16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The novel William Faulkner would write were he alive today, June 6, 2000
This review is from: Off for the Sweet Hereafter: A Novel (Paperback)
I once had nothing to read except a copy of SWEET HEREAFTER someone left at my place. My pre-reading attitude was "okay, little book, I'll read you tonight until I can get a new GOOD book tomorrow." Needless to say, I finished SWEET HEREAFTER before moving on to something else.
Mr. Pearson is, well, hilarious. He has a clear perception of his fellow human beings, so when he describes us and our behavior and our thoughts, he doesn't need to embellish or exaggerate to get the reader to laugh out loud - after all, we all do pretty freaking funny stuff every day. Another plus is Pearson's characters - they are incredibly well developed and 3 dimensional. Readers will almost surely come to love just about every person populating this book, in some way or another.
One reviewer here calls this the "worst book" ever and says it lacks a plot. I compare Pearson to Faulkner for 2 HUGE reasons: like Faulkner, Pearson writes of everyday, rural, Southerners, and like Faulkner, Pearson is a master of the un-ending, rambling, gambling, juking & jangling sentence. (Both writers use periods sparingly, but are liberal with their dashes, commas, and colons.) Such a writing style does take more focus to get used to than 99.999% of other novelists' "normal" styles. Having spent all my life in either the South or the Midwest, I state flat out that rural Americans tend to be extremely relaxed when telling a story or relating events they are familiar with (either first-hand or via gossip), so they tell their tales in a slow, meandering way with plenty of digressions for bits completely unrelated to the story at hand, but fascinating nonetheless. Like Faulkner, Pearson is a master of presenting just this sort of narrative, and there will always be those who demand a super-slick, fast paced plot with no diversions, and they'll want that done in 6 to 9 word sentences. Such readers will most likely dislike the works of Pearson & Faulkner intensely, but for those of you who are open to a writing style as unique as they come, you will undoubtedly enjoy SWEET HEREAFTER immensely, for all the joy and laughs it gives you.
That next morning, when I had planned to go buy another book to read instead of SWEET HEREAFTER, I still went to the bookstore. I bought copies of 2 other Pearson books, because even though I was only about 120 pages into SWEET HEREAFTER, I knew I'd want to read more Pearson.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Poignant and hilarious., December 16, 1997
This review is from: Off for the Sweet Hereafter: A Novel (Paperback)
This is a book that makes you want to wrestle people to the ground so you can read it outloud to them. In my mind the narrator always sounds like Arlo Guthrie doing Alice's Restraunt. From the page-and-a-half-long opening sentence, Pearson rambles in a seemingly aimless manner that belies the method in his madness. Seamless, this is American fiction at its best.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Highly rewarding for language lovers, May 26, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Off for the Sweet Hereafter: A Novel (Paperback)
Pearson plays with language and plot like a baby plays with food. The result is big fun. Think Gertrude Stein channeling Garrison Keillor. Wild, dense, rich and homey.
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