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This started with a slog of a prologue (done completely in hard-to-read italics) setting up the cliche of the EVIL rich person running and ruining a small town--Empire Falls, Maine.
Past that though the novel was mostly focused and seen through the point of view of the sympathetic, though passive, Miles Roby, who runs the Empire Grill diner for the EVIL rich woman. I liked the loving relationship with his 16-year old daughter, Tick; I found that refreshing given so much "literary fiction" is foc ...more
Past that though the novel was mostly focused and seen through the point of view of the sympathetic, though passive, Miles Roby, who runs the Empire Grill diner for the EVIL rich woman. I liked the loving relationship with his 16-year old daughter, Tick; I found that refreshing given so much "literary fiction" is foc ...more
Empire Falls is a town that appears to be in terminal decline. Once prosperous the mill and textile factory have now been closed for years. Real Estate prices have fallen and there is a general feeling of gloom and urban decay.
Miles Roby has lived most of his life in Empire Falls, a fact that he is not altogether comfortable with. His boyhood dream, which at one time seemed possible, was to attend university and become an academic and a writer. This dream was dashed when during his second year ...more
Miles Roby has lived most of his life in Empire Falls, a fact that he is not altogether comfortable with. His boyhood dream, which at one time seemed possible, was to attend university and become an academic and a writer. This dream was dashed when during his second year ...more
This is my second time to read this book. I have a distinct love of the way Richard Russo develops such understandable yet complex characters. While reading his books it is almost like reading about your neighbors (or what you could imagine your neighbors to be like ... haha).
Mar 28, 2009
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