"Goddamnit, I hate murder more than just about anything," said Sheriff Red Jetty. "It can just ruin a day."
Performing a master class in satirical horror, Percival Everett manages to combine dark humor and dark history in the captivating "The Trees." Making Emmett Till the main character was a stroke of brilliance by an author at his very best.
"How long does it take you to pee?"
"A couple of minutes. I come back out and a couple of wasi'chu was on fire. That's when I realized something was wrong."
"Yeah, people on fire is a red flag."
Powered by short chapters and rapid-fire dialogue, the novel advances at a frantic pace, weaving a tale of a Mississippi town that could never -- and never tried to -- escape its brutal past. "The Trees" somehow blends comedy and gruesomeness in a way that largely works, with a pervasive message about the effect of naming.
"Dill looked back over his shoulder to see if anyone was in earshot. "Crazier than a one-winged fly."
"That's very poetic," Jim said.
"I was a creative writing major at Auburn. Poetry. I always wanted to be a Beat poet. Wrong generation. Now I stick dead people in drawers. I suppose it's the same thing once you get down to it."
The Guardian characterized the book as a "reverse minstrel show," while the NPR pointed out the "absurdist touches," but Everett's Southern-noir-ish work does not fit easily into any genre. There were moments when I felt a tension in the balance between hilarity and gravity, combined with a series of grammatical mistakes, compromised some of the impact of "The Trees."
"You're going to mess around and get yourself shot," Ed said once they were on the street. "She could have some crazy-ass husband or boyfriend. You know, a stupid redneck with a gun."
"That's redundant."
In the end, however, this read was instructive and insightful, touching and hysterical, difficult to read and impossible to put down. For a book that defies genre, these are achievements in and of themselves.
"He still had a badge and a gun but could barely wipe his own ass. He smelled of shit, Aqua Velva, and pimento cheese."
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