The Flamethrowers in Around the World in 80 Books

Jan 24, 2014 Steve rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction, e-books

What could be more American than a tall blond chick from Nevada riding an expensive Italian motorcycle on the Salt Flats of Utah? I'm actually serious about that question. At least when considering this novel as an important piece of American fiction. Why I'm stressing that, I'm not entirely sure since I'm still trying to digest what Kushner has accomplished. I suspect Kushner is tapping into speed, light, space, ambition (and a bit of Huck Finn with a getaway vehicle), and calling this combo, w What could be more American than a tall blond chick from Nevada riding an expensive Italian motorcycle on the Salt Flats of Utah? I'm actually serious about that question. At least when considering this novel as an important piece of American fiction. Why I'm stressing that, I'm not entirely sure since I'm still trying to digest what Kushner has accomplished. I suspect Kushner is tapping into speed, light, space, ambition (and a bit of Huck Finn with a getaway vehicle), and calling this combo, with a gap in her teeth, Reno. We meet "Reno" (not her real name, but where she's from), on her way to some speed trials in the desert during the mid-seventies. We find out that Reno is an artist, and that all of this trip is somehow tied into her aspiring vocation as a "Land Artist" (I had to look that up).

The book has been called by some an historical novel. Well, it does have a number of historical anchors throughout (a seemingly curious World War I opening, New York Art Scene mid-70s), Italy and the Red Brigade), but to me it's a distinctly literary novel, and a modernist one with a primary focus on character, Reno's in particular. History is there, but it always feels secondary, dreamlike, stuff we're passing through. It's not a linear telling Kusher is offering. The novel often jumps around in time, and not always with Reno's voice to guide the reader. Kushner handles these shifts smoothly and with great skill. Interestingly, I briefly gave up on this book after Reno got to New York. At this point I found the novel had an incredibly high concentration of pretentious assholes saying empty things about sterile art (Reno's eventual artist boyfriend, Sandro Valera, makes empty metal boxes.). I sensed an approaching Point Omega, and that's definitely somewhere I don't ever want to revisit. I'm not going to provide a catalog here, but there's only so much hipster irony a southern boy like me can take. But as others have mentioned, Kushner's sentences are gold. You can't walk away from writing this good. Fortunately Kushner soon shifted things to a party, with the same assholes saying the same things, but it was then that I realized that Kushner was winking at me. She also thought they were assholes! Whew!

The next shift in the novel had Reno going to Italy with Sandero for what turns out to be a nightmare trip involving a different set of assholes. Rich Italian ones. But it's also at this point that Reno learns some things about herself, as well as the dangerous world around her. Revolution was in the air, and the Red Brigade was in the headlines. Reno also, finally, gets to meet some authentic people, revolutionary types. Real For Who the Bell Tolls kinds of people. Kushner is probably getting a bit romantic here, but given the previous toxic parade of characters, these rebels with their bandannas and commie slogans feel earned. One of them, Gianni, has potential lover written all over him, but his distance, and Kushner's restraint, keep you guessing as to how this will all turn out for Reno.

That's as close as I'm going to get as far as a reveal. I see that some have labeled The Flamethrowers a "feminist" novel. I suppose it could be easily seen that way, but with that said the literary echoes I'm hearing are, especially given how Kushner has bookended her novel, from Hemingway. That's not Hemingway the macho man, but Hemingway the craftsman. Kushner is a great writer, one who exists outside such boxes.

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Sep 30, 2013 Kent Winward rated it it was ok

I was thinking about the novelists I've read that incorporate political narrative into the narrative of the stories and the difference I feel is that I'm not being preached to and with Kushner, I felt preached to. The story wasn't particularly compelling to me after the speed racing and land art discussion, which were the highlight of the book. ...more

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