Empire Falls by Richard Russo Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Empire Falls
Book Review: A great ride...sorry it's over
Summary: 5 Stars
There are few books that I read and feel "Whew!--what a whirlwind ride!" There are fewer still that I feel likeI need to read again because I'm sure that there are some
deeper meanings to understand. Empire Falls has both of
these qualities. Just finished reading it last night...and I'm sorry it's over! [But I came online to get Russo's other
books...]
Book Review: A leisurely stroll through Unrealtown
Summary: 3 Stars
Richard Russo's novel is assembled with love and careful words. Some scenes are whimsical. Others are ominous. He creates a world that you can see in your mind's eye. His craft is obvious, and I would gladly read anything else by him. BUT: This is one frustrating novel because it feels like it's wandering aimlessly most of the time. There is one highly dramatic plotline that feels pasted onto the story. Because Russo tells stories grounded in a very real world, it's jarring when characters speak like eccentric characters from one of David E. Kelley's television series. In other words, like characters from a very unreal world. And this won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction?Book Review: A most important American Novel
Summary: 5 Stars
I loved this book for so many reasons and have thought long and hard about how I could possibly do it justice in the space available for a review here at Amazon. Instead of writing a review, I think I will do something unconventional and post an excerpt from an e-mail conversation I am currently having with my mother (I'm 31, she's 56) regarding this book. This, I think, says a lot about why I enjoyed this book so much, so give it a chance ...am thrilled that you are enjoying Empire Falls. I haven't always had the best of luck when recommending authors to you (remembers Thomas Pynchon and The Crying of Lot 49) and when you said that the book was longer than you might have liked that made me a little nervous too. I am glad it has grabbed you so strongly!
You said you identified with Miles in Empire Falls and asked if I did to. You bet I did, on a number of levels. He is a very 3 dimensional character, and definitely dynamic as well, and I think lots of people can identify with him too. He is wonderfully realized by Russo, I think.
One of the things I love about Russo's style is that he is so vivid, and brilliant images (or drab, I suppose, shabby, in this case) pop so readily into your mind. I feel like I have been to all the places he describes. You mentioned how sad it is seeing a small town from afar, and how Russo magnifies that sensation. Kelli comes from a small town, that I think strongly resembles Empire Falls, though in a much more Midwestern model. Forest City is dominated by two powerful companies, most heavily by Winnebago which is headquartered there, and to a less extent by 3M which has a major distribution center there as well (incidentally that is where Kelli's dad Rick works, and where her mom Kim worked for most of Kelli's childhood). Much of Forest City seems to have been built by or funded by Winnebago ... they built the "airport," the major park and seem to have their hands in most public improvement in the last quarter of the 20th century. Yet the 80's were a very hard decade of Winnebago, and like Empire Falls, the fortunes of the city ebb and flow with the fortunes of its leading industry. So Forest City has a deteriorating downtown where at least a third of the businesses are boarded up, and I find driving through the town very sad. This is a town that had a heyday, in the 1950's it appears, and its remnants are everywhere. Kelli hates it when I say things like that because she feels like I am running down her town. I don't have a frame of reference, having no place to consider "home" in that sense.
I definitely agree with you that Empire Falls has a double meaning. And the "Empire" falls hard in several ways. More than that I won't say, not knowing how far you are into the book.
You mentioned feeling at first that it was a book intended for juveniles. He is much like Hemmingway, I think, in how the latent simplicity of his writing belies much deeper and more complex subtexts. Russo's writing is very rich. This was one of the books I discovered while looking at the Pulitzer Prize winners of the last 50 years.
Book Review: A novel of decency and depth
Summary: 5 Stars
I loved Empire Falls. The gently ironic tone of the prologue flows gently into a narrative of contemporary life in dying mill town Empire Falls. Miles Roby, the protagonist, is introduced as a nice guy going nowhere. He is surrounded by a menagerie of thoroughly exasperating secondary characters. Particularly well drawn is his teenage daughter Tick, a junior in high school drowning in adolescent angst and incipient moral awakenings. She is a chip off the old block. Her mother is another story -- a broadly drawn self centered, self pitying drone. Miles irascible father, a surprisingly likeable scoundrel had me in stitches with his myriad misdeeds, especially when he absconds with church funds aided and abetted by a crackpot priest. The plot line unfolds to a tragic climax -- shocking, yet completely organic to the story. Christian symbolism permeates the story without being preachy. I particularly relished Timmie, the diabolical cat belonging to Francine Whiting. I was sorry to leave Empire Falls behind when I finished as I had grown quite attached to the people, the pulse, and the place.
Book Review: A real page turner
Summary: 4 Stars
This was the first novel on my assembled reading list for 2004. Wow, what a way to start this year's reading! Russo's narrative is brilliant. He can spin a spellbinding yarn and certainly keeps his reader turning pages; even into the wee hours of the night. The best word I can use to describe his work is, simply, 'detail.' He provides an enormous amount of detail that many writers fail to use when describing emotions, characteristic, and qualities of his characters, action, and, especially in the dialogue; the detail about what is being said and how it is being said is amazing. This, I believe is what keeps the story interesting.
Also, Russo's character development is astounding. He builds his character's lives with care, vibrancy, and elegance. The reader is quietly cajoled into completely understanding and being able to relate to each character simply via Russo's wonderful ability in character development. In fact, his character development is so strong that many times I would say things out loud while I was reading the work in response to what was being developed. Not many works that I have read, including the classics, have caused me to do this.
Finally, Russo has another quality that is rare in writers of the 20th century. He is able to make his reader love and at the same time hate certain characters in his work. He can cause the reader to feel genuine anguish over certain events simply by how he describes them, and at the same time cause elation in the reader regarding the same events. This quality is quite difficult to describe, you simply have to read this story to understand what I am trying to detail here.
FYI, for those who love reading great literature but are often times put off by foul language or other elements that are offensive, then a warning must be given here. While I loved Russo's story, and truly believed he is a brilliant writer, he does use profane language, which sometimes, I believe helps the story, while at others detracts from it. If you are not offended by this, then you will certainly love this work. I recommend this book but with that warning attached.