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erinphillips613 's review for:
The Auctioneer
by Joan Samson
This book was a slow burn, both literally and figuratively. And upon finishing it, I can see that the style was intentional. To me, this is a horror story about gentrification, how it slowly creeps into a community, gives unelected and unchecked power to the perpetrators, and eventually drags down the people who are powerless to stop it in the end (when they could have stopped it more easily in the beginning, if they had recognized it's coming). It feels like a pretty genius way of tackling the topic and the plot slowly builds and builds, and as you watch it unfold you find yourself saying: now it’s got to stop, that’s too far, no more! It almost feels like a colonial message as well: that those with ancestral ties to the land and landscape were tricked out of it by those aiming for progress (and their own greed). “When your life turns into a lie, the first person you need to deceive is yourself. After that, the rest unravels easy.”
I found myself frustrated for the characters, especially for Mim, who not only felt trapped by the threats of the Auctioneer, but also by the confines of her marriage; she couldn’t do what she felt she needed to in order to keep her family safe because of the stubbornness of her husband.
The afterward in the newest re-publication written by Samson’s husband is charming and also draws a current political parallel, comparing what happens in her novel (written in the 1970s) to the Trump administration. How a smooth talking, convincing crook fooled an entire village into thinking that he was acting in their own best interests, only to have them live in fear, alter their way of life, and turn them violent in the end: “Whatever I’ve done, you’ve let me do.”
As the story began, I didn’t think I liked the book, but upon finishing and reflecting, I can see the allegorical brilliance (despite the, at times, repetitive, slow narrative) and am so sad that we didn’t get to see anything more come from Samson (as she died from cancer soon after finishing this book).
I found myself frustrated for the characters, especially for Mim, who not only felt trapped by the threats of the Auctioneer, but also by the confines of her marriage; she couldn’t do what she felt she needed to in order to keep her family safe because of the stubbornness of her husband.
The afterward in the newest re-publication written by Samson’s husband is charming and also draws a current political parallel, comparing what happens in her novel (written in the 1970s) to the Trump administration. How a smooth talking, convincing crook fooled an entire village into thinking that he was acting in their own best interests, only to have them live in fear, alter their way of life, and turn them violent in the end: “Whatever I’ve done, you’ve let me do.”
As the story began, I didn’t think I liked the book, but upon finishing and reflecting, I can see the allegorical brilliance (despite the, at times, repetitive, slow narrative) and am so sad that we didn’t get to see anything more come from Samson (as she died from cancer soon after finishing this book).