Mercy Among the Children: A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Remarkable!
Review: Here is a book about poverty, both of the spirit and of the pocket. Written in spare, tidy prose with exceptional characterizations, it is a dark tale periodically shot through with veins of pure gold; moments of such exquisite sweetness (in the character of little Percy, or the aging but quietly heroic Jay Beard) that they are painful. There is nothing stock about the narrative or about the characters who are among the most fully realized I've ever read. The good people (the Hendersons) are all forgivably flawed in some small way. And the bad people are understandable in their angry manipulations, in their negative strengths and human weaknesses. This is not light reading but it is potent and powerful, an evocation of the lengths to which the very poor can be driven. Lyle Henderson, son of the Job-like Sydney, narrator of the family history is a most believably tortured and loving soul. One hopes, throughout this book, for affirming moments that never materialize. Yet there is such truth here that I found it impossible not to keep reading.

I am dismayed that I didn't know of the award-winning David Adams Richards before reading this book, but I will certainly be reading his other books at the first possible opportunity. The author's talent is rare and wonderful; his eye is clear and he wastes no time on frilly adjectives. This is prose (and truth) at its purest--a truly remarkable achievement.

My highest recommendation.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I was disappointed in this book. I fail to understand how it could have been given the Giller prize. The characters are flat and the main character (or author) spends most of the book whining about the misfortunes that have befallen his family. I thought when I started the book that the characters would learn something. Unfortunately they didn't. We are left with a sense of dissatisfaction.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent, deserves 7 stars
Review: I'm not being over the top, when I say that this book is one of the best I have ever read. An incredible piece of writing, I found it hard to put down.

The characters are gritty and compelling. If you can read the whole book without a tear, I'd be surprised. Buy the book!

Rating:
Summary: Witness human nature at its best and worst
Review: In the novel for which he won the prestigious Giller Prize in 2000, David Adams Richards confronts his readers with the truth about the different dimensions of human nature, both good and bad.

The narrator, Lyle Henderson, tells the story of his family in small-town New Brunswick. As a child, his father Sydney vowed to God that he would never harm a soul and Sydney holds true to that promise. Others see this as weakness and pity him or use it as an opportunity to take advantage of him. Witnissing this as a child, Lyle takes a different, more aggressive attitude towards the world, and through the course of this novel, we witness how it all works out for both of them with their different outlooks.

An intriguing writing style and fascinating characters. Story and characters are drawn differently than I'm used to, but it was refreshing to be challenged with something new, and it was still incredibly realistic and interesting. The narration by Lyle is also different. Can a book be depressing and uplifting at one time? Read "Mercy Among the Children" and find out!

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful/Haunting Story
Review: It has been over two years since I have read this book - to see the names of these characters again (Sydney, Lyle, Percy etc.) brings to mind why I liked this book so much ... the characters are timeless! What a great contrast of human nature.
It seems as if I just read the book in that each character comes to mind as a whole person, clearly definable and memorable in their unique way.

Richards writes with humility and with great insight into the stuggle of disadvantaged people without being overly dramatic. You have to respect his work.

Although the story is a major "bummer" in many ways, it is also a testament to the beauty of personal strength and love.

On one hand, Richards made me feel enormously sorry for these people and on the other hand he made me fully envious of them. (especially Sydney).

(I had the opportunity to hear Richards comment at a reading that he thinks the character Lyle is as least as great a man as his father Sydney - what an interresting thought.)

If you like this book and would like something of similar quality/nature you may enjoy Alistair MacLeod's work - especially his short stories.

Rating:
Summary: Actually I'd give it three and a half stars
Review: Richards, and this book, had been praised to the skies both by professional critics and personal friends, so I overcame my prejudices against long, depressing family sagas and read it.
I will say that Richards is a very talented writer, and there are turns of phrase I will never forget. I also loved a few of the characters, in particular Autumn, the narrator's albino sister. However, I felt afflicted most of the way through the book. It seemed that there was far too much misfortune to believe for this one poor family. It's not that I had trouble believing that someone as good as Sidney Henderson would be exploited (nor did I find his character unbelievable, since his goodness was practically a disease in itself) but so many of the misfortunes seemed to relu on coincidence, and they came at the Hendersons unrelentinly.
Moreover, the conclusion was almost Dickensian in its mania to tie up every loose thread, and connect all sorts of characters in unlikely ways. And yes, I was touched by it, but I was infuriated afterwards.
Nonetheless, now that book is finished with, I do have a desire to read some of Richards other books. I just hope they will be a little less overwrought.

Rating:
Summary: classic writing
Review: The story is well thought out and compelling. It's tragic yet portrays a great message. (I won't give anything away.) His style of writing is quite poetic and is compared to Thomas Hardy. It's a great read and worthy of the award received in Canada.

Rating:
Summary: Not just for laughs.
Review: There is a quote, that I must have picked up somewhere, that says that you can tell art is good when it stays with you. When those scenes from a certain film, that line of poetry, or that section of a novel comes back into your head time and time again - it's a sure sign that the work is great.

For me this is one of those books. The number of times it has come into my life and my thoughts I cannot count.

I think it might have broken my heart.

Rating:
Summary: rings true
Review: This was a much praised, heavily marketed book in Canada. It is a weird read because on the one hand it's easy to read, never boring, and flows very well. But on the other hand, it sort of feels contrived and almost cheesy at times shortly after...only to show up latter in memory as something much better than initially realized. Yes, people do really live this way, and yes there is very much in these stories that rings true to what actually happens in peoples' lives, and how people really think, that it's quite stunning to find it initially seeming like a cheap tactic on Richard's part. Taken in it's entirty, given time to digest in one's brain, Mercy Among The Children sort of lives up to the hype.