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Growing up in a small North Carolina town, Jess Hall is plunged into an adulthood for which he is not prepared when his autistic older brother, Stump, sneaks a look at something he is not supposed to see, which has catastrophic repercussions.
Small southern town. Snake handling preacher. Dead child.
The book tells the story from the POV of the town sheriff, the little brother of the dead boy, and an elderly woman who is part of the preacher's congregation. Dark, sad, compelling. ( )
A small southern town, an evangelical nutjob of a preacher with control issues, a marriage on the decline, an aging midwife and a sheriff who see that trouble may be coming, and two young boys who get caught up in the impending tragedy.
A little darker than my usual fare, but I loved this novel for its excellent writing and its commentary on the abuses of fanatical religion. Great character studies, too. If I come across more of Cash’s stuff, I’ll very likely pick it up. ( )
I like Southern Lit, even took a class on it in college. Picked this one up when I saw the NYTimes bestseller, and "Reads like To Kill a Mockingbird rewritten" - Harper Lee's book is my favorite, but I gave this one a try. A good example of storytelling. Didn't think I would like the changes in perspective in the book (told as three diff main characters) but ended up liking that too! ( )
A wonderful story about human nature, and the ability to heal. This is what I call a "flypaper book"- once I picked it up, I couldn't put it down until I finished. ( )
I enjoyed this tale spoken by 3 different characters and their perspectives. Small rural town in NC where evangelistic preacher/church impacts the lives of many, but in a dark way. ( )
A church committed to handling poisonous snakes is the catalyst for tragedy in this debut novel. Pastor Carson Chambliss has a small North Carolina congregation in his thrall. He decides that a laying on of hands will cure an autistic boy, but instead his efforts lead to the boy's death. Cash employs three characters as narrators: Jess, the nine-year-old younger brother; Adelaide Lyle, an aged local midwife; and the county sheriff. Jess' narration is limited by his age and innocence. The county sheriff is taciturn, but Adelaide is voluble, a true southern storyteller, and her narration burnishes a compelling sense of rural place.--Gaughan, Thomas Copyright 2010 Booklist
"Es hat nach mir gerufen in der Nacht und hat zu mir gesagt, ich werde sterben - wo weiss ich nicht. Es hat gesagt: 'Lass fahren diese Erde, die du kennst, um höherer Erkenntnisse willen; lass fahren die geliebten Freunde, um einer höheren Liebe willen; ein Land erwartet dich, das gültiger als die Heimat ist und grösser als die Erde...'" - Thomas Wolfe, Es führt kein Weg zurück
Something has spoken to me in the night...and told me I shall die, I know not where. Saying: "[Death is] to lose the earth you know, for greater knowing; to lose the life you have, for greater life; to leave the friends you loved, for greater loving; to find a land more ,ind than home, more large than earth." - Thomas Wolfe, You Can't Go Home Again
Dedication
Für M.N.B.
M.B.C. for you, because of you.
First words
Kiesstaub wehte über den Parkplatz, während ich im Wagen sass und das Gebäude als das sah, was es gewesen war; nicht als das, was jetzt in diesem Augenblick im heißen Sonnenlicht war, sondern rund zwölf oder fünfzehn Jahre zuvor: ein grosser Gemischtwarenladen, wo sich die Leute vor der Essenstheke drängelten oder in einer Schlange vor dem Limonadenstand warteten, wo kleine Kinder sich Eis in so ziemlich jeder erdenkbaren Geschmacksrichtung bestellten, wo sie Bonbons in Viertelpfundtüten kauften, Schokokekse, Zuckermandeln und andere Sachen, auf die ich seit Jahren schon keinen Appetit mehr hatte.
I sat there in the car with the grave dust blowing across the parking lot and saw the place for what it was, not what it was right at that moment in the hot sunlight, but for what is had been maybe twelve or fifteen years before: a real general store with folks gathered around the lunch counter, a line of people at the soda fountain, little children ordering ice cream of just about every flavor you could think of, hardy candy by the quarter pound, moon pies and crackerjack and other things I hadn't thought about tasting in years.
Quotations
It takes a lifetime to build equity in loss.
Last words
Ich bin unglaublich stolz, auf dich und auf das, was du getan hast, und ich staune, was aus uns geworden ist.
Growing up in a small North Carolina town, Jess Hall is plunged into an adulthood for which he is not prepared when his autistic older brother, Stump, sneaks a look at something he is not supposed to see, which has catastrophic repercussions.
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Book description
Deep in the heart of western North Carolina lies Marshall, a quiet, unassuming mountain town that believes in protecting its own-especially if they harbor secrets. That't the way it's always been-and always will be-a belief instilled in them for generations. For a curious boy like Jesse Hall, growing up in Marshall means trouble when your mother catches you spying on grownups. An adventurous, precocious boy, Jess is enormously protective of his older brother, Christopher, a mute whom everyone calls Stump. Though their mother has warned them not to snoop, Stump can't help sneaking a look at something he isn't supposed to-an act that will have catastrophic repercussions, shattering both his world and Jess's. It is a wrenching event that thrusts Jess into an adulthood for which he is not prepared. While there is mch about the world that still confuses him, he now knows that new understanding can bring not only a growing danger and evil, but the balm of freedom and deliverance as well. (ARC)
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Wikipedia in English
8
The book tells the story from the POV of the town sheriff, the little brother of the dead boy, and an elderly woman who is part of the preacher's congregation. Dark, sad, compelling. (