Down to the Dirt
by Joel Hynes
On This Page
Description
Down to the dirt is Joel Thomas Hynes' award-winning first novel. Told in the voices of various characters and from first and third-person perspectives, Down to the dirt follows the hard-drinking, hard-living Keith Kavanagh from his sexual initiation with an older woman in the small community of his childhood to his Quixotic quest for meaning in the big city. Kavanagh is one of Canadian literature's most memorable and mesmerizing creations. He may appear hard as nails--a self-destructive show more hedonist, a dynamo of crackling energy and imminent violence--but at heart, he is (in the words of novelist Michael Crummey) "a troubled Holden Caulfield innocent" desperately searching for his place in a world that doesn't seem to want or need him. . show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
A Newfoundland coming of age story; this is gritty, ribald and bawdy. Haynes is adept at injecting black humour in the lives of these young rabble-rousers and allowing the reader to feel some sympathy for the toughest of them, Keith Kavanagh. Written with a candour that reveals authenticity, Hynes has given Newfoundland something special. An excellent debut novel published in 2005, made into a movie in 2008.
Wasn't too keen on the ending or the story itself. I liked the characters and the writing style. The story didn't have much of a plot but I did like the clever insightful things the main character did or said.
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Author Information
8+ Works 140 Members
Awards and Honors
Awards
Notable Lists
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 2004
- People/Characters
- Keith Kavanagh; Glenda Devereux
- Important places
- St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada; The Cove, Nefoundland, Canada
- Related movies
- Down to the Dirt (2008 | IMDb)
- Dedication
- For Sherry and Percy
- First words
- So comes along Miss Glenda Devereux in late July of that year, snatchin' up the job in the little canteen at the fish plant.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)gnawin' at my bottom lip 'til I gets the taste of blood.
- Blurbers
- MacLeod, Alistair; Walsh, Mary; Crummey, Michael; Ames, Jonathan
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 44
- Popularity
- 673,887
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (3.86)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 6
- ASINs
- 2
