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Customer Reviews
"Tedious." This word kept popping into my head while I labored into "Blue River." I thought it was me. Surely this story would improve and flower into a marvelous and richly colorful Ethan Canin story. 75 pages, 100 pages, 150 pages. Would this ever develop into something readable? Should I give up?
I didn't. And I had to laugh at all the other reviews here on Amazon.com "Tedious" "The shortest book I never finished." Naturally. They are all correct. Believe the negative reviews.
"Blue River" is a hugely disappointing, cliche-filled, seemingly unedited, overly stylistic diatribe that is boring. Not very far along in the book, the protagonist yuppie eye surgeon is "chasing his demons" and daring to drive through Pacific Coast Highway switchback turns with his eyes shut late at night. Uh-huh. Most assuredly, you too will root for a good car crash. No such luck, however, and the reader is taken back through an awful Cain and Abel coming-of-age saga set in Blue River, Wisconsin high above the banks of the Mississippi. The worst part is that it is written in this horrific style of a letter from the younger, angst-laden yuppie brother to the older miscreant brother. "Lawrence, you didn't know I knew that you knew" sort of technique. Ugggh. Spare us.
It's a shame this book turned out so badly because Ethan Canin is a very talented writer. I have confidence this was an early set back in a very promising career, and I look forward to finding the next Canin novel in my public library.
In his younger days, Edward admires his adventurous, dare-devil brother, Lawrence, who is six years older than Edward.
Years pass. Lawrence leaves home and hasn't been seen by Edward for fifteen years. Then, like an unrepentent Prodigal brother, Lawrence shows up at Edward's home, unannounced and in need of food and clothing.
Edward has become a wealthy eye surgeon in California while Lawrence is an out of work card dealer from Nevada.
What is the reason Lawrence has for coming? It seems as if he wants to re-establish his relationship with Edward, or maybe he's in some kind of trouble.
Lawrence does win the affection of Edward's five-year-old son, Jonathan. Lawrence acts insanely for Jonathan, flopping on the kitchen floor or making monkey noises while on an outing at the local zoo. Jonathan may enjoy this but Edward is skeptical.
Then, in a revealing moment, Lawrence asks his brother if he can stay a while longer. Callously, Edward refuses. He gives Lawrence some money and drives him to the bus station.
The story continues and Edward narrates his early days with Lawrence.
Nothing happens in this novel. Edward is a passive, sermonizing character with little to like. Lawrence is a Machiavellian, out for whatever thrill he can get.
I did feel a similarity with the brothers in "East of Eden." In Steinbeck's novel, Adam is goodhearted while Charles is violent and cynical.
"Blue River" has had mixed reviews and I continued to read, expecting the story to improve. It didn't. Cardboard characters, uninteresting plot and a novel without a message. Need I say more?
Just the way Canin emotes the feelings created by the bonds of his characters in this book truly reveal how it feels to be a young man, what traits are revered by young men, what is found in oneself, and what is lost.
I don't know...not sure what there is here NOT to like.
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