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Cargando... The Heaven of Mercurypor Brad Watson
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Inscríbete en LibraryThing para averiguar si este libro te gustará. Actualmente no hay Conversaciones sobre este libro. This is another book to love by Brad Watson. While I did have a few quibbles here and there with passages that went on and on and really did nothing to serve the story, I will let that slide because it was beautiful writing, although admittedly I skipped some of it. Mostly, I wanted to know about Finus, Avis, Birdie, Earl, Aunt Vish, Junius, Creasy, and Merry, and on and on. This is a story of unrequited love, about people who support one another, hate one another, cause problems for one another and then try to patch it all up. It's about marriages that shouldn't have happened, infidelity, imperfect people, and those who believe they've never done any wrong. It's like reading a mashup of Cormac McCarthy, Larry Brown, Donald Ray Pollock with a solid dose of Rick Bragg's style small town living. There were parts that were laugh out loud funny, and many parts that made me cringe. And finally, toward the end, I learned I'd been saying the name Finus in my head wrong the entire time. All in all, still a five star read - a book I highly recommend! > Babelio : https://www.babelio.com/livres/Watson-Le-paradis-perdu-de-Mercury/73124 > Le Livre de Poche (celiatas) : https://fr.calameo.com/books/0043038443afedcb9a996 > À l'instar des grands romans de Faulkner, de Giono ou de Garcia Marquez Le Paradis perdu de Mercury nous parle d'un lieu minuscule qui, par la grâce de l'écriture (...) est aussi vaste que le monde. —Michèle Gazier, Télérama sin reseñas | añadir una reseña
Premios
Brad Watson's first novel has been eagerly awaited since his breathtaking, award-winning debut collection of short stories, Last Days of the Dog-Men. Here, he fulfills that literary promise with a humorous and jaundiced eye. Finus Bates has loved Birdie Wells since the day he saw her do a naked cartwheel in the woods in 1916. Later he won her at poker, lost her, then nearly won her again after the mysterious poisoning of her womanizing husband. Does Vish, the old medicine woman down in the ravine, hold the key to Birdie's elusive character? Or does Parnell, the town undertaker, whose unspeakable desires bring lust for life and death together? Or does the secret lie with some other colorful old-timer in Mercury, Mississippi, not such a small town anymore? With "graceful, patient, insightful and hilarious" prose (USA Today), Brad Watson chronicles Finus's steadfast devotion and Mercury's evolution from a sleepy backwater to a small city. With this "tragicomic story of missed opportunities and unjust necessities" (Fred Chappell), "Southern storytelling is alive and well in Watson's capable hands" (Kirkus Reviews starred review). "His work may remind readers of William Faulkner, Toni Morrison, or Flannery O'Connor, but has a power--and a charm--all its own, more pellucid than the first, gentler than the second, and kinder than the third" (Baltimore Sun). No se han encontrado descripciones de biblioteca. |
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Google Books — Cargando... GénerosSistema Decimal Melvil (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999Clasificación de la Biblioteca del CongresoValoraciónPromedio:
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I’d like to tell you whose story this is, but I’m still a bit unsure. It seemed to be Finus’ story, but maybe it was Birdie’s, or perhaps it was Creasie’s tale. There is a black dummy that ought to stand for something, maybe does stand for something that I am not grasping, but that seems to be a plot device that doesn’t quite satisfy its purpose.
And, there are two instances when the plot is either a nod of tribute to two other writers, or the borrowing of a plot element that just comes a little too close to copying for my comfort. Again, I am having a hard time deciding which.
It must be said, Watson can write! His writing style is splendid and captivating and at times beautiful. Frequently he scores a perfect ten.
An open heart will save you, but you have to be smart, too. You have to be careful who you open your heart to. Some people can’t help but hurt you if they know it, he said, and kissed the young Finus on his forehead.
I’m unsure exactly what changes I would suggest to make this novel really work for me. It almost felt like Watson wanted to tell too many stories, so ended up not completely telling any. This is a 5-star read masquerading as a 3-star read. It’s like that face that just misses being beautiful because there is some lack of symmetry in the nose or the eyes are just a bit too far set. It still has character and personality, it just isn’t going to win the beauty contest.
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