"A Land More Kind Than Home," Wiley Cash's first novel, came out last year, and even made the list of the New York Times 100 Most Notable Books Of 2012. But I was hardly aware of it, until about two weeks ago, when I saw the paperback in the store, and was struck by the following quotation from the Richmond Times Dispatch--
"Reads as if Cormac McCarthy had decided to
rewrite Harper Lee's 'To Kill A Mockingbird.'"
Oh, really????????????? Hmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So, I picked it up. That was some endorsement, and let me say first off
it is not "To Kill A Mockingbird." It could not be. That (and I am sure Mr. Cash would agree with me) was a once in a lifetime experience!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But there are many remarkable things about "A Land More Kind Than Home."
There is a distinctive Southern lyricism to Cash's prose style, different, say, from Lee, McCullers, Faulkner--the Southern giants!!!!!!!!! It is his own, made more remarkable because he tells the story from the viewpoint of three key characters--a young boy named Jess Hall, whose family is torn apart by events herein; Adelaide Lyle, an older woman, who seems to be the moral compass of the town, and Clem Barefield, the sheriff of the town. Even more remarkable is that every standard component of Southern fiction that has been used over time--an abusive father, a weak willed mother, a perceptive child, a handicapped one, an evil religious leader, snakes--is present, and yet the dang thing works!!!!!!!!!!!! Because of Cash's remarkable voice, or his ability to create three voices whom you believe are telling you the tale, this novel works in ways where in other hands, it shouldn't, or wouldn't.
Once I began, I found myself so invested. I actually did something I have never done. I have a long subway ride home to the wilds of Brooklyn each night, and last night, near the end of my ride, I concluded the novel. I could not go on. I just sat there, thinking, about the story, and about some of the characters (one in particular, which I will get to). The train stopped, and, still thinking, I got up and walked out into the wrong neighborhood!!!!!!!!! It took me several seconds to bring myself back to Earth, because I could not stop thinking about this book.
Most particularly, I could not stop thinking about Julie Hall, the mother of Jess (one of the narrators) and Stump, his older brother, mute (some reviewers say autistic), whose death precipitates what follows. All through the story, I did not know whether to feel sorry for Julie, or to hate her.
I guess I ended up doing a little of both. What I ended up hating Julie for the most was her stupidity and malleability; she is not exactly the Mother From Hell, but she behaves in ways suggesting she is incapable of any self awareness or thought. Of course, as the story built, I was hoping for certain characters to get their comeuppance--and they do--but in the case of Julie, I wondered about what Cash did with her. I admit the blood lust part of me wanted Julie shot through that car dashboard too. But when the dust settles, Julie disappears, and the novel's unlikely hero (Jess' grandfather, Jimmy Hall, who had a history of being a domestic abuser, as well as possibly being involved in a local young man's death decades before) turns up, I was content, but Julie kept bugging away at me!!!! Like another famous Julie--Julie La Verne, in Edna Ferber's "Show Boat," she disappears, though she turns up briefly again in the novel. Cash's Julie simply vanishes--and I found myself thinking about that.
Does she vanish out of wisdom, shame, or selfishness? What will happen to her? Where will she go? And, most importantly (and this is why I think Cash spared her) how will she grapple with all that has happened, some of which she instigated, enough so that she will be able to live with herself? Or will she? I am not saying I want a Julie story, (I was tempted to write one, for a second, just for the fun of it!!!!!!) but I would like to have known, with the possibility of redemption being held out to so many in this novel, why it seems not to be held out to Julie!!!!!!!!! I guess that is her punishment, and I am not saying she is not deserving, but it sure gave me pause to think.
"A Land More Kind Than Home" passed the supreme test--when I finished it, and brought it home, I knew it was a "keeper," something that would rest on my book shelf, because I would eventually reread it again. In a kind of irony, because I have my books in alphabetical order, it rests beside another Southern writer's work--Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood."
At last, another addition to the Southern canon!!!!!!!!! Curl up on the porch with this one, drink some sweet tea, and enjoy, while being provoked!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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