Customer Reviews

Big Machine: A Novel

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Plenty of folks have provided plot summaries, so I'll forgo boring you with another one.

I found the writing in this book just brilliant. A real pleasure. Funny, insightful... A genuine joy to read.

On the other hand, the plot *does* descend into the supernatural and (as others have said) the just plain "weird" -- Too weird for me to really love the work.

The book is very richly detailed and well crafted. But throughout the book, I kept asking myself "What's he GETTING AT here? This character exposition is interesting, the writing is fun, the dialog is terrific... But what do ALL these various and interesting details MEAN in the larger scheme of things?" For example, what are we to take away from Adele's pre-Washburn torment? How does all the rich description of the washerwomen cult contribute to the overall theme of this book? Are we supposed to draw some sort of parallel between the lights in the hallway of the By The Bay hotel being smashed, and the lights in the stairwell during Ricky's last night with the washerwomen?

I couldn't help but wonder about these things.

And when things got supernatural I just wanted to know how everything ended. In fact, I didn't think the supernatural parts towards the end were the best crafted parts of the book -- I certainly felt there were some pretty weak plot turns (from the girl in the folklore society, to the guys who just happened to be in the lobby of By The Bay).

So... that's a conflicted review. I'm definitely looking forward to reading LaValle's next work.

Ricky Rice, the protagonist in Victor LaValle's second novel, begins telling us his story in Utica, NY, which he has reached by way of even more podunk towns like Kingston, Elmira, and Troy. It's amazing to witness Ricky's transformation from a beaten-down bus-station janitor to a lead investigator on supernatural incidents for a covert operation.

The insight into cultish responses to supernatural phenomena, coupled with fast, modern writing rings of Don DeLillo (Mao II: A Novel) or even Chuck Palahniuk (Survivor: A Novel). That the author is a black novelist writing of a black everyman protagonist, in a very tour-de-force way, puts me in the mind of Ralph Ellison (Invisible Man). This novel is a fiercely sweeping and original take on contemporary America as it wrestles with its demons, be they literal or metaphorical.

I'm surprised at the rave reviews for "Big Machine: A Novel." It does have some strong points, especially an original plot. But it also has a lot of weaknesses. First, none of these characters are likable, and it is hard to care about them for the entire duration of a novel. They are all psychologically damaged, mostly by class, economics, and drugs. But the characterization is heavy-handed. We hear, seemingly every few pages, how Adele will not let anyone touch her. Instead of creating sympathy, I wanted to yell "enough already -- we get it!"

Second, the plot is, as others have mentioned, just weird. It starts out interesting, but just turns slow, disjointed, and odd. The author alternates chapters set in the present with chapters that describe past traumas. This approach works fine in other books, but here it just seemed contrived and choppy.

Also, there is a lot of killing in this book. Almost all of it is done in the name of a religious cult. And, speaking of cults, while some reviewers have asked about the "why" of this book, for me it's about cults. Ricky was raised in one (the Washerwomen), joined another as an adult (the Washburn library), tried to stop a third (Solomon Clay), and at the end, is well on his way to starting his own. The first three of these cults all involved murder. Will the fourth end up there as well?

I've been an editor for 20 years, and I can count on one hand the number of writers whose work holds a candle to Victor LaValle. The Big Machine is the first book I've read by LaValle, but it won't be the last. He is a genius, plain and simple.
All I will say about The Big Machine is that it's a very weird plot, and if you don't like "supernatural" ideas in your fiction, then you probably won't like this book. But if you can handle some truly weird and surprising story elements, then you're in for a treat.
Throughout a somewhat convoluted novel, LaValle manages to maintain stronger characterization and motivational consistency than I've seen in a very long time. His dialogue is spot-on, and subtly opens windows into his characters minds and backgrounds. As a reader, I totally believe in his characters, and I was moved and humbled by their agonizing struggles and transformations. For those reasons alone LaValle deserves five stars. But the (admittedly weird) story also is crafted in such an elegant and surprising way that it's worthy of more stars. I wish I could give him six or seven.
Heartily recommended ... with the caveat that readers should be prepared for weirdness.

Over my lifetime, (47 yrs) I estimate that I have read about 1,000 books, (all fiction). This book breaks all conventional thought regarding expectations, and how the unexpected can blow your mind. Victor LaValle, and his Big Machine has reached deep into the hearts and thoughts of man, real men, with real life issues, and gives us heroes that are weak, afraid and left out of what most of us would call "real life". These heroes make you laugh, cry and very proud. Bravo Mr. LaValle for helping me see how those who "don't fit into the normal box of society" can do far more that those we think of as strong.

I must preface this review by saying I'm not a science fiction reader- while appreciate any well-written book, the genre as a whole just isn't for me. Exception: Big Machine. Victor LaValle's novel describes what happens when Ricky Rice decides to follow the directions on an anonymous note telling him to take a bus to Vermont. He becomes an "Unlikely Scholar" at a mysterious library, which is just the beginning of emotionally intense, unbelievable adventure.

Crazy Good (and at Times Just Plain Crazy)
- The best way I can describe LaValle's writing style is Urban Intellectual- told from the perspective of his main character, who has been around the block a few time (if you know what I'm sayin'), the reader understands that this man may not be book-smart, but is definitely life and street smart (with a few exceptions). I didn't feel as if I was reading LaValle write from Rice's perspective, I felt as if I was truly reading Rice's memoir.
- Rice's back story is just as interesting as what's going on in the present (a cult, heroin, flesh eating cats), which some author's fail to do. Another character's, Adele's, who becomes just as important, background is also divulged and is just as intriguing. LaValle deliberately creates flat characters and well-rounded ones, leaving no doubt who's important.
- One of the most important concepts of the book, redemption, really makes the reader turn inward, forcing them to examine their own values and willingness to forgive (others and themselves).
- This isn't a scifi book that's beating you over the head with aliens or time travel. While there are some visible elements, especially towards the end, the text is scifi in the sense that it presents different explanations and possibilities for how we view life around us and how people communicate.
- LaValle gives credit to Darth Vader.

Nor For You
- If you don't care for different ideas involving religion
- Are turned off by drug or sex references
- Don't want to have to pay attention

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and am excited to read other works by Victor LaValle

The Big Machine is a genre-busting romp through the fields of good and evil. Part mystery, part science fiction, part philosophy, and part theology, this book takes us on a heady journey from underneath the earth's surface to the wonderment of the universe.

Ricky Rice is a janitor for a bus station in Utica, New York when he gets a puzzling envelope delivered to him. It has a note inside that says "You made a promise in Cedar Rapids in 2002. Time to honor it". He wonders how anyone knew about the promise and how they could have found out? Who are these people? Along with the note is a bus ticket to Burlington, Vermont. Ricky decides to go but says to himself, "What kind of a black man accepts an unsigned invitation to the whitest state there is"?

Upon arriving in Burlington, Ricky is picked up at the bus station and escorted into the deep woods where he finds a small and cozy cottage awaiting him. For a man used to flop houses and shared one-room apartments, this is nirvana. Also on the property is The Washburn Library, a huge and beautiful structure. Ricky gradually finds out that he is a part of a secret society searching for "the Voice", an unearthly sound that only few humans have been privy to hearing. He is part of a group that he calls `The Unlikely Scholars'. They are unlikely because all of them have a past. They are made up of ex-cons, drug addicts, prostitutes, the homeless and the disenfranchised. Ricky himself has a history of heroin addiction. He's been clean for three years but still totes six bags of heroin and a syringe with him - just in case. Additionally, all of the Unlikely Scholars are black, both male and female.

Gradually, Ricky finds out the history of the Washburn library and this society that has made him an honorary member . Judah Washburn, a freed slave, once heard "the Voice" and the Voice led him to an underground tunnel that went from the west coast of the United States to Vermont. Along with hearing the Voice, Judah also found millions of dollars of Spanish bullion. He founded this society to perpetuate his search for the Voice. He wanted to know its origins, what it meant and why it spoke to some people and not others.

Ricky and the other Unlikely Scholars are under the tutelage of `the Dean' who once heard the Voice himself. Each Scholar has their own office and each day newspapers from around the country are delivered to them. Their job is to peruse the newspapers and find articles that can somehow lead to the Voice. How to identify which articles are meaningful and which are not is a real puzzle to Ricky and he spends days scratching his head. He enjoys reading the journals of the past Scholars.

One day the Dean requests that Ricky join another Scholar, Adele Henry, on a super-secret mission to find someone who is threat to the society. On this trip, Ricky and Adele meet with all types of dangers, both worldly and otherworldly. They find themselves in sewers pursued by the Devil of the Marsh. They meet angels as well. They also have run-ins with human bad guys with plans to destroy all that the Scholars stand for.

An aspect of this novel that I found interesting is that chapters about the Unlikely Scholars are interspersed with chapters about Ricky's life. He was brought up in a cult called `The Washerwomen'. This cult operated out of an apartment building in the borough of Queens in New York. It billed itself as Christian but it had a different bible and belief system. The cult had an enormous impact on Ricky's life. We also find out what happened in Cedar Rapids where Ricky made his promise.

LaValle is a wonderful wordsmith and I loved his descriptions. He describes two brothers as having "faces like Boston Terriers, somber eyes that were a little too large, and jowly cheeks that only emphasized their frowns". His writing is brisk and descriptive. His characters are the dispossessed brought up to a higher rung in the food chain, an aspect of the book I really appreciated. The Unlikely Scholars are a group to be reckoned with and appreciated, pasts and all. Some of the science fiction seemed too over the top for me but the rest of the book was so interesting, I could easily forgive that.

This is a book for readers who love science fiction and mysteries. It is also for readers like myself who may want to wander outside their comfort zone and try another genre. This book is comprised of many genres and is often surreal or `trippy'. It is a mind-bender and a roller coaster ride to the far side.

Lavalle starts with a great premise by creating an unlikely "hero" - Ricky Rice, a Utica, NY bus station janitor -- who receives a mysterious envelope with a cryptic message and and a bus ticket to Vermont sending him off on a X-Files-like mission. Ricky is the last person one would expect to be thrust into the middle of an adventure like this, so Lavalle hooks us from the start.

The author certainly owes a little to Kinsella's "Shoeless Joe" (aka Field of Dreams) with his band of misfits following the mysterious instructions of "The Voice" and also to King's "The Stand" whose misfits are on a good-vs-evil mission of their own. Though a little derivative, the premise is still compelling, and the characters well-developed.

I had a little problem with the way Lavalle voices some of Ricky's inner thoughts ("the faint whiff of filth, like a corrupted soul, haunted me") which didn't exactly sound like they came from the unconscious mind of a blue-collar custodian, but rather from film-noir dialogue, but maybe this was intended as an homage. Later, Rice refers to a truck as type that could haul "the whole Magilla" up a hill -- a term that seems more appropriate for a retired furrier living in Boca Raton than for an African-American former junkie, but hey, what do I know. As character-inappropriate as dialogue like that may seem at times, I will give you that Lavalle definitely has a stylish and confident way with prose. For example, of a drunken bus passenger, he writes, "I'll bet you could get tipsy licking the sweat on his forehead".

He writes in short episodic chapters that are crammed full of interesting characters, great metaphors and invariably end in teasers which keep you wanting to read more. I also feel Lavelle wasn't sure who is reader is: sci-fi, noir, mystery-thriller ala Dan Brown. He succeeds sporadically at each of these, but the result is that the book doesn't really have a cohesive style. I never lost interest, though, and Lavelle's talent for narrative prose succeeds even when his stylistic consistency fails him.

DISCLAIMER: This book was sent to me for free via Random House Publishing as part of a Goodreads sponsored contest.

PERSONAL NOTE: I must really be getting old, because the 9pt font just doesn't cut it for me anymore. I know that larger fonts means books have more pages. That equals higher expense for the publisher, taking up more shelf room at a book store, killing more trees. But come on Random House, if you want people to read hard-copy versions of your books, print them in fonts that are large enough to read without squinting ... please!

I forget how I heard about this novel (Powells in Portland, OR; NY Times; Amazon), but I had this on my radar approx. 2 weeks before it was released.

I tore through this novel in only a few sittings, and it's such a mindjob of a story. There's hyper-realism, mysticism, sci-fi/horror rumblings...all with protagonists as ill-at-ease with their lives as anyone thrust into circumstances beyond their comprehension.

Victor LaValle's "Big Machine" is full of ideas about how we fit in the world, what we're destined for...and what it means to have faith (and, how that faith can shake everything to its core).

I've really struggled to explain this book to people. The best I can come up with is Job Corps meets the Black X-Files meets Avatar. Even that is wrong, but I don't know what else to say.

Victor Lavalle writes beautifully but this book doesn't get going until the second half. Once he starts to tell the back stories of the main characters instead of hinting all around them like he does in the first half, the book starts to get interesting. I must say that the clothes bothered me - surely the Washburn Library could buy a pair of jeans at some time in it's existence.

I like sci-fi and weird books, but even I put this down a few times before I finally finished it. If you can stick it out until the second half, then you'll be somewhat pleased.