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Train Dreams,
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Ben Fisk
The protagonist works in road gangs during much of his life. He starts out working on building a train track or bridge, as I recall, as a youth in the 19th century. The book is set in the Northwest of the US, and captures an aspect of the changing landscape and people of that area during the life of the protagonist. I agree with the other answers as it is really a metaphor. Johnson is a wonderful author of characters who live on the fringe of sanity and that is what the book is about, at least partly. (one is always free to see further into a writing. Johnson wrote somewhat like a painter of landscapes. Any landscape has an infinity of details. He puts the broad brushes in , and we can read into it based on our own experiences and perception.)
Brendan
Yes. But it's not the main focus.
Graeme Pearce
yes. trains have always operated as metaphors for our lives. go figure!
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