Initial Impressions: Salvage the Bones, by Jesmyn Ward- May 2021

[Tom, "Big Daddy"]

Comments on this board should be written with the assumption that not all readers have finished the book. Please avoid revealing any spoilers.

[Diane, "Miss Scarlett"]

I definitely intend to read this. It has been on my list for years, and this is as good a chance as any.

[Lori]

My Libby hold just came through, so I'll be reading this as well.

[Cathrine ☯️]

This was on my list for some time but I had to remove it when I read there were graphic descriptions of dog fighting and cruelty. I just cannot go down that road no matter how good it may be. But I'll be interested in your takeaways. Hope you guys enjoy.

[Michael]

It was a great book, I’m sure you will all enjoy it. Being from Florida and having lived through Andrew, I appreciated the terror of an oncoming hurricane. It was also interesting to see this from the Mississippi side having the HBO series Treme about the aftermath in New Orleans of this same storm.

[Tom, "Big Daddy"]

I'm a little bit over half way through, listening to the audio version. I found both this book and Sing, Unburied, Sing a bit difficult to connect with in their first chapters but, in both cases, perseverance wins out and the the story grabbed onto me.

[Laura, "The Tall Woman"]

I think I can do audio. Tom, you can follow ok?

[Diane, "Miss Scarlett"]

I'll start this today.

[Diane, "Miss Scarlett"]

I am finding this rough, but beautiful, and Katrina is still on the way.

[Wyndy]

Rough but beautiful is exactly how I remember this novel, Diane, and all of Ward’s work frankly. I only lack her debut, Where The Line Bleeds and sincerely hope she is working on something new. She is the only woman and only African American to win the National Book Award for Fiction twice. Haven’t decided yet whether I’ll reread this one or not - once is a lot 😉

[Roy]

Stumbled onto Salvage the Bones first, and the read Where the Line bleeds and Sing, Unburied, Sing back to back. The storyline’s evolution draws you in and really makes you feel line the water is rising past your calves as you read page after page. Immersive, no pun intended. I can’t say that I love Ward’s work, but I’m very drawn to it and have thoroughly enjoyed her perspective. I, too, anxiously await her next novel. She’s definitely a modern powerhouse.

[Diane, "Miss Scarlett"]

I read Sing Unburied Sing last year, so I know what a powerful writer she is. I got more than halfway yesterday, so I'm sure the closer Katrina gets, the more unputdownable this will be.

[Jane]

I read this one last year too , it is brilliant !

[Tom, "Big Daddy"]

Laura wrote: "I think I can do audio. Tom, you can follow ok?"

Sorry about the slow response. I was able to follow along with the audio although it took a bit for me to get into it. Once I did, though, I just kept getting more and more engaged.

[Diane, "Miss Scarlett"]

I finished this afternoon, read the last 120 pages in one sitting. I am in awe and am so glad I read this. Rough reading at times, sure, but nothing gratuitous or misplaced. I'll make any other statements on the final impressions thread.

[T. Rose]

I am enthusiastic about reading this book, as a native Mississippian from the Coast. Both my parents lost their homes -my dad said Katrina liked his Waveland home so much she took it. I am eager to get into it. It has been on my personal list for a while, too. I have the hard copy.

[Kimberlee]

I’ll be joining you, too. I was motivated by Diane’s review. I’m just a few pages in and I am already agog. How flawless she is! Holy Cow. Not one unnecessary word. Yep. 3 hurricanes under my belt-so I think I can do this. So glad there’s a bunch of us!

[Lori]

I'm 3 chapters in and I am caught up in her prose. You can really feel and see what she's writing about. I loved this line in the chapter: The Third Day: Sickness in the Dirt -

I bite and I am eating acorns and leaping with fear to the small dark holes in the heart of old oak trees.

[Kimberlee]

Lori, I highlighted that exact sentence also. Extraordinary. I’d never heard of her. What a writer.

[Roy]

She really is terrific. This was actually my least favorite of the three Bois Savage books, but it was still a compelling read. I think Where the Line Bleeds had me more invested, but it all comes back to her character development. Mastery is not a strong enough word.

[Diane, "Miss Scarlett"]

I havent read Where the Line Bleeds or Men We Reaped yet, but I will. Like Faulkner and Berry, she intimately knows her corner of the world and loves her people, warts and all.

[Lori]

Just finished The Sixth Day: A Steady Hand

The build up and back and forth at the end between what is happening with Daddy and Randall with tearing the chicken coop down with the tractor and Skeet’s dog China and her puppy is excellently done. But I really need to put the book down now. That was rough for me.

I am saddened by Esch’s situation because she put herself in it. I keep thinking back to chapter 2 when she talks about being 12 the first time and how it was easier to let it happen than to say no. Is this reality nowadays? Or am I naive to think she could be different?

[T. Rose]

So far, China reminds me of my own MS Gulf Coast family's dog, Atticus - a famous shoe thief. Known throughout the neighborhood for his shoe hoarding during my childhood. But, he was a dachshund, not a pit bull. I survived Hurricane Camille in 1969 just blocks from the beach at home with my family... something I never quite recovered from... gonna love this book, I can tell all ready.

[T. Rose]

What is up with the eating of razor blades??? So far finding the gritty and fairly disturbing story beautifully written.

[Diane, "Miss Scarlett"]

I don't think he actually ate them, just hid them in his mouth. Never could figure out why.

[Kim]

Stories set in the South with hurricanes always remind me of several things, including my sister’s life which ended last summer in the pandemic. She always suffered the less than tender mercies of hurricanes in Mississippi as summer moved into autumn, as as she was wheelchair bound & dependent on medical equipment in her later years, power outages became a real concern. When we lived on the East Coast, we got socked by hurricanes several times, also tornadoes. Lately, it’s more wildfires & their smoke, with the tremors from earthquakes to mix things up. Pick a geographic location, nature will get your attention one way or another. I also recall Michael Farris Smith’s beautifully written yet brutal Rivers which resonates with me and my daughter every year during hurricane season, and during disasters, in general. His is such a distinctive voice—another author for whom I await new books, but know it will take emotional resilience (often in short supply this past year) to read what he has written. One of his books took place in the place my sister was then living, and the voices sounded so familiar.

[Roy]

I remember the dog fighting references and descriptions, but I think I must have compartmentalized it to some degree. I grew up in a rural southern community where, unfortunately, I knew numerous people who were either breeders, dog fighters, or both. It was an atrocious practice, but it is a genuine part of the poverty stricken, rural south.

[T. Rose]

Halfway through. Not at all what I expected. The book is well written, and at times hard to put down. I am not in love with the story, but I love the author's style. I, too am finding the dog fighting aspect unsettling as an animal advocate although it has enlightened me to the psychology of the grueling reality of that lifestyle. I am reading the book, augmenting with the Audible. I do like the narration, but, and bothered by some of the mispronunciations of local names, such as Dedeaux, since I am native to this area of the Coast.

[T. Rose]

Please dismiss my typos, in a rush and on my Fire tablet. Funky arthritic fingers on a keypad...

[Laura, "The Tall Woman"]

I was some what In the same boat, loved the descriptions and the details but story line was not one that I just loved. The hurricane experience was my favorite but I was not very invested in the dog part. Pretty brutal but I think it was an accurate description. I did the audio and maybe it would have been better reading the physical book.

[Diane, "Miss Scarlett"]

Yes, the dog fighting was brutal, but not so graphic as to be unreadable. My takeaway from those scenes was the love between these men and their dogs and the way the men and boys cared for them, making sacrifices, treating their wounds, giving them the best food. There wasn't much in these people's lives to be proud of, and those dogs served that purpose for them. I also noticed that the fights were stopped when it got too rough and decided by the appointed judges as to winners. I had always assumed these fights were lethal, so that was eye-opening for me.

[Lori]

While I was reading this, I started to feel quite bothered by so many things like Esch's pregnancy and the haphazard and crude way Manny treated her. After I finished, I saw what Ward was trying to say about the people she is familiar with that basically lived in a junkyard without any means to really survive a hurricane. The way this family lived is just the way it is and she shed light on that ugliness. She showed how these kids bonded together to get done what needed done and to fight for what they loved. I can also see how this lifestyle is very easily judged by outsiders.

[Libby]

I've started this one. Loved Sing, Unburied, Sing. Looking forward to another book by this author.

[Wyndy]

I was thinking back today on the work I’ve read by Jesmyn Ward and thought this sentence from her memoir Men We Reaped might be interesting for those who are unfamiliar with this author:

"When I was born, I weighed two pounds and four ounces, and the doctors told my parents I would die."

Jesmyn Ward did not die that day in DeLisle, Mississippi. She went on to become a two-time National Book Award-winning author and associate professor at Tulane University.

Pretty amazing comeback.

[Diane, "Miss Scarlett"]

Thanks Wyndy. Men We Reaped will be my next Ward.