Continental Drift (1985)

You certainly cannot label this novel a "feel-good book." Russell Banks once again plumbs the depths of man's soul and his struggle (usually fruitless) to obtain a certain moral certainty in his life. The story starts off just before Christmas in New Hampshire and ends in a dingy back alley in the Haitian section of Miami. Another great novel by one of my favorite writers. ( )

Really good book. Depressing, but brilliantly written. I've always liked Russell Banks but somehow missed this one, which was his first commercial success. ( )

I still love Russell Banks, but this story didn't get me as excited as his other work. It wasn't just that he kept jumping between two different stories, but that they were told in such different ways. Bob Dubois is written with Banks' usual eye for telling details, but the story of Vanise and the other Haitians is told in a much more objective fashion. I never felt as though I knew their story as intimately as Bob's, as though they were an allegory, and their individual identities were less important than those of Bob and his family. ( )

I wonder if you have to be an "average American male" to appreciate this book? ( )

Maybe it's just me, but I really liked this book. I could relate to Bob's decision to make a new start in Florida. How many people in dead-end jobs, fighting the cold & snow, and just making it from one paycheck to the next haven't engaged in that fantasy? Most of us blunder on, not wanting to risk our job's benefits (like health insurance), or are reluctant to sever the ties that bind us to a place, while we just hope that things will get better. Bob chooses to go with a dream, and is led to believe, by his brother who appears to be successful, that by doing so, things will get better. When catastrophe shows him just who his brother really is, he doesn't give up, but takes the helping hand of his best friend, still hoping to make his life better. That Ave isn't really the man he appears to be either, is something that Bob learns way too late, when he's in so deep, he must do something that is aberrant to the man he is. Only after the horrifying occurrence that ensues is Bob ready to give up & and go back to the life he left - but even then, he still tries to do something that will begin to redeem himself to himself.

Vanise is a passive character, someone to whom "things happen". Although I sympathize with her & the hideous ordeals that she went through, it was her nephew, Claude, that had the courage to try to make a change in their lives.

I feel like this novel is about the ways in which we never really know another person. At least, not until the "chips are down". None of the characters could depend on one another. It was a great illustration of how we are each alone in this world and can only control what we ourselves do. At the end of the day, Bob attempted to control what became of his ill-gotten gains and to attempt to recover his integrity.

Oh, and by the way, I thought that the voodoo rituals were pretty amazing, but then I've always been intrigued by other cultures. ( )