The Clearing
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'So firmly located and vividly realised that you can almost smell the Louisiana swampwater ... a gripping, action-packed tale, but also a notably intelligent one' (Jem Poster, Guardian )
'Astonishingly powerful ... brilliantly written and the characters in their mire are superbly realised' (Toby Clements, Daily Telegraph )
'An extraordinary novel, one of the best I've read in years' (Annie Proulx, Guardian Summer Books )
'I cannot recommend it highly enough.' (Peter Straus, Literary Review )
'Gautreaux captures the fetid atmosphere of a frontier society poised to join the modern world with great skill, each sentence polished to perfection' (Independent on Sunday )
'Near-perfect ... untouchably good' (Alan Warner, Daily Telegraph Summer Books )
'Astonishingly powerful ... brilliantly written and the characters in their mire are superbly realised' (Toby Clements, Daily Telegraph )
'An extraordinary novel, one of the best I've read in years' (Annie Proulx, Guardian Summer Books )
'I cannot recommend it highly enough.' (Peter Straus, Literary Review )
'Gautreaux captures the fetid atmosphere of a frontier society poised to join the modern world with great skill, each sentence polished to perfection' (Independent on Sunday )
'Near-perfect ... untouchably good' (Alan Warner, Daily Telegraph Summer Books )
Guardian summer books
'An extraordinary novel, one of the best I've read in years'
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Not as good as The Missing [See my report], but still a damn fine read. Set in a logging camp in the Louisiana swamps in the prohibition, roaring twenties. Gautreaux is again a master at setting the scene so well that you can almost feel the humidity , smell the sweat and hear the jungle. Any law is of the very rough justice, do it yourself variety. The official law enforcement is corrupt or totally ineffectual with the possible exception of
old sheriff Merville who is a decent man, but old and sick. The supply of alcohol and women to the camp is controlled by the sinister Sicilians . There is racialism and segregation between the not far removed from slavery blacks and the dirt poor whites. Disease is rampant and health and safety unheard of.
Against this background is the story of two brothers from a wealthy Pittsburgh industrialist family. One trying to come to terms with the horrors of his service in the Great War by hiding in the deep south ;the other sent down to find and save him from himself. Two men poles apart at this stage in their lives, but linked by a brotherly respect and yes, it is fair to say, love for each other.
The research is thorough, all the characters fully developed, the story fast moving, gripping and always believable.
Tim Gautreaux has quickly become one of my favourite writers. As with The Missing, this is a must read page turner.
old sheriff Merville who is a decent man, but old and sick. The supply of alcohol and women to the camp is controlled by the sinister Sicilians . There is racialism and segregation between the not far removed from slavery blacks and the dirt poor whites. Disease is rampant and health and safety unheard of.
Against this background is the story of two brothers from a wealthy Pittsburgh industrialist family. One trying to come to terms with the horrors of his service in the Great War by hiding in the deep south ;the other sent down to find and save him from himself. Two men poles apart at this stage in their lives, but linked by a brotherly respect and yes, it is fair to say, love for each other.
The research is thorough, all the characters fully developed, the story fast moving, gripping and always believable.
Tim Gautreaux has quickly become one of my favourite writers. As with The Missing, this is a must read page turner.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The Clearing is a powerful, engrossing novel set in a remote logging camp deep in the treacherous swamps of the Louisiana bayou. Intensely atmospheric, the senses are saturated by Gautreaux's evocation of a humid, fetid, waterlogged hell-hole of a place teeming with all sorts of nasties that bite. Enclosing the Nimbus lumber mill clearing is the eerie, murky swampland. This god-forsaken backwater provides the backdrop for the suspenseful, expertly plotted story of the re-uniting of two brothers, Randolph and Byron Aldridge, sons of timber tycoon Noah Aldridge.
The year is 1923 and Byron has returned from the 1st World War sickened and traumatised by the mass-slaughter in the trenches. Remote and withdrawn, hardened and stripped of feeling by exposure to violent death, sinking in the mire of profound melancholy, his mind is full of festering thoughts of the horrors of war. A Drifter, Byron is now the lawman in the Nimbus logging camp meting out his own harsh brand of rough, tough justice to a motley crew of drunken, brawling, razor-swinging mill-hands and loggers who burn off steam by turning to the only saloon in camp for the solace afforded by alcohol, gambling and hookers, their only form of respite from the back-breaking, daylong slog of swinging saws. A more potent, sinister challenge to Byron's law in Nimbus is posed by a ruthless Sicilian group who control the saloon and its rich pickings. A savage, violent power struggle ensues, though Gautreaux never allows gratuitous violent to creep in.
At the start of the novel, Byron's whereabouts have been discovered and Noah authorises the purchase of Nimbus lumber mill, appointing Randolph as mill manager to exploit its rich potential but moreso to re-engage with Byron and shepherd him back into the family fold. For readers who wish to dig deeper, themes of violence, the futility of war, the destruction of natural habitat, racism, loss and the redemptive power of love are there to be explored. The Clearing is an excellent novel that opens a window on a bye-gone age. Recommended!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Tim Gautreaux is a new discovery for me and, having just finished reading 'The Clearing' today I feel the same way that I did many years ago when I fist read 'The Shipping News'. Indeed, E. Annie Proulx has written a recommendation on the back cover of my copy.
This feeling is excitement at a new voice and some completely original (to me) writing. The men's world of logging camps in Louisiana in the 1920s doesn't sound the most appealing of backdrops, but meeting Byron, Randolph, Mr Mervin, May, Milo and Galleri, among others, made me wish that I had known them 'in real life'. I felt sad when I reached the end.
Highly recommended as a good read for anyone who has enjoyed E Annie Proulx's writing.
This feeling is excitement at a new voice and some completely original (to me) writing. The men's world of logging camps in Louisiana in the 1920s doesn't sound the most appealing of backdrops, but meeting Byron, Randolph, Mr Mervin, May, Milo and Galleri, among others, made me wish that I had known them 'in real life'. I felt sad when I reached the end.
Highly recommended as a good read for anyone who has enjoyed E Annie Proulx's writing.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
If I could give it 6 stars I would
I only wish the author had written more than 3 novels; I am waiting for number 4. Truthful characterisation, humane writing and a wonderful story teller.
Published 11 months ago by C. Whiteman
The Clearing
Sparsely written, evocative & powerful. If you like this try The Missing which is more gripping.
Published on 27 Feb 2010 by John Robert Parkin
Like William Gay? Like Jeffrey Lent? You'll love Gautreaux,
With Jeffrey Lent, William Gay and Kent Haruf jostling for room on the cover, so as to offer blurbs of admiration, you know exactly where Tim Gautreaux's novel is coming from. Read more
Published on 5 April 2006 by Jamie Johnston
Good read!
This book is set in a logging camp & sawmill in the Deep South full of atmosphere & interesting characters. Read more
Published on 2 Aug 2004 by MR L P FAHY
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