My mind keeps telling me not to understand this book, but of course I understand it. The story, the telling of the story is devastating and terrifying. Reading it, I have what I can only describe as a clump of dread stuck in my gullet. Russell Banks knows a lot about us. I’d like to say this book is breaking my heart but really it’s breaking my mind. This can hurt a little bit.
2 comments:
I read this a few years ago. Banks' did a good job indicting the American Dream, I thought - as good as any tragedian ever wrote. It made me think of Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy. Despite the Haitian/immigration slant in Drift I think they both tell the same tale. It does stick with you - I call it a blacklight story that glows brightly all those things you wish weren't there.
What impressed me was how inevitable and believable it all was. I have a copy of Cloudsplitter that I plan to read, but am giving myself a couple days off. I did really like this book, though, quite a bit.
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