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A review by nuts246
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Demon Copperhead is another of the books that I have been wanting to read for a long time but kept putting off because I thought I would be able to better appreciate it after re-reading David Copperfield. I am glad I didn't plunge in directly, because drawing parallels with the Dickens classic certainly added a whole new dimension to the book. This is not a retelling of the classic as much as it is a reimaging of the tale in modern times. The author has taken a few liberties with the plot, but is is fascinating to see how little things have changed in centuries between the two books.
Demon Copperhead is born in Hill Country, Virginia to a mother who is a substance addict. Mother and son, with a lot of help from their kindly Hillybilly neighbours manage to bumble along with him cleaning up her vomit and getting her to work on time, till she gets married to a man who wants to rule the household with violence. A series of unfortunate events lead to him being thrust into the foster system. He survives all the exploitation, neglect and violence thrown at him, making a few friends along the way. Things change in middle school where he is scouted for the high school football team, and declared "gifted and talented" because of his artistic skills. By then, however almost the entire population has got addicted to prescription drugs because of the unsavoury tactics adopted by Big Pharma, and Demon's life once again spirals out of control.
Demon's voice, in the first part of the book was very authentic, and at times I caught myself wondering how a middle aged woman could write a young boy so convincingly. His resilience in the face of all odds was almost inspiring, which is perhaps what made his subsequent downward spiral so painful to witness. How could the young boy who survived so much let himself be pulled down the way he was? Was it inevitable, given the circumstances of his birth and the environment he was growing up in?
The latter part of the book became almost philosophical. Was capitalism deliberately keeping the "red necks" down because it suited their purpose to have an undereducated and pliable population of potential labourours? Who would take accountability for the spread of substance addiction through prescription drugs drugs among the working class? Were politicians deliberately trying to force people to move from the country side with its "land economy" to the cities where they would be slaves to a "money economy".
In the book, there are references to the need for the 'hillbillies' to tell their own story to the world. It is clear that the author is hoping that this might be "The Great Hillbilly Novel". While it is certainly a story of epic proportions, I got the feeling that the author was trying to hard. The book was Good, but not quite Great.
Demon Copperhead is born in Hill Country, Virginia to a mother who is a substance addict. Mother and son, with a lot of help from their kindly Hillybilly neighbours manage to bumble along with him cleaning up her vomit and getting her to work on time, till she gets married to a man who wants to rule the household with violence. A series of unfortunate events lead to him being thrust into the foster system. He survives all the exploitation, neglect and violence thrown at him, making a few friends along the way. Things change in middle school where he is scouted for the high school football team, and declared "gifted and talented" because of his artistic skills. By then, however almost the entire population has got addicted to prescription drugs because of the unsavoury tactics adopted by Big Pharma, and Demon's life once again spirals out of control.
Demon's voice, in the first part of the book was very authentic, and at times I caught myself wondering how a middle aged woman could write a young boy so convincingly. His resilience in the face of all odds was almost inspiring, which is perhaps what made his subsequent downward spiral so painful to witness. How could the young boy who survived so much let himself be pulled down the way he was? Was it inevitable, given the circumstances of his birth and the environment he was growing up in?
The latter part of the book became almost philosophical. Was capitalism deliberately keeping the "red necks" down because it suited their purpose to have an undereducated and pliable population of potential labourours? Who would take accountability for the spread of substance addiction through prescription drugs drugs among the working class? Were politicians deliberately trying to force people to move from the country side with its "land economy" to the cities where they would be slaves to a "money economy".
In the book, there are references to the need for the 'hillbillies' to tell their own story to the world. It is clear that the author is hoping that this might be "The Great Hillbilly Novel". While it is certainly a story of epic proportions, I got the feeling that the author was trying to hard. The book was Good, but not quite Great.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail