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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful,
This review is from: CURE FOR DEATH BY LIGHTNING CL (Hardcover)
I think that a lot of other readers missed the point of "The Cure for Death by Lightning." This is not a novel about the solution to the problem of a dysfunctional family. It is merely a journey that relays things how they happened. Unfortunately, aspects of this story happen too often in reality then most people would like to admit. By "aspects," I am referring to sexual abuse, violence and confusion of the soul. I'm not sure if this is a sort of autobiographical account from the writer or what motivated her to write this story. However, I suspect that these things did happen to her. We are so used to reading things that deal with issues of sexual abuse and violence and expect a remedy or some sort of therapeutic message to be sent, however, this is not necessary. Simply telling the tale tells a lot. As for Gail Anderson-Dargatz' writing style, it is surely a masterpiece. She starts off with a suspenseful beginning by making the reader wonder what it is that the main character hears. I appreciate the Indian folklore, or should I say First Nations' folklore that she includes in her story. When reading "The Cure for Death By Lightning," just stop and absorb the poetry of her words and appreciate the subtle message sent and remember that there is always redemption.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Magical Realism, Translated/Transported North,
By
This review is from: The Cure for Death by Lightning: A Novel (Paperback)
A very interesting first novel by Gail Anderson-Dargatz, just out in quality paperback. It's the story of 15-year-old Beth Weeks, daughter of a farming family in western Canada in the early years of WWII. Along with the commonplace grittiness of their farm life (the endless chores, the birth and death of livestock, the loneliness), there's also the oddities of small-town life, with its eccentrics, tragedies, property feuds, marriages, funerals, and festivals...and given the fact that Beth's dominating, temperamental father seems to be suffering from a combination of depression and psychosis, the Weeks family's popularity is not too high in town just now. There's also a strong undercurrent of Native American spirituality and mythology running through the novel---at times it's the only explanation for an event, unrational as that might sound. One might almost think of this as a Canadian version of a Latin American "magical realism" novel: translate tropic to temperate, jungle to prairie, Spanish heritage to British...The title originates with the scrapbook kept by Beth's mother, a hodgepodge of recipes, Christmas cards, household and family lore, observations, and agonies, a sort of collaged diary of this woman's private life.I enjoy novels told in first-person narration, if the narrator's voice is an interesting one---and Beth is one of the more interesting voices I've come across lately.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
disturbing and beautiful,
By
This review is from: The Cure for Death by Lightning: A Novel (Paperback)
I picked this up for a light read, but soon realized I'd judged too quickly from the cover. The Cure for Death by Lightning layers folklore and mythology and the simple pleasures of baking with the gritty realities of family tragedy - of incest, violence, blindness and mental illness- all the while illuminating the strength and inner beauty of Beth Weeks and her growth into a woman.I read an essay about Jane Austen once that discussed how tragedy, real tragedy, occurs in the setting of the household. It is because they are so close to us and so beloved that our family can be the cause of the greatest hurt. Brother pitted against brother, incest, domestic violence...the household is the centerpiece of tragedy. And if this is so, then Beth Weeks has known more than her fair share of tragedy. And yet, the novel manages to be hopeful without being sentimental, realistic without forgoing beauty. Reading this book may disturb you, but will leave you with an indelible impression of blue forget-me-nots, the sooty marks of a hand on another, the imagined scent of violets, and the fragrance of fresh-baked pound cake.
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