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A review by hazelisreading
Citrus County by John Brandon
4.0
I called Second and Charles, a store of used books, CDs and other things. I wanted a copy of Citrus County, specifically a used, maybe even beat up, copy with yellowed pages. That's a requirement.
They didn't have it in stock, but the bookseller said, "Yea, I liked that book, but I'm not sure why."
Yes. That's how you explain this book. You like it, but you don't know why. This isn't a novel that you like per se. The story is just as it describes the entirety of Citrus County, Florida: unimpressive in a noteworthy way. But that's just it--it is impressive. It's subtly impressive. Unlike the last sort of Southern Gothic I read, The Serpent King, this novel doesn't spoon feed you meaning. It's just sitting there for you to pick up or ignore while captivating you with it's seemingly unremarkable though uncanny cast of characters. That's why I needed that yellowed copy because I have a borrowed digital copy I can't write notes in, but I want to pick up the meaning. I want to carve it out because this book was impressive in a noteworthy way, but I can't tell you exactly why.
Yet.
All I can say is that it's about life happening to *you* and all around *you* simultaneously for reasons that can't be comprehended because we live forwards instead of backwards, walking blindly into the future, just as we were (possibly) meant to no matter how unfair it seems.
They didn't have it in stock, but the bookseller said, "Yea, I liked that book, but I'm not sure why."
Yes. That's how you explain this book. You like it, but you don't know why. This isn't a novel that you like per se. The story is just as it describes the entirety of Citrus County, Florida: unimpressive in a noteworthy way. But that's just it--it is impressive. It's subtly impressive. Unlike the last sort of Southern Gothic I read, The Serpent King, this novel doesn't spoon feed you meaning. It's just sitting there for you to pick up or ignore while captivating you with it's seemingly unremarkable though uncanny cast of characters. That's why I needed that yellowed copy because I have a borrowed digital copy I can't write notes in, but I want to pick up the meaning. I want to carve it out because this book was impressive in a noteworthy way, but I can't tell you exactly why.
Yet.
All I can say is that it's about life happening to *you* and all around *you* simultaneously for reasons that can't be comprehended because we live forwards instead of backwards, walking blindly into the future, just as we were (possibly) meant to no matter how unfair it seems.