Customer Reviews

Scar Lover

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

 

 

...To me a five star book is supposed to be illuminating, exceptional, and something you'd consider coming back to and occasionally rereading. This isn't that type of book for me and therefore I give it three and a half. Although it has some poignant moments, overall I consider it significantly flawed.

The story focuses on the relationship between the lead character Pete Butcher and Sarah Leemer. This relationship is handled with delicacy and insight by Crews and takes on spiritual qualities by the end of the novel. As Pete comes to terms with his guilt Sarah unfolds as a strong, tender and courageous woman who helps Pete through the process of healing. In and of itself this relationship offers the reader an opportunity to observe the regeneration of a man from one weighed down by tremendous suffering and isolation to one who's willing to open up and confront not only his personal demons but also have them exorcised. There's certainly an element of human understanding in this book and it's through Pete and Sarah's relationship that we experience it.

The problem is with the characters that surround this relationship, some of whom often seem implausible or cartoonish and at times even irrelevant to the validity of what's going on with Pete and Sarah. The absurd and grotesque are elements of Southern fiction which in the past have been used to effectively demonstrate qualities of the human condition, but here they fail to do so. While encountering some of the characters in this book I found nothing in them in which I could identify some substantial idea or human trait. They more often obscured or hindered the story rather than enhancing it, their superficiality conflicting with the grander aims of the book.
I'm sure this isn't what Crews intended but nonetheless it's how I viewed it.

Although I thought the book had its problems I still think that Harry Crews has talent and therefore I intend to read some of his other work.

Twisted Southern gothic, this time with Rastas. Crews' usual gang of swampland nutjobs trying in whacked-out ways to make sense of things. The writing is slow-moving in parts, which only underscores the boggy, ganja-filled world of death and magic. Tries a little too hard to work the "scars" theme throughout. Not my favorite Crews book but better than meh. Try Feast of Snakes if you're looking for an intro to his writing.

While I see that other reviewers consider "Scar Lover" to be one of Crews' best, I don't really feel the same way. Sure, all the Crews elements are in place: bizarre characters, redemptive powers (here fire, scars and love), and gritty southern hyper-realism, but I just don't find "Scar Lover" to be nearly as compelling as "The Knockout Artist" or "Feast of Snakes," as funny as "Body," or as entertaining and strange as "The Mulching of America."

My favorite scenes in the book are the interaction between main character Pete and either Max Winekoff -- an annoying old man who likes to bend and touch the floor, or George -- a ganga-smoking Rastaffarian married to basically a dominatrix with whom Pete works unloading cellophane from a box car. However, in my opinion, the love story between Pete and his next door neighbor Sarah, as well as his scenes with angry Gertrude (Sarah's mother, recovering from a double masectomy) and Linga (George's wife) tend to drag. Also, as the book got stranger, I found it harder to suspend disbelief, especially when we're introduced to a cult, headed by Linga, where the members work in a swamp.

I'm a huge Harry Crews fan, based on the novels mentioned above, as well as two novellas: "Car" and "Gypsy's Curse." No one writes quite like Crews, and at his best, his books can be totally engrossing. Unfortunately, though, not here.

Footnote: For fans of Harry Crews, I would also recommend the late Larry Brown (starting with "Joe" and "Fay"), who, by the way, was a big Crews fan.

Scar Lover was the first book that I read by Harry Crews, followed by The Mulching of America..After Mulching, I almost gave up on Crews..but these were library books so I ordered my own copy of Scar Lover, along with several more of his works..A feast of Snakes took me back to being raised in wire-grass country (Echo, Al) and put me on to Celebration..He is a tremendous writer in all respects..I do admit the with Mulching he almost lost me as a reader, but I went back and have yet to find a poorly written book..he is remendous..it is no wonder that he was Larry Brown's mentor..

'Scar Lover' is one of Harry Crews's best works. With his eccentric characters and off-beat humor, he weaves this tale of an emotionally lost man finding his way slowly back to life and love. Pete Butcher is a loner, living in a boarding house in Jacksonville, Florida. He avoids contact with people for deeper reasons than we first suspect.

Seemingly against his will, Pete is pulled into the lives of the strange neighbors next door. The first one he meets is Sarah Leemer, a tall, beautiful, mysterious girl with a few problems of her own. She lives with her parents who are equally strange. As she draws Pete into her life, we begin to see the changes she affects in him. His life which was empty soon begins to fill again.

Crews introduces us to his usual array of odd southern folks and a Jamaican couple George and Linga find their way in as well. The story is often touching in little ways, and we never stop hoping that Pete somehow finds some happiness. The title 'Scar Lover' is very fitting, as each character has been scarred in different ways, emotionally and physically. Harry Crews is an accomplished writer who deserves more recognition.

Crews is a tremendous writer, able to capture the blood and guts of humanity. he apologizes for nothing and realizes truth for what it is - wretched, beautiful, shameful, and proud. for me the most wonderful point in the story was when the hero made the almost instant desicion to stay with the heroine and her family no matter the consequences. a true testament of how a man's mind often operates; quickly and without a lot of forethought (and this is not an insult - it's just truth). enchanting. possibly my favorite book!

Harry has a romantic streak, and it's most apparent in this book. The ending of this book made me cry. It's the the only novel that has ever done that to me.

Read it and laugh; read it and cringe; read it and weep.

This man is a great writer. He tells the unvarnished truth about human experience, with all of its pain, agony, joy, cruelty, compassion, hate, and love.

Harry's literary history has been somewhat inconsistent, but the same can be said of Nathaniel Hawthorne and scores of other writers. I think this is his greatest novel. I guess people expect a lot of gruesome and grotesque stuff from Harry, but in this book, he really focuses on the power of love.

I remember the tormented characters that are still with me from "The Hawk is Dying" and "A Feast of Snakes"...how I could recognize the hate in their hearts as something that was similar to something inside of myself. They were people that I could easily throw stones at but, instead, fell in love with after each turn of the page. Don't expect that from "Scar Lover". Sure it is jam-packed with colorful yet woeful characters but it lacks a key element that connects me, the reader, to them.

The story starts with Pete, a young man who is haunted, like many of Crew's characters, by his past. He meets a girl named Sarah who has a crazy mama, a daddy that has a huge life insurance policy, and a lump in her titty. A lump that frightens and yet intrigues Pete. Incidents that do not coincide with each other take place and eventually leave Pete in charge of the chaos that is Sarah's daddy's death. Not to mention having a Rastafarian man-woman to deal with who just happens to have a small cult. Enduring this, he confronts his past and his present. Unfortunately for the reader, the character's history is barely revealed, leaving us with nothing but southern crazies to relate to. The story only gets mildly intriguing in the last few chapters, which comes to a close with absolutely no conclusion. "Scar Lover" doesn't end; it just stops. Harry Crew's "Scar Lover" falls short like so many of the characters he portrays in his work. But like those characters, it still has a place in my heart, no matter how much it lacks.

Don't believe what the Kirkus Review says. ScarLover is one of Harry Crews very best and uplifiting novels. It is funny, bizzare, sad and ultimately uplifting. Isn't that what the world needs?

You may like this if you are okay sitting around with foul mouthed, crude men showing their tatoos via their wife-beater shirts. That's what I felt like when I started to read this - that I was in the midst of a man such as the above. I admit, I didn't get past chapter one, so perhaps he has talent and perhpas it is a good read. I can't stomach vulgar and grubby as I could when I was a teen. If you can - you may get further and find more in this book. Not for me.