Ironweed

Rating:
Summary: a plot outline for a greater novel
Review: Both dark and astoundingly, funny, IRONWEED is one of those books that never leave your memory. It doesn't last long on your bookshelf, though; you are always lending it out or re-reading some, if not all of it. Set in Depression-era Albany, IRONWEED is an unforgettable tale of one man's search to reconcile himself with a past riddled with calamity and many loves gone awry.

The opening chapter, where protagonist Francis Phelan and his friend, Rudy, work as gravediggers for a day is as great a piece of dark comedy as the scene where Hamlet meets the gravediggers. I felt a sort of uneasiness about laughing at all of Francis Phelan's wisecracks, though. We know that they all stem from a life filled with pain, alcoholism, terrible coincidences, and frustrated dreams. Yet, he is a generous man. He will give those even more down-and-out than himself the last bite of his sandwich or the last sip from his bottle of cheap wine. And it is this sort of attitude--slivers of hopefulness out of seemingly permanent bleakness, generosity out of poverty, humanity out of an unfeeling world--that gives the book its life, humor, and appeal.

Rocco Dormarunno, author of The Five Points.

Rating:
Summary: modern day classic
Review: I buy books from the used book store and when ever I go there I try to find the "good deals" on some first edition or another collectible from any Noble Prize winner. I had never heard of William Kennedy. (The only Kennedy's I can recall have initials JF etc and were from New England. Unfortunately they did not have the time or energy to write any work of fiction.) So I almost skipped it. The guy standing next to me (I ignored him as another old fart who gives advice since its free) - advice me to buy it and told me that I will not regret spending this 2 dollars. (Well I donate more than that to starbucks every morning). I am glad I took his advice and bought the book. I was right on hooked to the book from the very first line.
The primary character of the book is Billy Phelan, an ex-ball player, full time drunk, part time grave digger, who has hit the rock bottom. Well again what is bottom - something which is half empty to me is half full to somebody else. Bill Phelan realizes the problems of his life but never puts his chin down. You will love the guts of this character. He suffers from his own misdeeds of the past and his past haunts him since he tries to find justification for all his acts except for one act. This one act is his accidental fatal dropping of his infant. Bill never tries to justify that act.
Sometimes that dialogue between Bill and his hobo friends reminded me of "Of Mice and Men" - all the dialogues are remarkable. Bill is like the character of Freddie Mercury (Freddie used to be loud and his acts defined him to certain extent but it was his song which immortalized him. You may not love Freddie but you cannot deny his presence in the music scene) - you can avoid Bill or hate him but you cannot deny his presence. He is like the pole of a magnet either you are attracted or repelled.
I like reading it and will keep it in my collection - hope you will like it too.

Rating:
Summary: modern day classic
Review: I buy books from the used book store and when ever I go there I try to find the "good deals" on some first edition or another collectible from any Noble Prize winner. I had never heard of William Kennedy. (The only Kennedy's I can recall have initials JF etc and were from New England. Unfortunately they did not have the time or energy to write any work of fiction.) So I almost skipped it. The guy standing next to me (I ignored him as another old fart who gives advice since its free) - advice me to buy it and told me that I will not regret spending this 2 dollars. (Well I donate more than that to starbucks every morning). I am glad I took his advice and bought the book. I was right on hooked to the book from the very first line.
The primary character of the book is Billy Phelan, an ex-ball player, full time drunk, part time grave digger, who has hit the rock bottom. Well again what is bottom - something which is half empty to me is half full to somebody else. Bill Phelan realizes the problems of his life but never puts his chin down. You will love the guts of this character. He suffers from his own misdeeds of the past and his past haunts him since he tries to find justification for all his acts except for one act. This one act is his accidental fatal dropping of his infant. Bill never tries to justify that act.
Sometimes that dialogue between Bill and his hobo friends reminded me of "Of Mice and Men" - all the dialogues are remarkable. Bill is like the character of Freddie Mercury (Freddie used to be loud and his acts defined him to certain extent but it was his song which immortalized him. You may not love Freddie but you cannot deny his presence in the music scene) - you can avoid Bill or hate him but you cannot deny his presence. He is like the pole of a magnet either you are attracted or repelled.
I like reading it and will keep it in my collection - hope you will like it too.

Rating:
Summary: A hidden treasure
Review: I have to admit that I had never heard of William Kennedy or IRONWEED when I ran across the book on the sale table at a local book store. I picked it up because the price was right and I'm always interested as to why certain books get a Pulitzer Prize.

With no knowlege of Kennedy and his work, I did some research before I started the book. An outline that I found on line with discussion questions for each chapter was great. Getting background on the characters is a must for this book.

This is not an easy read and would be totally confusing if the reader did not understand the technique that the author uses wherein he has the dead talking to the main character.

In some respects this book is like THE GRAPES OF WRATH. It is about the permanent underclass and how they live. It is about a man that is hopelessly lost in a situation of proverty. He has caused the death of his own son and other men and in a sense he is cursed. But Francis does have a good side that shows throughout the book.

There are tragic women in the story and tragic lives of men who have chosen a path in life that has no happy ending.

IRONWEED is certainly not long. Once you get into the characters its a fascinating story. I can understand why it received the prize.

Rating:
Summary: Down and Out in Albany
Review: I was a bit underwhelmed by this book- although that might have been part of the point. As it gives us a glimpse in to the tragic lives of a few locals, it also gives us a taste of their aimlessness, their rage, and their sorrow.

You cannot help but sympathize for the characters (which almost feels condescending), but also it made me wonder: how close are all of us to the edge? What might happen in my life that might cause me to become lost? If anything, this story shows that no one can ever really know what their future holds, and that we should appreciate what we have because it could ALWAYS be worse.

Rating:
Summary: AP English
Review: Ironweed by WIlliam Kennedy won an abundance of awards and is on the list of the best 100 books ever written. Many are most likely surprised of the excitement over this book because of the difficulty Kennedy had trying to publish it. Kennedy immortalized the life of Albany in the 1930's, bringing unusual attention to all.

In the novel it discusses survival on an ordinary man whose bad luck brings him to rock bottom causing him to discover in himself on things he can not understand. During Francis Phelan's life he killed a scab driver with a rock, his infant son by holding him by the diaper and accidentally dropping him, and killing an insane bum for self defense.

Throughout the book the people he killed and others are ghost interacting with Francis as in the novel Hamlet.

Overall I felt this was a very well written book and would recommend it for reading on the enjoyment level because of Kennedy's use of real life in the Big Apple during the 1930's.

Rating:
Summary: If there's a thing called "Americana", THIS must be it
Review: This is not my favourite fiction- but I read it, finished it, and loved most of it.

A thin yet juicy work of art, IRONWEED is considered part of great American story-telling. As a reviwer puts it, "(It) is one of the few imperishable products of American literature since the Second World War."

Francis Phelan is back in his hometown of Albany, New York after abandoning it for many years. Now, in 1938, he returned to find himself, make peace with the many ghosts of the past and present, and, ultimately, seek for redemption.

I found Phelan to be uninspiring- but then, who would?, afterall, this guy is a "bum", a full-time drunk, a murderer. Yes, he was once an accomplished ballplayer, but now, and NOW, he is just a "bum". One of the 'greatness' of this book (and there are many) is that William Kennedy was able to present to us a character, so unwanted, so despised, so uninspiring in a way that dignity still is embedded in that character.

Why did he write a story about a bum? Well, I don't know the answer to this question, but I certainly liked the story of this bum's life. (I suppose if you want to read a novel with highly inspiring characters, there is LOVE IN TIME OF CHOLERA)

Written in a style almost plain and unaffecting, IRONWEED is a heart-breaking work that needs one's patience to truly understand the greatness and the dramatic tension of Kennedy's work.

Rating:
Summary: I may have to stop reading!
Review: This novel is highly stimulating for the mind's eye, but lacks the impetus to draw one's heart to any of the characters. The statement that "Phelan's character is implausible," is the strongest statement that I agree with. The character of Francis Phelan is definitely to good to be true. Someone in his circumstances would definitely not be in the hunt to do good deeds.
The scene in the book that captures this implausibility inexplicably is in the final chapter. It is where Francis, Rudy, Old Shoes Gilligan, Andy Which One, and Michigan Mac were all standing around the fire in the jungle. A drunk Francis was told by Andy that a guy in a piano box had a baby who had not eaten. This drunk Francis rips the food from Mac, the food that he just gave him, and runs it over to the family of the stranger? This is not the attitude of a man who, just a few minutes before, kicked the crap out of a man for asking them to keep quiet! His schizophrenia of being a total drunk and whack job to being an angel to a stranger and his family in just a few minutes entirely supports this fantasy of him being a conceivable character. The continuation of him being a saint in his own eyes, while he kills and maims other human beings, helps lend to the unbelievable thought pattern of Mr. Kennedy.
The two whole days spent in this bum's life, with the never-ending flashbacks to murder, mayhem and lost loves, leaves the reader lost and confused. All these glimmers of ghosts and how their deaths were brought about makes it nearly impossible for the reader to put themselves in the shoes of any of the characters (unless they have killed someone).
In my opinion a good novel should have the structure of good verses evil. This novel had none of this structure. The dividing lines of good verses evil were at best fuzzy gray. There was no one character that stood out from the crowd. There was not one character that would make me want to be that character or even want to be around that character. The supposed good of Francis Phelan was never portrayed as a turn for the better. The good portrayed was quickly over shadowed by his arrogance, self pity, guilt, and murderous deeds.
Here is one prime example of this never-ending cycle of almost being good. He goes home after twenty plus years to see his family, a good deed, leaves because he feels guilty and then goes out and gets drunk with the money his son willingly gave him. Then, after feeling ten foot tall and bulletproof, murders a policeman doing his job. Francis does something good, then he is pushed into some horrible evil. These same kind of acts happen all through the novel.
This novel left me disheartened, empty, confused, and filled with despair. If this novel is what great writers are about, then I need never read a novel again.

Rating:
Summary: rooting for Francis Phelan
Review: This Pulitzer Prize Winning entry in Kennedy's Albany Cycle of novels tells the story of Francis Phelan, an ex-baseball player, now bum, who is haunted by ghosts in Albany, NY in 1938. Twenty two years earlier Phelan picked up his thirteen day old son by his diaper and the boy slipped to the ground and was killed. He also killed a scab driver during a strike when he beaned him with a rock. In the intervening years, he has taken to the bottle. Now the ghosts of these and other figures from his past are coming back & Francis must try to reconcile with their spirits and with the remaining members of his family.

I happen to have recently read Sophie's Choice & Beloved (see review) which also deal with parental guilt over culpability for a childs death. I found them both to be hopeless. This book, on the contrary, like Fearless by Rafael Yglesias, offers hope of redemption and the reader inevitably ends up rooting for Francis Phelan and hoping he can exorcise the demons that drive him.

GRADE: A

Rating:
Summary: A Work of Art
Review: William Kennedy's Ironweed is a skillfully crafted work of art. Billy Phelan is an often-drunk, murderous bully and, at other times, a very compassionate and generous person. This is not an unusual combination. He is running from mistakes of the past, and creating new problems along the way. Billy is an unlikely likeable character, and we want him to overcome the ruinous side of his personality.

The book successfully employs unusual literary devices and great metaphors. These literary devices include (1) the "living" dead in the cemetery, (2) the seemingly real ghosts that constantly haunt Billy Phelan, (3) temporary shift from past to conditional tense near the end of the book, and (4) the mixing of vivid memories into the current situation which tends to blur time and place.

Kennedy composes many haunting metaphors. Here's one: "Helen now sees the spoiled seed of a woman's barren dream: a seed that germinates and grows into a shapeless, windblown weed blossom of no value to anything, even its own species, for it produces no seed of its own; a mutation that grows only into the lovely day like all other wild things, and then withers, and perishes, and falls, and vanishes."