Postcards (edition 1994)

What can I say? I love (E.) Annie Proulx. I found this beautiful. It is similar to The Fishing News in that not a great deal really *happens* -- no big, story-telling plot-type things anyway -- but life goes on and is both intricate and day-to-day, beautiful and boring, significant on some scale and insignificant on the scale of all things. There are no come-uppances as such, there are no punishments meted out from on high upon those who "do wrong". It's just like life, basically, but beautifully described and observed, with honesty, humour and sympathy. People who don't like Annie Proulx seem to me to usually not like "sad stuff" -- there's a lot of that, but also a fair amount of chuckles (just like in real life.) They don't like it when there isn't a clear "moral" to the story (just like in real life.) And they don't like a lack of an obvious "beginning, middle and end" plot structure. (Need I say it? Just like life.) I prefer writing that reflects real life, not writing that idealises it or moralises over it. I don't like writing where the author places his or herself in a position of presiding judge or wrathful deity, casting some individuals down for their wrongdoings and rewarding others for meeting some contrived concept of "rightness". I like real people who are neither good nor evil, but who just live. Annie Proulx provides me with that, in bucket-loads. ( )

Annie Proulx's first novel tells the tragic story of Loyal Blood who in 1944 commits an unspeakable (and unexplained) crime & must flee his home on a farm in New England and search for a new life someplace else. His journey takes him from Vermont to New York, through the Midwest and finally to New Mexico. All during his journeys he continues to send postcards home to his family, but never communicates with them, nor knows about their own troubles and travails.
This book may be difficult for some to red since so much is inferred rather than explained, but for those who stick with it, will be rewarded with a remarkable story beautifully written. ( )

In 1944, Loyal Blood abruptly leaves his family's farm in Vermont, under circumstances that are only vaguely described. He heads west, working a variety of jobs: mining, archaeology, trapping, farming, and so on. His parents Mink and Jewell continue working the farm with help from Loyal's brother, Dub. Life is grim. Dub's employment options are limited since he lost his arm in an accident. Loyal and Dub's teenage sister, Mernelle, longs for the day she can escape. And Loyal's self-imposed exile is no better.

Postcards is a portrait of a family, of farming, and of the American west in the mid-twentieth century. Each of the Blood family members finds their path, but it's not always a happy one. Some chapters were riveting, like when men became trapped in a mine, or when farmers banded together to fight a brush fire that threatened their livestock. Most chapters open with the image of a postcard: sometimes it's a short note from Loyal to his family; at other times the correspondence is between unknown parties, but provides context or related plot details. It's an interesting device.

But while this book started strong, my interest flagged in the last 100 pages or so. The events precipitating Loyal's departure were never fully explained, making it difficult for me to understand why he refused to return home or even let his family know his current address. Loyal's endless roaming across the country bored me after a while. Dub, Mernelle, and even Jewell had more interesting stories, which were not as fully developed.

Postcards was Annie Proulx's debut novel; there are glimpses of the talent that later brought us The Shipping News, but a few flaws as well. ( )

This was an amazing piece of writing; I had never heard of author before and was blind-sided. I was surprised to discover she also wrote Brokeback Mountain which I will not read - but will definitely read Shipping News. She paints a grim scene, indeed, but has a marvelous story-telling ability. ( )

This novel is about a family farm over the years; the reader observes the slow destruction of the farm. A good read. ( )