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One of the finest American writers for more than thirty years, Russell Banks’ work is grounded, human, saddening and unforgettable. Much of what he writes deals with tragedy, pain, confusion and the resiliency of those strong enough to endure. He paints of picture of the human condition in all of its fallacy and resolve. It’s always the darkest just before the sun rises.
The majority of his fiction work is either centered around the New England area (New Hampshire and upstate New York especially) or it somehow ties into that part of the country. These are the books of his that I’ve read, going in order from earliest released to latest.
Trailerpark
This reads like a collection of short stories, but it’s really a novel as all the of stories are actually just chapters telling the story of each person in the trailer park and they all tie in together at the end. Humorous, witty and identifiable. Take any trailer park from the south and replace their weather with the bitter cold of the north and you have the exact same people.
Continental Drift
I’m actually still reading this as I speak, but only have about 70 pages to go. A story seen from two different lives; one of Bob Dubois and the other of Vanise and Claude. Bob is an oil-heater repairman in New Hampshire who has a breakdown a few days before Christmas and convinces his wife to move down to Florida to start a new life working for his brother. Vanise and Claude are aunt and nephew out of Allanche village in Haiti and are forced to leave after Claude is involved in an innocent act of thievery. Their voyage to America is long, arduous and terrifying.
Affliction
Some of you might have seen the movie adaptation with Nick Nolte, Cissy Spacek and James Coburn (who won an Oscar for this role). Affliction is part fiction and part autobiography of Russell Banks’ childhood and adolescence growing up with an alcoholic, abusive father. The “affliction” is how the abusive behavior is passed on from father to son for generations. When a child grows up in that environment, it becomes a normal part of life and an acceptable way to deal with problems; with violence towards those who you love. Wade Whitehouse is a deeply troubled man who wants nothing more than for his daughter to love and admire him. While chronicling his life growing up there’s also the suspense of a mysterious death in town that consumes Wade. Easily one of the most vivid and captivating books I’ve ever read. This is the book that made me a life-long fan of Banks. Affliction will stay with you.
The Sweet Hereafter
This was also made into a movie right around the same time that Affliction was. It was nominated for best director, Atom Egoyan. I’m not going to say much about the story. Just know that it is truly heartbreaking yet shows the will of people who despite the worst of circumstances, would still do the right thing.
Rule of the Bone
A coming-of-age, modern Catcher in the Rye. Banks tells a story through the mouth of Chappie, a teenage stoner dropout who ends up going on quite an adventure brought on by a multitude of events. Some tragic, some funny, some disturbing and all completely engrossing. The mastery of Banks’ ability to step inside his characters is in full force in this book as you would otherwise have no idea that this book wasn’t written by a teenage kid.
Cloudsplitter
Probably Banks’ most ambitious work, Cloudsplitter is fictional novel about the famous abolitionist, John Brown. A marathon of a book at over 750 pages. Set in the 1800s before the Civil War and told by John Brown’s son, this book is a history lesson as well as a profoundly moving and triumph in storytelling. A time when our nation was savage and without remorse to senseless inhumanities.
The Darling
The story of Hannah Musgrave, a wanted member of the Weather Underground from the 70s. She lives in hiding for years until fleeing to West Africa and ultimately stopping in Liberia prior to Charles Taylor’s overthrow of the government and civil war. A story that hits several different subjects, but most notably is the slaughter of chimpanzees in the jungles near Liberia and her desperate and futile attempt to save them. Africa is an unforgiving and brutal continent. The Darling is moving and relentless
The majority of his fiction work is either centered around the New England area (New Hampshire and upstate New York especially) or it somehow ties into that part of the country. These are the books of his that I’ve read, going in order from earliest released to latest.
Trailerpark
This reads like a collection of short stories, but it’s really a novel as all the of stories are actually just chapters telling the story of each person in the trailer park and they all tie in together at the end. Humorous, witty and identifiable. Take any trailer park from the south and replace their weather with the bitter cold of the north and you have the exact same people.
Continental Drift
I’m actually still reading this as I speak, but only have about 70 pages to go. A story seen from two different lives; one of Bob Dubois and the other of Vanise and Claude. Bob is an oil-heater repairman in New Hampshire who has a breakdown a few days before Christmas and convinces his wife to move down to Florida to start a new life working for his brother. Vanise and Claude are aunt and nephew out of Allanche village in Haiti and are forced to leave after Claude is involved in an innocent act of thievery. Their voyage to America is long, arduous and terrifying.
Affliction
Some of you might have seen the movie adaptation with Nick Nolte, Cissy Spacek and James Coburn (who won an Oscar for this role). Affliction is part fiction and part autobiography of Russell Banks’ childhood and adolescence growing up with an alcoholic, abusive father. The “affliction” is how the abusive behavior is passed on from father to son for generations. When a child grows up in that environment, it becomes a normal part of life and an acceptable way to deal with problems; with violence towards those who you love. Wade Whitehouse is a deeply troubled man who wants nothing more than for his daughter to love and admire him. While chronicling his life growing up there’s also the suspense of a mysterious death in town that consumes Wade. Easily one of the most vivid and captivating books I’ve ever read. This is the book that made me a life-long fan of Banks. Affliction will stay with you.
The Sweet Hereafter
This was also made into a movie right around the same time that Affliction was. It was nominated for best director, Atom Egoyan. I’m not going to say much about the story. Just know that it is truly heartbreaking yet shows the will of people who despite the worst of circumstances, would still do the right thing.
Rule of the Bone
A coming-of-age, modern Catcher in the Rye. Banks tells a story through the mouth of Chappie, a teenage stoner dropout who ends up going on quite an adventure brought on by a multitude of events. Some tragic, some funny, some disturbing and all completely engrossing. The mastery of Banks’ ability to step inside his characters is in full force in this book as you would otherwise have no idea that this book wasn’t written by a teenage kid.
Cloudsplitter
Probably Banks’ most ambitious work, Cloudsplitter is fictional novel about the famous abolitionist, John Brown. A marathon of a book at over 750 pages. Set in the 1800s before the Civil War and told by John Brown’s son, this book is a history lesson as well as a profoundly moving and triumph in storytelling. A time when our nation was savage and without remorse to senseless inhumanities.
The Darling
The story of Hannah Musgrave, a wanted member of the Weather Underground from the 70s. She lives in hiding for years until fleeing to West Africa and ultimately stopping in Liberia prior to Charles Taylor’s overthrow of the government and civil war. A story that hits several different subjects, but most notably is the slaughter of chimpanzees in the jungles near Liberia and her desperate and futile attempt to save them. Africa is an unforgiving and brutal continent. The Darling is moving and relentless
