William J. Kennedy (1)Recensioni

#681 in our old book database. Not rated.

Beautiful prose. After a while though, you want him to move things along a little quicker.

VERY OLD BONES (1992) is, not surprisingly, a damn good book, so I'm not sure why it sat on my shelf for over twenty years, unread. It's one of several novels which make up William Kennedy's "Albany Cycle." Kennedy grew up in Albany, where he attended Catholic high school, and then a Catholic college (Siena), also in Upstate NY. I've read a couple of his Albany books, LEGS and IRONWEED, thirty-some years ago, and enjoyed both, but especially the latter, which won the Pulitzer, and was also adapted into an acclaimed film, with Jack Nicholson as Francis, the wandering prodigal of the large, dysfunctional Phelan clan. BONES is a logical sequel to IRONWEED, set in an Albany twenty years later, in 1958, with Francis making only a brief appearance, but still looming large in the family's tragic history. The narrator here is Orson, the bastard son of Peter Phelan, an aging artist only recently gaining fame for his work, much of it derived from family stories and eccentric characters, Francis included. Orson delves deep into family - ancestors, sibling rivalries, Christianity, witches, superstition - as well as his own post-war military service in Germany, where he meets and marries the exotic Giselle and suffers a complete breakdown. We learn too of his unnatural attraction to his aunt Molly, who has her own hidden secrets. And there is Chick Phelan, the former seminarian, and Sarah, the domineering 'virgin' of the family, as well as the brain-damaged Tommy. All of these and more converge on the family home in Albany, for the reading of Peter's will. Oh, and Peter is still very much alive.

Like IRONWEED, this is what I would call a highly literary 'potboiler,' and I loved it. Very, very highly recommended.

- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER

Wow. I had no idea he was any good but this was mindblowing

El día que Estados Unidos celebra la victoria sobre Japón, Roscoe Conway decide retirarse de la política tras haber regido, de manera particular y poco escrupulosa, el Partido Demócrata de Albany, capital del estado de Nueva York, durante más de medio siglo. Cuando está a punto de hacer pública su dimisión, recibe la noticia del suicidio de su amigo Elisha Fitzgibbon, ex alcalde demócrata de Albany y ex candidato a gobernador del estado. La muerte de Fitzgibbon desata todo tipo de rumores y a Conway no le quedará más remedio que repasar los últimos veinticinco años de su vida para comprender las razones que han llevado a su amigo al suicidio. La pérdida temprana de su verdadero amor, las luchas por el control del partido, sus relaciones con los gánsteres irlandeses, el amaño de distintas elecciones, el control del contrabando de alcohol y del juego, son parte de los recuerdos que van acudiendo a su memoria y que terminan conformando el retrato del poder político y económico en Albany durante la primera mitad del siglo XX.

A soft pick as I've grown weary of this testosterone-soaked writing style. This is a bleak novel in which punishments are self-inflicted and permanent, in which a little self-reflection and humility would derail the entire plot. It is also a beautifully written novel and an honest portrayal of how people sabotage themselves.½

That was a damn fine read. I'm glad that I finally decided to start the Albany Cycle. The book is sort of a fictionalized memoir and an exciting one. It's a raw and painful look at America.

Rich in plot and dramatic tension... almos Joycean in its variety of rhetoric ... the novel goes straight for the throat and the funny-bone.

Iron Weed starts out good - interesting characters, amazing writing. The about 3/5 of the way through, it takes a nose dive. It goes sideways too far into a background that wasn't needed. Fortunately, it gets back to the current time before it ends, helping redeem it to a four star for me. Kennedy creates riveting characters with (almost) enough rationale for their actions - with Annie the possible exception. I haven't read the first two books in the series and I might not go out of my way to track them down, but if I stumble across them at a book sale or something like that, I'd gladly give them a read.

Read this when I first moved to America 34 years ago, and was rather intrigued by it. What an exciting country I had just moved to! Then felt a bit let down by a recent re-read. Yes it's tightly written, tells a good story about a bad person and those caught up by his charisma, but in the end there is just not a lot there.

As I began reading this I was at some level aware of the story. I had never watched the movie, but I was aware when the movie came out and I must have seen a trailer or read something about the story at that time. And I had read some GR reviews that described enough of the tone of the novel to confirm my other impressions. I wasn't expecting to love this story. I was thinking it would be dark and depressing. Well, that preliminary impression was not far off, but it didn't matter. I thought the writing was wonderful, and the characters were crisp and vivid. Yes, there was a lot of violence, and there was frustration for me because the characters didn't have to be in the position they found themselves. But that was an integral part of the story. It wasn't all bad luck. There were choices made, and recognition by the characters of those choices. They knew themselves such that their lives were inevitable. That inevitability made the thoroughly enjoyable and engrossing nature of the story that much more impressive.

A great deal of fun to read, and a clear and obvious labour of love on the part of the author, who was a native of Albany. Part of the book is an exploration of, and history of, the neighborhoods of Albany, another part deals with the various ethnic groups of Albany, and yet another part deals with its politics, all woven together (in fact, some bits are cross-referenced in other sections). Also, lots of good photographs, which many other books of its kind ignore. All with a semi-tongue in cheek style as well. Warmly recommended.

The story was interesting but the structure made it hard to follow. The dialogue was stilted. I wouldn't read any other books by this author.

Dark, dreary..too wordy.

Steinbeck meets Selby

Extremely moving story of bums. Hoboes. A down on his luck baseball player who can't forgive himself for a death he caused, and his former singer girlfriend. All of their friends and life on the streets of Albany. These characters and the writing were very strong.

Francis Phelan is a bum from Albany, New York. He carries guilt, shame, and death wherever he goes. A former professional baseball player, Francis abandoned his family after he dropped his infant son by accident and killed him. He ran for years, took to drink, and finally returned to Albany, but avoided his cast-away family, reduced to asking himself "that enduring question: How do I get through the next twenty minutes."

He is principled, caring and still has a family and wife that loves him and would take him back with no questions, but Francis carries the burden of the doomed. William Kennedy doesn't wrap the story up neatly, but you can't envision it ending well for Francis.

Francis Phelan is one of those characters in literature that you really should dislike but you can't help feeling sympathy and compassion for him and his plight. He's simply a bum. He's spent his life running from his problems, but remains likable. He's taken lives, including his son's through an accident, he's shirked his responsibilities with his family by abandoning them, and he's ran away from his problems instead of facing them head on. He's exchanged all of that for a life of poverty, cold, hunger, and loneliness. Through it all, we still see a side of him that is caring and generous towards his friends, Helen and Rudy, also hobos. We also see that he has no illusions as to his guilt and his place in how his life has turned out. He owns up to it, which is more than we can say for most people. This is a short but powerful look into a life damaged by guilt and remorse and the consequences of our actions and the desire to return home.

I'm sorry, but this was just weird. A slightly cryptic book full completely unlikable characters to me....making it seem so futile. There has to be someone i care about to make me care what happens....but they were all sad, pointless people fighting battles that may not have even existed. And i say 'may' because at times i had trouble following what the hell was going on. A mixture of reality and dreams and fantasy with completely blurry lines between and betwixt.....likely on purpose.....but for readers other than myself. So, why did i read it? Well, Kennedy won the Pulitzer Prize at some point.....and i like to track the progression of writers starting at their beginning....and this one is so intriguingly devoid of interest to me, that i am almost eager to continue the journey immediately to find out how he progressed to his destiny.....or is his destiny not to my liking either? Only time will tell.....and you all will be the first to know!½

Why I Stopped Reading on p. 20: Some of the writing in that first chapter intrigues me, and I wanted to connect with the story of Francis Phelan, a man who is broken by guilt and unable to go home, who becomes a hobo during the Great Depression. What I wasn't prepared for (and through which I can't seem to persevere)--the omniscient point of view being used to hop into the heads of ghosts who are watching Francis from their graves, then back into Francis's head with a stream-of-consciousness that slips in and out of second person (the "you" being Francis to himself). It's clear all these elements are deliberate style choices by the author, but it doesn't work for me.

I thought this was a dark comedy, but maybe I’m just an awful person? An involving, sympathetic look at some Albany souses

Vernônia narra a vida de um pobre diabo na América do Norte dos anos 1930s - um dos relatos mais evocativos daquele tipo de vivência desde Vinnhas da Ira. Ainda assim, achei o livro decepcionante. Francis Phelan é um personagem implausível, que não progride e por isso o enredo se torna estático. Ele é retratado como bom demais para ser verdade. É difícil conciliar os méritos de seu comportamento altruísta com os deméritos de seu passado assassino. A cena de sexo com Katrina chega a ser incompreensível: "Francis abraçou Katrina e injetou nela o sangue impecável de seu primeiro amor, ela cedeu não como um ser, mas como uma palavra: clemência." . O que significa isto exatamente?

I received an electronic copy of this book and thank NetGalley and Open Road Integrated Media.

William Kennedy's book about Daniel Quinn employs more words than I thought existed. I loved the words, I loved the characters and their travels, I loved the setting . The touch of mysticism, cynicism, phantasmagoria, were all whipped cream on the top of a great story. What an adventure, what an interesting way to be introduced to Albany in 1849. There is no question that I will explore Kennedy's other books.

(9) This slim novel won the Pulitzer maybe in the 1980's. It is the reflections of a 'bum' during the Depression who has been riding the rails, working odd-jobs, and drinking his pay since he was a young man and ran from his family after a tragedy. He returns to his home town of Albany which brings many memories and ghosts of those he has wronged back to him. The novel is mostly his inner struggle to make sense of his life and how he comes to return to the bosom of his very forgiving wife and kids.

It is a lot of dialogue, a lot of stream of consciousness, though easy to follow. It felt very authentic in terms of the diction - my grandfather was from a similar demographic and time and he often spoke thus -"so long, pal." I think without a lot of description or purposeful 'setting the sociopolitical scene' of the times - the novel was very evocative: the baseball, the strikes, hobo camps, life before Federal safety nets, right? But overall, I dunno it just didn't do that much for me. It was a bit tedious and repetitive.

I am not sure I understand the Pulitzer, truth be told. The book is indeed powerful for the introspective punch it packs in relatively few pages. It looks perhaps like it is the third of a group of books and maybe it would be a richer experience if one reads them all. However, I am not compelled to do so. A book that shows up on a lot of - '100 best book' lists so perhaps a modern classic - but I was not overly enamored. I think empirically good, but not necessarily enjoyable for me.

Decently written book, but hard to get into. I didn't like the way Kennedy jumped from Havana to Albany - either or would have made a good story - didn't need both.

Props, though, to the cool reference to Bonheoffer's "cheap grace". Also liked the quote "after the dog a cold beer is man's best friend".½