She apparently has a short story collection or two out and I'm in two minds as to whether I should check them out.
This isn't much longer than a short story itself. I think it's more of a novella, 150 pages with many blank pages between the very short chapters.
It tells the story of Cy Bellman, a man in wild western times USA who decides to leave his young daughter and travel westwards in search of dinosaurs after he reads and becomes obsessed by a newspaper article about giant bones found in a valley.
The chapters alternate between his travels and the life of Bess - his daughter - on the farmstead.
The prose is pared right back to the absolute minimum, which is a good thing in this instance. His journey stretches for a couple of years and detailed accounts would have become very irritating with the sheer pointlessness of his trip.
It's a very quick read and seems to buzz with layers of metaphor about life's journey. However, because the prose is so sparse, it's difficult to feel any sympathy for the plight of any of the characters. It's certainly impossible to sympatyhise with Bellman. I just thought he was a horrible father, and a rather pompous and stupid character. The motivation we were given for him just wasn't convincing enough to justify what he put himself through.
The two men in the hometown section of the book are suitably creepy with their intentions but I felt no sense of wanting their intended victim to escape. I didn't really care. This section of the story maybe needed more physical depth than the sparing detail we were given.
Having said all that I was really enjoying the read. the pacing was fine, the prose actually quite accomplished. It was reminiscent of Annie Proulx for most of the book. Then the ending came and she let herself down entirely with at least three really stupid coincidences, totally impossible action and a huge and gaping plot hole.
If the ending had been satisfactory, I would have no issue with looking up more of her books. However, when she tanked it he way she did... I'm having major second thoughts.
No comments:
Post a Comment