I loved Leif Enger's first novel, Peace Like a River, though I don't remember much about it now, so I was excited that he had a new one out (finally). I really wanted to like So Brave, Young and Handsome, and fell in love with the first 9 words: "Not to disappoint you, but my troubles are nothing--". but the rest of the paragraph (and chapter, really) is pretty generic. It's not until chapter 7 when Enger goes on about a giant snapping turtle (trust me), cycling back to the turtle even, that I loved the writing. I felt he finally hit his stride (or maybe I just got into it).
I really didn't like Monte Becket, the narrator, for most of the story, which I always have a hard time with. He finally gets some backbone (which is the point, of course) and then I sort of like him. But the other characters are interesting and unusual. I especially like the enthusiastically doomed young Hood Roberts, bursting with the thrill of the outlaw life in the waning days of cowboys (1915). "Suppose we hear gunshots? What'll we do then?" He asks when the "evil" ex-Pinkerton detective is hot on their outlaw friend's tail. "Suppose Glendon overcomes him [the detective] by guile and brings him back hogtied and blindfolded..."
Serious Monte replies, "Untie him and let him go. What do you mean blindfolded? Why would he blindfold him?"
Monte only writes romances, doesn't really know how to live them and he's adrift in this new life he's chosen, away from his wife, helping a former outlaw escape the law. Unlike Hood Roberts, who takes to the life like a shot, Monte is not much of a cowboy, though he has written a book. He admits to an aversion to horses, calling them "sinister" and correctly understands that "the only thing a horse wants from you is your absence."
And so these men, in groups of two or three or even one, chase their way across the dying West, following along on Glendon's mission to apologize to his long-ago wife for his life of misdeeds. Along for the ride is a version of The Law and it's ugly and pathetic, but the men understand its necessity. There's something both sad and heroic about this journey, a lot like what I picture cowboy life to be like now, in this modern age of machines and cars and internet and TV. You still want to believe in the solitary "Marlboro Man", but we all know what happened to him. I suppose 1915 already seemed to signal the end to that kind of life.
The writing is nice and I suppose it's my sloppy reading that leaves me perplexed as to the meaning behind the title. I mean, yeah, I get it---America, cowboys, youth, blah blah blah...I don't put much stock in titles anyways and often find myself disappointed when I find the title of a book repeated within the story. Seems cheap or lazy.
Nice line: He did not seem to struggle against death, nor did he appear surprised. Death arrived easy as the train; [He] just climbed aboard, like the capable traveler he was.
I really didn't like Monte Becket, the narrator, for most of the story, which I always have a hard time with. He finally gets some backbone (which is the point, of course) and then I sort of like him. But the other characters are interesting and unusual. I especially like the enthusiastically doomed young Hood Roberts, bursting with the thrill of the outlaw life in the waning days of cowboys (1915). "Suppose we hear gunshots? What'll we do then?" He asks when the "evil" ex-Pinkerton detective is hot on their outlaw friend's tail. "Suppose Glendon overcomes him [the detective] by guile and brings him back hogtied and blindfolded..."
Serious Monte replies, "Untie him and let him go. What do you mean blindfolded? Why would he blindfold him?"
Monte only writes romances, doesn't really know how to live them and he's adrift in this new life he's chosen, away from his wife, helping a former outlaw escape the law. Unlike Hood Roberts, who takes to the life like a shot, Monte is not much of a cowboy, though he has written a book. He admits to an aversion to horses, calling them "sinister" and correctly understands that "the only thing a horse wants from you is your absence."
And so these men, in groups of two or three or even one, chase their way across the dying West, following along on Glendon's mission to apologize to his long-ago wife for his life of misdeeds. Along for the ride is a version of The Law and it's ugly and pathetic, but the men understand its necessity. There's something both sad and heroic about this journey, a lot like what I picture cowboy life to be like now, in this modern age of machines and cars and internet and TV. You still want to believe in the solitary "Marlboro Man", but we all know what happened to him. I suppose 1915 already seemed to signal the end to that kind of life.
The writing is nice and I suppose it's my sloppy reading that leaves me perplexed as to the meaning behind the title. I mean, yeah, I get it---America, cowboys, youth, blah blah blah...I don't put much stock in titles anyways and often find myself disappointed when I find the title of a book repeated within the story. Seems cheap or lazy.
Nice line: He did not seem to struggle against death, nor did he appear surprised. Death arrived easy as the train; [He] just climbed aboard, like the capable traveler he was.
2 comments:
I just started listening to it and am finding it quite tedious. Please tell me it gets better. I've heard so many good things about it that I wanted to read it, but so far think it is dull.
Susie Gilbert
I do think this picks up. I had trouble with it at first, but I wouldn't have finished it otherwise. I'd be curious to hear what you thought (if you kept going).
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