Keeneland : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Where's the horses?
Review: Alyson Hagy, Keeneland (Simon and Schuster, 2000)

"Finally," one reviewer raves, "a female character with backbone!" No arguments from this section. In a world of neuroses, obsessions, and "diseases" manufactured by the self-help market in order to sell products-- all of which seem to be exaggerated in modern literary heroines-- it's nice to find a main character of the feminine persuasion who doesn't [care] about any of it. Kerry is a heroine with traits we don't often see in heroines; confused but willing to muddle through, defensive, not angry at the world but not in love with it, either. In short, she's allowed to be a human being, with all the complexity that involves, rather than a cardboard cutout who fits the easy definitions of self-help books (most of which are more fictional than this).

One character, however, does not a book make (in most cases, anyway; I'm sure Jean-Paul Sartre would take exception to that statement). Hagy places her heroine in the opening days of Keeneland's spring meet, newly returned from a stint in New York and a bad separation from her husband. She has no friends per se, but enough acquaintances to get along, making enough money to subsist, at least. But like all communities, it's impossible to stay connected to your former life without it catching up with you, and complications ensue just as things start settling down.

My main problem with the book, in fact my only problem with it, is that Hagy attempted to write to the non-horse crowd by keeping some of the book filled with horse terms whil leaving them out of others; in many cases, it seems she took exactly the wrong turn in deciding what to leave in and what to take out. In most cases, the decisions were understandable, even if they could have been better; I realize someone who's spent a good portioni of their lives around Keeneland isn't likely to notice many of the small details, but it's the details that make Keeneland one of America's finest racetracks. Also, I'd expect someone who exercises horses in the mornings to take a little more note of the actual racing that's gonig on, rather than have it mentioned a few times as background noise. It's possible to write lovingly about the sport and its evirons while still creating a book that's not specifically about horse racing; Bill Barich showed the world that twenty years ago with his brilliant book Laughing in the Hills. Because of this, there were times when the book left me wanting to know more about what was going on around Kerry. After all, it doesn't matter how absorbed you are in your problems, you can't be around a horse race without getting caught up in it.

The book's good points certainly outweigh the bad ones, and it's worth seeking out. ***

Rating:
Summary: Loved It!
Review: In Kerry Connelly, Alyson Hagy has given us a protagonist who grabs our emotions and twist them around like that old friend who we want to hug and give support to while simultaneously feeling like slapping them around a little for their decision making process.

Kerry is a skilled exercise rider who runs from her hopped up, owner-trainer husband, Eric, and his loan sharks in New York. She heads back to Keeneland, the Kentucky race track she got her start at. She thinks that if she can get away from his troubles that she will be able to get her own life back in order and maybe even dig up enough money to get the loan sharks cooled down and guarantee the safety of her prize mare, unsquall.

What Kerry has forgotten is her own ability to find trouble. With her quick tongue, she find trouble in working relationships, sexual relationships and rivalries with ease. She gets involved in poker games, entangled with a thieving groomsman, and a greatly detailed mugging.

What Kerry hasn't forgotten is perseverance. No matter what good or bad comes her way, she continues to go on and on in her efforts to free Sunsquall from potential damage, and to get for herself nothing more than the right to ride and earn her keep; to sweat in the saddle.

As in her earlier short story collections "Madonna on her back," and "Hardware River," Hagy has a smooth prose. In some of her earlier works her narratives ran the stories, and not the characters and their actions, and the same occurs in small amounts here, but not nearly enough to harm this read.

Complex or simple, it doesn't matter; Hagy has a mastery of getting into the characters of normal, everyday people. There are not enough writers who are chronicling ordinary people, exploring their lives, and offering them to readers in ways that provoke our interest. Add Alyson hagy to that list.

Rating:
Summary: Keeneland
Review: Not a book I would ordinarily read.. In my opinion, very well written. This book will keep your interest. The main player being Kerry, you will not necessarily understand her, but you will be anxious to learn what she gets into next. Alyson Hagy brings an attention to detail that bears watching, she is good! It's a short read, give it a try.

Rating:
Summary: Why did I bother?
Review: When I finished this book I found myself wondering why I had bothered. The setting is generic; Hagy has not captured the magic that is Keeneland. One wonders whether the "heroine" is capable of sustaining a relationship with ANYone, human or equine - Hagy really wants us to believe that Kerry loves Sunsquall, but since they are never together during the timeframe of the book this is questionable. I found the plot entirely without climax. The book just fades to a stop; there is no ending. Not worth the time, IMO.