This book had me crying like a baby. When the words of consolation are "don't worry, he's not real, he's just a character" but his character shows the real life struggles of so many people. And afterwards I had to take some time to show gratitude for the life that I have.
<Spoiler> Can't help but think his willingness to take such beatings in his boxing matches is a way of self harming? </Spoiler>
<Spoiler> Can't help but think his willingness to take such beatings in his boxing matches is a way of self harming? </Spoiler>
robinsbooks's review against another edition
5.0
Vlautin again shows his expert writing skills at creating heartrending (and heart-touching) and believable characters, and to say DON’T SKIP OUT ON ME packs a wallop would almost be an understatement. The beautiful writing and effective use of the stark landscape of Nevada and Arizona add to a memorable reading experience. Book groups will want to add this to their roster and it might also be a good recommendation for older teen boys.
And don't miss the masterful soundtrack of instrumental songs written by Vlautin and his Richmond Fontaine bandmates that comes with the published book and greatly enhances the reading experience.
Willy Vlautin's spare prose and minimalist tone are perfect for fans of Kent Haruf's books such as [b:Plainsong|77156|Plainsong (Plainsong, #1)|Kent Haruf|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388200586s/77156.jpg|1402373] and the sequels.
Note: For anyone shying away from this book because of the boxing (and maybe ranch life) topic, don't. I hate boxing but Vlautin's writing and themes transcended my repugnance for the sport.
Thanks to the publisher for the advance reading copy.
And don't miss the masterful soundtrack of instrumental songs written by Vlautin and his Richmond Fontaine bandmates that comes with the published book and greatly enhances the reading experience.
Willy Vlautin's spare prose and minimalist tone are perfect for fans of Kent Haruf's books such as [b:Plainsong|77156|Plainsong (Plainsong, #1)|Kent Haruf|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388200586s/77156.jpg|1402373] and the sequels.
Note: For anyone shying away from this book because of the boxing (and maybe ranch life) topic, don't. I hate boxing but Vlautin's writing and themes transcended my repugnance for the sport.
Thanks to the publisher for the advance reading copy.