Customer Reviews

Bleeding Kansas (V. I. Warshawski)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

While I have not been a reader of Sara Paretsky's mysteries featuring private investigator V.I. Warshawski, I have long been aware of one of Chicago's finest writers. It was with great interest, therefore, that I received my copy of BLEEDING KANSAS, which represents a major departure for Paretsky. Instead of the grim streets of Chicago, the setting is Lawrence, Kansas, a community of farmers and University of Kansas students and teachers. Rather than a bang-bang mystery, it is a thoughtful work focusing on issues that paint the contemporary political landscape. The book's title reminds us of the Kansas territory of 150 years ago and the battle between pro- and anti-slavery forces. The novel itself serves as a thoughtful reminder to readers that the philosophical battle of that era in American history continues today.

Paretsky's father was a faculty member at the University of Kansas. Her family moved to Lawrence when she was four years old, and she resided there until her permanent relocation to Chicago. BLEEDING KANSAS, while not autobiographical in the purest sense, is a reflection upon what she experienced and observed in a unique community, a blue-state island in the red state of Kansas. The novel is a deeper exploration of many of the same issues discussed by Paretsky in her recently published WRITING IN AN AGE OF SILENCE, a series of essays that offer her views on a number of the hot-button issues that confront our nation.

BLEEDING KANSAS is the story of three families whose roots are deep in the Jayhawk State. The Grellier family has been farming in Kansas for generations. The father, Jim, his wife Susan, and children Lara and Chip seem to be the ideal American farm family, combining solid traditional values with a contemporary 21st-century view of life. But ugly events will doom their lives. Tension grows between the Grelliers and the Schapens, a neighboring farm family whose fundamental religious views are anathema to the Grelliers. The Schapen family includes the stern matriarch Myra, her deputy sheriff son Aaron, and his two boys, Junior and Robbie. The romantic relationship between Lara Grellier and Robbie Schapen serves as a Shakesperean-like backdrop to the conflict of Paretsky's narrative.

A third family, the Freemantles, appears mostly in a historical context through a diary and an ancient farmhouse that has been the site of mysterious historical events. The house will be temporarily occupied by Gina Haring, a Freemantle niece who has traveled from New York in an effort to re-focus her life. Haring's anti-war and liberal views are the flint that will spark confrontation in the community.

After the 2004 election, author Tom Franks used his home state of Kansas to ask crucial questions of political significance. Why do so many of us vote against our economic interests? Where is the outrage at corporate manipulators? And what ever happened to middle-American progressivism? These were the riddles of WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH KANSAS?, one of the bestselling political tomes of 2005. BLEEDING KANSAS confronts many of those same questions and continues that discussion through Paretsky's fictional portrayal of the ongoing debate in our nation over the relationship between religion and public policy. Since the birth of America, citizens have debated these issues in discussions that have gone beyond words and ended in violence. For some, the debate has raged for so long that they have forgotten what they are fighting over.

For Paretsky, an accomplished and talented writer with a large following, BLEEDING KANSAS represents a noteworthy change of style. Perhaps that is why the novel seems to start slowly. But as the characters are fleshed out and we learn more about their lives, the book's insight and universal truths --- whether found in Chicago, Illinois, or Lawrence, Kansas --- become evident. Paretsky has traveled a long distance from V.I. Warshawski's Chicago, and her audience will enjoy the journey.

--- Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman

Maybe if I had hung in with this book longer, it would have become fabulous and engrossing but after 155 pages, it was just not worth the struggle. Sara Paretsky has taken a brave step in writing a novel that comes from her heart and history and should not be judged by the same standards as you would evaluate a chick-mystery. However.... The dialogue is tedious with far too many details, words and little content. There is not much depth to the characters and it is, even with concentration, a chore to bring everybody together in to a meaningful whole. It is grammatically flawed and I am quite certain that the 5th commandment deals with killing vs. one's relationship with parents. (p.72) All in all, an effort that really missed the mark for me.

Best known for her V.I. Warshawski detective novels set in Chicago, Sara Paretsky recently took a left turn out of her driveway and headed south on an old gravel road until she discovered the Grellier farm in Kansas where she spent time becoming friends with the Grelliers and their neighbors. The novel, Bleeding Kansas, was the result. And nowhere is Warshawski to be found.

With this novel, Paretsky has stretched her writing legs and discovered a whole new world. Many writers, artists and musicians long to break out of the mold that created their success and create something new, exciting and different. This is probably one of the reasons Sara Paretsky wrote this novel. And she succeeded. On one level it is a cross between Judith Guest's Ordinary People and Jane Smiley's A Thousand Acres with some of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet thrown in for good measure.

Unlike the Warshawski novels which are told in the first person through the voice of the detective, this story is told in the third person from the point of view of multiple characters -- mostly the Grelliers. The reason I love the Warshawski novels is that I love V.I. Warshawski. Unfortuately, there is no one character in Bleeding Kansas that I can love unconditionally. I enjoyed being in the company of Susan Grellier, the mother and farmer's wife, until her son is killed in Irag and she goes off the deep end and almost disappears from the story. She is replaced by her daughter and her husband who have problems coping with their strong mother and wife becoming weak and pitiful.

I recommend this novel to all fans of Paretsky and hope that it garnishes her a whole new group of fans as well.

Setting aside V. I. Warshawski to allow her to recuperate from her travails in the last episode, Sara Paretsky has written a novel of monumental proportions. It is set in the Kaw (Kansas) River Valley, where the author grew up, and traces the lives of several founding families who settled there in the pre-Civil War days when the pro- and anti-slavery forces vied against each other.

The novel takes place in current times, with references to the past, and looks at the social politics and farm life of the area, including religion, pro- and anti-Iraq War, persecution, the hard lives of farmers and other themes. It is a far cry from Dorothy's Kansas which, at least, had a rainbow.

The characters are well-drawn, the story engrossing. The novel raises a variety of questions on a broad array of themes, including fundamentalism and scientific evolution, but more importantly, hope. The book should be read and is highly recommended

I've read most of Paretsky's VI Warshawski novels, and looked forward to reading something of hers in a different genre. I found the story choppy and disjointed, the characters wooden and unsympathetic. Didn't seem like the work of an experienced novelist--just a big disappointment.

I picked up this book not because I am a Paretsky fan (having never read any of her books before) but because I am deeply interested in Kansas and its history. My two years in Lawrence at KU in the 1970s made an indelible impression. This book was a crushing disappointment. The characters, with the possible exception of Jim, were monumentally annoying, the dialogue amateurish, the plot predictable (and ludicrous) and the almost satanic villainy of the fundamentalist characters insulting. Even the references to the real heartbreaking history of "bleeding Kansas" felt stilted and false. And to top it off -- and this is a really trivial point, I know -- the author repeatedly refers to the historical Indian character of Pocahantas as an expert tracker. Surely she means Sacajawea?

I am not a fan of Sara Paretsky's detective series and this novel was a selection of my book group. I would never have read it on my own, but found it to be a very good story and enjoyed reading it. I found the number of characters a bit confusing in the beginning, but also have found in other novels that if you continue reading it will all become more clear as you move along; as it did in this one. Some scenes were a bit disturbing and it is sad to think that there are people who are so ignorant/misinformed. It is also difficult to read about emotional/physical abuse we know others suffer every day. I do not agree with those who gave the rating of 1 or 2 stars. For those contemplating whether to read the book, do so. The historical perspective is interesting also.

Some people enjoy pure "escapist" fiction; others prefer their fiction more "literary," and both types of readers have expressed very different opinions of this book. Some folks can be either kind of reader, just as the books themselves don't always line up easily as "escapist" or "literary." What I think is going with the reviews is that Ms. Paretsky's V.I. fans rushed to read her new book, and to many, it just felt different and it wasn't just the new characters and setting, and for them, "Bleeding Kansas" suffers in comparison. In another era, an author might have used pen names to prevent just this kind of reaction. I'm sorry that bad reviews may convince some people not to give this a try. I really like BK, but it is more like Steinbeck than Grishom and why not catch a changeup once in awhile?

Nears the town of Lawrence in the Kaw River Valley in Kansas, two families the Grelliers and the Schapens have farmed the land for over one hundred and fifty years. Both families barely tolerate each other because the Schapens who belong to a fundamentalist church believes the Grelliers are godless heathens. Into this atmosphere comes Gina Haring, a Wiccan and a lesbian, who is the catalyst for a series of events that ends in tragedy and death.

Susan Grellier is attracted to the Wiccan holidays and attends the bonfire which gets the Schapens up in arms. Junior Schapen makes life miserable for Chip Grellier. Life gets worse for Chip when his mother becomes an anti-war activist and the town looks upon her as a hippie. Tired of the constant fighting, Chip enlists in the army and sent to Iraq where he dies less than a month after he arrives. Susan has a breakdown and doesn't relate to anyone causing the family to fall apart. The Schapens have a baby red heifer that the ultra conservative Jews want to buy in three years if she is perfect as both Jews and Christians believe such an animal is needed for the temple to be built and for Christ to come again. Tired of the loathing the Schapens stir up, some people set in motion a deadly series of events that culminates on Halloween.

BLEEDING KANSAS is nothing like the author's V.I. Warshawski crime capers. This is more like a novel written by Barbara Delinsky about families and the internal and external strife each individual deals with. There is a lot of depth to this novel and though it can be read for entertainment, it deals with lots of social issues such as religious intolerance, same sex relationships and people who don't conform to mainstream thinking. The heartland of America is shown as a microcosm of society in general and deals with timely issues that divide us.

Harriet Klausner

I'm sure this is a wonderful book, if I could make it past page 34 without having to re-read the previous pages so I can pick up the thread of all these names again. I've been reading it for THREE NIGHTS and still can't keep the cast of characters straight. There are Schapens, Greynards and Grelliers, and Fremantles, and others. Are Jim and Susan married? Is Chip their son or Lulu's father? Who is John Fremantle related to? Who are Robbie, Kathy, Arnie, Myra, Blitz and Curly, Doug and Mimi? Lara and Lulu-- is that the same person? Who is she related to again? WHEW.

To make it worse, pronouns then enter the picture. "Arnie and Chip walked down to his house to put his horses away in time for his mother (who is that again?) to bake the biscuits," etc.

Then, characters are sometimes referred to by name, but other times by "Gram" (I still don't know who that is), etc.

Frustrating. What a shame. Sorry for the bad review. Maybe others can make heads or tails of it...