Dave King (1)Reseñas

THE HA-HA (2005) is one of the best reads I've run across in many years, and it was Dave King's first novel too. (And his only one, so far as I can tell.) I vaguely remember reading about it when it was new, but then I forgot about it until I saw it on a library sale table last month for half a buck. What a bargain! It was apparently a minor bestseller and I'm not surprised. It's the story of a brain-damaged mute whose humdrum life as a grounds keeper at a convent is totally changed, enlivened and enriched when he is tasked with looking after his former girlfriend's nine year-old son for a couple months while she goes into drug rehab. Howard Kapostash is a Vietnam vet who has been unable to speak, read or write for nearly thirty years after stepping on a land mine. And yet, as the unlikely narrator of this frank and touching story, he can still think, reason and understand. He lives in the large Victorian home of his now deceased parents with three tenants: Laurel is the Texas-raised child of Vietnamese refugees who makes and sells gourmet soups, and Steve and Harrison are a pair of house painters. This disparate group becomes gradually closer and forms a family of sorts after the biracial boy, Ryan, moves in. As Howard becomes increasingly attached to the boy, getting him onto a ragtag summer baseball team, numerous memories come flooding back, of his high school romance with Sylvia, and of his long and difficult rehabilitation and his parents' unstinting help and loyalty, even as Sylvia drifted off into other affairs and drug addiction, something Howard got into too for a time. But the memories he can never quite bring into focus are the ones from his very short-lived - just sixteen days - tour in Vietnam and the months and years of fruitless attempts at recovery - of speech, reading and writing. Because this is a war story, make no mistake. Despite the warm and fuzzy elements of Howard's newfound, makeshift family, the horrors and devastating, lifelong effects of war are never far from his mind, and, consequently, loom large in the reader's mind too. Author Dave King is not a veteran, but with THE HA-HA he has somehow managed to climb inside the mind of a severely damaged victim of that long ago war and tell a story that will resonate with readers for a long time. Put this book on your War Lit shelf, because that's where it belongs. Bravo, Mr King. Bravo! My very highest recommendation.

- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER

3.5 stars

Howie was in Vietnam for the war. He was injured and came home unable to talk. He has not been able to since, nor did he re-learn to read and write. His best friend (and former high-school girlfriend), Sylvia, calls on him to take care of her 9-year old son, Ryan, while she is off to rehab. Lucky for Howie, he has three other people living in his house. Laurel lives there without paying rent, but she helps Howie out. Two other rooms are rented out to young men, Harrison and Steve (he calls them Nit and Nat: he doesn’t like them much!).

This was good. There was a lot of “guy” stuff in the book, but with Howie and Ryan as main characters, becoming almost like father and son, one should expect that. It was nice how the household came together to help out with Ryan (though none were used to having a kid around the house!). I didn’t like Sylvia much, but then Howie did some stupid things, too.½

This story explored the themes of family and communication. Howard Kapostash is a wounded Vietnam veteran whose injury has left him unable to read, write or speak, but who is, as the card he's always reluctant to give people points out, "of normal intelligence." After Howard agrees to look after his ex-girlfriend's son, Ryan, while she is in rehab, Ryan's presence profoundly alters the lives of Howard and his three housemates. This was a very touching story and had me crying in a few places, but with a hopefully yet realistic ending.

This was surprisingly solid read, with more depth than I had anticipated. The main character Howard struggles out of his solitary existence-- just to get kicked in the teeth for his trouble. But we come to accept that the crappy real world and its disappointments are better than going through life disconnected. The one fault I have with the work is the formulaic method of creating instant depth- add one troubled at-risk child and stir. Poof. Emotional live wire. But when you get into the nitty-gritty angst of the real story, King delivers a degree of emotion that is gut-wrenchingly believable.

Just started listening to the audio version (read by Terry Kinney) -- so far (I am only on disk #1) it is intriguing.... And continues so to the end! The story revolves around Howie, who was injured in Vietnam and as a result is unable to speak, read or write -- although, as stated on his personal card, he is "of normal intelligence." Howie's old flame Sylvia ends up in rehab & has to leave her son Ryan (not Howie's child) with him while she "dries out." While caring for Ryan, Howie learns some lessons about building relationships and living life to the fullest despite whatever roadblocks or dis-abilities one encounters. The audio version contains an interview with the author at the end, which was very interesting as well.

This was my choice for this month's book club read. I thought it was a great book! The premise of the book is Howard who was injured in the war cannot speak due to a head injury winds up with a 9 year old boy after his mother goes to rehab. The boy ties the dysfunctional family that Howie lives with together.

The rest of the review plus a spoiler can be found at my blog: http://angelofmine1974.livejournal.com/87049.html

Sensitively handled story that could have been a Lifetime movie type disaster (see The Secret Life of Bees) but instead was a truly enjoyable read. Not always happy but real.

Gosh I loved this book! It was well written, unique and thoughtful.This is a character driven novel by a first time novelist. The main character, Howard, suffered a traumatic head injury 16 days into his tour in Vietnam and hasn't spoken since. King does a tremendous job having a character who doesn't speak say so much and I really felt the frustrations and moments of sadness that would come from dealing with people who can't or won't try to understand you. The relationships are fraught and tender and so very compelling. I think this novel is a little gem and think it was mostly overlooked when released in 2006.

I must say I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. As I was telling Jill the other day, I can't seem to get interested in books with main male characters. Who knows why. But Even though I couldn't relate to Howie, the mute handicapped war veteran who is taking care of a 9 year old, I found myself being taken in by the story. At the end I was ready to throw the book across the room, but I found that I didn't have to.

Between the back cover text, and the cover image, I had rather the wrong idea about the novel: include The Ha-Ha and it feels positively pastoral.

It isn't, but it's a good book all the same.

Howie isn't likable, exactly, but you do want him to succeed, and given the first half, it isn't as predictable as it sounds at first. Howie, as a character, actually struggles, instead of having contrived setups as obstacles, all of Howie's difficulties are part and parcel of who he is, and it's not really a matter of overcoming.

His exact disability isn't clear, although that's hardly necessary. Occasionally as I read, though, I questioned how he was telling his story, considering the original injury specifically affects his ability to communicate, and yet his narration sounds like it was authored by someone with MFA in writing. Still, Dave King does a better job of staying in-character, for such a different character than himself, than most other MFA authors I've read.

Ryan and his mother are both good characters: Ryan as a genuine seeming kid, and Sylvia as, well, as selfish, self-centered current and former addict. I really didn't like Sylvia, and I did kind of hope for some redemption of that character, but that couldn't happen in this book, and for that matter wouldn't be one I'd enjoy reading.

[b:The Ha-Ha: A Novel|439329|The Ha-Ha A Novel|Dave King|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174778402s/439329.jpg|938416] is a compelling enough read, I finished it overnight. But if it has a weakness, it's that it's not a visual, textural, sensual sort of novel. If there's one thing I'd expect from a narrator who'd lost his language and all his words, it'd be someone who didn't get paid by the word, so to speak. Like I said, an MFA author. Still, that's not a big flaw, and Howie is interesting enough to convince me to go along anyway.

Erst mal vorneweg: Wenn ich noch einmal in einem Buch lesen muss, dass man sich die Kunden des Aufbau-Verlags als glückliche Menschen vorstellen muss, dann werfe ich das Buch schreiend aus dem Fenster!!
Neben dieser penetranten Eigenwerbung ist auch der Klappentext für dieses Buch recht eindeutig: Alls was je über "besondere Menschen" geschrieben oder verfilmt wurde, wird als Referenz herangezogen: Von „Rainman“ über „Zeit des Erwachens“ bis zu „Forrest Gump“.
Und das Buch selbst: Howie wurde als sehr junger Mann in Vietnam schwer verwundet. Er kann nicht mehr sprechen und auch nicht schreiben. Nach langen Jahren der Drogensucht und großer Schwierigkeiten lebt er nun mit drei Mitbewohnern in seinem Elternhaus und arbeitet in einem Kloster. Seine einzige Liebe, die egozentrische Sylvia, bringt ihm eines Tages ihren neunjährigen Sohn Ryan vorbei, weil sie eine Drogentherapie beginnt. Der sprachlose Mann und der Junge finden zu einander.
Das Buch ist nicht schlecht, der Plot sogar sehr gut. Die konsequente Erzählung aus Sicht Howies ist gelungen. Dennoch gefiel mir das Buch nicht wirklich. Ich fand, dass es sich zu sehr zog und ich musste mich wirklich aufraffen, weiterzulesen.

Ein sehr interessantes Buch, das durchaus auch zum Nachdenken anregt.
Als junger Mann kommt Howard verletzt aus dem Vietnamkrieg zurück: bestimmte Gehirngebiete sind nicht mehr funktionsfähig, sodass er weder sprechen noch lesen oder schreiben kann, ansonsten ist er aber vollkommen gesund, versteht auch seine Mitmenschen ohne Probleme. Jedoch hat er sich selbst mehr oder weniger aufgegeben. Howard hat zwar eine Arbeit, zu der auch regelmäßig geht, hat seinen Drogenkonsum aufgegeben und lebt mit mehreren jungen Menschen zusammen. Jedoch hat er kein Interesse daran seine alten Fähigkeiten wiederzuerlangen oder seinen Zustand zu verbessern, noch interessiert er sich für seine Mitmenschen. Bei seinem Job im Kloster als Gärtner muss er regelmäßig den Rasenmähen, wobei er über einen Lärmschutzwall fahren muss und dort immer einen Moment des 'Schwebens' erlebt, wenn der Rasentraktor fast umkippt, und wird dadurch an seine kurze Zeit in Vietnam und die Explosion erinnert. Er hängt so sehr an diesem Gefühl und dieses wieder Erleben des alles verändernden Moments, dass er quasi nur noch dafür lebt.
Bis Ryan zu ihm kommt. Ryan ist der Sohn einer langjährigen, egoistischen und drogenabhängigen Freundin, die eine Entziehungskur macht und in die Howard verliebt ist. Er muss nun auf den neunjährigen Ryan aufpassen und sein Leben ändert sich: Er muss seit langem wieder versuchen mit einem Menschen zu kommunizieren, der nicht schon an ihn gewöhnt ist und die Welt vor allem mit ganz anderen Augen sieht. Durch Ryans Anwesenheit lernt er aber auch seine Mitbewohner endlich näher kennen und schätzen und macht wieder etwas aus seinem Leben, entdeckt neue Möglichkeiten und findet auch an anderen Dingen als dem Ha-Ha (so der Name des Lärmschutzwalls). Letztendlich schafft er es sogar vom Ha-Ha wegzukommen.
Natürlich geschehen zwischendurch haufenweise nervenaufreibende Dinge, besonders als Ryan zurück zu seiner Mutter geht und Howard wieder alleine ist und fast drogenrückfällig wird.
Neben dieser ständigen Anwesenheit der Drogen ist auch Howards Aggressivität und Ungeduld nur schwer zu ertragen. Dazu kommt, dass er selbst egoistisch ist, es aber nicht bemerkt und in seiner Isolation so sehr auf sich und seine Probleme fixiert ist, dass er keine Augen für diejenigen anderer Leute hat. Ich vermute auch, dass er sich sehr vor Veränderungen fürchtet, da er auch nicht an Sylvias (Ryans Mutter) Genesung glaubt, noch seine eigene. Er mag die Welt, so wie sie sich um ihn herum etabliert hat und fürchtet alles, was dies zerstören könnte. Besonders bezeichnend ist auch der Teil, in dem Ryan wieder zu seiner Mutter zurückkehrt und Howard sich tagelang in seinem Zimmer einschließt und versifft und sehr grob zu sich und seiner Umwelt ist.
Alles in Allem ist es trotzdem ein sehr lesenswertes Buch. Howards Problematik ist sehr bewegend, auch wenn ich nicht jede seiner Reaktionen und seiner Handlungen nachvollziehen kann. Es ist so schwierig sich zu verständigen und im leben zurechtzufinden ohne sprechen, lesen oder schreiben zu können.

An interesting story about a Vietnam vet who lost the ability to read and speak after getting hit by a landmine in country. Howard's life consists of his job at a convent, the people who board in his large Victorian home, and his high-school sweetheart (the junkie) and her son. When she goes into rehab he takes in her 9 year old son, Ryan, and finds that maybe he isn't as satisfied as he thought. A really neat take on what makes a family a family, and how we all have a choice in our happiness, if we are not afraid to take chances. Kind of drags in places, but all in all a good read.

Oh my god, it is a book from the point of view of a man who can't speak. And it is great. And you will learn a new landscaping term that you didn't know before: what is a ha-ha? When you read, you will find out.

Very well written first novel about an ex-Vietnam vet with major injuries who has to care for a moody 9-year old black kid. Characters are engaging and memorable and different enough not to appear together except randomly.½

One of my two most favorite our book club read thus far. The characters are engrossing and his struggle to accept his inability to communicate verbally. Learning who he his while accepting who he is and letting others into his life again is made more poignant by his efforts to reach out.

Although the title might lead one to think that it's funny, this book was described to me as "depressing." In fact, the title refers to a type of hidden retaining wall, rather than laughter. Either way, though, I wouldn't describe the book as depressing myself, aside from the steep slide downward toward the end.

Rather, I'd say this book is astonishingly hopeful. Our main character has overcome a great deal of adversity, and managed to make a life for himself despite an injury that has left him unable to speak or to read easily. He has overcome addiction and the death of parents. He has made a life for himself, and achieved an equilibrium largely characterized by his detachment from the people around him.

But when his high school sweetheart asks him to take in her 9-year-old son, Ryan, while she goes to rehab, he finds that they are able to form a bond. But perhaps this emotional reawakening is not all that Howard thinks it will be. Inevitably, though, Ryan must return to his mother, and Howard finds his newly constructed world unraveling.

This is the depressing part of the book, which perhaps is more drawn out than it needed to be. Again, Howard must struggle, but this time, instead of finding solace in solitude, Howard is able to turn to the relationships he formed through Ryan and find comfort in companionship.

A quite different central character. Dark, humorus, sad and frustrating. I do think the reader would have been served better to have a bit more closure.

Loved it!

What does war take from a person? How is the rest of one's life colored by wartime experiences? And what is the ultimate value of friendship? These questions are poignantly addressed in "The Ha-ha."

Wonderful book -- beautifully written with characters who will stay with you -- a great read.
-- Barbara

A little different from what I usually listen to but I enjoyed this book very much.
The narrator of the book made you come to be part of the novel

About a Vietnam vet who can't talk who develops a relationship with his ex-girlfriend's son. Pretty ordinary.

LOVE the character, the mute Vietnam vet. The best thing King does is just pile on the problems for poor Howard, until things look beyond hope. Sylvia is so deliciously evil, and Ryan is believable AND loveable even though he is a kid. I haven’t felt so close to a character in a long time.