The Garden of Last Days: A Novel
by Andre Dubus III-I have been having a hard time trying to decide how to review this book. I didn't love it, but I think the author's ability to make you see all sides of a situation is amazing. This is the same author of House of Sand and Fog,
which I never read; but I did see the movie, and it was brutal for exactly this reason. Good is not good and evil is not evil and both have the ability to be the other, and it's uncomfortable to not be able to take a definitive side. That said, I think I am going to take a cue from our recent Weekly Geeks and attempt a review in haiku. So, here goes.
strip club, missing child--
terrorists plot revenge for
such sins...nine eleven
good guys are weak
sympathy for the devil--
Lines blurred all around
drunk violent fraud
tried saving sweet baby girl
too human to judge
One final note: A large part of this story takes place in a strip club, and if there are things that you imagine go on in a strip club that you don't want to read about, then you probably shouldn't read this book. It's not nearly as raunchy as it could be, but it's not rainbows and puppies either. (LOL-I just typed "rainblows." Freudian slip?) Also, there are a couple of rape scenes-nothing too drawn out, but they are there none the less. I know the "strip club, missing child" part may be a bit worrisome for some, but nothing horrible happens to the child, so you don't have to not read it for that part.
Some other reviews:
Stephen King at EW.com loved it!
Jill at Breaking the Spine not so much.
Have you read The Garden of Last Days? What did you think? Can we come up with a tie-breaker? If you've reviewed this book, let me know, and I'll add a link to your review.
2 comments:
I haven't read this one yet, but in general, I find Dubus to be very much a hit or miss writer.
Jeanne-I can't necessarily recommend it, but I wouldn't tell you not to read it either since I do think it has some merit. I think this would probably generate a lot of discussion in a book group.
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