レビュー要約

• 硬質な会話と南部の土地感覚が評価される。荒々しい人物造形のなかに、家族へ戻ろうとする老いの哀しみがにじむ。

レビュー

• Just another Daniell Woodrell masterpiece

  I'm a huge fan of Woodrell and this is my second favorite of all of his books, my favorite being "Winter's Bone". If you have read any of Woodrell's books I don't have to sell you on him. If you haven't this would be a good place to start. Do yourself a favor and start right away.

• A strong set up but soon runs out of steam

  I first came across Woodrell's work when I saw the film adaptation of his novel Winter's Bone (starring Jennifer Lawrence), which was good enough to make me buy the book. I then happened to meet someone where I work who is a screenwriter and working on getting The Ones You Do made into a movie, so I thought I would give it a read. It's clear that Woodrell has great skill when it comes to using language to create the characters and their world in the reader's mind. It all feels to me as if Woodrell knows this place inside out and he has an economic style that means this book doesn't outstay its welcome. Each of the characters feels very believable and the moments of action work very well, which is something I always admire in prose. I think it must be much harder to put action into words, whereas in a film or TV show you can see and hear what's happening far more easily and viscerally (depending on how well made the film is of course). The problem I have with this book is that ultimately the plot, which is essentially a chase in which the hero goes on the run from a murderous psychopath, is then left unresolved because Woodrell is more interested in the idea of family members reconciling themselves with one another and all the mistakes they've made over the years. Whilst this is rich with potential, it needs to be fully exploited to create a strong narrative. Without giving too much away, the hero runs away, meets up with his family and they spend time thinking things over, discussing their pasts and generally waiting for the villain to turn up. There are genre stories that play around with the audience's expectations to stunning effect (No Country For Old Men is a particularly strong example) but this book feels like it set up certain crime plot elements at the beginning simply to give the hero an excuse to seek out his family. Once he finds them he becomes very passive. Every now and then there's a chapter where we rejoin the villain as he hunts his prey and does terrible things to those who get in his way, but this isn't enough to keep the momentum going. It's only because it's not a particularly long novel that I bothered reading through to the end. I think this book shows Woodrell's talents with prose but suggests a weakness when it comes to plot. Then again, Winter's Bone shows he obviously has it in him to do better than The Ones You Do. In short, Woodrell is a good writer and I'd recommend you try him. I will certainly try other books of his I happen to come across, but I would say go with Winter's Bone first before The Ones You Do. A good writer, but a not-so-good book.

• Five Stars

  Great book by one of my favorite authors!

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