Hank Enjoyed This Curious Feat of Storytelling

Following her period piece The Accursed, set in a mythical version of Princeton, Oates returns to the familiar territory of her semi-fictional take on contemporary northern New York in her new novel Carthage. I've probably been to, or more to the point through, real Carthage during my years growing up in the region, but I don't have a specific recollection. That's probably OK; aside from its proximity to wilderness areas of the Adirondacks, it serves as a nondescript Everytown in this story of events precipitated by the disappearance of a young woman.

Points of view shift, as we learn about the circumstances leading up to the... crime? Foul play seems certainly to be the likeliest explanation, but even within the traumatized mind of the Iraq War vet who is the primary suspect, his status as Unreliable Narrator casts doubt on what really happened. Lacking more than the sketchiest of evidence, he ends up confessing to the... crime? and being incarcerated.

But, it's never as simple as that, in Oates's world. The middle part of the book explores her recurring fascination with the twin odysseys of personality and identity in a deeper way than debatably anything she's written since Wonderland, over 40 years ago. To reveal more about this curious feat of storytelling would be a disservice to readers.

Ultimately, we return to pick up the threads of the aftermath of a... crime? without adequate closure, and the disparate ways people handle Not Really Knowing. The vivid description of "The Long Wall" drivers arriving in the real-life prison town of Dannemora experience evoked a strong memory of the one time I passed through, quite different from general-purpose Carthage. It's kind of an alternate-route town, if that isn't your destination. The story ends in a startling truncation I found somewhat unsatisfying, with an imminent development on the brink of happening. While it can be fun to engage readers in using their own imaginations to fill in the blanks, I would have been more interested to know what Oates thinks is going to happen next. I really didn't have any particular theory, even though I liked going along for the ride, as far as it went.

~Hank

Dispatch From The Field: Joe Says "now that I’ve read “Live By Night,” I am hooked on Lehane!"

I am a newcomer to reading Dennis Lehane, starting only with Moonlight Mile, which I absolutely loved. I’ve seen every one of the movie adaptations of his novels. But now that I’ve read Live By Night, I am hooked on Lehane!

In his latest novel, Lehane brings Prohibition-era Tampa Bay, Florida, to life. The story follows the life of Joe Coughlin, a Boston gangster (or “outlaw,” as he likes to call himself) who ends up in Ybor City, the part of Tampa the Chief of Police lets gangsters operate. In Ybor, Coughlin creates an empire of rum-running with the aid of Cuban bootleggers, and the beautiful woman he slowly falls in love with. The novel’s tension is in the razor-thin line between life and death in the criminal underworld. With everyone scrambling to make as much money before Prohibition ends, and find a way to keep making money in the new world after Prohibition, murder is just one more means to a paycheck.

Dennis Lehane’s writing is so vivid, I almost feel like I’ve already seen the film adaptation of this one. Each sentence is alive with the oppressive tropical heat of Florida and Cuba, the cold streets of Boston, the smoky opulence of illegal casinos, and the dingy speakeasies.  I was drawn immediately to the characters, drawn into this fascinating world, furiously turning pages, taking it all in, not wanting the book to end. Lehane is a master of pacing, building the tension of the novel to a head, but not letting the reader off to easily. When crime was the national pastime, things weren’t always what they seemed on the surface, and in Live By Night the story is not a straight-forward narrative. Not quite a mystery, the loyalties of the characters aren’t always clear, and just like in life, sometimes you get thrown for a loop. In other words, expect to be surprised by this addictive story.

 Easily the best novel I’ve read so far this year, Dennis Lehane has brought to life a rather dark chapter in American history and populated it with very real characters. Fans of crime fiction, literary fiction, and history will be pleased by this excellent novel.

--Joe