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Title: Affliction by Russell Banks ISBN: 0-06-092007-6 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 26 September, 1990 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.52 (42 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Slow start, leave-you-hanging end, but meaty middle!!
Comment: I just finished reading this book, mere weeks before the movie version is to be released (The Sweet Hereafter transfered nicely to the big screen, looking forward to Nolte's interpretation of Wade). Therefore, I think it's appropriate to post a review of the book BEFORE I see the movie.
Affliction, especially for Banks fans, is a must read. But a little warning: be patient with the first 5 chapters or so. One could pratically start with the 6th chapter and not miss much more than scenery, a little background and father-daughter tension that is more than reiterated later. That said, the slow-start hurdle was more than worth it, soon finding myself an invisible and helpless spectator to Wade Whitehouse's predicament-laden day to day life in his small northern NH hometown. Though the book covers only a couple of weeks time, you're provided with enough flashbacks (courtesy of Wade's brother Rolfe, the narrarator) and insight to the tension within the pitiful Whitehouse family to feel like you've grown up in Lawford right along with Wade. A toothache, trouble over custody of his daughter, drilling wells and directing school bus traffic as the town "cop" for wages next to nothing, and--along with his father--an unending need for alcohol, all threaten to drive Wade over the edge as he suspects a conspiracy taking place stemming from what he thinks was a murder neatly covered up as a local hunting "accident". It's Wade's ignorant determination to get to the bottom of it all that makes you want to buy him a plane ticket out of Lawford, give him a job and an apartment, and help him start over. But then you remember that it's just a book.
Banks' pacing can be frustrating, and at times the assumptions made by Wade's brother Rolfe the storyteller--from his "investigation" of the incident--seem far too detailed and insightful to be realistic. But his ability to pull you into Wade's world of frustration culminating into violent anger over circumstances he's unable to control makes it all excusable, as well as finding it in your heart to forgive the author for a second-rate ending.
Rating: 5
Summary: A book that transcends the boundaries of fiction.
Comment: In Affliction, Banks tells a page turning story that seems more and more realistic as the story progresses. Banks effectively relates the message that those who have been afflicted by family violence find it nearly impossible to form sustainable relationships with others. Wade Whitehouse unfortunately represents a common character in our world, one who has been plagued by the sins of his father and cannot find a way to move on with his life. The ending is climactic and does not leave the reader with any regrets. The movie does a good job of sticking with the book, however the book is more haunting and real. Read the book first before seeing the movie.
Rating: 4
Summary: Stands up there with the best of American Literature
Comment: Wade Whitehouse--Quite possibly one of the most tragic and memorable protagonists in 20th century literature. Aside from the early chapter that gives a long-winded historical account of Wade's small town, the novel is flawless in every way. Extremly well-written and rich in dramatic tension, suspense, Multi-dimentional characters and a steadily climaxing plot, Affliction is one of the best American novels to come forth in the late 20th century.
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Title: Sweet Hereafter Movie Tie-In : A Novel by Russell Banks ISBN: 0060923245 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 05 August, 1992 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Continental Drift by Russell Banks ISBN: 0060956739 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 01 June, 2000 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: Cloudsplitter : A Novel by Russell Banks ISBN: 0060930861 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 01 February, 1999 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
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Title: Rule of the Bone : Novel, A by Russell Banks ISBN: 0060927240 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 08 May, 1996 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: The Beans of Egypt, Maine: The Finished Version by Carolyn Chute ISBN: 0156001888 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: March, 1995 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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