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A review by treedog669
The Auctioneer by Joan Samson
5.0
It's possible I'm just biased because it's in NH.
The introduction says that it's about the idea that when you move to a new place, you don't get to start fresh — rather, you simply get to retell the same story. I didn't pick up on too much of that in the story (perhaps it'll reveal itself when my bookclub discusses it). I mostly picked up on the abuse that happens when someone asks you to "haze yourself", as they say in the military, because you know the consequences will be worse if you don't. When do fight back? How do you fight back? How much do you take? Will it go away on its own?
The prose is mid-century, with its paragraphs slowly describing settings and its sentences shorter than the ambling prose of yesteryear but longer, more relaxed than what you might find today. But I'm basing this on feeling — nothing concrete.
I was prepared to be unsatisfied with the ending, but it ultimately came together pretty nicely. I think the dialogue could've been done a little differently, maybe the ending scenes could've been paced a little slower, but I'm overall happy with it.
The book is centered on justice: what happens when you endure something that you deem to be unfair, what happens when you see other people enduring unfairness, and how do you change it.
The epilogue by the author's husband (since the author died 5 months after publishing) highlights parallels to Trump. I don't personally see them, but I can understand the linking of the the two with the threads of injustice and unfairness.
The introduction says that it's about the idea that when you move to a new place, you don't get to start fresh — rather, you simply get to retell the same story. I didn't pick up on too much of that in the story (perhaps it'll reveal itself when my bookclub discusses it). I mostly picked up on the abuse that happens when someone asks you to "haze yourself", as they say in the military, because you know the consequences will be worse if you don't. When do fight back? How do you fight back? How much do you take? Will it go away on its own?
The prose is mid-century, with its paragraphs slowly describing settings and its sentences shorter than the ambling prose of yesteryear but longer, more relaxed than what you might find today. But I'm basing this on feeling — nothing concrete.
I was prepared to be unsatisfied with the ending, but it ultimately came together pretty nicely. I think the dialogue could've been done a little differently, maybe the ending scenes could've been paced a little slower, but I'm overall happy with it.
The book is centered on justice: what happens when you endure something that you deem to be unfair, what happens when you see other people enduring unfairness, and how do you change it.
The epilogue by the author's husband (since the author died 5 months after publishing) highlights parallels to Trump. I don't personally see them, but I can understand the linking of the the two with the threads of injustice and unfairness.