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Title: WINTER BIRDS: A Novel by Jim Grimsley ISBN: 0-684-82991-6 Publisher: Touchstone Books Pub. Date: 01 January, 1997 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.68 (19 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: very, very grim
Comment: This book, a cringing, nightmarish, too-violent-to-not-be-real heart wrencher, is nevertheless beautiful and extremely transfixing. The story is told in an eerie second-person narrative by Danny Crell, one of five children in a family with an unbelievably abusive alcoholic father.
At the beginning of the book after meeting Danny's brothers (one of whom is a hemophiliac like himself), the reader is also introduced to Danny's fantasy world near the river adjacent to the family home (dubbed "the circle house" due to its spherical path of doors). Danny has imagined for himself a kind and attentive father he calls The River Man, who is described to appear somewhat like bigfoot. As the stories of abuse begin in flashback form, we see very little of Danny's River Man, yet it sometimes feels as though the story is being told by him: "Even with a new baby she watched you every minute, Danny, and you never stepped out of the house without her warning you to be careful."
The novel culminates on Thanksgiving Day with unimaginable horror and a final act no one would suspect. The resolution I was hoping for never arrived, perhaps making the work even more realistic. A devastating book, but one worth reading. I look forward to reading Jim Grimsley's other novels.
Rating: 5
Summary: Beautiful and Haunting
Comment: Although only 200 pages, this book packs an emotional wallop that is unforgettable and stays with you for days. Danny Crell (whose later life is featured in Mr. Grimsley's Comfort and Joy) tells his story of family abuse as if in a long dream. Highly recommended with a truly shocking ending.
Rating: 5
Summary: Beautifully melancholy
Comment: Readers and reviewers have panned this novel as grim. But it is a celebration of the courage of Danny, a character who reappears (starring) in the novel "Comfort & Joy." We all know abuse happens - especially in situations of poverty. Compound that with the inherent abuse of an ignorant father against his small hemophiliac child and you have a definite "tear-jerker." Defying cliche, again, as he does in all of his novels, Grimsley shows the silent strength of the children who help their mother to dodge the father's brutality. You quickly envision the souls of 40 year olds trapped in the body of toddlers. It is something profoundly emotive. Something to be savored. Grimsley's talent lies in painting a psychological portrait of the characters. This can be a daunting task, but he does so with ease and fluidity. I recommend this book not because of its "tearjerker" plotline, but because of the inherent hope that rises from the strength of its characters. Much like his novel "Comfort and Joy," the writer seeks to ensconce desolation with strength and hope. It's a novel that is not grim; it is a novel that seeks to show the points of light in the pitch black of sadness.
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Title: DREAM BOY: A Novel by Jim Grimsley ISBN: 0684829924 Publisher: Touchstone Books Pub. Date: 01 January, 1997 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: Comfort and Joy by Jim Grimsley ISBN: 1565123964 Publisher: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill Pub. Date: 01 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: MY DROWNING by Jim Grimsley ISBN: 0684841231 Publisher: Touchstone Books Pub. Date: 01 January, 1998 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: Boulevard: A Novel by Jim Grimsley ISBN: 1565122518 Publisher: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill Pub. Date: 01 April, 2002 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
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Title: The World of Normal Boys by K. M. Soehnlein ISBN: 1575666618 Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corporation Pub. Date: 01 August, 2001 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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