The Brothers K by David James Duncan Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Brothers K
Book Review: "Open your fists..."
Summary: 5 Stars
"...and let go of the coals." This was one of the more poignant lines in this phenomenal book. The story centers around a family of four brothers and two sisters and life's hardships that they encounter in Post WWII America.
The character development is absolutely unmatched; by the end of the book you connect with each sibling, as different as they are. You laugh out loud with them and you cry with them.
Go buy this book and after you read it - give it to a friend, or better yet, your brother.
Book Review: A Book for Honest Searchers and Fierce Lovers
Summary: 5 Stars
I had never heard of David James Duncan until a recent writers conference in Grand Rapids, where he spoke eloquently and honestly about faith and life. From the snippets of his novels that he read aloud, I knew that I would have to read the Brothers K, and I proceeded to do so the following weekend. I was crying and laughing almost as soon as I picked it up, and that is saying a lot becasue I am a pretty cynical reader. I am a native Washingtonian and lover of baseball, though these factors are not the reasons I was motivated to read the book. I knew I had to read it when David James Duncan read aloud a section from this book that he wrote years ago and probably has memorized, and he got so emotionally choked up that he couldn't go on for a few minutes. THIS STUFF IS IMPORTANT, AND DJD IS NOT AFRAID TO ADDRESS EVEN THE TOUGHEST OF ISSUES. Plus, I laughed out loud more often than I ever have. Just read the darn thing!Book Review: A Captivating Story
Summary: 5 Stars
This is an epic novel of imessurable proportions. Duncan weaves a tale of Love, Life and Family with a sobering sence of reality. His language is poingiant and stunning. The Brothers K is a work of literature that will shine in American History.Book Review: A Chance encounter you'll remember.
Summary: 4 Stars
David James Duncan is a Montana writer. I arrived at THE BROTHERS K after first reading his RIVER WHY (1988) and MY STORY AS TOLD BY WATER (2001). "I only know that the one thing, perhaps the only thing we can always be certain of," one of Duncan's unforgettable characters observes in THE BROTHERS K, "is that our lives will turn out very differently, and much more darkly, than most of us ever dream as children" (p. 214). Grandawma's insight maps the course of Duncan's poignant novel, which is perhaps similar to Dostoevsky's 1880 Russian classic only in its epic length (645 pages), and in its larger themes of war and peace, crime and punishment, and love, family and death that run through it. Okay, and there's also a goat named "Chekov."Set mostly in Camas, Washington, Duncan's poignant novel follows the memorable Chance family through three decades, the 1950s through the 1970s, and around the world to Vietnam, Canada, and India. Along the way, the Chance siblings (four precocious brothers and their twin sisters) establish their independence from their parents, Papa Hugh, a talented bush-league pitcher with a toe for a thumb, and Mama Laura, a devout Adventist with a painful secret in her past. Through Kincaid Chance's narrative, we also follow the lives of his brothers, Everett, a draft dodger, Peter, "a scholar monk" (p. 414), and Irwin, a gentle, Christian foot soldier. At one point in the novel, Kincaid finds his family rallying together, "headed for an insane asylum in California. We looked more as if we'd escaped from one. But in the pouring gray rain, I felt clarity. With the war still raging, I felt at peace. With Papa in despair, Everett in prison and Irwin in the asylum, I felt release. I didn't understand my feelings, didn't even desire them, really, but they kept filling me so full that my eyes began to well" (p. 564). THE BROTHERS K is a novel about crash landing in a good place (p. 398), and a novel you won't soon forget.
G. Merritt
Book Review: A brilliantly-written, moving account of an amazing family
Summary: 5 Stars
The Brothers K takes us into the Chance family and allows us to share their joys, their pain, and the uniqueness of each member's fascinating and distinctive personality. Through Kincaid's eyes we are privileged to know each brother, sister and parent, and revel in their astounding perceptions and wit.