A GREAT BOOK ...
This was one of the best American novels I've ever read. Larry Brown proved himself a master with this baby and I thank Vicki Hendricks for turning me on to Larry Brown. Everything I've read so far by Brown has been top notch writing ... every bit as good as Steinbeck for me ... and better than Faulkner.
Not quite Faulkner
The late Larry Brown wrote well, but violently, brutally. This book is dark and painful. In 5 days, Glen comes back from prison and manages to destroy most of the people around him. Book leaves a lot of unanswered questions, such as why was Glen so totally, totally angry, hateful, and incapable of love? As the reader, I wanted more exploration of some of the other characters, such as Bobby and Mary.
You can never go home again....mm
Perhaps Glen Davis shouldn't have gone back. The authorities should have kept him in prison, he should have started in a more structured work release elsewhere, there are so many alternatives.
But, he did go home. And not a day later, he committed a treble homicide of a bar owner, his employee and the bar's mascot monkey. He did a lot more than that before he was through.
"Father and Son" is about several paternal pairings: Glen and his father, Virgil. Sheriff Bobby Blanchard and his father Virgil. Getting confused? Glen and the good Sheriff are half brothers---and Sheriff Blanchard is the one born on the 'wrong side of the blankets.' And, of course, Glen and his son David--also born out of wedlock and Glen doesn't want to have anything to do with his son.
Glen had originally gone to jail for killing a kid while he was driving drunk. His thoughts--he could handle his whiskey, the parents should have watched the kid.
Sheriff Blanchard is trying to solve several murders--including a son killing his father, a homeless father killing a sick son, and then he has a terrible feeling that Glen's killed the bar owner in another county.
Meanwhile, Glen's drinking and still wreaking his own special brand of havoc on the community. Jewel, the mother of his son, wants to get married but she's realizing Glen's not a good bet. His aging father wants to have a relationship with his son, but recognizing he spent too much of Glen's formative years in a bottle.
Brown's writing is spare and harsh as Mississippi, but in no way impoverished. His tale comes to life with searing economy and is sometimes painfully too real. "Father and Son" is not a story for the faint of heart or the light of mind, but it is a worthwhile addition to the growing collection of Southern fiction.
A First Rate Southern Writer
I had read "Fay" and then "Joe" and then "Father and Son" when I finally did some internet research on Larry Brown and sadly learned that he had passed away. My heart sank at the thought of not being able to expect more to come. I've now read most everything of his available in print and "Father and Son" is my favorite. I also loved "Fay" and "Joe" and "Dirty Work" and it was really interesting to discover Brown's growth as an author throughout, particularly if you pick up some of his short stories. But it's "Father and Son" which brings it all together in the most richly woven southern tapestry of characters so well developed on page that you think they live next door. Read this book!
A Cain and Abel story set in the rural south
I suppose I am a Larry Brown fan in that "Father and Son" was the third of his books that I've read this year (the first two being "Joe" and "Fay"). In "Father and Son," Brown gives us the classic confrontation of good (Sheriff Bobby and most of the other characters) verses evil (Glen, just released from prison) in the uneducated rural south of the late 60's. The good guys smoke heavily, guzzle whiskey and beer like water, and often gamble above their heads. The bad guy does the same, plus kills, rapes, and assaults. I kept thinking to myself that all of these people, both good and bad, would die prematurely of cancer, heart disease, or cirrhosis of the liver. But given the extremely tedious and uneventful lives of these people, I couldn't really blame them.
Anyway, after evil Glen gets out of jail, he has some old scores to settle, and seemingly no one, not Virgil -- his father, Randolph (a/k/a "Puppy")-- his brother, Jewel -- his former girlfriend and mother of his child, nor Sheriff Bobby, can do anything to stop him. It is hardly a surprise that Bobby's and Glen's life intersect in more ways than one.
Brown is quite a unique voice in describing life in the uneducated rural south, which, to us Northeasterners, is a strange place indeed! I'm just not sure what it adds to his story to describe a character lighting up or smoking a cigarette, and/or drinking whisky, on every single page. Still, I recommend "Father and Son" to those who like this type of literature, as I do Brown's "Joe" and "Fay," both of which, in my opinion, were slightly better.
(45 reviews)
