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Legend of a Suicide
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Product Description
Review
An extraordinary, ground-breaking piece of fiction ... Nothing quite like this book has been written before (Alex Linklater, Observer )
A richly gifted newcomer (Sunday Times Books for 2009 )
Vann uses startling powers of observation to create strong characters, tense scenes and genuine surprises (Publishers’ Weekly )
Oh my god, Legend of a Suicide just bowled me over completely. It is such a tender, heartbreaking, breathtaking, horrifying and insanely compelling read that when I finished it I went straight back to the beginning and round again. I implore anyone with functioning eyes to read this book (Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine )
So hard to put down that I am thinking of suing David Vann for several hours of lost sleep (Lionel Shriver )
This book squeezes more life out of the first hundred pages than most books could manage in a thousand, which is pretty impressive, considering it's a book about death (Ross Raisin, author of God's Own Country )
In his portrayal of a young son's love for his lost father David Vann has created a stunning work of fiction: surprising, beautiful and intensely moving (Nadeem Aslam, author of Maps for Lost Lovers )
One of the most gripping debuts I've ever read (Philip Hoare, author of Leviathan )
Impossible to put down and equally impossible to forget (San Francisco Chronicle )
An American classic ... harrowing but beautifully wrought ... prose as clear and bracing as a mountain stream (Sunday Times )
One jaw-droppingly powerful, courageous and original fiction debut...As a 10th work of fiction this would be impressive; as a debut, it is remarkable (Sunday Telegraph )
Hands down the best fictional debut we have read this year (Dazed & Confused )
For the imagery alone and for the sentences, the book would be a treasure, but the story it tells - the story of the suicide of the author's father - has an immediacy and sharpness made all the more special by the tone of distance in the narrative and the beauty of the writing (Colm Toibin, Observer books of the year )
David Vann's Legend of a Suicide is brave, fantastically well written, and completely defies categorisation (Julie Myerson, Daily Telegraph books of the year )
A richly gifted newcomer (Sunday Times Books for 2009 )
Vann uses startling powers of observation to create strong characters, tense scenes and genuine surprises (Publishers’ Weekly )
Oh my god, Legend of a Suicide just bowled me over completely. It is such a tender, heartbreaking, breathtaking, horrifying and insanely compelling read that when I finished it I went straight back to the beginning and round again. I implore anyone with functioning eyes to read this book (Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine )
So hard to put down that I am thinking of suing David Vann for several hours of lost sleep (Lionel Shriver )
This book squeezes more life out of the first hundred pages than most books could manage in a thousand, which is pretty impressive, considering it's a book about death (Ross Raisin, author of God's Own Country )
In his portrayal of a young son's love for his lost father David Vann has created a stunning work of fiction: surprising, beautiful and intensely moving (Nadeem Aslam, author of Maps for Lost Lovers )
One of the most gripping debuts I've ever read (Philip Hoare, author of Leviathan )
Impossible to put down and equally impossible to forget (San Francisco Chronicle )
An American classic ... harrowing but beautifully wrought ... prose as clear and bracing as a mountain stream (Sunday Times )
One jaw-droppingly powerful, courageous and original fiction debut...As a 10th work of fiction this would be impressive; as a debut, it is remarkable (Sunday Telegraph )
Hands down the best fictional debut we have read this year (Dazed & Confused )
For the imagery alone and for the sentences, the book would be a treasure, but the story it tells - the story of the suicide of the author's father - has an immediacy and sharpness made all the more special by the tone of distance in the narrative and the beauty of the writing (Colm Toibin, Observer books of the year )
David Vann's Legend of a Suicide is brave, fantastically well written, and completely defies categorisation (Julie Myerson, Daily Telegraph books of the year )
Product Description
Roy is still young when his father, a failed dentist and hapless fisherman, puts a .44 magnum to his head and commits suicide on the deck of his beloved boat. Throughout his life, Roy returns to that moment, gripped by its memory and the shadow it casts over his small-town boyhood, describing with poignant, mercurial wit his parents' woeful marriage and inevitable divorce, their kindnesses and weaknesses, the absurd and comic turning-points of his past. Finally, in Legend of a Suicide, Roy lays his father's ghost to rest. But not before he exacts a gruelling, exhilarating revenge.
Revolving around a fatally misconceived adventure deep in the wilderness of Alaska, this is a remarkably tender story of survival and disillusioned love.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
David Vann has delivered a very powerful collection of interlocking stories, all with their own unique styles and voices.
So the first obstacle to the book is that it is not a single linear story, it is a set of relating stories that have been collected together to tell the overarching story of a father and son. However the book has been made to look like it is a single story, I don't really know why apart from the theory that British readers don't like to buy or read short story collections, so to by pass this problem the book has been marketed as a normal novel, even down to the inside of the book where the changing of story to story is marked rather more like separate chapters.
This is pointless because it only serves to confuse the reader, I was lucky enough to have heard the author be interviewed about the book and he set the problem out for readers, but without this help it could have proved to be a needlessly frustrating read.
While the stories are fascinating and exceptionally well told, there are problems with the collection.
One being the fourth story at the centre of the book, that while probably the best one here, is let down by the lack of chapters. The story itself is over 160 pages long, and I couldn't read all the way through in one go, so had to take breaks which messed up the rhythm of the piece. The only reason I can think Vann did this was to follow in the footsteps of Cormac McCarthy, as the overall feeling I got when reading this particular story was that it felt like a Cormac piece, I was proved correct as he is one of the authors listed in his acknowledgments. But simple chapter breaks would have probably helped keep the flow, I must say I have that problem with the Road as well.
A second problem was the final story. Some people may disagree, but it didn't feel to me like a particularly strong ending to the overall story. I found it to be the weakest of all six stories, and it was just a shame that it had to end on a low note.
The one other criticism I have seen is that the book suffers from 'creativewritingitis'. This is perfectly right. The changing of styles and perspectives is very much like a creative writing class project, but this didn't bother me in the slightest. David Vann handles each style so well that it doesn't matter, sure if he hadn't handled it well I'd be the first to complain, but here I can't fault it at all, he obviously holds tremendous skill and composure in his style, and I look forward to reading more of his work in the future.
So the first obstacle to the book is that it is not a single linear story, it is a set of relating stories that have been collected together to tell the overarching story of a father and son. However the book has been made to look like it is a single story, I don't really know why apart from the theory that British readers don't like to buy or read short story collections, so to by pass this problem the book has been marketed as a normal novel, even down to the inside of the book where the changing of story to story is marked rather more like separate chapters.
This is pointless because it only serves to confuse the reader, I was lucky enough to have heard the author be interviewed about the book and he set the problem out for readers, but without this help it could have proved to be a needlessly frustrating read.
While the stories are fascinating and exceptionally well told, there are problems with the collection.
One being the fourth story at the centre of the book, that while probably the best one here, is let down by the lack of chapters. The story itself is over 160 pages long, and I couldn't read all the way through in one go, so had to take breaks which messed up the rhythm of the piece. The only reason I can think Vann did this was to follow in the footsteps of Cormac McCarthy, as the overall feeling I got when reading this particular story was that it felt like a Cormac piece, I was proved correct as he is one of the authors listed in his acknowledgments. But simple chapter breaks would have probably helped keep the flow, I must say I have that problem with the Road as well.
A second problem was the final story. Some people may disagree, but it didn't feel to me like a particularly strong ending to the overall story. I found it to be the weakest of all six stories, and it was just a shame that it had to end on a low note.
The one other criticism I have seen is that the book suffers from 'creativewritingitis'. This is perfectly right. The changing of styles and perspectives is very much like a creative writing class project, but this didn't bother me in the slightest. David Vann handles each style so well that it doesn't matter, sure if he hadn't handled it well I'd be the first to complain, but here I can't fault it at all, he obviously holds tremendous skill and composure in his style, and I look forward to reading more of his work in the future.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a short, startling and superbly written debut novel. A fictional exploration of the suicide of the author's father, the book boldly and graphically picks through the sediment of tragedy as it continues to shape the life of one left in aftermath. The book is made up of five self-contained yet interrelated short stories, which hinge around a central narrative about a doomed father-and-son trip into the wilderness - literally and pyschologically. There is a ratcheting, subterranean sense of dread throughout, which erupts into a highly and genuinely shocking twist that left me reeling for several days. Perhaps not a good one for the faint of heart, but a highly gripping read and one executed with brutal honesty and disturbing tenderness.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Although I enjoyed the style(s) in which these stories were written, I must say that upon finishing the book my first thought was "huh?". Not since I drunkenly decided to watch Donnie Darko had I felt so confused.
To me at least, there are two main problems with this novel/novella/collection of novels. The first of these is the way in which it has been marketed. Simply put, I would have enjoyed this more had I known going in that this was a collection of stories revolving around a central theme or themes. Unfortunately, the marketers seem to have gone out of their way to hide this fact. READ THIS BOOK AS A COLLECTION OF SHORT STORIES AND YOU'LL ENJOY IT MORE. Sorry for shouting there, just trying to save you from a state of confusion, frantic back-tracking to earlier pages and the sneaking feeling you've been duped.
The other main issue I have with this book is that some of the stories simply aren't as strong as others and the ordering seems a little mixed up. After the memorable brutality of frozen Alaska, the following two stories that serve as the footnote to the collection are frankly unmemorable and to be honest, seem a little tacked on to bulk up the page numbers.
Legend of a Suicide
To me at least, there are two main problems with this novel/novella/collection of novels. The first of these is the way in which it has been marketed. Simply put, I would have enjoyed this more had I known going in that this was a collection of stories revolving around a central theme or themes. Unfortunately, the marketers seem to have gone out of their way to hide this fact. READ THIS BOOK AS A COLLECTION OF SHORT STORIES AND YOU'LL ENJOY IT MORE. Sorry for shouting there, just trying to save you from a state of confusion, frantic back-tracking to earlier pages and the sneaking feeling you've been duped.
The other main issue I have with this book is that some of the stories simply aren't as strong as others and the ordering seems a little mixed up. After the memorable brutality of frozen Alaska, the following two stories that serve as the footnote to the collection are frankly unmemorable and to be honest, seem a little tacked on to bulk up the page numbers.
Legend of a Suicide
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Enjoyed it - but still feel cheated!
I should have read some reviews before embarking on this book - then I would have known it was a series of interlinking (or overlapping) short stories rather than a linear novel. Read more
Published 14 days ago by Wynne Kelly
Heartbreaking experimental journey
I'd read a lot of buzz about Legend Of A Suicide prior to reading it, and then fell across it in a second hand bookshop in Camden last weekend. Read more
Published 1 month ago by R. A. Davison
Fantastic book
This is an amazing read - like nothing you might expect from a memoir/novel. The author takes you to places you would never expect as he explores the complex relationship between... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Carto1540
The novel as therapy
Anyone thinking of reading this book or David Vann's follow up, Caribou Island, should know that David Vann's own father committed suicide and that in a prior generation, one of... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Bacchus
`He wasn't sure the story could make any sense.'
This was David Vann's first book of fiction and is comprised of five short stories and a novella. The stories are fictional but as David Vann states in the acknowledgements:... Read more
Published 12 months ago by J. Cameron-Smith
awful book
Have been really embarrassed by this book. I made the people in my book club read it because my sister was getting her book club to read it. Read more
Published 15 months ago by traveller
A PERCEPTIVE READ
When I had read the reviews from other people on this book, the format fell into place. I did find the structure rather confusing. Read more
Published 20 months ago by bibliophile
It did not work for me
I am aware that this book has generally received rave reviews from readers and critics alike, but it did not work for me at all. Read more
Published 22 months ago by R. L. Simpson
A missed (gimmicky?) start but with potential
Let's start with the good points. The writing, although nowhere as beautifully moving as Cormac McCarthy's like some reviewers suggested, is fluid, skilled and really rather good. Read more
Published on 15 Mar 2010 by The Grenouille
A dissenting verdict
This book is beautifully written, and, as lots of reviewers have noted, the central novella is really powerful. Read more
Published on 16 Feb 2010 by emma who reads a lot
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