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A review by taylorklong
The Hawkline Monster by Richard Brautigan
4.0
I read The Hawkline Monster as part of a collection of three of Brautigan's short works, but we're having our book club meeting about this tonight, so I want to put some thoughts down now.
The Hawkline Monster is a book that the enjoyment of which depends a lot on what you read and why. This can be said of a lot of works, sure, but in particular a book like this is going to disappoint or satisfy based on what you come into a book looking for.
When I read, I want to be entertained, first and foremost. This isn't to say that what I read needs to be flashy, just that it needs to hold my interest. I want a good story, and if the story itself is grabbing enough, I'm willing to forgive a lot of other sins or imperfections. If the story is boring, though, see you later, book, I'm out of here (with some rare exceptions).
The Hawkline Monster is a book that entertains. The story of two gunslingers who, upon returning to the contiguous states after a disastrous Hawaii trip, meet a woman nicknamed Magic Child, who implores them to come out to her house and kill a monster that her father created. High jinks ensue.
Brautigan weaves his surreal magic with shots of both absurdist and deadpan humor, and creates a book that feels like the literary equivalent of a Dali painting. He asks the reader to suspend belief and use imagination, and in turn, the reader is rewarded with a story that feels like anything can happen, and is exciting in that Willy Wonka "Where the hell is he taking us?" train ride sort of way (but way less creepy).
So you see, if you want a trajectory that's clearly defined, if your need for order is greater than your appreciation for chaos, then this isn't the kind of thing you're going to dig on.
It's also not necessarily a book that's filled with a ton of deeper meaning, though I don't know that a solely shallow read is entirely fair, either. Brautigan plays a lot with duality - man/man, woman/woman, man/woman, light/dark, good/evil - and subverts some of the traditional concepts at play in those contrasts and comparisons: women as sexual aggressors, light as being bad, etc.
He also toys with traditional concepts in his use of the genres "Gothic Western," in that the standard requirements of each genre is there, but not necessarily in the context that's expected. There's Magic Child, an Indian woman, the setting of the West (specifically Oregon), the gunslingers, talk of hangings and outlaw gangs, but then he takes the vast expanse of the West and stuffs it into the old creepy house of the Gothic, though the house itself isn't particularly medieval or pseudo-medieval, it's just odd and ominous. Ms. Hawkline initially seems like she's set up in the role of the crone with Magic Child as the virtuous (in personality, but not in, uh, the virginal sense so much) woman. The gunslingers might also be the heroes, with the Hawkline Monster as our villain, and there's even a servant (though he doesn't seem dim-witted in any way). The Hawkline Monster isn't one genre stylized as the other so much as it firmly straddles them, or takes pieces of both and throws them into a blinder.
While I got a serious thrill from reading it, I don't know that I'd recommend it to someone as their first Brautigan experience. I'd still give that honor to Trout Fishing in America. With its vaguely autobiographical bent, it gives a stronger sense of Brautigan's voice and personality. The Hawkline Monster is certainly distinct, but it might take some time for the reader to "get" his intent. So for people looking to delve into his works, I'd suggest starting with Trout... over this one - but that said, if you appreciate a little magic and absurdity, this makes for a fine read any day.
The Hawkline Monster is a book that the enjoyment of which depends a lot on what you read and why. This can be said of a lot of works, sure, but in particular a book like this is going to disappoint or satisfy based on what you come into a book looking for.
When I read, I want to be entertained, first and foremost. This isn't to say that what I read needs to be flashy, just that it needs to hold my interest. I want a good story, and if the story itself is grabbing enough, I'm willing to forgive a lot of other sins or imperfections. If the story is boring, though, see you later, book, I'm out of here (with some rare exceptions).
The Hawkline Monster is a book that entertains. The story of two gunslingers who, upon returning to the contiguous states after a disastrous Hawaii trip, meet a woman nicknamed Magic Child, who implores them to come out to her house and kill a monster that her father created. High jinks ensue.
Brautigan weaves his surreal magic with shots of both absurdist and deadpan humor, and creates a book that feels like the literary equivalent of a Dali painting. He asks the reader to suspend belief and use imagination, and in turn, the reader is rewarded with a story that feels like anything can happen, and is exciting in that Willy Wonka "Where the hell is he taking us?" train ride sort of way (but way less creepy).
So you see, if you want a trajectory that's clearly defined, if your need for order is greater than your appreciation for chaos, then this isn't the kind of thing you're going to dig on.
It's also not necessarily a book that's filled with a ton of deeper meaning, though I don't know that a solely shallow read is entirely fair, either. Brautigan plays a lot with duality - man/man, woman/woman, man/woman, light/dark, good/evil - and subverts some of the traditional concepts at play in those contrasts and comparisons: women as sexual aggressors, light as being bad, etc.
He also toys with traditional concepts in his use of the genres "Gothic Western," in that the standard requirements of each genre is there, but not necessarily in the context that's expected. There's Magic Child, an Indian woman, the setting of the West (specifically Oregon), the gunslingers, talk of hangings and outlaw gangs, but then he takes the vast expanse of the West and stuffs it into the old creepy house of the Gothic, though the house itself isn't particularly medieval or pseudo-medieval, it's just odd and ominous. Ms. Hawkline initially seems like she's set up in the role of the crone with Magic Child as the virtuous (in personality, but not in, uh, the virginal sense so much) woman
Spoiler
but then they meld into two versions of the same person, messing with the notion of a division or a contrast of the twoWhile I got a serious thrill from reading it, I don't know that I'd recommend it to someone as their first Brautigan experience. I'd still give that honor to Trout Fishing in America. With its vaguely autobiographical bent, it gives a stronger sense of Brautigan's voice and personality. The Hawkline Monster is certainly distinct, but it might take some time for the reader to "get" his intent. So for people looking to delve into his works, I'd suggest starting with Trout... over this one - but that said, if you appreciate a little magic and absurdity, this makes for a fine read any day.