The Descendants

The Descendants, by Kaui Hart Hemmings

After seeing the movie before reading the book, I could not get George Clooney as Matt King out of my head. That's not a bad thing. :) I had dragged my dear hubby to see "The Descendants" when we stayed at the Sylvia Beach Hotel in March, and we cried through the movie. I didn't cry during the book...guess that is the difference between a book and a movie (except in the case of Wonder, which had me crying throughout).

This book, expanded from a short story, was beautifully written. Hemmings has a keen understanding of the way teenagers think and act (especially those who do not get enough affection or guidance from their parents!). The book is stronger than the movie in that we get to understand Matt's inner life and motivations. His transformation is a bit deeper and more understandable in the book for that reason.

It clearly is a novel of place. Hawaii is ever present, as is its culture, history, and tensions between native Hawaiians and white people. Hemmings also handles the concepts of death and grief in a sensitive, loving, and realistic way.

Most of the colorful characters are not particularly likable, but I liked this book anyway. Joanie is in a coma, but we get a sense of her (I would probably have liked her even less if she had been conscious). Matt grows from a man who is uncomfortable with affection into one who comes to appreciate his family and what he has...a man who can actually say "I love you" to daughters who are completely unaccustomed to hearing that from anyone.

Just had to throw in a few photos from the movie because. Well, George Clooney.

The Family Fang, by Kevin Wilson 

I found this book to be very sad...it was described as similar to "Little Miss Sunshine" (which I loved) or "The Royal Tenenbaums," which is why I read it. Now I realize it's several days I will never get back.

It's the story of performance artists Caleb and Camille Fang, who spent their adult lives creating performance pieces that they called art. When they had children (Annie and Buster), they engaged the kids in their offbeat, wild performances.

As Annie (Child A) and Buster (Child B) grow up, they are completely screwed up, incapable of forming meaningful, trusting relationships or appreciating anything they have in their lives. When their careers go south and Buster gets shot in the face with a potato gun, they return home to Tennessee to their crazy mom and dad.

Soon Caleb and Camille go missing, and Annie and Buster have the sneaking suspicion that this is all an act and part of their parents' "art." The saddest part about this story is that these dysfunctional parents believe that art trumps everything else, even family and even love. 

It was a clever debut novel (Wilson was mentored by Ann Patchett), but just not my cup of tea.  

Back Roads: dark and depressing

Two stars

I found this book on the shelves of the library when I was attracted to another book by Tawni O'Dell. Because I often like to start with the first of a new author's books, I picked up this one instead. The cover had the word "funny" on it, among others. Funny it was not.

Nearly-20-year-old Harley Altmyer is raising his three sisters by holding down two menial jobs. His mom is in prison for killing his abusive father. The hand-to-mouth, living-on-the-edge poverty reminded me of the movie Frozen River. People do really exist on pop tarts, Mountain Dew, hot dogs, fortune cookies, and macaroni and cheese. People can survive tragic events in their lives and each day can seem like a living hell.

Harley reacts to his living hell by thinking violent thoughts about everyone around him. At the same time, he is protective of his sisters and deep down seems to have a compassionate soul, when he's not getting drunk or figuring out how to screw the neighbor woman. The book opens with Harley being held for the murder of his lover.

He's desperate for love and affection, as are his sisters. As the book progresses, the secrets in the deeply dysfunctional family begin getting exposed. Harley and his sisters are deeply damaged children, and they do not know how to make good choices or even know what good choices are.

O'Dell's writing was sound, but I found this book very difficult to get through. Beyond its extremely difficult content (violence, murder, incest), the plot moved slowly until the end. O'Dell describes herself as half Pennsylvania redneck and half Southern white trash. She evoked a sense of place and created complicated characters.

Even with all the pain and trauma the characters experienced, the choices they made didn't ring true for me. Perhaps that's because the setting and characters of this novel are just about as far away from my life that they could get. I think of real people I know who have been through worse pain and trauma and have survived intact.

I didn't know until after I had finished the book that it was on Oprah's book club. No surprise there. If you're looking for a dark, depressing novel of dysfunction, give it a try.