Tag Archive: Daniel Woodrell


2011 IN REVIEW : BOOKS

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December 29, 2011

Cover image of Retromania - my favourite book of 2011.

This was the year when Tory minister Michael Gove pronounced that, from the age of 11 up, we should read at least 50 books a year. I only managed to read about 40 this year – does that make me a dumbass?

These are the best books I read this year, needless to say, not all were published in 2011 and I wrote blog posts about them all:

Best fiction :

A Visit From The Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen

Point Omega by Don DeLillo

One Day by David Nicholls

Winter’s Bone by Daniel Woodrell

The Hunger Games (parts one + two) by Suzanne Collins Continue reading →

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COPING WITH KIN

Filed under: Italy, Parenting — Leave a comment
September 21, 2011
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Coping with teenage tantrums is no picnic.

In Daniel Woodrell’s superb novel , Winter’s Bone, the protagonist is a young woman named Ree whose father is missing presumed dead and whose mother has a wasting illness that reduces her to a vegetative state.

Ree is forced prematurely into the role of a single parent to her two younger brothers. In one scene she is teaching them to skin and gut a squirrel. One of the boys complains and says he hasn’t got the stomach for the job – Ree is resolute : “You got a whole bunch of stuff you’re goin’ to have to get over bein’ scared of, boy”, she tells him. It is her way of saying that he cannot take for granted that she is going to be around forever.

I love this scene because it acknowledges the harsh reality that one day you are going to have to fend for yourself. In Woodrell’s story, this initiation comes early; in less harsh conditions it occurs around the time of adolescence. This is an age when teenagers are asserting their right to free expression while at the same time lack the wherewithal to be truly independent. Continue reading →

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DANIEL WOODRELL’S TOMATO RED

Filed under: Books, Fiction, Gender, Movies — 2 Comments
August 15, 2011

763679The way The Ozarks in Missouri are depicted in Daniel Woodrell’s fiction, it seems like somewhere you’d want to escape from than move back to.  Nevertheless, it must have some attractions as he, and his wife Katie Estill, chose to move back to the West Plains from San Francisco.

The region in Central United States is both the setting and practically an extra character in his novels. But you wouldn’t exactly say he sees the Osarkers through rose-tinted spectacles. They are, for the most part, presented as belonging to a closed, insular community who “don’t overwhelm strangers with ready backslaps and quick invitations”.

It was Debra Granik’s faithful and flawless adaptation of the novel Winter’s Bone that led me Woodrell’s writing. The book is as good as, if not better than the movie, which, if you’ve seen the film, you will know is high praise indeed.

I was keen to read something else by him and discovered that the rest of his fiction is not so easy to find. Fortunately, publishers are recognizing that the reissuing of his earlier novels is necessary.

Winter’s Bone was published in 2006; Tomato Red pre-dates it by eight years. The story is neatly summarised by The Independent’s John Williams as  “a tragic tale of blighted white-trash dreams”. It is not as forceful or controlled as Winter’s Bone but it shows a writer finding his voice and having plenty to say.

The narrator is Sammy Bachlach (pronounced ‘back-lack’) who is all too aware , as all the characters are, of the gulf between the well to do and the down at heel. Sammy’s encounters with the world of the rich make him feel “embarrassed for the poorly decorated life I was born to”. Continue reading →

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THE COUNTRY NOIR OF WINTER’S BONE

Filed under: Books, Gender, Movies, Music — 1 Comment
February 6, 2011

I never had any plans to travel to the Missouri Ozark region and certainly won’t be rushing to go after seeing Winter’s Bone. I’m sure it has beautiful lakes, historical sites and fine wines , but the movie shows that  it also has godforsaken areas where grinding poverty is the norm.

The movie is based on Daniel Woodrell’s 2006 novel, part of a fictional series he has called Country Noir. The main character is 17-year-old Ree Dolly who has to provide for her sick and depressed mother and younger brother and sister. Her father, Jessup, has disappeared seemingly to evade a drug related charge and certain gaol. He has jumped bail and ,since the family home has been put up as collateral, Ree and her family stand to lose everything if he can’t be traced (dead or alive). This is no easy task since the community Ree lives among is governed by strict codes administered by a violent patriarchy headed by ‘Thump’ Milton (no need to ask how it got that nickname!).

Ree is a determined and ,in the circumstances,  incredibly well-balanced individual. The can of worms she uncovers as she tries to find out the fate of her father leads to a gruesome finale.

Jennifer Lawrence is quite outstanding in the role of the fearless and resilient Ree and she has deservedly been nominated for an Oscar. John Hawkes as is also great as her father’s brother (Teardrop) torn between family loyalty and the need not to break ranks in this primal hierarchy. Continue reading →

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