rromanereads's review against another edition
3.0
Fairly, South-Australia in 1883.
The Wallace family and the whole surrounding community is struck by the disappearance of little Denny, a 6 year old child lost in the bush after a dust storm. The county sets out to find him. Despite one may think, this is not a thriller at all but a literary novel.
The human fauna of Fairly (inhabitants or people passing through) and its surroundings makes the richness of this book. The whole community is on fire, whatever the social level, natives or colons, quarrels between neighbors - the effort to search for this little boy delivered in pasture to the implacable sun of the desert is shared. The characters are extensively described, from Mary Wallace the matriarch to the vicar Mr. Daniels, to the Swedish couple of painters in exile, the author has taken care to take time to contemplate these characters, to sketch their personality and flaws. I also greatly appreciated the surreal and somewhat mythical place that the sun occupies in the eyes of the painter Karl, a reddish ball of fire that impresses as much as it fascinates.
This book is deeply contemplative, let it be said, it does not happen much, we are not eager to know the continuation. But we are taken in a contemplative languor perfectly encapsulated in the descriptive writing of McFarlane. Although I usually enjoy books like this, here I was a little too weighed down by this descriptive languor and I kind of stalled about three-quarters of the way through the novel.
The Wallace family and the whole surrounding community is struck by the disappearance of little Denny, a 6 year old child lost in the bush after a dust storm. The county sets out to find him. Despite one may think, this is not a thriller at all but a literary novel.
The human fauna of Fairly (inhabitants or people passing through) and its surroundings makes the richness of this book. The whole community is on fire, whatever the social level, natives or colons, quarrels between neighbors - the effort to search for this little boy delivered in pasture to the implacable sun of the desert is shared. The characters are extensively described, from Mary Wallace the matriarch to the vicar Mr. Daniels, to the Swedish couple of painters in exile, the author has taken care to take time to contemplate these characters, to sketch their personality and flaws. I also greatly appreciated the surreal and somewhat mythical place that the sun occupies in the eyes of the painter Karl, a reddish ball of fire that impresses as much as it fascinates.
This book is deeply contemplative, let it be said, it does not happen much, we are not eager to know the continuation. But we are taken in a contemplative languor perfectly encapsulated in the descriptive writing of McFarlane. Although I usually enjoy books like this, here I was a little too weighed down by this descriptive languor and I kind of stalled about three-quarters of the way through the novel.
archytas's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
"Mary says, ‘I’ve been thinking about the carting. You’re expected.’ ‘I know.’ They sit without speaking in the smoky dark. He knows they’re both thinking about the mortgage—a slower catastrophe than Denny’s being lost, but a disaster all the same. Finally, Mathew says, ‘If we could just count on the harvest.’ And Mary says, ‘The sergeant has so much experience.’ Before he married, it would never have occurred to Mathew that two people could make such an important decision in so few words. He says, ‘I’ll take the dray and set out tomorrow. I’ll be on the road before dinner.’ Mary lies quietly for a minute. Then she kisses his stomach and stands. He assumes she’s going to leave; instead, she lifts his blanket and climbs into the cot beside him."
Sometimes I feel like so much of the fiction I love focuses on everything but telling a story. I did really love McFarlane's the Sun Walks Down, and mostly what it does exceptionally well is tell a story. That story is about a lost boy, DEnny, and woven around it the stories of the community he lives among. The women, in particular, leap off the page: a young bride adjusts to married life, a bored and ignored station matriach plots theft to amuse herself, a smart teenager tries to imagine a future both realistic and desirable, a painter wrestles with selfishness in terms that inevitably gendered. Billy, an Indigenous man engaged to track for Denny, wrestles to reconcile his friendship with the child, alongside the impossible demands his father makes. Each of these small stories completes an arc, in prose so aching evocative that the tender agonies of daily life wring perhaps even more tragically than Denny's terrifying situation. Denny himself is almost angelic in his characterisation: brave, curious and careful, his capacity for survival often throws the more complex adult world into sharp relief. The fabric of these peoples' lives - and those of the huge cast of supporting characters, practically the whole small town appears - is woven by colonialism and gendered expectations, class and religion. These themes are not belaboured, and yet they are in many ways the story as well. In other words, this is gentle, easy to read, book with a lot to digest, and some visual images that linger long after it was deleted from the Kindle.
Sometimes I feel like so much of the fiction I love focuses on everything but telling a story. I did really love McFarlane's the Sun Walks Down, and mostly what it does exceptionally well is tell a story. That story is about a lost boy, DEnny, and woven around it the stories of the community he lives among. The women, in particular, leap off the page: a young bride adjusts to married life, a bored and ignored station matriach plots theft to amuse herself, a smart teenager tries to imagine a future both realistic and desirable, a painter wrestles with selfishness in terms that inevitably gendered. Billy, an Indigenous man engaged to track for Denny, wrestles to reconcile his friendship with the child, alongside the impossible demands his father makes. Each of these small stories completes an arc, in prose so aching evocative that the tender agonies of daily life wring perhaps even more tragically than Denny's terrifying situation. Denny himself is almost angelic in his characterisation: brave, curious and careful, his capacity for survival often throws the more complex adult world into sharp relief. The fabric of these peoples' lives - and those of the huge cast of supporting characters, practically the whole small town appears - is woven by colonialism and gendered expectations, class and religion. These themes are not belaboured, and yet they are in many ways the story as well. In other words, this is gentle, easy to read, book with a lot to digest, and some visual images that linger long after it was deleted from the Kindle.
mharrison13's review against another edition
The perspective bounces around many different characters and I found I did not feel attached to any of them. I hope the boy gets found but I don’t want to commit to several hours of bouncing around to find out. Too many books, not enough time!
alexa_chava's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
4.0
I think this was pretty good. I love that you get to see so many characters and you get a glimpse into what made them who they are. The way this book reads is quite unconventional and I would almost call it whimsical. It was somewhat slower paced, but still a very interesting read.
readswithnatalieb's review against another edition
2.0
While I appreciated the writing within THE SUN WALKS DOWN, the story overall wasn’t for me. Maybe it was my timing and I wasn’t in the mood, but this book felt cold and it was difficult for me to get into. Again, maybe this was just me and my timing as the synopsis seemed really intriguing, but I struggled wanting to pick this hookup.
Not only was this a slow moving story, there were a lot of characters to keep track of. Not only that, a lot of nothing happened, giving this book no plot vibes. Forever questioning if this was on me, but I was having a hard time understanding the gist of the book.
Big thank you to Farrar, Straus and Giroux and Netgalley for the gifted copy.
Content warnings: racism, infidelity, animal death,
amy_coe's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
robinswift's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
jfwickes's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5