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A review by h2oetry
The Origin of the Brunists by Robert Coover
5.0
In the novel, a small town, West Condon, is tossed into a frenzy when Deepwater Number Nine Coalmine collapses. Scores of lives are lost. Families torn apart. Religious congregations are forced to reorder hierarchy. Newspapers, unions, mystics, out-of-towners: they all want to be able to define the disaster on their own terms. Meanwhile, the city of West Condon suffers and tries to cope.
Filling the void of disaster is a rare moment in which a community can forge a new identity. It’s made far easier when a story or myth can back up the new identity. In many cases a disaster is simply book-ended with another disaster, or -- as it is called more often -- an apocalypse. End of the World dynamics have been at play pretty much since humans felt that Another Side was speaking to Them.
When an Event lacks answers, it is more difficult to question the interpretations growing out from it. Swindlers of all kinds have a heyday: money is to be had, minds are to be manipulated, heroism is to be retroactive, martyrs abound. West Condon was ripe for a paradigm shift with the coal mine collapse. Many succumbed. A new religion was formed, a prophet provided a mantle. All of these things were made possible by the first tragedy in the coal mine.
Angelo Moroni, a character from the novel that was working in the mine, is a name embedded deeply into Mormon mythology. Indeed, it was Angel Moroni(muh-ROW-nye), who was said to have appeared in visions to the imaginative, young Joseph Smith in the early 1800s to lead him toward his Gold Plates from which he said he transcribed the Book of Mormon, the Latter-day Saint scripture which serves as the keystone to the most American of all religions.[***footnote]
Everyone in the town is eager to see what will happen; all eyes and minds are transfixed on either the What Has or What Will on the happenings. In “Origin of the Brunists,” we see this even in the traffic -- when the coal mine collapses, the streets are jam packed, keeping even rescuers and responders from arriving in proper time. Fast forward to another, later Event on the mountain -- where the purported End of the World is said to be ushered in -- and the streets are similarly packed, perhaps with the same curious people fueled with similar denial and intrigue. I don’t want to reveal too much, but the parallels of the Events are striking, booming, Other-Worldly.
With this being his first novel, it’s no wonder that Robert Coover has maintained an acclaimed writing career. I am very antsy to get my hands on the sequel to this novel, which is in the final stages of publication. It has been a long road -- The Origin of the Brunists was published nearly 50 years ago in 1966. The story stands well alone, but could have wonderful results when we find out what else has gone on in West Condon since we last heard dispatches from the malleable folks.
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[***footnote] Angelo isn’t in very many scenes -- he succumbs to the early mine disaster, he was a boss -- but it is alluded that he tried with Pilate-like lukewarmness to prevent such disasters by demanding that his workers not smoke in the mines, for fear of sparking the gas from the mine’s crevasses. There’s perhaps more to this train of thought, and that is why I make note of it here. Anyone who has seen the top of a Mormon temple has seen a figure in gold blowing a trumpet facing east, essentially a heavenly version of the Jerry West NBA logo. This figure is Angel Moroni. He sounds his cry of warning to all that will listen, and alas, most either refuse to listen. I am trying to find allusions to this in scholarly work -- writer Brian Evenson has written on Coover’s works and might be the best source since he grew up Mormon(as did I). I contacted him to ask his thoughts if he’ll oblige. I think there is a lot going on in this novel that might be passed over with a pedestrian read, because the narrative is so straightforward. You don’t need to know that Angelo Moroni has Mormon significance to gain much from the story, but I imagine a writer like Coover doesn’t just pepper his works with happenstance for the hell of it. As soon as I hear a response from Brian Evenson -- if he does respond -- then I will update the review.
Filling the void of disaster is a rare moment in which a community can forge a new identity. It’s made far easier when a story or myth can back up the new identity. In many cases a disaster is simply book-ended with another disaster, or -- as it is called more often -- an apocalypse. End of the World dynamics have been at play pretty much since humans felt that Another Side was speaking to Them.
When an Event lacks answers, it is more difficult to question the interpretations growing out from it. Swindlers of all kinds have a heyday: money is to be had, minds are to be manipulated, heroism is to be retroactive, martyrs abound. West Condon was ripe for a paradigm shift with the coal mine collapse. Many succumbed. A new religion was formed, a prophet provided a mantle. All of these things were made possible by the first tragedy in the coal mine.
Angelo Moroni, a character from the novel that was working in the mine, is a name embedded deeply into Mormon mythology. Indeed, it was Angel Moroni(muh-ROW-nye), who was said to have appeared in visions to the imaginative, young Joseph Smith in the early 1800s to lead him toward his Gold Plates from which he said he transcribed the Book of Mormon, the Latter-day Saint scripture which serves as the keystone to the most American of all religions.[***footnote]
Everyone in the town is eager to see what will happen; all eyes and minds are transfixed on either the What Has or What Will on the happenings. In “Origin of the Brunists,” we see this even in the traffic -- when the coal mine collapses, the streets are jam packed, keeping even rescuers and responders from arriving in proper time. Fast forward to another, later Event on the mountain -- where the purported End of the World is said to be ushered in -- and the streets are similarly packed, perhaps with the same curious people fueled with similar denial and intrigue. I don’t want to reveal too much, but the parallels of the Events are striking, booming, Other-Worldly.
With this being his first novel, it’s no wonder that Robert Coover has maintained an acclaimed writing career. I am very antsy to get my hands on the sequel to this novel, which is in the final stages of publication. It has been a long road -- The Origin of the Brunists was published nearly 50 years ago in 1966. The story stands well alone, but could have wonderful results when we find out what else has gone on in West Condon since we last heard dispatches from the malleable folks.
:::::::::::::
:::::::::::::
[***footnote] Angelo isn’t in very many scenes -- he succumbs to the early mine disaster, he was a boss -- but it is alluded that he tried with Pilate-like lukewarmness to prevent such disasters by demanding that his workers not smoke in the mines, for fear of sparking the gas from the mine’s crevasses. There’s perhaps more to this train of thought, and that is why I make note of it here. Anyone who has seen the top of a Mormon temple has seen a figure in gold blowing a trumpet facing east, essentially a heavenly version of the Jerry West NBA logo. This figure is Angel Moroni. He sounds his cry of warning to all that will listen, and alas, most either refuse to listen. I am trying to find allusions to this in scholarly work -- writer Brian Evenson has written on Coover’s works and might be the best source since he grew up Mormon(as did I). I contacted him to ask his thoughts if he’ll oblige. I think there is a lot going on in this novel that might be passed over with a pedestrian read, because the narrative is so straightforward. You don’t need to know that Angelo Moroni has Mormon significance to gain much from the story, but I imagine a writer like Coover doesn’t just pepper his works with happenstance for the hell of it. As soon as I hear a response from Brian Evenson -- if he does respond -- then I will update the review.