Our dinner on Friday was typical Doug--excellent and understated. From the blackened salmon to the root vegetables to the Ginger Stout Cake, Doug's meal was the perfect mid-winter accompaniment to our discussion.
Note to Doug: You didn't mention it, but I assure you no one failed to grasp the significance of the blackened fish.
Note to MBC: Doug's Ginger Stout Cake recipe was courtesy of now-defunct The Marrow and its celebrity chef Harold Dieterle (winner of the first season of Top Chef).
With us for dinner was one of MBC's two Nevada exiles, George, who came from Scottsdale by way of Reno. George, you earn bonus points for your visit and for your unfailing ability to keep up with the reading. Good to see you again in person!
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| Doug's hand-carved fish. RIP Wynn! |
Our Discussion of The River by Peter Heller
Written by Peter Heller (author of a prior--and very fine!--MBC selection, The Dog Stars, and fellow Outside magazine contributor with Hampton Sides, who penned our October read, Hellhound on His Trail), The River tells the story of two Dartmouth students who take the fall quarter off and head to Canada for a canoe camping trip. During their final two weeks there, Wynn and Jack simultaneously find themselves in the path of a rapidly approaching forest fire, carry out a badly injured woman, and fight with other men on the river. The story's climax is the death of one man and its denouement the crippling guilt of another.
What does it mean when everyone (ok, everyone but Roy) thinks the story is terrific but finds fault with one detail or another? I'll catalog the faults; you can identify their proponents:
- The writing is a bit like a poor man's Hemingway
- Heller tries too hard to showcase his own expertise on the river
- Why would Wynn and Jack leave all their provisions behind with the bad guy?
- Bah! A Texas hat doesn't symbolize evil!
- The ending was rushed (3x)
- Impulsively taking the motorized canoe wasn't believable (2x)
- Simplistic in an "upper level Young Adult" way [Which is it, Terry? It's either YA or it's not YA.]
Much like our reaction to The Dog Stars, we appreciated Heller's skill in spinning a classic adventure tale. He populates it with good guys and bad guys, he infuses it with a palpable sense of foreboding, and he deftly builds suspense towards an inevitably violent climax. But he also distracts his reader with a few too many stray details to make it all work seamlessly.
Our Rating of The River
Our 6.8 rating doesn't do justice to the quality of our conversation or our enjoyment of Heller's novel. With the exception of Roy, this was a story that we all found engaging and well worth the time we gave it. (Again, much like The Dog Stars!) Interestingly, The River was the all-time favorite selection of Doug's wife's book group--an all women's group!
Next Up: Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger
We had a very eclectic list of titles to choose from (including memoirs from Matthew McConaughey and Mike Rowe, Coelho's The Alchemist, and Mason's Bad Muslim Discount). We opted for Krueger's Ordinary Grace, a novel about murder and its effect on a small town.
I"ll stump for the majority of book club minus one, in that I liked the book. Fun quick read (spent a few hours hanging out at Andrew's "cabin" paddling through it). While the ending did indeed feel a bit rushed and perhaps hard to believe, or at least not how we might have wanted it to go, I actually enjoyed the detail on canoeing. Sorry I missed the meal and the carving; Doug is good at those small touches.
ReplyDeleteBTW, Andrew, plugging Heller's previous book we read , Dog Stars, was a bit disingenuous given that you recommended it and hosted it. Yeah, I noticed your not so subtle attempt at humor. Though I definitely enjoyed that book too.
Btw, Paul, I read your emailed comments verbatim at the dinner table. You were missed but your insights weren't.
DeleteAnd, to avoid further recriminations from Andrew, yes that was me, Paul, with the previous post.
ReplyDelete@Andrew, Young Adult refers to an age range, not a genre. Young adult books are for young adults aged 12-18. I believe that books written for 7th graders are different than those written for 12th graders. That's why Catcher in the Rye is taught in grades 10-12 even though it was written at a 3rd grade reading level. It's appropriate for "upper level young adults", as was River. - Terry
ReplyDeleteTerry, rather than argue over the definition of YA (which I baited you into giving me), I'd much prefer to take issue with your dinnertime comment, which I faithfully copied down. You criticized the book as simplistic, where the good guys win and the bad guys lose. On the surface that's true. But Heller practically begs us to question our assumptions about who's good and who's bad in this story, and he certainly doesn't give a win to the one "good guy" left at the end. Since I'm sure I won't change your mind (or Roy's, for that matter), I'll be content with your grudging "upper level YA" characterization!
DeleteI take issue with Catcher in the Rye being YA only: I've read it 2-3 times as an adult and will probably read it again, you big phonies! The River was a good thriller and nothing more to add from opinions already provided, but I DON'T recommend reading his most recent novel, The Guide; it's pretty bad. And one of his other novels, Celine, is also pretty bad. If you liked The River and Dog Stars, I recommend his other novel, The Painter, which is my favorite Heller novel.
ReplyDeleteGreat dinner, Doug! --Jack