itsmarkyall's review against another edition
5.0
Is this my new favorite Michael Farris Smith novel?
What a damn good read.
What a damn good read.
alexcarbonneau's review against another edition
3.0
I wanted to like this one. I desperately wanted to. It breaks my heart that I didn't liked it that much and the only reason i'm giving 3star is because 4.21 at the moment seems a tad high. This is more of a 3.5 to me.
It IS a great novel. It IS beautifuly written. Farris Smith's prose is delicate and powerful and subtle and strong. But it just didn't work for me. I dunno if it was my state of mind in the last ten days or because i just finished The Last Child by John Hart and rarely felt such a strong connection with the characters, but in Desperation Road, I just couldn't get to be one with Russell and Maben.
I also would have liked for the location to be a bigger part in this novel. Southern Grit-lit is all about bringing the location to life and making it one of the main characters to me.
It just wasn't the right time for this novel and me. Doesn't mean it isn't good. Go ahead and give it a try.
It IS a great novel. It IS beautifuly written. Farris Smith's prose is delicate and powerful and subtle and strong. But it just didn't work for me. I dunno if it was my state of mind in the last ten days or because i just finished The Last Child by John Hart and rarely felt such a strong connection with the characters, but in Desperation Road, I just couldn't get to be one with Russell and Maben.
I also would have liked for the location to be a bigger part in this novel. Southern Grit-lit is all about bringing the location to life and making it one of the main characters to me.
It just wasn't the right time for this novel and me. Doesn't mean it isn't good. Go ahead and give it a try.
sjj169's review against another edition
4.0
In the southern Mississippi swamp you can watch the world awaken as the pale yellow sun edges itself between the trees and moss and wide winged cranes. Dragonflies buzz and raccoons come out of their dens and crawl along fallen trees. Turtles situate themselves onto stumps that will later become sun-soaked and hidden things slide beneath black water with murderous patience and skill.
That passage sets the tone of this book. I knowone a few of my friends (Dan 2.0) would totally read this book wrong and swear it was full of purple prose. He reads everything wrong so.....
Russell Gaines is being released from prison after eleven years. He admits to and is carrying the guilt of his crime.
He had seen the worst of men and he wanted there to be punishment for that so that he could feel like he was different from them.
Russell gets met at the bus station on his first day out by the brothers of the man that he killed. Russell doesn't get many breaks in life.
Don't get all the tissues out yet though, because Russell is not the perfect man. He still boozes up every-time he gets behind the wheel and that made me kinda eye-twitchy. (It was perfect for this story though..so what do I know?)
He finds himself driving around trying to clear his mind after his friendly welcome home and ends up at a backwoods road where a local deputy has been shot. Then as life would have it he meets the woman on the run that is carrying that deputies gun.
The woman had the look of someone who might have been used to it but the was concern in her voice. He had heard the sound from men who knew what tomorrow would bring and knew there was nothing they could do about it.
This is completely my kind of story. Dark as my hateful old heart. I likey.
Booksource: Netgalley in exchange for review.
That passage sets the tone of this book. I know
Russell Gaines is being released from prison after eleven years. He admits to and is carrying the guilt of his crime.
He had seen the worst of men and he wanted there to be punishment for that so that he could feel like he was different from them.
Russell gets met at the bus station on his first day out by the brothers of the man that he killed. Russell doesn't get many breaks in life.
Don't get all the tissues out yet though, because Russell is not the perfect man. He still boozes up every-time he gets behind the wheel and that made me kinda eye-twitchy. (It was perfect for this story though..so what do I know?)
He finds himself driving around trying to clear his mind after his friendly welcome home and ends up at a backwoods road where a local deputy has been shot. Then as life would have it he meets the woman on the run that is carrying that deputies gun.
The woman had the look of someone who might have been used to it but the was concern in her voice. He had heard the sound from men who knew what tomorrow would bring and knew there was nothing they could do about it.
This is completely my kind of story. Dark as my hateful old heart. I likey.
Booksource: Netgalley in exchange for review.
chazmo1431's review against another edition
4.0
I hear words singing in DESPERATION ROAD, the way John Hart makes them sing. Mr. Smith uses a sentence fragment like a spear or a scalpel, depending upon his intent. Like Hart, he makes me know the South as people, not places, as spirit, not cliche. It does not matter that I know, more or less, where the story will go, where the people I learn to root for will wind up. I hope they will, anyway, and intuiting where they may wind up keeps me reading, keeps me hoping they are able to fix it, to win. That is the key to a good read for me, to hope for the characters, to believe in them because I have erred like them, I have not overcome as I hope they will, and be inspired by them.
A great introduction to this author for me!
A great introduction to this author for me!
starness's review against another edition
5.0
From the first sentence I was intrigued and wanted to keep reading, if I wasn’t occupied with other life stuff I would have happily read this in one sitting. The pacing of the story was perfect in keeping your attention, not one word is wasted and the characters felt to me so incredibly believable. There’s so much tension while your reading, really feeling for the two main character’s distress and the terrible situation they each encounter. Nothing is simple for these characters and each find themselves with ethical dilemmas while attempting to do the “right thing”. Not an easy task when your past keeps hunting you down and veering you off course.
Russell really becomes the ultimate anti-hero. I don’t condone the drinking and driving aspects of his character but underneath the gruff he has a heart of gold. I love how the book played out drawing together two broken souls and connecting them in a way that felt so natural and purposeful.
Russell really becomes the ultimate anti-hero. I don’t condone the drinking and driving aspects of his character but underneath the gruff he has a heart of gold. I love how the book played out drawing together two broken souls and connecting them in a way that felt so natural and purposeful.
bellaroobookworm's review against another edition
5.0
Stunning. I loved the style of Smith's writing, very Ulysses . The whole book feels driven by desperation, but the hope is there, too. A gritty, beautiful read.
jessalittlenerdy's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Truth be told, I feel like I don't have many thoughts on this book because I'm mostly still mulling them over. It was a bleak, gritty work of Southern literary fiction, that was ultimately redemptive and hopeful. Written with spare but evocative prose, it was the tension, the feeling of a black cloud looming overhead, that drove the story forward.
For me, my favorite part of this story was the perennial debate about what is right versus what is wrong--and specifically, the gray area in between. What happens when you do something that is wrong on the surface but that will lead to what is right in the end?
I wouldn't call this book a lasting favorite of mine, but I know I'll be thinking on this one a while. Recommended for fans of Southern noir/Southern Gothic fiction, and for fans of authors like Ron Rash or Wiley Cash.
For me, my favorite part of this story was the perennial debate about what is right versus what is wrong--and specifically, the gray area in between. What happens when you do something that is wrong on the surface but that will lead to what is right in the end?
I wouldn't call this book a lasting favorite of mine, but I know I'll be thinking on this one a while. Recommended for fans of Southern noir/Southern Gothic fiction, and for fans of authors like Ron Rash or Wiley Cash.
kerrynicole72's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this story and the characters a lot. I think the pace was a bit too slow, though.