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A review by bookslovejenna
The Octopus: A Story of California by Kevin Starr, Frank Norris
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Five things about The Octopus by Frank Norris 5/5⭐️s
1. “You are all broken, all cast down by what you have seen in this valley, this hopeless struggle, this apparently hopeless despair. Well, the end is not yet. What is it that remains after all is over, after the dead are buried and the hearts are broken? Look at it all from the vast height of humanity… What remains? Men perish, men are corrupted, hearts are rent asunder, but what remains untouched, unassailable, undefiled? Try to find that, not only in this but in every crisis of the world’s life, and you will find, if your view be large enough, that it is not evil, but good that in the end remains.”
2. In conceptualizing the Wheat Trilogy, of which The Octopus is the first part, Norris said, “ I think a big epic trilogy could be made out of such a subject, but at the same time would be modern and distinctly American. The idea is so big that it frightens me at times but I have about made up my mind to have a try at it.” And wow! It IS modern. It IS big. It is written in spacious prose. Long and blue like the California sky. Norris somehow managed to accomplish an expansive and abundant prose. It IS thoroughly American in all the positive and negative ways you can imagine of a book coming from 1901.
3. This book took me by storm. I laughed. I cried. I actually chanted “no, no, no…” and read whole portions with my breath held. If not for some dated language around women and immigrants you could easily believe this book was written just decades ago. It definitely doesn’t feel 120 years old. So much of it is so applicable to our own contemporary struggle as a country.
4. This book defies the notion that a single genre label will fit. It is magical realism, romance, western, social commentary, morality tale, revenge fiction, comedy, tragedy, and historical fiction all at once.
5. Above all, it is a beautiful and gripping read. I feel like I knew these men and women. I feel like I’ve lost them. If you’re book hangover adverse…maybe stay clear of this deliciously consumable read. It requires much from you that you don’t realize you are giving, until there’s only 200 pages left and you’re so committed you can hear the bullets whizzing past you as you sit on your sofa in despair- knowing how it all will inevitably end. But it’s not over. There’s so much more.
6. I can’t wait to get my hands on the second book in this trilogy. Chicago.
7. Gah! Frank Norris! Why did I wait so long to read you?
1. “You are all broken, all cast down by what you have seen in this valley, this hopeless struggle, this apparently hopeless despair. Well, the end is not yet. What is it that remains after all is over, after the dead are buried and the hearts are broken? Look at it all from the vast height of humanity… What remains? Men perish, men are corrupted, hearts are rent asunder, but what remains untouched, unassailable, undefiled? Try to find that, not only in this but in every crisis of the world’s life, and you will find, if your view be large enough, that it is not evil, but good that in the end remains.”
2. In conceptualizing the Wheat Trilogy, of which The Octopus is the first part, Norris said, “ I think a big epic trilogy could be made out of such a subject, but at the same time would be modern and distinctly American. The idea is so big that it frightens me at times but I have about made up my mind to have a try at it.” And wow! It IS modern. It IS big. It is written in spacious prose. Long and blue like the California sky. Norris somehow managed to accomplish an expansive and abundant prose. It IS thoroughly American in all the positive and negative ways you can imagine of a book coming from 1901.
3. This book took me by storm. I laughed. I cried. I actually chanted “no, no, no…” and read whole portions with my breath held. If not for some dated language around women and immigrants you could easily believe this book was written just decades ago. It definitely doesn’t feel 120 years old. So much of it is so applicable to our own contemporary struggle as a country.
4. This book defies the notion that a single genre label will fit. It is magical realism, romance, western, social commentary, morality tale, revenge fiction, comedy, tragedy, and historical fiction all at once.
5. Above all, it is a beautiful and gripping read. I feel like I knew these men and women. I feel like I’ve lost them. If you’re book hangover adverse…maybe stay clear of this deliciously consumable read. It requires much from you that you don’t realize you are giving, until there’s only 200 pages left and you’re so committed you can hear the bullets whizzing past you as you sit on your sofa in despair- knowing how it all will inevitably end. But it’s not over. There’s so much more.
6. I can’t wait to get my hands on the second book in this trilogy. Chicago.
7. Gah! Frank Norris! Why did I wait so long to read you?