Sunset and Sawdust

Non avevo mai letto nulla di Lansdale. Qualche giorno fa mi sono imbattuta in una discussione in cui si parlava di copertine brutte e qualcuno ha menzionato la copertina dell'edizione italiana di Tramonto e Polvere Quella virata in rosso sangue, di ispirazione Harmony. Diceva che non c'entrava nulla col romanzo. Così mi sono incuriosita, l'ho comprato e l'ho letto.

Leggendo Tramonto e polvere mi sono sentita a disagio per la gran parte del tempo.

Ho subito odiato la protagonista Sunset. La sua ingenua sicumera, il suo favolesco ottimismo, le sue pose da Perry Mason. Perché non mi sembra possibile che una donna spari in testa a suo marito nel momento in cui questo la sta stuprando e da lì a pochi giorni è già bell'e pronta a vestire show more i panni dello sceriffo e ad aprire le gambe al primo arrivato, il farabutto belloccio e pluriomicida. Non mi sembra credibile che la stessa donna incontri per la prima volta nella sua vita un tizio che le confessa di essere il granduomo che ha ingravidato sua madre e poi se l'è data a gambe, e dopo poche battute lo chiami già disinvoltamente "papà".

Ecco, ogni dettaglio di questo romanzo l'ho trovato permeato di questi particolari stridenti, sbagliati. I registri (sempre scherzosi a dispetto della criticità delle situazioni), il modo di agire dei personaggi (sempre inverosimili, inadeguati), che vanno a riempire un plot frusto, vecchio e stravecchio e prevedibile. Che noia. Un continuo stridere tra avvenimenti drammatici e reazioni simpatiche dei personaggi. Reazioni superficiali, reazioni così poco emotive che alla fine i personaggi ti sembrano dei pupazzi che si muovono su uno sfondo di cartone. Perché solo nel mondo dei pupazzi su uno sfondo di cartone succede che la figlia della protagonista Sunset, una ragazzina di 14 anni, abortisca, con l'aiuto di una fattucchiera, l'embrione con cui il farabutto belloccio e pluriomicida di cui sopra l'ha ingravidata subito prima di andare a letto anche con Sunset, e dopo qualche giorno dall'aborto sia pronta a un trasferimento lontano lontano col sorriso sulle labbra e la speranza nel futuro.

E insomma, terminato il libro penso che secondo me la copertina è proprio adatta. show less

This is a dang fine read! Sunset is one heck of a woman, and her story, even the hard parts, make for a good book! I'm a Lansdale fan, but I grabbed this one after I saw it in a recent "Punisher" graphic novel that I had read (a character was reading it!). And I'm sure glad that I did! This book reads like a western, though I believe it is set in the 1930's in a mill town in Texas. There are a lot of tough men in here - Hillbilly, Clyde, Two (a total freak!!!), Bull, and Lee - but Sunset may be the toughest of them all! She kicks ass and takes names! I'd like to think that somehow she is related to Lansdale's other characters, Hap and Leonard, like maybe their momma or something. I'd also like to read another story about her. But I'm show more happy with what I did read, and thankful that Mr. Lansdale put it down on paper! show less

It's the depression era in East Texas. The Klu Klux Klan is active and many Texas men feel that they can smack around their wives and not have to answer for it.

Constable Pete Jones comes home drunk and beats his wife, Sunset. Then he begins to rape her. As this is happening, she reaches for his revolver, shoots him in the head and kills him.

Since the sawmill town of Camp Rapture, Texas is now without law enforcement, at a camp meeting, with the help of Sunset's mother-in-law, who is majority owner of the sawmill, Sunset is appointed the new constable, on a trial basis. She will be assisted by Clyde Fox and a new man in town who goes by the nickname, Hillbilly.

Soon after Sunset is appointed, the body of a dead baby is found on the land show more of the only black farmer in the town. Not long after, a woman's body is found, shot and covered with oil.

To the surprise of many, Sunset takes her job seriously. She tries to learn the functions of her job and identify the dead bodies. When she identifies the woman, complications arise. As this is happening, Sunset must deal with the issues of her precocious fourteen-year-old daughter and her mother-in-law.

As I read the story, I was impressed with the depiction of the action. The realistic portrayal of events made it seem as if they were occuring in front of me.

I felt drawn to the difficulty of life at that time and the courageousness of Sunset. show less

Opening with a dramatic start; our heroine, Sunset, shoots the Sheriff (her husband) in the head as he tries to rape and beat her. Events which leave Sunset, homeless, husbandless and in need of a job. So in slightly implausible circumstances through support of her powerful mother in law (who pretty much owns the only company in the town) she gets her husband’s job.. and gets thrust into a solving some brutal murders.

This is a whodunit with a lot of darkness but a lot of heart. Set in Texas during the Great Depression we get drifters, low life’s, lost souls, Ku Klux Klan, hard workers and firm friends. Once I got over the implausible premise this was a fun read, the murders are secondary really to Sunset and her daughter struggling show more to come up for air. The highs and lows of the peripheral characters. The story twists enough to keep you entertained and Lansdale is very good at strong female characters, satisfying endings, visually arresting fights and tense drama. It's not gratuitous by any means but the darkness ramps up the tension. You never know who is going to make it.

It may not be my favourite of Lansdale’s (try Edge of Dark Water) but lovers of crime and Lansdale fans will lap this up. show less

Don't ask me why I thought this was a Hap & Leonard instalment...for whatever reason, that's what I had in my head as I started this audiobook.

So I was a little surprised when the narrator was female (only because every other H&L book was from Hap's point of view), but as soon as I realized this was taking place many decades in the past, I figured I'd boned up somewhere.

It took a minute to make that mental adjustment that this was a Joe R. Lansdale book, but not with the characters I was expecting.

I say all this because, perhaps...just maybe...it is playing a small role in my ultimate feelings about the story overall.

Are all the trademark Lansdale elements here? Sabine River? East Texas? Crime? Humour? Witty sayings? A decent story? show more Check, check, and check.

But for whatever reason, this one didn't quite hang together as well as I'm normally used to. The twists and turns are here, the good and bad characters, all of it. But, for me, it all felt a touch rushed.

Still a good story, still absolutely worth the read, but I'll just state, if this is your introduction to Lansdale, there's much better out there.

Then again, take this entire review with a grain of salt, because it just may be that I was expecting another wonderful Hap & Leonard adventure. show less

REVIEWED: Sunset and Sawdust
WRITTEN BY: Joe R. Lansdale
PUBLISHED: January, 2005

This is classic Lansdale: Well-written, gripping, and at times poignantly funny. Sunset Jones kills her abusive husband in self-defense in the middle of a cyclone. It’s really quite symbolic as not only her home and husband are gone, but her entire life is torn apart. From the very beginning, it’s a story of her reconstructing everything around her, including her own world views. Through the assistance of her wealthy mother-in-law, Sunset becomes Sheriff of the town, a small logging camp in the 1930’s depression. One of her first orders of business is to solve a brutal double murder that her late-husband (the former Sheriff) buried. The book show more effortlessly cuts across genres of mystery and thriller, horror, western and humor. Lansdale, as common for him, deals with race and gender issues and takes a progressive stance against commonly held clichés. Great read overall. The only complaint was that Lansdale built up such a pair of clever and creepy villains, but then rarely used them. He needs to write a prologue story stat, just about McBride and his half-brother, Two!

Four out of Five stars show less

Pretty good depression-era crime novel, but there is some pretty strong adult language and action. Sunset is a good strong woman character.