Other Voices, Other Rooms (1948)

Capote sspent two years writing this novel. and it was published in 1948--his first published novel. Wikipedia has an article on the book, which will tell you more about it than I can remember, especially since I did no post-reading note on the book ( )

Half-way through this book, I loved it. By the time I'd finished it, I wasn't nearly as enchanted. I'm not sure if that says more about me or more about the book, but there it is. In truth, I don't really know what to say about Capote's novel. It's well-written and engaging, but it doesn't seem to go anywhere. After establishing a weird world populated by memorable characters, the book doesn't seem to want to do anything with them. Maybe that's the point, as stagnation seems to be the novel's predominant theme, but as a reading experience, it's far from satisfying.

On a mostly unrelated (and thoroughly unpleasant) note, this is the second book in a row that has ended with a rape. ( )

I gave this book four stars because I haven't really been able to stop thinking about it since I put it down. That's a sign of a very good book. I have to say, though, I'm not a huge fan of the prose. But I understand it's part of the Southern Gothic genre, with which I'm entirely unfamiliar, and so I may be being quite unfair there. Admittedly, I'm not a poetry guy and my tolerance for long passages of very rich and colorful metaphors is low; I tend to lose track of what exactly is happening. I understand that's kind of the point, particularly in this story toward the end where Joel is sick with pneumonia, only as a reader you don't know this so it's like you've fallen through a rabbit hole and you're asking yourself, "Where the hell am I? Is this real? Were there a couple of pages stuck together and I missed something?" So I found myself having to go back and reread a lot of these things because I was losing track. Again, I understand that's intentional - I'm supposed to feel confused - but that doesn't make it less frustrating.As for the story itself, you can read any number of synopses online, including right on Goodreads, so I don't feel like I have to summarize the plot. The book left me with many unanswered questions. Though, that's wrong. I believe that the answers to those questions are fairly clear in the text, but I'm kind of uncomfortable with the implications. Specifically where Randolph is concerned and his role in sending for Joel on Joel's father's behalf when it's understood that Mr. Sansom wouldn't have been able to express the desire to see or know his son.So it was a thought-provoking read, and I would have loved to have read this and discussed it as part of a class or group. It is also very short, mercifully so given my difficulty with the text. :-) Honestly, I wouldn't have known about it had I not previously read Christopher Bram's "Eminent Outlaws: The Gay Writers Who Changed America" but it earns my recommendation. ( )

Following the death of his mother, thirteen year old Joel Knox travels to Alabama to live with his estranged father in a large, remote and decaying house where also live his step mother and cousin Randolph. He has never meet his father, and it seems upon arrival that he is not likely to meet him soon either, but that is just one of the many mysteries that will trouble young Joel, who is fast beginning to think is move South is at best a disaster, and at worst a betrayal.

But he finds friends in the form of a neighbour the rough and ready young tomboy Idabel, in Zoo the black help, and a black hermit who works charms. But he is also drawn to homosexual cousin Randolph; and his somewhat girlish good looks enamour him to most of those he meets.

Other Voices, Other Rooms is a beautiful story, as much from the way it is told as its content, rich in remarkable and imaginative metaphors that create a steamy atmosphere of the hot South; subtle in its depiction of the coming Joel's awareness of homosexuality; and full of insight - it is a most moving and captivating read, all the more remarkable considering the young age of its author, his first book.

This Penguin Classics 2004 edition contains an interesting introduction by John Berendt which adds much to our understanding of the novel, not least of which is its autobiographical content. ( )

Divine, divine, divine! You can wallow in this book. ( )