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Father and Son tells the story of five days following Glen Davis's return to the small Mississippi town where he grew up. Five days. In this daring psychological thriller, these are five days you'll never forget. Convicted and sentenced on a vehicular homicide charge, Glen is the bad seedâ??the haunted, angry, drunken, and dangerous son of Virgil and Emma Davis. Bobby Blanchard is the sheriff, as different from Glen as can be imagined, but in love with the same womanâ??the mother of Glen's illegitimate son. Before he's been back in town thirty-six hours, Glen has robbed his war-crippled father, bullied and humiliated his younger brother, and rejected his son, David. Bobby finds himself sorting through the mayhem Glen leaves in his wakeâ??a murdered bar owner, a rape, Glen's terrorized family, and the little boy who needs a father. And, as he gets closer and closer to the murderous Glen, tension builds like a Mississippi thunderstorm about to break loose. This classic face-off of good against evil is told in the clear, unflinching voice that won Larry Brown some of literature's most prestigious awards. And, reverberating with dark excitement, biblical echoes, and a fast, cinematic pacing, this novel puts a new side of his genius on displayâ??the ability to build suspense to an almost unbearable pitch. Father and Son is the story of a powerfully complex kinship, an exhilarating and heart-stopping story. 1997 Southern Book Critics Circle Award for… (more)
If you wanted to, you could describe this as a book about men and women constantly drinking beer, smoking, drinking whiskey from the bottle, and trying to sober up enough with coffee to keep drinking. But of course, that is just the reality for Brown's cast of characters, particularly Glen Davis, freed from Parchman Penitentiary after serving a little short of three years for running over a little boy while drunk. Glen is about the most despicable character you will ever read about, and he is way too real. The things he does during the course of the book will stay with you a long time. On the other side of the law is Bobby Blanchard, the Sheriff, whose connections to Glen are revealed more and more during the course of the story--no spoilers here. Between them is Jewel, the mother of Glen's son and the object of Bobby's affections. There are other characters we get to know very well, including Glen's father Virgil, a survivor of the Bataan Death March and Bobby's mother Mary, who was widowed during World War II. No one writes better than Brown. The intensity of the story and the suspense of wondering how things will turn out is almost unbearable toward the end. So just drop whatever you're reading now, and if you haven't done so already, discover Larry Brown, certainly one of the greatest writers America has ever produced. And I imagine he was a pretty good fireman, too.
I listened to the audiobook, which was exceptionally well read by Tom Stechshulte. ( )
An intense and rewarding book I bought this many years ago. It is a signed copy. Perhaps the lauditory jacket blurbs sold me or the sellers advice. Somehow it didn't make it to the top of the stack. It was a great to read it now and it opens the door to more of what he wrote. I can see why he became so widely praised. He is very much a southern writer: the climate and temperment of Mississippi become characters. The story is about the contrasting temperment of a man's two songs by different mothers, an accident of world war two. One soon had just been released from prison. He had been jailed for the hit and run drunk driving death of a boy. Earlier in his life he had accidentally shot and killed his brother with a gun he didn't know was loaded. He returns from prison filled with anger and hate. His bastard half brother is the town sheriff. Their paths cross in many ways and come to personify good and evil.
The story is intense and the characters came to life in my mind. There is almost too much violence, but it seems in character. I would call the book an exploration of human nature. I found the ending satisfying. ( )
It was Saturday when they drove the old car into town, returning him, passing by the big houses with their blankets of dark grass beneath the ancient oaks.
Quotations
Last words
Bobby was there and Mary and Jewel, and he held David close to him as if to protect him from any harm. He looked at their faces and the old boards creaked softly as he pushed the chair to and fro. When they came near enough to hear him he told them to be quiet, that the boy was asleep.
Father and Son tells the story of five days following Glen Davis's return to the small Mississippi town where he grew up. Five days. In this daring psychological thriller, these are five days you'll never forget. Convicted and sentenced on a vehicular homicide charge, Glen is the bad seedâ??the haunted, angry, drunken, and dangerous son of Virgil and Emma Davis. Bobby Blanchard is the sheriff, as different from Glen as can be imagined, but in love with the same womanâ??the mother of Glen's illegitimate son. Before he's been back in town thirty-six hours, Glen has robbed his war-crippled father, bullied and humiliated his younger brother, and rejected his son, David. Bobby finds himself sorting through the mayhem Glen leaves in his wakeâ??a murdered bar owner, a rape, Glen's terrorized family, and the little boy who needs a father. And, as he gets closer and closer to the murderous Glen, tension builds like a Mississippi thunderstorm about to break loose. This classic face-off of good against evil is told in the clear, unflinching voice that won Larry Brown some of literature's most prestigious awards. And, reverberating with dark excitement, biblical echoes, and a fast, cinematic pacing, this novel puts a new side of his genius on displayâ??the ability to build suspense to an almost unbearable pitch. Father and Son is the story of a powerfully complex kinship, an exhilarating and heart-stopping story. 1997 Southern Book Critics Circle Award for
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