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Loading... Frank's Bloody Books (edition 2023)by Mack Green (Author)
Work InformationFrank's Bloody Books by Mack Green
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers. A shockingly good tale - I say that because I've learned to have modest expectations from LibraryThing Early Reviewers titles. The main character drifts from the Vietnam war (where he commits an atrocity that haunts him all his life) to the oil fields of Louisiana, where he makes lifelong friends among the drilling crew and has a life-altering run-in with a misogynistic redneck, to his climax when he returns for a funeral and new revelations.I wholeheartedly agree with another reviewer who noted that the book's blurb does not prepare us for what's in the pages. It's an exploration of one man's soul and moral development, an intimacy that makes the reader almost a character in the plot. It is a joy and pleasure to be brought into this confidence. The characters are well-drawn and memorable. The author is alllllmost there as a developed writer - so good is the text that its occasional awkward phrasing leaves one disappointed, but not for long. This is definitely a writer to watch. Thank you for bringing me along on this memorable journey! This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers. I first should react to the book that the author actually wrote. This is a superbly crafted account of the effects of war. I'm too far away from having read "The Things They Carried," but "Frank's Bloody Books" is arguably of similar high quality, and deserves equal readership.That said, I must say this is not the book I was expecting. Given the title and the blurb, I went into it expecting something akin to "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance": by reading the books, Jack would come to a greater understanding of his war experiences and of life more generally. That never happens; in fact, he really seems none the better off for a lifetime of questing. Perhaps he needed to read different books. Certainly the author's tendency to have small town southern folk speak in cadences of philosophical monologues encouraged the expectation that the reader would go on Zen-type journey. I was therefore disappointed that the "bloody books" were not really lingered over or discussed. The last one, in fact, we learn almost nothing about, much less what Jack learned from it. In fact, we could have done without them entirely, as it was Jack's personal relationship with Frank that shaped his direction, rather than the experience of delving into the books. The books served merely as props rather than portals to redefining his life to become more like Frank. In this sense at least, the book was uneven, as if it wasn't entirely clear what genre it wanted to be. But as I said, it is an excellent book as it is, even if it missed an opportunity to be so much more. This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers. It took a little while for me to orient myself with the story and the characters, but it was worth it in the end. Beautiful story. Would definitely recommend. This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers. This is quite the book - well-crafted characters, endless (and perfectly believable!) plot twists, Set in the Deep South, this book captures the mood of the environment as well as the characters' growth. Green's writing sets the reader up well, too, to anticipate/feel the next major action to come - but you will NOT see the ending! The writing is dense; unusual use of words creates delicious descriptions: "...strode like a living tree stump . . .", "...with a heavier than usual southern silt to her voice.", "...katydids chirruped with escalating madness.", "...distracted by some wandering thoughts that had just arrived." no reviews | add a review
Cruelty and abuse from his Southern past follow Jack "Half-Pint" Crowe into the Vietnam War. Two tours of combat inflict physical wounds and moral damage, but they also deliver the ministrations of a Navy corpsman named Frank-a holy being who reads mysterious books and befriends Jack, coaxing him inward toward his own wholeness. When Frank is killed in battle, an anguished Half-Pint removes three blood-stained books from Frank's shredded pack. Those books and his vow of nonviolence carry the Marine home to the swampy borderland of Louisiana and Arkansas. In that summer of return, Half-Pint plunges back into the atmosphere of hell he had longed to escape for good. Hunted by the fanatical Calvin Whitehead after offering help to his wife and son, his vow of nonviolence is challenged in the murky swamplands of the Southern grotesque. He takes refuge in his new oil rig coworkers, a misfit cast of no-gooders on the verge of insanity brought on by the harsh conditions of their job and the undying meaninglessness of a life spent cheating death amid the pulse of true American blue collar work life. It is through these folds we see the illumination of Half-Pint's evermoving quest for truth and meaning. Guided by Frank's bloodstained books, Half-Pint must shred all he knows to find the thing missing in all of us. No library descriptions found.
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LibraryThing Early Reviewers AlumMack Green's book Frank's Bloody Books was available from LibraryThing Early Reviewers. Current DiscussionsNone
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The return home is fraught with memories and new challenges that test his strength and understanding of what he has learned from Frank and his study of the books he so cherishes. Half Pint has much to deal with but deal with it he does. This story made me want to know both Half Pint and Frank, I believe I would have liked both of them, I know for sure I could have learned from them both as well. A book to sink your teeth into, a book to love.