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saareman's reviews
2952 reviews
The Wettest County in the World: A Novel Based on a True Story by Matt Bondurant
2.0
You would think that a prohibition era tale of bootleggers vs. corrupt law officers with a cover photo that will remind you of the classic Bonnie & Clyde poses in front of period automobiles would make for a compelling read, but I didn't find that to be the case with this book. I found this to be a very slow-going read due to a lack of momentum caused by the jumps in the time-line structure. This also resulted in a lack of suspense as a lot of the plot resolutions were also known ahead of time.
Matt Bondurant's "The Wettest County in the World" (aka "Lawless" in the July 2012 movie tie-in reprint edition) is a history-based fictional novel about the lives of the author's own grandfather Jack and his great-uncles Howard and Forrest Bondurant. It relates how the Bondurant brothers ran a bootleg liquor operation (which is called 'blockading' in the local vernacular of the book) in Jackson County, Virginia in the late 1920's/early 1930's. The book's title is based on a quote from writer Sherwood Anderson which is one of the novel's epigraphs: "... the wettest section in the U.S.A. …the spot that fairly dripped illicit liquor, and kept right on dripping it after prohibition ended…is Franklin County, Virginia."
This huge amount of illegal liquor production required a network of corrupt law officials and officers to keep it protected and some of that came to light in an eventual trial which was documented by T. Keister Greer in "The Great Moonshine Conspiracy Trial of 1935". Greer's book became a major source for author Bondurant's fictional tale along with his family's personal stories. Bondurant's book in turn became the source for Nick Cave's screenplay for the film "Lawless" directed by John Hillcoat which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2012 and is scheduled for a general theatrical release in late August 2012.
The story is told in flashbacks from the time of the 1935 trial with writer Sherwood Anderson reporting on the scene on behalf of his own newspapers and also doing research for his later novel "Kit Brandon" which was built around the local myths of female blockader Willie Carter Sharpe (who was also perhaps the inventor of the American muscle car, due to her souped-up Fords used to outrun law officers). Anderson's history is portrayed reasonably accurately except for an error in his publisher's name (Liverright used instead Boni & Liveright) and Ernest Hemingway's 1926 "The Torrents of Spring" parody of Anderson's 1925 "Dark Laughter" mis-dated as if it was from 1934. The constant jumps back and forth between 1929-30 and 1935 took a lot of suspense and momentum out of the book though and made for difficult reading although each of the chapters by themselves were quite evocative in portraying the atmosphere of the Virginia Appalachian settings.
Matt Bondurant's "The Wettest County in the World" (aka "Lawless" in the July 2012 movie tie-in reprint edition) is a history-based fictional novel about the lives of the author's own grandfather Jack and his great-uncles Howard and Forrest Bondurant. It relates how the Bondurant brothers ran a bootleg liquor operation (which is called 'blockading' in the local vernacular of the book) in Jackson County, Virginia in the late 1920's/early 1930's. The book's title is based on a quote from writer Sherwood Anderson which is one of the novel's epigraphs: "... the wettest section in the U.S.A. …the spot that fairly dripped illicit liquor, and kept right on dripping it after prohibition ended…is Franklin County, Virginia."
This huge amount of illegal liquor production required a network of corrupt law officials and officers to keep it protected and some of that came to light in an eventual trial which was documented by T. Keister Greer in "The Great Moonshine Conspiracy Trial of 1935". Greer's book became a major source for author Bondurant's fictional tale along with his family's personal stories. Bondurant's book in turn became the source for Nick Cave's screenplay for the film "Lawless" directed by John Hillcoat which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2012 and is scheduled for a general theatrical release in late August 2012.
The story is told in flashbacks from the time of the 1935 trial with writer Sherwood Anderson reporting on the scene on behalf of his own newspapers and also doing research for his later novel "Kit Brandon" which was built around the local myths of female blockader Willie Carter Sharpe (who was also perhaps the inventor of the American muscle car, due to her souped-up Fords used to outrun law officers). Anderson's history is portrayed reasonably accurately except for an error in his publisher's name (Liverright used instead Boni & Liveright) and Ernest Hemingway's 1926 "The Torrents of Spring" parody of Anderson's 1925 "Dark Laughter" mis-dated as if it was from 1934. The constant jumps back and forth between 1929-30 and 1935 took a lot of suspense and momentum out of the book though and made for difficult reading although each of the chapters by themselves were quite evocative in portraying the atmosphere of the Virginia Appalachian settings.
Driven: The Sequel to Drive by James Sallis
3.0
This is a sequel to James Sallis's "Drive" which was also made into the 2011 film by director Nicolas Winding Refn.
The plot of "Driven" finds the Driver character in Phoenix, Arizona, seven years after the events of "Drive", where he has tried to start a new life away from movie stunt and getaway car driving. Hoodlums start to follow him around and seem intent on killing him and his loved ones for unknown reasons. Driver enlists the help of a shady character named Felix to help him hide out and to also dig for information through his underworld and mercenary connections. Although this is well written in the noir style by Sallis, the final payoff was a letdown and Driver himself wasn't really directly involved in putting together the pieces of the mystery which was mostly happening off-the-page in New Orleans or Brooklyn. Driver's actions are mostly involved in fighting off his assailants and hiding out. In the end this wasn't quite as satisfying as the original "Drive" for those various reasons. You have to have read the original book in order to understand who the characters Bernie Rose, Nino and Blanche are in order to follow this book as well.
The plot of "Driven" finds the Driver character in Phoenix, Arizona, seven years after the events of "Drive", where he has tried to start a new life away from movie stunt and getaway car driving. Hoodlums start to follow him around and seem intent on killing him and his loved ones for unknown reasons. Driver enlists the help of a shady character named Felix to help him hide out and to also dig for information through his underworld and mercenary connections. Although this is well written in the noir style by Sallis, the final payoff was a letdown and Driver himself wasn't really directly involved in putting together the pieces of the mystery which was mostly happening off-the-page in New Orleans or Brooklyn. Driver's actions are mostly involved in fighting off his assailants and hiding out. In the end this wasn't quite as satisfying as the original "Drive" for those various reasons. You have to have read the original book in order to understand who the characters Bernie Rose, Nino and Blanche are in order to follow this book as well.
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
4.0
How well you will take to this book will likely depend on how much you were intrigued by the subplot of the first wife in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre.
Jean Rhys provides a prequel here which fills in a back story for Bertha Antoinetta Mason who is here known as Antoinette Cosway which is her birth name before being given stepfather Mason's surname. The book initially takes place in Jamaica during Antoinette's upbringing during the time of slavery emancipation and tells the story of the traumatic breakdown of her family after which she is schooled by nuns. In the second part she meets her husband (who is left purposely unnamed, but who is the Rochester of Jane Eyre, although in this case not portrayed as a sympathetic and romantic character) and they go on their honeymoon during which their relationship breaks down due to suspicions fueled by Antoinette's supposed half-brother Daniel. A short coda takes us to England where we briefly meet housekeeper Grace Poole now guarding a not-stable Antoinette with a result that is well-known to readers of Jane Eyre.
Personally I enjoy re-imagined stories and alternative history types of novels so I quite enjoyed this book.
Jean Rhys provides a prequel here which fills in a back story for Bertha Antoinetta Mason who is here known as Antoinette Cosway which is her birth name before being given stepfather Mason's surname. The book initially takes place in Jamaica during Antoinette's upbringing during the time of slavery emancipation and tells the story of the traumatic breakdown of her family after which she is schooled by nuns. In the second part she meets her husband (who is left purposely unnamed, but who is the Rochester of Jane Eyre, although in this case not portrayed as a sympathetic and romantic character) and they go on their honeymoon during which their relationship breaks down due to suspicions fueled by Antoinette's supposed half-brother Daniel. A short coda takes us to England where we briefly meet housekeeper Grace Poole now guarding a not-stable Antoinette with a result that is well-known to readers of Jane Eyre.
Personally I enjoy re-imagined stories and alternative history types of novels so I quite enjoyed this book.
Black Diamond by Martin Walker
4.0
Black Diamond is the 3rd Bruno Courrèges, Chief of Police novel by Martin Walker. It has all of the familiar atmosphere of the first 2 novels but takes a few darker turns in the plot-line by the end. I am thoroughly enjoying reading the Bruno series and was lucky enough to discover them late so that I can read all 4 (to date) of them this summer of 2012.
What keeps these novels from hitting 5 out of 5 territory for me is that the plot resolutions are always summed up far too quickly in the final 1 or 2 chapters. Everything is explained but it is not quite enough for this reader's satisfaction. Everything that comes before is quite solid, terrific trivia about French food and wine (in this case, the "Black Diamonds" of the title are the black truffles that grow in the Périgord region of Southwestern France) and Bruno's fellow inhabitants of the fictional village of St. Denis.
The plot this time kicks off with Bruno investigating a suspected fraud in a neighbouring village truffle market. Then a subplot of conflicts between Viet and Chinese immigrant communities in France is introduced that further leads to the murder of one of Bruno's friends. The friend turns out to have been one of the "barbouzes" (the bearded ones), a former member of French intelligence services active in the French colonial conflicts in Vietnam and Algeria. Meanwhile, a pending mayoral election in St. Denis introduces 2 opposing candidates to Bruno's mentor and father-figure Mayor character. There is also the regular ongoing plot of Bruno's love relationships. These are all resolved by the end, but perhaps just a little too quickly.
What keeps these novels from hitting 5 out of 5 territory for me is that the plot resolutions are always summed up far too quickly in the final 1 or 2 chapters. Everything is explained but it is not quite enough for this reader's satisfaction. Everything that comes before is quite solid, terrific trivia about French food and wine (in this case, the "Black Diamonds" of the title are the black truffles that grow in the Périgord region of Southwestern France) and Bruno's fellow inhabitants of the fictional village of St. Denis.
The plot this time kicks off with Bruno investigating a suspected fraud in a neighbouring village truffle market. Then a subplot of conflicts between Viet and Chinese immigrant communities in France is introduced that further leads to the murder of one of Bruno's friends. The friend turns out to have been one of the "barbouzes" (the bearded ones), a former member of French intelligence services active in the French colonial conflicts in Vietnam and Algeria. Meanwhile, a pending mayoral election in St. Denis introduces 2 opposing candidates to Bruno's mentor and father-figure Mayor character. There is also the regular ongoing plot of Bruno's love relationships. These are all resolved by the end, but perhaps just a little too quickly.