Dad recommended Ironweed, by William Kennedy, to me a while ago, and I finally got around to reading it.I really enjoyed reading it, although it was very grim. I especially loved the fact that the main character, a violent bum, is literally haunted by the ghosts of his past... spooky and intriguing. The voice of the novel is engaging, and the variety of narrative styles is unique. An interesting picture of poverty and alcoholism in 1938.
I would recommend it!
It's been many years since I read it, but I really liked this book. My recollection is that the bleakness is offset by some emotion, but that emotion tends to be in the realm of longing and wistfulness. Overall a rather sobering book. I think you would also really like Legs by Kennedy - a fictionalized story of the actual gangster and bootlegger, Jack "Legs" Diamond. I should see what Kennedy's been writing recently.
ReplyDeleteI thought the picture of the guy on the cover looked exactly like my conception of Francis Phelan - but the movie? Jack Nicholson? And Meryl Streep as Helen? What were they thinking?
ReplyDeleteBleak is definitely my recollection of Ironweed.
ReplyDeleteThere is a category of Oscar-nominated films that gets described as "searing" - and I decided that's not really something I need in my life.
So I think I won't re-read.
Many years ago, I went through a period of reading ONLY bleak books - Crime and Punishment, Hiroshima, Black Rain, Mom Kills Kids and Self, Kindergarten, etc. Now, I don't exactly avoid bleak, but at least things have come into a more favorable balance!
ReplyDeletehey jess- i added a "searing" tag to this so you can easily identify books to avoid :)
ReplyDeleteLauren: belatedly, thanks!
ReplyDelete