Smith Henderson
Windmill Books
Last year I had
the sublime pleasure to read John Williams’ masterpiece ‘Stoner’ and have been
waiting to read another book that so inhabited me again. The stunning debut
novel of Smith Henderson ‘Fourth of July Creek’ has done just that. Just as
Williams wrote rich characters and sadly beautiful language Henderson also
crafts his characters beautifully and uses language perfectly and
appropriately, rarely a misstep and often muscular yet spare – a true
craftsman.
Mainly set in
rural Montana in the years 1979 – 1981 as Jimmy Carter was trampled by Reagan,
the hostages in Iran, Opec’s artificial oil shortages, economic reviews and the
thawing out of the cold war, even the Mt St. Helen’s eruption. A perfect
breeding ground for suspicion of government and fellow citizens as well as a
time for giving up some things and tightening our grip on others. All being
nourishment and ingredients for this fine novel.
The main
character is Pete Snow, a social worker who is living in the shadow of a failed
marriage and his desperation to be reunited with his daughter Rachel while
rescuing kids of dysfunction. Pete’s own brother is a parole breaker and his
sister’s death has left questions and scars. The connections to his own life
are tenuous at best as he tries to face (or run from) these various challenges,
loss, danger, grief, loss of control and uncertainty. A social worker has to
have answers, has to be able to anticipate but Pete’s world doesn’t want to go
along with the position description it seems.
Along comes
Jeremiah Pearl, destined to be one of the great creations of fiction, and his
son Ben. Poor old Jeremiah is a conspiracy theorist with an Old Testament
fascination and absolute influence over young Ben. He faces the power of his
paranoia somewhat counterfactually by hiding out in the woods and waiting for
the arrival of the Feds to pounce on them and presumably take them out. While
he’s waiting Pearl distributes ‘broken money’ coins out into the community,
holes bored into coins defacing them with symbols reflecting his ‘story’ of
doom and endtimes. Quaintly the coins become collectors’ items and curiosity
pieces perhaps shining a brighter spotlight on Pearl as a fascination although
we might fear it will make him a figurehead for other whackos or malcontents.
As with much of
the story Pearl has us wondering or sensing a seam of violence waiting to erupt
and often it does. It’s not always punch ups or shoot outs but there is
violence in the way Pete lives and in the way some of his clients face the
world. When Pete gets on the grog (as he often does) he ends up with physical
bruises to match his psychic ones, his brother encourages violence while on the
lam and his parole officer just feeds that, Pete’s daughter faces violence in the
way her life plays out.
Of course what
we want to know is how Pearl got to the point he is at, what fed the paranoia,
who was he before this and why is Ben here but not the wife and several other
kids in the family. Pete is not at all welcome in Pearl’s life but he ends up
being tolerated. Thankfully Pete takes up the reader’s curiosity and
investigates Pearl’s story through former friends etc. Fantastic stuff.
The richness of
the writing makes the characters come alive, they are believable and interesting.
There is so much going on in this book but it is so deftly and handled and so
accomplished. We have shifts in tense to accentuate sections and give immediacy
when needed and distance to dramatise. Sometimes we have third person
perspective and others are second person. Throw into the mix Rachel’s story
being told as a series of vignettes in the style of social worker file notes,
you start to crave these little bon mots and they are placed perfectly
throughout the book even though they cut into the flow, never distracting but
rather an extra ingredient in the mix.
The transitions are seamless and not at all disorienting such is the
skill of Henderson.
I do think the
opening chapter or two are a bit hesitant and maybe uneven but I wonder if
that’s because we are at a point in the main character’s life that is also
hesitant and uneven. That is pretty neat
and astonishing but there is a danger that people who bail from books after the
first chapter if they are not ‘into’ it might give up and that would be a huge
mistake.
There are so
many beautiful scenes in this novel that I can’t single them all out. When we
finally get to the horror of Pearl’s story it is devastating. What happens to
Pete’s daughter will make you want to sit quietly and weep or hug someone.
Pete’s journey either looking for his daughter or tracing Pearl’s story is so
rhythmic and real. How one of his other ‘clients’, Cecil, fares in a home or in
foster care is startling and oddly satisfying. The end of the novel gives us much to think
about and isn’t a great ‘ta-da’ but a ‘what will happen when I wake up
tomorrow’, just like life really – not a plot requirement but a point at which
we have the answers and the characters can now be left alone. So, so much to
make this a great read.
All of us carry
scars through life and often they are made from unreliable memories which
inform us and our way of seeing the world and the people we relate to and with.
Maybe this book gives us pause to review that and see how that’s working out
for us.
This is an
intense book that is not a difficult read (in fact it’s quite a page tuner),
the people are mostly unhappy even somewhat unstable and Henderson has no
problem in showing us them. At times it is bleak to be sure but the quest that
all these people are on it seems to me is seeking their truth and that is a
beautiful piece of compassion isn’t it? We can live wretched lives or have a
troubled mind or skewed world view but deep down all any of us wants/needs is
truth and to be ‘known’ and understood. That doesn’t mean being agreed with but
it does mean being recognised as valid, valuable and equal to the rest of us. I
think that’s what Smith Henderson would want for the wondrous people he
created.
This is a novel
that will reward any real reader, any true book lover, anyone yearning for the
perfect possibilities of fiction. Do read this magnificent book.
No comments:
Post a Comment