Customer Reviews

The Killings of Stanley Ketchel: A Novel

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've been reading reviews. The more I read, the more I see that readers are believing this novel is Stanley Ketchel's biography. It may be well written as readers who are fans of Mr Blake's stories, will attest. But, do not be regaled, into believing this, smarmiest of the smarmy tale. The elder Mr. Kiecal was not Stanley's step-father. Stanley Ketchel did not leave home because of any violence between he and his father. At 12 years of age, his mother gave him permission to leave home. He was not an alcoholic, he seldom drank at all, he was a prankster, and he only smoked cigars, when he attended social events. The factual tale, is fabulous without benefit(?) of fiction. So, please, don't settle into this story. This fictional composite, dabbles more, in folk-lore, than what actually happened in this courageous, and powerful young man's short life. Thank you, and please remember. This is written from imagination. Creative, but predominantly, a fabrication, none the less.

In this engrossing novel based on the life of middle weight boxing champion Stanley Ketchel the Ragtime era of the early 1900's is brought vividly to life. The story begins with Ketchel running away from home and riding the rails as a teen-aged hobo after a fight with his step father which he believes has resulted in his death. It progresses smoothly into his discovery as a boxing prospect while working as a bouncer in a saloon out West. It then chronicles his rise and astonishing record of wins and K.O.'s both in and out of his weight class. The descriptions of the fights are edge-of-your-seat exciting and gory in places. His womanizing ways are also marvelously and entertainingly evoked. The dialogue is crisp, realistic, and humorous throughout which is one of this author's major strengths along with painting a vivid picture of that time period. Boxing fans and readers who like historical/biographical novels will really get their money's worth out of this book!

Having read everything he has written and having great anticipation for the release of each new book he puts out, you might say that I am prejudiced to state this is definitely Blake's best work to date. As good as Red Grass River and Wildwood Boys were, this work just slightly outdistances them both in making you live the life and times of one of the great boxers in history, and following the pace of the story as it follows Ketchel as anti-hero. This is an absolutely entralling read, and the depth of research that he has undertaken to write it when combined with his gritty and realistic prose makes this a near-impossible book to put down once you pick it up. Blake has cornered the market in basing his novels on actual historical characters living on the edge of society, usually viewed in historical retrospect as less than stellar citizens, and who are ultimately pushed toward tragic ends by the circumstances of their times and the course of their self-created destiny. Why none of his works have been turned into a movie baffles me, as they are replete with action, historical detail, and pathos that would translate well to the big screen. The only bad part about reading this book is that you then have to realize that you are probably a year away for him to publish his next novel.

As always, Blake writes with wicked verve and electricity as he gives his account of the Stanley Ketchel saga. Part travelogue, part compelling character study, part epic flaying of the American soul, The Killings of Stanley Ketchel takes the reader all over the American West in its first half, and then on to New York and back again as Blake traces the antic doings of Stanley Ketchel, the mercurial if short-lived middleweight champ. It's a dynamic rendering that depicts its subject in full, but centers on Ketchel's growing obssession with restoring the heavyweight crown to the white race after it has been captured by the impertinent, outspoken, and outlandish African-American, Jack Johnson.

One caveat for the reader: I felt Blake took a little too much poetic liberty with his re-creation of the Ketchel-Johnson heavyweight championship bout in Colma, California in 1909. Blake's rendering has Ketchel's infamous double-cross decking of Johnson being so punishing that the champion is down and almost out for a count of 8. Johnson then recovers, lunges at Ketchel, and knocks him cold (and minus some teeth) for 15 minutes with a thunderous right. Johnson thus retains his crown but leaves Ketchel, although battered practically beyond recognition, hungering for another shot at him. This is a gross over-exaggeration of the facts. Ketchel did knock Johnson down in the 12th round, but Johnson barely brushed the canvas before he was back on his feet, walloping Ketchel with that lethal right. The fight film shows this. But it must be conceded that it better serves Blake's fictional potrayal of the obsessive Ketchel to have him come within a hair of victory only to be manhandled in a way he had never experienced before.

More accurately presented in the book is the most famous of Johnson's fights, the one against the Great White Hope, Jim Jeffries, in Reno on July 4, 1910. Blake conveys vividly the total dominance of the black champion over the former champ, and the agony and despair of the virtually all-white crowd as they share Jeffries' humiliation. The aftermath of the fight, with Johnson, Ketchel and the racist author Jack London all driving down to a negro brothel, is made up entirely out of whole cloth, but really does no disservice to the truth of Ketchel's life in the same way that the misrepresentation of the Ketchel-Johnson fight did.

It's probably quibbling too much to even bring up the above elements. The book is, after all, a novel, one that features a fascinating main character and an extremely colorful, if almost relentlessly violent, storyline posted on an amazing American landscape. Blake brings to life the early twentieth century in hardscrabble America, and in doing so does that thing which he always does so well, which is to reveal the teeming, dark underbelly of the American dream -- or is it the American nightmare?

I was confused, at first, with this book's style. Confusing one's opponent might be a good thing in the boxing ring but, for readers, on the other hand, may be a turn off. The book read more like a biography than a novel, at least at first. Once over the initial confusion (it took about 50 pages), the book flowed much better and was enjoyable. Briefly, it tells the tragic story of Stanley Ketchel, boxing's middleweight champ at the turn of the 20th century. A time just a few years removed from the Wild West but, as described in the book, not very distant from those lawless times. The fight descriptions are first rate, especially Ketchel's brutal 25-plus rounds with heavyweight champ Jack Johnson. Yes, in those days the first 10 or 15 rounds seemed to be just warmups and the referee involvement was minimal compared to today. The injuries were horrendous and the book doesn't spare the blood or gore in describing the carnage. The descriptions of Ketchel's fights and his many liaisons with beautiful women showed a great deal of "fancy footwork" by the author leading the reader to believe (correctly) that the hero's demise was inevitable either in the ring or in bed. The author fails, however, to provide a "knockout punch" in his relatively brief forays into Ketchel's life outside of boxing (which may not have been much considering he was killed at 24). If you're a boxing fan give this book an extra half-star.

It was a fun read. We need a biography on Ketchel though. This is one of those fiction loosely based on fact books that I'll read if I can't find a biography. This particular one was good though, and it seemed like a biography. Anything on Stanley Ketchel is good, and you won't be disappointed in this "story". I wish Clay Moyle, Bill Paxton, or Adam Pollack would write a bio on the Great Stanley Ketchel.

Blake's hard cutting narrative fits in tightly in the telling of this story of post wild west turn of the century Americana. Here are some of my notes.
I found that the story was more likely not about the killings of Stanley Ketchel but about the "killings" (wink, wink) of Stanley Ketchel. If you know what I mean...
I liked the first quarter of this book about the turn of the century rail-riding hobos.
I enjoyed how the author interjected "clippings" of the times to really paint the picture of "those days".
The characters are well defined and dialog is exceptional in only a way which Blake can do.
The book art work is exceptional.

A very well written life of a middleweight boxer who succombs to a tragic end. The author weaves in some interesting characters of the time, especially Heavyweight champ Johnson. Written with a very quick pace.

I just finished this book. Bravo James Carlos Blake! This was masterfully conceived. I love the old days. I love boxing. I love great writing. This book has all of those, and more.

LONG LIVE STANLEY KETCHEL!

Buy this book.

This effort by the talented Mr. Blake is like watered-down tea: it's weak but it's still tea and even diluted Blake is still Blake. The author seems to have lost his trademark brutal yet almost poetical prose and has turned out a book that reads like juvenile fiction, if you take out all the sex and violence. While the romantic scenes do serve to portray Ketchel's fondness for women which ultimately did him in and the scenes of violence show the reader how tough he was in and out of the ring, they seem weakly and flatly written and repetitious. However, Mr. Blake does not pull any punches for the fight scenes: the boxing matches are quite well-penned. And a big plus is that THE KILLINGS OF STANLEY KETCHEL gives the reader a painless course in early pugilistic history. I had never heard of Stanley Ketchel before and, after reading this novel, I wonder why. Searching the internet for information about him, I learned that Stanley Ketchel may have been the best middleweight of all time. A computer simulation of a bout between him and Sugar Ray Robinson had Ketchel losing a decision and he was never knocked down by Sugar Ray. Furthermore, Ketchel fought the famous Jack Johnson, the huge heavyweight champion, and knocked him down for an eight count before foolishly dropping his guard and being knocked out by Johnson. Keep in mind that Johnson outweighed Ketchel by forty pounds in that fight and towered over him like a man over a boy. For fight fans and James Carlos Blake fans, you may want to read this book. But this is not Mr. Blake's best effort and I would steer first-time Blake readers to RED GRASS RIVER or IN THE ROGUE BLOOD or even A WORLD OF THIEVES. This one's not a knockout.