BTW: Happy New Year to All! All the Best for 2012...
Just finished Patrick DeWitt"s The Sisters Brothers, winner of the Governor General's Literary Award in 2011 for Canadian Fiction. I typically enjoy reading the GG Award winner's, and this novel is no exception.
The Sisters Brothers is a very creative story of two brothers who are hired killers (hitmen) in the wild Western Gold Rush era. The main plot is that the two Sister Brothers must find a prospector in
California, steal his secret gold finding technology, and kill him. They
leave their home town in Oregon City and travel south to San Fransisco.
On the way they have many adventures and challenges.
Although I have been told that this is a "western" style novel, I would really hesitate to label this work as a western. There`s a lot more going on than your typical shoot `em up novel. It's central characters, Charlie and Eli, are very well constructed. We understand their personalities and quickly learn to see events from their perspectives.
Through DeWitt`s seemingly effortless writing, he creates a highly entertaining and well written story. But where many easy reads become mindless, this novel is very engaging and substantial. There are gun fights, whore houses, horse chases, and tense show downs...All great, fun scenes. However, the central protagonist continually struggles with his chosen field of work. Eli is lonely and sick of killing people for his boss, the Commodore. He yearns for closeness and friendship. He struggles with his thought of leaving this work and building a new lifestyle with his brother. He feels trapped, and unable to break away from a life of crime.
I have also included a review by The Globe and Mails Robert Wiersema, who provides greater detail and insight:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/the-sisters-brothers-by-patrick-dewitt/article555760/
DeWitt has also written a critically acclaimed novel Alutions, which I hope to read in the future.
Thanks to Franca for lending this novel to me. It was her choice of books in the Christmas book exchange. I hope she enjoys it as much as I did!
Just finished Patrick DeWitt"s The Sisters Brothers, winner of the Governor General's Literary Award in 2011 for Canadian Fiction. I typically enjoy reading the GG Award winner's, and this novel is no exception.
The Sisters Brothers is a very creative story of two brothers who are hired killers (hitmen) in the wild Western Gold Rush era. The main plot is that the two Sister Brothers must find a prospector in
California, steal his secret gold finding technology, and kill him. They
leave their home town in Oregon City and travel south to San Fransisco.
On the way they have many adventures and challenges. Although I have been told that this is a "western" style novel, I would really hesitate to label this work as a western. There`s a lot more going on than your typical shoot `em up novel. It's central characters, Charlie and Eli, are very well constructed. We understand their personalities and quickly learn to see events from their perspectives.
Through DeWitt`s seemingly effortless writing, he creates a highly entertaining and well written story. But where many easy reads become mindless, this novel is very engaging and substantial. There are gun fights, whore houses, horse chases, and tense show downs...All great, fun scenes. However, the central protagonist continually struggles with his chosen field of work. Eli is lonely and sick of killing people for his boss, the Commodore. He yearns for closeness and friendship. He struggles with his thought of leaving this work and building a new lifestyle with his brother. He feels trapped, and unable to break away from a life of crime.
I have also included a review by The Globe and Mails Robert Wiersema, who provides greater detail and insight:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/the-sisters-brothers-by-patrick-dewitt/article555760/
DeWitt has also written a critically acclaimed novel Alutions, which I hope to read in the future.
Thanks to Franca for lending this novel to me. It was her choice of books in the Christmas book exchange. I hope she enjoys it as much as I did!
I just finished reading this book and I loved it! It was interesting and disturbing, surprising and thoughtful. DeWitt surprised me by contrasting the brutal actions of Eli with his sensitivity and aspirations for a quiet, meaningful life. Franca
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