The Pugilist at Rest

[Grant, Usurper of Book Club]

I didn't do a lot of research into this one and didn't realize, until I was reading it, that this was another collection of short stories.

The version of the book I picked up from the library was one of the first editions of the book, so on the inside of the dust jacket it said that Thom Jones was working on his first novel. No such novel has been produced in the about 2 decades since, so looks like that's probably not happening.

I liked these stories when I was reading them. But now that I don't have the book in front of me I can't quite remember them separately. The book was divided into 4 parts. I remember thinking that part I essentially seemed like excerpts of the same novel, which I think is why, now looking back I find it hard to remember the stories individually, which is not necessarily a criticism of the book, but it really got me thinking about the recurring themes of the book.

Endurance/toughness (boxing) - What is toughness? Having to prove yourself in a way that will damage you.
Health - The world (eg. boxing) battering you.

Very Hemmingway toughness (almost all the stories he wrote), epilepsy (Jake Barnes & Nick Adams with PTSD). Also in the fact that he can't really write about women. I remember there was one story narrated by a woman, but it was someone who was dying so it was about health and didn't touch on gender very much.

Does it count against the author that he uses these two themes in almost all of his stories. I do this a lot when writing songs. I think it's different in songs though, because using a word like "beach" can mean different things. You can write two songs about a beach, one can be about sunshine and bikini's and other can be about being dragged out to sea.

I don't know if any of that is really fair. I think this is a good collection of stories. I enjoy this in a different way than Born with a Tooth. I enjoy Born with a Tooth because it has an impressive range of characters and covers a lot of topics that I have little background in. I don't have experience boxing, or in Vietnam either, but The Pugilist at Rest is more relatable to me, written in a much more familiar voice regardless of the experiences. Thom Jones though is writing about something he knows well, with so much focus and clarity. Each of his characters are much the same person, but their circumstances ask questions about why we do what we do, and if the cost of what we're doing is really worth it.