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Father and Son
This classic story of good and evil takes place in the rural American South of 1968. After being released from prison, Glen Davis returns to his hometown only to commit double homicide within forty-eight hours of his return. Sheriff Bobby Blanchard, as upright as Glen is despicable, walks in the path of Glen’s destruction and tries to rebuild the fragile ties of the families and community they share. Dark secrets that have been simmering for two generations explode to the surface, allowing us a chilling glimpse at how evil can fester in a man’s heart and eat up his soul.
“This is the novel that will live with you day and night.” — Kaye Gibbons
“Cancel the competition for the suspense thriller of the year. Larry Brown has already won it with Father and Son.” —St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“Larry Brown is one of the great unsung heroes of American fiction... His work is a reminder of a reason to read.” —San Jose Mercury News
“This is the novel that will live with you day and night.” — Kaye Gibbons
“Cancel the competition for the suspense thriller of the year. Larry Brown has already won it with Father and Son.” —St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“Larry Brown is one of the great unsung heroes of American fiction... His work is a reminder of a reason to read.” —San Jose Mercury News
347 pages, Paperback
First published January 9, 1996
93 people are currently reading
3734 people want to read
About the author
Larry Brown
99 books642 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Larry Brown was an American writer who was born and lived in Oxford, Mississippi. Brown wrote fiction and nonfiction. He graduated from high school in Oxford but did not go to college. Many years later, he took a creative writing class from the Mississippi novelist Ellen Douglas. Brown served in the United States Marine Corps from 1970 to 1972. On his return to Oxford, he worked at a small stove company before joining the city fire department. An avid reader, Brown began writing in his spare time while he worked as a firefighter in Oxford in 1980.
Brown was awarded the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters award for fiction. Brown was the first two-time winner of the Southern Book Award for Fiction, which he won in 1992 for his novel, Joe and again in 1997 for his novel Father and Son. In 1998, he received a Lila Wallace-Readers Digest Award, which granted him $35,000 per year for three years to write. In 2000, the State of Mississippi granted him a Governor's Award For Excellence in the Arts. For one semester, Brown taught as a writer-in-residence in the creative writing program at the University of Mississippi, temporarily taking over the position held by his friend Barry Hannah. He later served as visiting writer at the University of Montana in Missoula. He taught briefly at other colleges throughout the United States.
Brown died of an apparent heart attack at his home in the Yocona community, near Oxford, in November 2004.
Larry Brown was an American writer who was born and lived in Oxford, Mississippi. Brown wrote fiction and nonfiction. He graduated from high school in Oxford but did not go to college. Many years later, he took a creative writing class from the Mississippi novelist Ellen Douglas. Brown served in the United States Marine Corps from 1970 to 1972. On his return to Oxford, he worked at a small stove company before joining the city fire department. An avid reader, Brown began writing in his spare time while he worked as a firefighter in Oxford in 1980.
Brown was awarded the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters award for fiction. Brown was the first two-time winner of the Southern Book Award for Fiction, which he won in 1992 for his novel, Joe and again in 1997 for his novel Father and Son. In 1998, he received a Lila Wallace-Readers Digest Award, which granted him $35,000 per year for three years to write. In 2000, the State of Mississippi granted him a Governor's Award For Excellence in the Arts. For one semester, Brown taught as a writer-in-residence in the creative writing program at the University of Mississippi, temporarily taking over the position held by his friend Barry Hannah. He later served as visiting writer at the University of Montana in Missoula. He taught briefly at other colleges throughout the United States.
Brown died of an apparent heart attack at his home in the Yocona community, near Oxford, in November 2004.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 263 reviews
April 29, 2022
Beautiful words cannot mask the evil that festers in 1968 rural Mississippi. Southern noir at its finest. The author has an uncanny ability to convey the feel of things. The heat, the stink, the utter desperation of some, and the unremitting rage that is harbored by another. I expect the characters who came alive in these pages to stick with me for a right smart amount of time. If you love country noir and you have not yet read Larry Brown, you are missing out on something special.
October 8, 2013
I am still in shock at how great this book was, and how close I came to not reading it at all. It was one of the October choices for the group "On the Southern Literary Trail". There are 2 choices each month and I like to read at least one of them to get in on the discussion. The other choice was "The Bad Seed" by William March, and since I remembered the old movie with Patty McCormack as the evil child, I put it on hold at the library. But "Father and Son"was available on the shelf so I checked it out, brought it home and looked through it. The cover picture was a little off-putting, the synopsis of a released convict going home to terrorize his town and family didn't sound like my kind of thing, so I laid it aside. Meanwhile The Bad Seed never showed up, I finished the book I was reading, October was passing, the discussion threads I glanced at were interesting (bar monkey?), so I decided to read a few pages to see where it took me. Where it took me was deep into Mississippi in 1968, deep into the southern cadences and slang that I grew up with, deep into dark family relationships and secrets of real people who loved and hated and did the best they knew how to do with what life had given them. It took me into a story so riveting that I even cared about Glen, the evil man who caused so much pain, and I desperately wanted him to find a way out of the darkness that enveloped him.
This book took me back to a time when phones were on tables in houses, and if it rang and no one was home, well, too bad, you missed the call. When you reached into the cooler and pulled out a short coke, when you needed a church key or a can opener to drink a beer. And there was a lot of beer drinking going on in the novel, but there was a can opener in every car, hanging on strings on the porch just in arm's reach, in boats and coolers. Larry Brown brought the time and his characters to life with never a false note.
I was a third of the way through the book before I read the author bio, and was shocked to learn that the author had died of a heart attack in 2004. What a loss that was. But his books did not die with him, so I'll read his other books and recommend him to other people. So, a big fat thank you to whoever checked out "The Bad Seed" and didn't bring it back on time.
This book took me back to a time when phones were on tables in houses, and if it rang and no one was home, well, too bad, you missed the call. When you reached into the cooler and pulled out a short coke, when you needed a church key or a can opener to drink a beer. And there was a lot of beer drinking going on in the novel, but there was a can opener in every car, hanging on strings on the porch just in arm's reach, in boats and coolers. Larry Brown brought the time and his characters to life with never a false note.
I was a third of the way through the book before I read the author bio, and was shocked to learn that the author had died of a heart attack in 2004. What a loss that was. But his books did not die with him, so I'll read his other books and recommend him to other people. So, a big fat thank you to whoever checked out "The Bad Seed" and didn't bring it back on time.
November 30, 2018
5 Stars. Grit Lit at its best!
April 20, 2023
The years from 1989 to 2000 were perhaps Brown’s most successful as a novelist, and Father and Son – published in 1996 in the heart of that period – might be his most polished effort. The central character is Glen, recently released from a 3-year prison sentence for killing a boy while driving drunk, and we follow him as he wreaks violent and wrathful havoc on his small Mississippi hometown and everyone who knows him, including his own father and the mother of his young son. But there are many fathers and many sons in this story, some good, some terrible, and some indifferent, highlighting how much is passed down from father to son besides genetic traits, for better or worse.
December 4, 2021
“Glen se había pasado toda la infancia oyéndole gemir, sacudirse e implorar en sueños, y le había visto sumirse en largos períodos de silencio en los que se quedaba mirando el cielo, problablemene reviviendo viejos recuerdos de los que solo hablaba cuando le daba a la botella. Se preguntó si seguiría haciéndolo. Se preguntó porque cojones los japos no acabaron el trabajo y lo mataron cuando tuvieron oportunidad. Su muerte habría puesto las cosas más fáciles a todo el mundo. Y el habría podido tener un padre diferente al que tenía ahora.”
Se me hace raro escribir sobre la fuerte impresión que me ha causado esta novela porque hubo momentos en que tuve que cerrar las páginas, no porque no pudiera seguir leyendo por la incomodidad o por la extrema violencia (que la hay), sino por la inesperada belleza que contienen muchas de sus páginas, la esencia del día a día, de lo que significa la vida en sus pequeños detalles y Larry Brown los hace tan palpables que me llegaron a conmover.
Empecé la novela cuando ya estaba sumergida en La Mansión de William Faulkner, y fue pura casualidad enterarme que ambos autores compartieron lugar de nacimiento. Larry Brown nace en Yocona, Mississippi, cerca de Oxford donde había nacido Faulkner, y esto aunado al hecho de que el protagonista de Padre e Hijo, Glen Davis, acaba de salir de la penitenciaria de Parchman cuando empieza la novela, al igual que Mink Snopes en La Mansión, me revierte al hecho de que hay lecturas que están interconectadas y no planeadas, casualidades. William Faulkner ha sido un autor que me ha volado la cabeza en este 2021, pero reconozco que Larry Brown no se queda atrás. No tiene nada que envidiarle a WF, todo lo contrario, y además he caído rendida a sus pies.
La historia que nos cuenta aquí Larry Brown es la lucha constante y universal entre el bien y el mal, entre la violencia y el ansía de paz. Cuando comienza la novela, Glen Davis acaba de salir de Parchman, la penitenciaria estatal de Mississippi, tras tres años encerrado. Los tres años de reclusión no han hecho demasiado por su paz mental, todo lo contrario, cuando vuelve al hogar, el odio y el rencor latente que lleva en sus carnes desde pequeño pone patas arriba a la familia que le está esperando. No voy a hablar mucho más del argumento porque lo que de verdad aquí interesa es como se va desvelando la vida en el pueblo tras la vuelta de Glen. Hay que leerla sin más datos.
Lo que sí puedo decir es que la novela está conformada de momentos hermosísimos donde la violencia, a veces extrema, se mezcla con un lírismo inesperado, sorprendente: largos viajes en coche de noche o de día, donde el lector es capaz de visualizar el paisaje del Delta o momentos de extrema naturalidad de personajes sentados en el porche de la casa, oyendo los sonidos que se entremezclan en estos silencios y donde quizá un faro del coche que se detiene por unos minutos, hace saltar chispas de tensión dosificada. Larry Brown captura la vida rural como nadie. Sus diálogos son parcos, minimalistas, pero al mismo tiempo están repletos de una humanidad inesperada entre tanta aridez.
Y por otra parte estoy convencida de que el retrato de un personaje como el de Glen, solo puede provenir de un maestro. Glen Davis, un personaje violento, atormentado, casi inhumano, que no deja títere con cabeza y sin embargo llegado un punto, Larry Brown es capaz de infundirle ese retazo de humanidad, ese reconocer por parte del lector que no hay criaturas perfectas y que todos llevamos dentro una vena de oscuridad.
En definitiva, es una novela colosal cuyo texto habla por sí mismo. Atmosférica, contundente, con unos personajes de los que no sobra ni uno, es una novela que me ha llegado al alma. Hay que leerla. Top 2021.
"Virgil identificó el coche de Jewel aparcado bajo un árbol y sintió una leve punzada de anhelo por ver al crío. En breve, quizá. Todavía quedaba bastante agua en el río. El siluro era difícil de atrapar con tanto calor pero creía saber donde picarían seguro algunas bremas. Aunque solo fuese una tarde a orillas del río. El niño y él, los dos juntos, eso le gustaba, le gustaba responder a sus preguntas..."
https://kansasbooks.blogspot.com/2021...
Se me hace raro escribir sobre la fuerte impresión que me ha causado esta novela porque hubo momentos en que tuve que cerrar las páginas, no porque no pudiera seguir leyendo por la incomodidad o por la extrema violencia (que la hay), sino por la inesperada belleza que contienen muchas de sus páginas, la esencia del día a día, de lo que significa la vida en sus pequeños detalles y Larry Brown los hace tan palpables que me llegaron a conmover.
Empecé la novela cuando ya estaba sumergida en La Mansión de William Faulkner, y fue pura casualidad enterarme que ambos autores compartieron lugar de nacimiento. Larry Brown nace en Yocona, Mississippi, cerca de Oxford donde había nacido Faulkner, y esto aunado al hecho de que el protagonista de Padre e Hijo, Glen Davis, acaba de salir de la penitenciaria de Parchman cuando empieza la novela, al igual que Mink Snopes en La Mansión, me revierte al hecho de que hay lecturas que están interconectadas y no planeadas, casualidades. William Faulkner ha sido un autor que me ha volado la cabeza en este 2021, pero reconozco que Larry Brown no se queda atrás. No tiene nada que envidiarle a WF, todo lo contrario, y además he caído rendida a sus pies.
La historia que nos cuenta aquí Larry Brown es la lucha constante y universal entre el bien y el mal, entre la violencia y el ansía de paz. Cuando comienza la novela, Glen Davis acaba de salir de Parchman, la penitenciaria estatal de Mississippi, tras tres años encerrado. Los tres años de reclusión no han hecho demasiado por su paz mental, todo lo contrario, cuando vuelve al hogar, el odio y el rencor latente que lleva en sus carnes desde pequeño pone patas arriba a la familia que le está esperando. No voy a hablar mucho más del argumento porque lo que de verdad aquí interesa es como se va desvelando la vida en el pueblo tras la vuelta de Glen. Hay que leerla sin más datos.
Lo que sí puedo decir es que la novela está conformada de momentos hermosísimos donde la violencia, a veces extrema, se mezcla con un lírismo inesperado, sorprendente: largos viajes en coche de noche o de día, donde el lector es capaz de visualizar el paisaje del Delta o momentos de extrema naturalidad de personajes sentados en el porche de la casa, oyendo los sonidos que se entremezclan en estos silencios y donde quizá un faro del coche que se detiene por unos minutos, hace saltar chispas de tensión dosificada. Larry Brown captura la vida rural como nadie. Sus diálogos son parcos, minimalistas, pero al mismo tiempo están repletos de una humanidad inesperada entre tanta aridez.
Y por otra parte estoy convencida de que el retrato de un personaje como el de Glen, solo puede provenir de un maestro. Glen Davis, un personaje violento, atormentado, casi inhumano, que no deja títere con cabeza y sin embargo llegado un punto, Larry Brown es capaz de infundirle ese retazo de humanidad, ese reconocer por parte del lector que no hay criaturas perfectas y que todos llevamos dentro una vena de oscuridad.
En definitiva, es una novela colosal cuyo texto habla por sí mismo. Atmosférica, contundente, con unos personajes de los que no sobra ni uno, es una novela que me ha llegado al alma. Hay que leerla. Top 2021.
"Virgil identificó el coche de Jewel aparcado bajo un árbol y sintió una leve punzada de anhelo por ver al crío. En breve, quizá. Todavía quedaba bastante agua en el río. El siluro era difícil de atrapar con tanto calor pero creía saber donde picarían seguro algunas bremas. Aunque solo fuese una tarde a orillas del río. El niño y él, los dos juntos, eso le gustaba, le gustaba responder a sus preguntas..."
https://kansasbooks.blogspot.com/2021...
April 24, 2017
Didn't quite scratch that itch of mine for stories that make existentially desolate use of the down 'n' dirty American South, and are peopled with the hopeless and the damned blindly eking out their violent lives. For more of that, say hey to Joe. Like that previous novel, Father and Son begins with a seemingly cold narratorial remove from its cast of down-and-outs and downright despicables; but unlike Joe, which maintains that voice and ultimately uses the distance from the character's thoughts and feelings to deftly characterize them through their actions versus their words, after the first hundred pages Brown switches to a more intimate relationship with the thoughts, feelings and memories of the many fathers and sons that plague this novel. But a bad novel this does not make. From the three books I've read and the few interviews I've investigated, Brown was an author who consciously chose to push himself as a writer with each new work, testing what he can do with his own artistic craft. I respect the shit out of that. So while this novel doesn't quite succeed with its attention to its characters' psyches, and though it winds down with an ending that doesn't quite live up to its themes, which are no less than the stuff of Greek mythology, Father and Son is still a grungy ride through 1960's Mississippi and is replete with grimy roadhouses, drunk driving, murder, cruelty to children, greasy sex and even a mean-spirited monkey. Also this title is a deceptive one because there are moms, too.
April 20, 2023
It’s been awhile since I’ve read a really good southern noir style book and this was a new opportunity and a new author to experience. Larry Brown is a talented writer and can set the tone for a very noir plot. He takes you to the place where people live in run-down trailers with lawns strewn with broken-down cars and piles of trash. He takes you to the countryside and to the fishing hole and introduces life of a small town man just trying to get by.
Here you also meet face to face with good and evil. In this book you will meet one of the most loathsome protagonists, Glen Davis. A psychopath just out of Parchman Penitentiary for vehicular homicide of a child, he is far from being rehabilitated and bent on revenge within 24 hours of his release. This book spans only a few days and Glen adds murder, robbery and rape to his rap sheet. These are not easy scenes to read through or to process afterwards. This character is nothing short of vile and offensive. And for those who are triggered by harm to animals, please do not read this. There are some pretty gruesome scenes dealing with the death of animals.
The crimes occur early in the plot which lead me to believe this was a crime noir but somehow the crimes just get overlooked. This is more of a tragic story of the community of this small southern Mississippi town. We find out about the woman Glen left behind and the little boy that he won’t claim. And then there is the volatile relationship with the Sheriff who rubs Glen the wrong way. What Brown did not do in this novel was give readers the complete background for his wickedness. He’s just a rotten guy who doesn’t care a whit what he does or who he hurts. But, I find knowing the reasons why a character makes the choices and acts the way he does adds more clarity and believability. I wanted a bit more in the psychological make-up rather than a character who is bad just because, hence the 3 stars.
Here you also meet face to face with good and evil. In this book you will meet one of the most loathsome protagonists, Glen Davis. A psychopath just out of Parchman Penitentiary for vehicular homicide of a child, he is far from being rehabilitated and bent on revenge within 24 hours of his release. This book spans only a few days and Glen adds murder, robbery and rape to his rap sheet. These are not easy scenes to read through or to process afterwards. This character is nothing short of vile and offensive. And for those who are triggered by harm to animals, please do not read this. There are some pretty gruesome scenes dealing with the death of animals.
The crimes occur early in the plot which lead me to believe this was a crime noir but somehow the crimes just get overlooked. This is more of a tragic story of the community of this small southern Mississippi town. We find out about the woman Glen left behind and the little boy that he won’t claim. And then there is the volatile relationship with the Sheriff who rubs Glen the wrong way. What Brown did not do in this novel was give readers the complete background for his wickedness. He’s just a rotten guy who doesn’t care a whit what he does or who he hurts. But, I find knowing the reasons why a character makes the choices and acts the way he does adds more clarity and believability. I wanted a bit more in the psychological make-up rather than a character who is bad just because, hence the 3 stars.
November 26, 2014
Loved, loved, loved this...
So good on so many levels. A fine piece of Southern Gothic, indeed.
The title Father and Son(the perfect title) resonates throughout and serves the story on many levels. The language is simple and clean, even subtle and quiet, yet so many of the scenes were so well-constructed and vivid that I felt myself absorbed while reading in a way that doesn't always happen. Like many, I see the story unfolding on the big screen of my mind as I turn the pages, but unlike many stories where the characters and the scenes are fuzzy, ill-defined images, these were crystal clear.
The weaving of the various characters, lives, and their stories was also flawless, and the grand finale?...one of the best I've read in a long time.
Would recommend to fans of other Southern Gothic writers like William Gay, Tom Franklin, and Ron Rash.
Good stuff, so good I will now have to read all his other works. Sadly, like a number of great writers before him, he passed away way too early. He died in 2004 (from a heart attack per wiki), still in his early fifties.
So good on so many levels. A fine piece of Southern Gothic, indeed.
The title Father and Son(the perfect title) resonates throughout and serves the story on many levels. The language is simple and clean, even subtle and quiet, yet so many of the scenes were so well-constructed and vivid that I felt myself absorbed while reading in a way that doesn't always happen. Like many, I see the story unfolding on the big screen of my mind as I turn the pages, but unlike many stories where the characters and the scenes are fuzzy, ill-defined images, these were crystal clear.
The weaving of the various characters, lives, and their stories was also flawless, and the grand finale?...one of the best I've read in a long time.
Would recommend to fans of other Southern Gothic writers like William Gay, Tom Franklin, and Ron Rash.
Good stuff, so good I will now have to read all his other works. Sadly, like a number of great writers before him, he passed away way too early. He died in 2004 (from a heart attack per wiki), still in his early fifties.
October 19, 2022
It didn’t do the thing I feared, which was make one man too good and the other too evil. No, both are drawn in shades and they’re living and breathing and it’s all the more unnerving. I keep going back to look up sentences, trying to figure out how Larry Brown gets to places so complex with prose so straight and simple. The cover blurb claims the model is Faulkner but if Faulkner is anything it’s dense and opaque and Father and Son is pure transparency.
April 1, 2023
Although the storytelling was good, I did mot enjoy spending time with the psychopathic principal character named Glenn. Enough said.
September 15, 2016
Larry Brown's Father and Son is what falls into the categorization of Southern Lit, and more specifically, Grit Lit.
Not all Southern Lit is Grit Lit. The former would be like Flannery O'Connor, who wrote about the grittiness of life and real issues occurring, especially in the Deep South, but it wasn't violent (or if there was violence, it served a greater purpose in the story). The latter would be like Harry Crews (from the one book I've read by him), Larry Brown (from the one book I've read by him), and Cormac McCarthy (who I haven't even read beyond The Road yet, and that's not one I would classify as Grit Lit, but the others, from what I've heard, would). I haven't spent much time with William Faulkner yet, but I think he falls in with Flannery up there, and I'll find out one of these days.
I'm beginning to realize I may not be a particular fan of Grit Lit.
I don't mind harsh truths and violence. It's a part of life, and I can accept that. I know the Deep South has been known for this through the years as being an especial part of their lives, and again, I can accept that. But when I read a lot of these authors who write about these things, it's not so much they're saying "This is a way of our lives", but rather "Let me try to shock you." And I don't like that.
In Father and Son we have a man who has just returned from prison for murder, and he's right back on the same road when he gets back to town. This would be a fine story already, just based on that, but it starts immediately with animal abuse which is difficult for me to read. There's some animal abuse throughout, and while it's not always in-your-face, it's still there, and as a champion for all things animal, it was hard for me to stomach.
On top of that, then there's also the sexist treatment of women. Ugh. There's no real point to that in this story, other than to show just how reprehensible every male character in the book is. There's assault and rape and it comes across as gratuitous.
But, alright, maybe I'm just being too nitpicky about the social issues that concern me in our society already.
If you were to ask me the difference between the characters, I wouldn't be able to tell you. I remember the one who came back to town, but there's nothing about him that sets him apart from any other male character. There are several male characters and there's nothing differentiating them from one another. Very little description (if any) of who they are and what makes them tick. And the women are portrayed the worst. They are all interchangeable. Maybe the size of their breasts are different, but I never made any connection to any of them either, because they were mostly only there for the amusement of the other characters.
I wanted to enjoy this more than I did. It's one of the 50 books on this list of Southern authors I found recently, but I was left feeling cold and disinterested by the end. I'm not sure what sets this book apart from others like it. I can see how others enjoy it, but it's not my preference. The good news is it does read quickly.
Not all Southern Lit is Grit Lit. The former would be like Flannery O'Connor, who wrote about the grittiness of life and real issues occurring, especially in the Deep South, but it wasn't violent (or if there was violence, it served a greater purpose in the story). The latter would be like Harry Crews (from the one book I've read by him), Larry Brown (from the one book I've read by him), and Cormac McCarthy (who I haven't even read beyond The Road yet, and that's not one I would classify as Grit Lit, but the others, from what I've heard, would). I haven't spent much time with William Faulkner yet, but I think he falls in with Flannery up there, and I'll find out one of these days.
I'm beginning to realize I may not be a particular fan of Grit Lit.
I don't mind harsh truths and violence. It's a part of life, and I can accept that. I know the Deep South has been known for this through the years as being an especial part of their lives, and again, I can accept that. But when I read a lot of these authors who write about these things, it's not so much they're saying "This is a way of our lives", but rather "Let me try to shock you." And I don't like that.
In Father and Son we have a man who has just returned from prison for murder, and he's right back on the same road when he gets back to town. This would be a fine story already, just based on that, but it starts immediately with animal abuse which is difficult for me to read. There's some animal abuse throughout, and while it's not always in-your-face, it's still there, and as a champion for all things animal, it was hard for me to stomach.
On top of that, then there's also the sexist treatment of women. Ugh. There's no real point to that in this story, other than to show just how reprehensible every male character in the book is. There's assault and rape and it comes across as gratuitous.
But, alright, maybe I'm just being too nitpicky about the social issues that concern me in our society already.
If you were to ask me the difference between the characters, I wouldn't be able to tell you. I remember the one who came back to town, but there's nothing about him that sets him apart from any other male character. There are several male characters and there's nothing differentiating them from one another. Very little description (if any) of who they are and what makes them tick. And the women are portrayed the worst. They are all interchangeable. Maybe the size of their breasts are different, but I never made any connection to any of them either, because they were mostly only there for the amusement of the other characters.
I wanted to enjoy this more than I did. It's one of the 50 books on this list of Southern authors I found recently, but I was left feeling cold and disinterested by the end. I'm not sure what sets this book apart from others like it. I can see how others enjoy it, but it's not my preference. The good news is it does read quickly.
July 29, 2014
Here is something by and about Larry Brown to get yourself ready to read Father and Son. Always good, I think, to know a little bit about the author. He says, “I try to start with trouble on the first page, trouble on the first page.” So, here it is. Trouble for seventeen minutes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dw1cr2...
Now, I recommend that you read Father and Son and get to know Glen.
There are not enough bad names to accurately portray Glen.
But he did release the prize fish rather than kill it.
Irredeemable?
Just a little uncertainty about that.
But very little.
His last words?
“I’m sorry.”
And he is.
I liked this book a lot, four stars worth, and look forward to spending more time with Larry Brown.
Now, I recommend that you read Father and Son and get to know Glen.
He didn’t feel much like spending the whole day looking for a job. It was probably going to be the same story everywhere he tried when they saw that missing three-year gap and found out he’d been in the pen. He’d have to answer all their questions, humble himself to a bunch of pencil-pushing assholes with their little chickenshit paychecks and rules and hours. Their time clocks to punch. He didn’t want any of that anyway. He just needed about a hundred dollars. That would keep him going for a while, just until he got on his feet.
There are not enough bad names to accurately portray Glen.
But he did release the prize fish rather than kill it.
Irredeemable?
Just a little uncertainty about that.
But very little.
His last words?
“I’m sorry.”
And he is.
I liked this book a lot, four stars worth, and look forward to spending more time with Larry Brown.
January 7, 2015
The setting and characters in this story are so vividly alive in my mind as bits and pieces of reality that I can hardly separate the two. I can see real faces and real places in this novel so it is very hard for me to truly make an unbiased review of this novel . To me Larry Brown wrote Father and Son as one of his finest novels ever. It is a novel that moves from conflict to uncomfortable conflict constantly as his characters stay in motion. The whole book is like a thunder storm building up into a huge downfall with lightening striking and tornadoes touching the old ground in light places until finally the story crashes or ends in its inevitable ending . Then, the world can be made right again and go forward.
Father and Son displays just how volatile certain relationships with one person can be. The two together cannot always occupy the same space. Good and evil cannot always occupy the same space for a length of time . Sooner or later there will be a battle.
This story was much more complicated than I am explaining here . Larry Brown will grab you from page one and take you on the wildest , most horrific ride a Father and Son relationship struggle can carry you in a way no other writer ever will.
That is all ...
Father and Son displays just how volatile certain relationships with one person can be. The two together cannot always occupy the same space. Good and evil cannot always occupy the same space for a length of time . Sooner or later there will be a battle.
This story was much more complicated than I am explaining here . Larry Brown will grab you from page one and take you on the wildest , most horrific ride a Father and Son relationship struggle can carry you in a way no other writer ever will.
That is all ...
April 7, 2014
This was a very dark, raw and unfiltered tale. The blurb on the back cover describes this novel as a “classic story of good and evil.” No kidding! Even so, I was mesmerized – sometimes disturbed, but always compelled to finish the book.
February 11, 2023
My Rating: 3.5⭐️⭐️⭐️ rounded down - not my usual style but could appreciate the talent and was compelled to find out what happened!!!
In the rural south of America in 1968 a story of good and evil unfolds in the form of humankind. Glen Davis is released from jail after serving 3 years only to return to his hometown to immediately commit homicide and other unspeakable crimes.
Sheriff Bobby Blanchard is a pillar of the community and is as straight as Glen is bent, he walks into Glen’s path of destruction trying to rebuild the fragile lives that are left in his wake.
Generations of bad blood, secrets and ill will have been simmering below the surface are set to explode giving the reader a look at how evil can reside and rot a man’s heart and soul.
First up… I need to let you know that there is animal abuse in this novel… I do not condone it but it’s there and I know some people will not pick up a book with it in so I wanted that clear. However, other more alarming trigger warnings are murder and rape so I wanted to alert you to those as well.
So I was having trouble picking a book and decided to try something very different for me. While there is crime and some mystery to this it is not my usual style. I have read other GoodReaders describe this one as Sourthen Noir… I am unsure if that is a real genre but it seems pretty accurate to me. It is grimy, gritty and layered with hatred. Set in the 60’s you can expect this to be not politically correct for our current times. It depicts the racism that was rife at that time, the disregard for women by some men (not all there are some good guys in this book) and a way of life that is not commonly lived these days. However never having been to America or the South perhaps some people will relate to this in more modern times than the 60’s.
This one I found really hard to rate, it is written in English but it is not an English that I speak. The accent, the way of speaking and the location are very much coming through in the writing. At times while I completely understood the words I needed to slow down my reading because I simply do not speak this way and needed to make sure I understood what was being said… that is not a problem and I actually think it was a testament to the author being able to capture a time and location of speech so well.
I struggled though because I didn’t really enjoy the story but I had to keep reading… I knew I needed to know what happened but I really did hate Glen and found his behaviour difficult to read. There are also ALOT of characters in this book albeit a lot of them are secondary or even insignificant but there are a lot of names and it got a little confusing at times.
The chapters are fairly short and the sentences are too so I enjoyed that… it did shift from POV and while it didn’t tell you whose POV we were reading at the top of the chapter it was very clear who you were reading at which time. The story only takes place over the course of 48hours which is really wild because the immense destruction that Glen causes when he is released from jail to the end of the book is quite unbelievable. Glen is a violent drunken bastard who blames everyone for everything… even as he’s driving drunk and swerving all over the road he has the nerve to feel blame toward others…
The road was crooked and sometimes the car would slide over to the shoulder, where the dirt was lumped up from the grader blades. Then he’d have to wrench it back with a violent motion of the wheel and the rear end would slide in the gravel.
“Goddamn road,” he said.
He wondered if his drunkass daddy was home. Go there and see him, tell him what a sorry son of a bitch he is. Let him know a few things. Like what a sorry son of a bitch he is and things like that.
I rated this 3.5 stars which is high but mostly because for me it wasn’t something I would rush back to… did I enjoy it… not particularly but did I recognise the talent and the feeling behind it… absolutely. It pulls at your heart the oppressive nature of the heat, the time, the poverty and sadness…
All these people would bind together for a number of hours or days in the way that only great tragedy wrought. And then their lives would have to go on and the loss would diminish for all those except the ones who lived in the house. They would wake to it every day, sleep by it every night. It would infiltrate their meals and their lovemaking and their trips to take out the garbage. The slightest thing would remind them of it. It might grow gradually dimmer with a great passage of time but it would never fully leave or be closed out like the shutting of a door. That’s what he hated about it.
Overall I can’t say whether I would or wouldn’t recommend this. It will depend on your tastes. If you’re looking for a thriller.. nope don’t go here. If you are looking for something modern and tasteful absolutely not… if you are looking for something that won’t offend …. Again probably not this one. BUT having said all that I do think that it will really be the right kind of book for those looking for something gritty, something that gets you feeling (whether it be hate, love or otherwise) you need thick skin for this book though because it is not a pretty story… from beginning to end.
In the rural south of America in 1968 a story of good and evil unfolds in the form of humankind. Glen Davis is released from jail after serving 3 years only to return to his hometown to immediately commit homicide and other unspeakable crimes.
Sheriff Bobby Blanchard is a pillar of the community and is as straight as Glen is bent, he walks into Glen’s path of destruction trying to rebuild the fragile lives that are left in his wake.
Generations of bad blood, secrets and ill will have been simmering below the surface are set to explode giving the reader a look at how evil can reside and rot a man’s heart and soul.
First up… I need to let you know that there is animal abuse in this novel… I do not condone it but it’s there and I know some people will not pick up a book with it in so I wanted that clear. However, other more alarming trigger warnings are murder and rape so I wanted to alert you to those as well.
So I was having trouble picking a book and decided to try something very different for me. While there is crime and some mystery to this it is not my usual style. I have read other GoodReaders describe this one as Sourthen Noir… I am unsure if that is a real genre but it seems pretty accurate to me. It is grimy, gritty and layered with hatred. Set in the 60’s you can expect this to be not politically correct for our current times. It depicts the racism that was rife at that time, the disregard for women by some men (not all there are some good guys in this book) and a way of life that is not commonly lived these days. However never having been to America or the South perhaps some people will relate to this in more modern times than the 60’s.
This one I found really hard to rate, it is written in English but it is not an English that I speak. The accent, the way of speaking and the location are very much coming through in the writing. At times while I completely understood the words I needed to slow down my reading because I simply do not speak this way and needed to make sure I understood what was being said… that is not a problem and I actually think it was a testament to the author being able to capture a time and location of speech so well.
I struggled though because I didn’t really enjoy the story but I had to keep reading… I knew I needed to know what happened but I really did hate Glen and found his behaviour difficult to read. There are also ALOT of characters in this book albeit a lot of them are secondary or even insignificant but there are a lot of names and it got a little confusing at times.
The chapters are fairly short and the sentences are too so I enjoyed that… it did shift from POV and while it didn’t tell you whose POV we were reading at the top of the chapter it was very clear who you were reading at which time. The story only takes place over the course of 48hours which is really wild because the immense destruction that Glen causes when he is released from jail to the end of the book is quite unbelievable. Glen is a violent drunken bastard who blames everyone for everything… even as he’s driving drunk and swerving all over the road he has the nerve to feel blame toward others…
The road was crooked and sometimes the car would slide over to the shoulder, where the dirt was lumped up from the grader blades. Then he’d have to wrench it back with a violent motion of the wheel and the rear end would slide in the gravel.
“Goddamn road,” he said.
He wondered if his drunkass daddy was home. Go there and see him, tell him what a sorry son of a bitch he is. Let him know a few things. Like what a sorry son of a bitch he is and things like that.
I rated this 3.5 stars which is high but mostly because for me it wasn’t something I would rush back to… did I enjoy it… not particularly but did I recognise the talent and the feeling behind it… absolutely. It pulls at your heart the oppressive nature of the heat, the time, the poverty and sadness…
All these people would bind together for a number of hours or days in the way that only great tragedy wrought. And then their lives would have to go on and the loss would diminish for all those except the ones who lived in the house. They would wake to it every day, sleep by it every night. It would infiltrate their meals and their lovemaking and their trips to take out the garbage. The slightest thing would remind them of it. It might grow gradually dimmer with a great passage of time but it would never fully leave or be closed out like the shutting of a door. That’s what he hated about it.
Overall I can’t say whether I would or wouldn’t recommend this. It will depend on your tastes. If you’re looking for a thriller.. nope don’t go here. If you are looking for something modern and tasteful absolutely not… if you are looking for something that won’t offend …. Again probably not this one. BUT having said all that I do think that it will really be the right kind of book for those looking for something gritty, something that gets you feeling (whether it be hate, love or otherwise) you need thick skin for this book though because it is not a pretty story… from beginning to end.
September 27, 2022
Una historia sobre venganza, familia, odio, secretos y mentiras, donde un exconvicto busca redimir sus frustraciones mediante la violencia. Aunque un pelín lenta en ocasiones, es una novela cruda, trágica, llena de tensión.
April 15, 2023
Glen es un exconvicto que, sin asomo de culpa, regresa a casa con un ímpetu de venganza que encolerizó en la cárcel. La historia se desarrolla en un pequeño pueblo sureño de mediados del siglo pasado; el empleo escasea y más para un hombre que cometió un terrible delito.
El padre de Glen, de talante tranquilo, es el objeto de odio de nuestro protagonista. Entre la relación con su padre y con su pareja, la madre de su hijo, a Glen se le hierve la sangre, que pronto lo lleva a buscar saldar cuentas pendientes.
Qué pedazo de escritor que fue Larry Brown, no tenía ningún reparo moral ni autocensura para escribir. Envidiable tipo duro.
El padre de Glen, de talante tranquilo, es el objeto de odio de nuestro protagonista. Entre la relación con su padre y con su pareja, la madre de su hijo, a Glen se le hierve la sangre, que pronto lo lleva a buscar saldar cuentas pendientes.
Qué pedazo de escritor que fue Larry Brown, no tenía ningún reparo moral ni autocensura para escribir. Envidiable tipo duro.
May 24, 2014
More "literature" than crime fiction, Larry Brown takes us on a slow train ride of life and death set in the grinding poverty, alcoholism and tragedy of rural Mississippi of 1968. Glen Davis is released from prison after serving three years for vehicular homicide and wants revenge on everyone in his life he believes wronged him. Turns out, that's a long list, staring with a bartender and his pet monkey and ending with his elderly teacher and mother of his half brother Bobby, the County Sheriff.
Glen holds onto his tragic past with a violent hate he wields like a club while the people in his life try to move on with their lives. His father Virgil, a WWll survivor of the Bataan Death March, still loves his wayward son and tries to make him fell welcome. His brother Puppy, also loves Glen and wants him to settle down and build a happy life. Jewel, the mother of his child, finally understands what Glen is all about while falling for Bobby, the County Sheriff. Bobby wants to make peace with the violent and unpredictable Glen before trouble starts but mostly, he years to start a new life with Jewel and her son David. Everyone is striving for happiness in a very tough world - except Glen.
This book is somewhat of a departure from the usual crime fiction/thrillers I usually read. Beautifully written, I could actually taste the cool, long necked Buds while fishing for catfish on a humid afternoon in 1968 Mississippi. Larry Brown evokes those very human qualities of love, hate and retribution in tangibly unique way. An awesome read I'll not soon forget.............Ed
Glen holds onto his tragic past with a violent hate he wields like a club while the people in his life try to move on with their lives. His father Virgil, a WWll survivor of the Bataan Death March, still loves his wayward son and tries to make him fell welcome. His brother Puppy, also loves Glen and wants him to settle down and build a happy life. Jewel, the mother of his child, finally understands what Glen is all about while falling for Bobby, the County Sheriff. Bobby wants to make peace with the violent and unpredictable Glen before trouble starts but mostly, he years to start a new life with Jewel and her son David. Everyone is striving for happiness in a very tough world - except Glen.
This book is somewhat of a departure from the usual crime fiction/thrillers I usually read. Beautifully written, I could actually taste the cool, long necked Buds while fishing for catfish on a humid afternoon in 1968 Mississippi. Larry Brown evokes those very human qualities of love, hate and retribution in tangibly unique way. An awesome read I'll not soon forget.............Ed
October 11, 2013
It is hard to describe with words the impression this story made on me. This is a very haunting dark and violent story; one that I believe will stay with me for a long time. I felt like I knew these people, and spent time with them in their hard luck little town.
I wish I would not have had to spend any time with Glen but I got to know him too.I didn't like him although there were times when I thought I could give him a chance but he just would not let me like him. He just was unable to act like a decent human being. Truth be told, I wanted to put a gun to his head in parts.
I grew to really like some of the other characters. People like Mary and Bobby and Virgil. I really did like Virgil.I wanted to go fishing with him and sip an ice cold beer with him on his porch.
This story takes place in a mean world where people do their best and sometimes that is still not good enough no matter how hard they try but they keep on going. They persevere and they try to help each other out, no matter what the personal toll may be. Parts of this story will give you the chills other parts will make you just rejoice at the human spirit. It will stick with you. You can't help but be moved by this story. Another one for the best reads stack. I must be having a lucky streak with all of the good books I have been reading lately but I have to also give this one 5 stars. Highly recommended if you enjoy Southern Lit. This one will haunt you for a while though.
I wish I would not have had to spend any time with Glen but I got to know him too.I didn't like him although there were times when I thought I could give him a chance but he just would not let me like him. He just was unable to act like a decent human being. Truth be told, I wanted to put a gun to his head in parts.
I grew to really like some of the other characters. People like Mary and Bobby and Virgil. I really did like Virgil.I wanted to go fishing with him and sip an ice cold beer with him on his porch.
This story takes place in a mean world where people do their best and sometimes that is still not good enough no matter how hard they try but they keep on going. They persevere and they try to help each other out, no matter what the personal toll may be. Parts of this story will give you the chills other parts will make you just rejoice at the human spirit. It will stick with you. You can't help but be moved by this story. Another one for the best reads stack. I must be having a lucky streak with all of the good books I have been reading lately but I have to also give this one 5 stars. Highly recommended if you enjoy Southern Lit. This one will haunt you for a while though.
May 29, 2014
My second that I have read by Brown and I am understanding him a little better. His slow pacing sets a mood and it just can't be rushed. By the second chapter there is a bloody bar fight with a mean little yellow-fanged monkey that left me laughing and shaking my head. Lots of action and violence, I plan to vote this in the top five on a list: "Country Noir". Larry Brown is a real trickster. He creates lousy mean characters that as soon as you are ready to write them off as unredeemable killers, he takes you out with them for a day of fishing and you start questioning yourself that maybe they have some good in them, and next you are questioning why you should even be judging them. Very complex characters and very satisfying, tension builds till the last pages. Looking forward to his others I've saved FAY, maybe one of his best, for last.
October 18, 2013
This is my first Larry Brown book; it will not be my last.
Brown's writing is phenomenal in his ability to paint characters outside of most people's experience as well as describe settings in such a way that I found it hard to comprehend--a description of the trailer "home" of a minor character is worth the reading of the book.
After reading Serena recently, I am again struck with the main character's lack of compassion, empathy in his thoughts, intentions, and indeed actions. Yet just when the reader is convinced there is no humanity left in this individual, Brown gives him a breath of regret for what he has done and causes the reader to react to the surprise of feeling some compassion for him.
In fact, throughout the book, the characters are revealed to be quite different from previous judgments the author has set the reader to assume/judge. This is not a predictable story line--at least, it was not for me.
The suspense is not resolved until the very last pages of the book. Brown caused me to certainly "turn the page" although I sometimes did that with dread of what might happen next.
Brown's writing is phenomenal in his ability to paint characters outside of most people's experience as well as describe settings in such a way that I found it hard to comprehend--a description of the trailer "home" of a minor character is worth the reading of the book.
After reading Serena recently, I am again struck with the main character's lack of compassion, empathy in his thoughts, intentions, and indeed actions. Yet just when the reader is convinced there is no humanity left in this individual, Brown gives him a breath of regret for what he has done and causes the reader to react to the surprise of feeling some compassion for him.
In fact, throughout the book, the characters are revealed to be quite different from previous judgments the author has set the reader to assume/judge. This is not a predictable story line--at least, it was not for me.
The suspense is not resolved until the very last pages of the book. Brown caused me to certainly "turn the page" although I sometimes did that with dread of what might happen next.
June 13, 2019
Glen Davis spent three years in jail for killing a young boy while he was driving drunk. He gets early parole, and returns to his small hometown in 1968 Mississippi. But trouble is brewing. Glen is one of those types who thinks the world is always against him, and he has some swift and cruel retribution to hand out.
Brown’s writing steadily paints a picture of Glen’s youth; a drunken, cheating father and a mother who complained to her son about his father’s infidelities. Typical of the southern gothic genre is the sparse and fearless prose, but the degree of dirt and grit maybe more than some can handle. There are few, if any, niceties.
The central theme that Brown addresses is whether evil is embedded at birth or due to circumstances, which he carefully describes. Just as the reader weighs the question up as the events circle, the expected outcome is reached, but in a totally unexpected way.
This will stick with me for a long time. More Brown for me please, he really is good.
Brown’s writing steadily paints a picture of Glen’s youth; a drunken, cheating father and a mother who complained to her son about his father’s infidelities. Typical of the southern gothic genre is the sparse and fearless prose, but the degree of dirt and grit maybe more than some can handle. There are few, if any, niceties.
The central theme that Brown addresses is whether evil is embedded at birth or due to circumstances, which he carefully describes. Just as the reader weighs the question up as the events circle, the expected outcome is reached, but in a totally unexpected way.
This will stick with me for a long time. More Brown for me please, he really is good.
November 28, 2021
If I can describe this book in one word it’s ‘simple’. The characters, the plot, the prose and everything is very simple. I think Larry Brown was a terrific character writer because that’s what this boo essentially is, a character study but it studies more than one character.
It’s pretty much a redneck soap opera but with some very harsh and violent scenes. Love affairs, failed family relationships and it seems like everyone in this is drinking a beer in every chapter. And that ending, woof! Pretty shocking.
First Larry Brown book, and it won’t be my last. I kind of loved it. Not sure if I loved it as much as other Grit Lit authors such as Donald Ray Pollock or Cormac McCarthy, but this guy is very close up there.
Look up interviews with him on YouTube, his writing history is very inspiring and I recommend it to any aspiring writer.
It’s pretty much a redneck soap opera but with some very harsh and violent scenes. Love affairs, failed family relationships and it seems like everyone in this is drinking a beer in every chapter. And that ending, woof! Pretty shocking.
First Larry Brown book, and it won’t be my last. I kind of loved it. Not sure if I loved it as much as other Grit Lit authors such as Donald Ray Pollock or Cormac McCarthy, but this guy is very close up there.
Look up interviews with him on YouTube, his writing history is very inspiring and I recommend it to any aspiring writer.
June 2, 2021
I've been on a Larry Brown kick since last October when I visited Square Books in Oxford MS and purchased LARRY BROWN, A WRITER'S LIFE. Larry Brown was born in Oxford, and his stories take place in small towns nearby, and throughout MS. After reading this biography by Jean Cash, I was so intrigued, I bought BIG BAD LOVE, FACING THE MUSIC, JOE, FAY, FATHER AND SON, BILLY RAY'S FARM, and A MIRACLE OF CATFISH. I think the only two books I don't have are DIRTY WORK and ON FIRE.
Either way, this is my review of FATHER AND SON which I just finished a couple nights ago. I've loved all of LB's books thus far, but this one has been my favorite.
FATHER AND SON was the sort of book I would think about during the day, anticipating the time when I could pick it and start reading where I left off. I usually only get to read at night and I found myself going to bed earlier and earlier, just so I could get back into the story.
Glen Davis is one of the main characters, and the son of Virgil. This is a story about not only their relationship, which is tenuous at best, but also many others who are an integral part of their lives. His brother, nicknamed "Puppy," the sheriff, Bobby Blanchard, Jewel, the love interest of both Glen and Bobby, and Mary, Bobby's mother.
Glen has just come out of prison, but not really. Because to me, he's imprisoned within his own mind. He is mad at the world, and especially his father. Actually, he's mad at many people, and prison hasn't helped him forget all the wrong's he believes have been heaped on him. As I read, I kept hoping Glen would have an epiphany of sorts, a come to Jesus awakening that would mellow him out, make him forgive. But Glen is a hard man, out to settle scores.
The book is written from many different points of view so you get where each of the characters are coming from. I felt sorry for Virgil, who is an old man wishing his son would do right. I had empathy for Jewel's predicament, having a child by Glen, hoping and waiting for him to do the right thing, and Bobby Blanchard, LB's "good guy," was somebody we'd all want for Sheriff in our own hometowns. The interactions of these characters lays out a complex history with secrets that are slowly revealed as the story moves on.
As with many of LB's books, the writing is tight, crisp and full of imagery and descriptions. If you've never been to MS, or anywhere in the deep south, reading his stories will make you feel like you've been there.
Either way, this is my review of FATHER AND SON which I just finished a couple nights ago. I've loved all of LB's books thus far, but this one has been my favorite.
FATHER AND SON was the sort of book I would think about during the day, anticipating the time when I could pick it and start reading where I left off. I usually only get to read at night and I found myself going to bed earlier and earlier, just so I could get back into the story.
Glen Davis is one of the main characters, and the son of Virgil. This is a story about not only their relationship, which is tenuous at best, but also many others who are an integral part of their lives. His brother, nicknamed "Puppy," the sheriff, Bobby Blanchard, Jewel, the love interest of both Glen and Bobby, and Mary, Bobby's mother.
Glen has just come out of prison, but not really. Because to me, he's imprisoned within his own mind. He is mad at the world, and especially his father. Actually, he's mad at many people, and prison hasn't helped him forget all the wrong's he believes have been heaped on him. As I read, I kept hoping Glen would have an epiphany of sorts, a come to Jesus awakening that would mellow him out, make him forgive. But Glen is a hard man, out to settle scores.
The book is written from many different points of view so you get where each of the characters are coming from. I felt sorry for Virgil, who is an old man wishing his son would do right. I had empathy for Jewel's predicament, having a child by Glen, hoping and waiting for him to do the right thing, and Bobby Blanchard, LB's "good guy," was somebody we'd all want for Sheriff in our own hometowns. The interactions of these characters lays out a complex history with secrets that are slowly revealed as the story moves on.
As with many of LB's books, the writing is tight, crisp and full of imagery and descriptions. If you've never been to MS, or anywhere in the deep south, reading his stories will make you feel like you've been there.
November 5, 2020
Father and Son is a complex, grotesque, and at times beautiful contemplation on the origins of wickedness and what drives to people to seek revenge. Brown truly created a Shakespearean tragedy with knock out sentences, deep characters, and an idyllic setting. He also had the ability to insert meditations on nature which provide poignant juxtaposition with the brutal events and nasty actions that are present in this story. Terrence Malick does this expertly in film. Brown does so in literature.
This is a great novel. Reading Father and Son forces you to reckon with how people wrestle with their nature while understanding that the seeds of deviance can be unintentionally planted early only to blossom later on in life in horrible and ambiguous ways.
This is a great novel. Reading Father and Son forces you to reckon with how people wrestle with their nature while understanding that the seeds of deviance can be unintentionally planted early only to blossom later on in life in horrible and ambiguous ways.
September 5, 2014
I only discovered southern literature when I joined Goodreads and I've read some amazing books since then. When I saw all the great reviews for Father and Son I was sure this one would be added to the ever growing list. Not so.
It took me nearly half the book to get interested. The characters were flat and bland, so much so that I had trouble keeping the who's who straight.
The writing was choppy at times and rambling at others. I found myself re-reading sentences or paragraphs trying to clarify what the author was telling me.
The story line was excellent; dark, disturbing and at times difficult. It ended up being a good read after all, just not a great one.
December 28, 2018
Libro duro
July 13, 2022
Una novela bella y terriblemente dura, narrada de manera fascinante.
June 12, 2007
When I finished it I was shaking. This is a beautiful, horrifying story of a man just released from prison in Oxford,MS and all and everyone that waits for him at home. The characters in this book are so much more fleshed out that in Joe, the other Larry Brown book I've read, although the outlines of them seem to exist in the latter as well. These characters -- and there are a few -- are real, dynamic, interesting, scary and compassionate. Even the killer himself. Definitely read it.
Larry Brown is something like Faulkner and Hemingway combined, with a little bit of Flannery O'Connor mixed in as well. Crisp, quick sentences, brutal, drunken scenes and incredible, feeling people.
Larry Brown is something like Faulkner and Hemingway combined, with a little bit of Flannery O'Connor mixed in as well. Crisp, quick sentences, brutal, drunken scenes and incredible, feeling people.
December 18, 2024
I read this book 25 years ago. It was my introduction to Larry Brown, an author that I truly love reading. Reading it again, all of these years later...I'm even more blown away. It's everything that everyone knows about Brown as a writer. He writes about people that most "good" people just want to ignore, and writes them with absolute first-hand knowledge. Just incredible.
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