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Shadow Country by Peter Matthiessen (view source)
Revision as of 16:23, 24 June 2010
, 16:23, 24 June 2010no edit summary
Book III opens with the young Mr Watson (Master Watson if you like). Owing to a vicious, violent father the young Watson has very little choice but to pack up and leave the family home. The last beating he received from his father rendered him unconscious. He may now suffer the effects of this into adulthood. We travel with him during his good spells and not so good spells. He seems to be a man simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. And we are given numerous examples of this in drawn-out descriptions. Matthiessen cleverly gives us Watson's angle of the stories told in Book I. And it's true what they say; there's always two sides of a coin to any given story.
In summary, this is a novel covering multi-themes in rich language. From racism to 'gator hunting it's all here. There's so much information and all of it is packed tight on the page. The native dialect comes across extremely well. Mr Watson left a lasting impression on me. I didn't want to let him go. But I had not no choice. I had simply come to the end of the novel. First class.
I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to The Bookbag.