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- General fiction - |
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Bone by Bone |
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B one by Bone byPeter Matthiessen Random House Canada [First Vintage International] 432 pages, July 2000 ISBN 0375501029 Reviewed by Andrea Collare Set in the far South of the mid 1800’s, Bone by Bone is the story of two men who dwell within the same human body. Created from an abusive father and an abusive life, Jack Watson is the nemesis of E.J.Watson. As E.J. attempts to live his somewhat misguided version of a good and clean life, his alter ego Jack leaves a trail of murders in E.J.’s wake. Losing the one chance at a normal life after the death of his first love, E.J. succumbs more regularly to Jack’s visits as he is consumed by bitterness. The bodies continue to pile; E.J. continues to run from the law and from the bitter man living within his bones who sporadically appears to seek revenge on all who challenge E.J. Despite becoming a pariah among his peers, E.J. builds a successful sugar cane industry in Southern Florida. He manages to marry two more times and builds his family among his wives and the few women who are willing to succumb to his masculine needs. However, never-ending whispers of his murderous past haunt him as his sparse circle of friends fade into the everglade forest that surrounds his new homeland. E.J.’s world eventually folds in upon itself as he desperately but unsucessfully struggles to save his soul from the devilish tendrils of Jack. Bone by Bone delves into the moral consciousness of its reader. The observer of E.J. Watson’s life is forced to wonder if it is possible for anyone to escape their destiny and rise above the distorted norms of their upbringing. It explores how a potentially good man can be reduced to an animal, surviving only on instinct to protect itself - the tragedy of a life lost while it continues to follow the motions of living. Matthiessen vividly portrays the perilous living conditions of E.J. Watson’s world in the mid to late 19th century. He also intertwines within this epic the multiple levels of prejudice prevalent in the South after slavery was abolished. An insightful and thorough writer, Matthiessen deals with the ensuing atrocities of this unbalanced society, with compassion and brutal honesty. |
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