Sweet William: A Memoir of Old Horse [Hardcover]

John Hawkes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1993

A fictional autobiography of a horse traces the shifting circumstances of his life from a tragic youth, through his years on the racetrack of life, to his relationship with a kindly old man. By the author of The Blood Oranges.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In a highly imaginative and compelling work fully in character with his reputation as a literary maverick, Hawkes ( Adventures in the Alaskan Skin Trade ) offers a fascinating new perspective on the mix of instinct, emotion, reflex and reason that is the birthright of all intelligent life. Using the wise, weary voice of a misanthropic thoroughbred--known in various stages of his life as Sweet William, Old Horse and Petrarch--Hawkes fashions an engaging, picaresque tale of his equine narrator's triumphs, hardships and discoveries. Soon after William's birth, his dam dies a horrible death. This tragedy, combined with the inept responses of the humans in charge and the indifference of his surrogate mother, warps Sweet William's character and provokes in him a violent, rebellious streak that will bring him no end of tribulation. Now, tempered by hard-earned wisdom and hindsight, William reflects on his life--as a young colt, a racehorse, a riding-school nag and finally as the haggard mount of an eccentric old man he calls "Master." He is a captivating storyteller whose experience and insight are valuable for readers of all species. Employing an uncharacteristically courtly tone that may surprise his longtime readers, Hawkes fills this account with rich color and winning detail; indeed, this is a virtuoso performance, with William's voice rendered in masterful prose.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Hawkes's readers have watched him use horses (or stand-ins for them) time after time; in the 1988 Whistlejacket, the equine finally became a subject of its own in a novel about horse-as-object and horse-as-subject. The latter has developed into this book, in which a horse--Sweet William, name changed later to Petrarch--narrates the story of his life. That life, as you'd expect from Hawkes, is one of periodic violent traumas and gothic cruelties: his mother being killed soon after she gives birth (the putting-down is botched; the horse is buried alive, struggles from its grave, and must be put-down again); a brief and physically painful racing career; the humiliation of a dude ranch; finally, the comic eccentricity of being stabled in the gentleman's farm of Master, a milquetoasty but kind virgin who's lorded over by his Irish stablehand Ralph. The story lurches onward, amounting to very little--other than to wrap fond authorial observations about the life of a horse in fancy-pants prose that it's hard to credit direct-in-action Sweet William with (``A large storm, a quiet storm, for the old horse strange and familiar all at once, freighted as it is with the shapes and shadows of recovered youth. Yet sinister in its steadiness, its resolution, its promise that it might not stop until the lot of us--horses, cats, men, barns--have been effaced in nothing less than total obliteration''). Still, the novel ends on one of those notes of epiphanic oddness that Hawkes occasionally does better than almost anyone: Sweet William/Petrarch lives out his last days in the company of a dying goat named Chester: who for a moment, seen from a distance, seems to the horse at first to be--with its aged horn--a unicorn. This section, like a coda of sickness and illusion and redemption, is quite beautiful--though it can't finally tip the balance away from the word-embroidery and fussy stylistics of the rest. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 269 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First Printing edition (August 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671740571
• ISBN-13: 978-0671740573
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,243,216 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Misses more than hits, August 5, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Sweet William: A Memoir of Old Horse (Paperback)

I did not expect a po-mo Black Beauty. I did love the prose. Poetic, indulgent, everything a reader longs for. However you feel about this book, the prose is quite lucious and mouthwatering, but the story bogs down, too quickly, like the scene where the horse is mired, this reader feels the author has let the Don Quixote/Sancho Panza charactors of Master and Ralph run away with him, not unlike the protagonist in the earlier part of the book. What is lost is more than the 20 years abreviated when William jumps from race horse to "for hire" horse. In fact a lot of this is lost to the weediness of the final stop at Master's house. I think that there could have been a period of time where he is retrained, sent to show jumping, sent to a riding school (briefly, and unimaginably dramatic scene which is rather short.) then to the final devolvement to the ranch. What a missed opportunity!!! The problematic life of not-so-successful showjumpers, as they travel down the ranks, 'bute, polling, electric shock...such a missed chance to make the reader see what happens in that realm. Then the school horse, for in fact, an Off Track thoroughbred, esp. with his temper would not be working as a rental horse, not without some serious retraining. By the time a horse gets there he is broken down from other work. No matter how fiery or docile. Nope, the hacking around rings day in and out in a schooling arena, would be one way. So by the time we meet Master and Ralph the plot is forshortened and the author becomes self indulgent, even at the expense of the protagonist. Does he return, in the end, to any sort of sentiment? Of course. It is mixed, memory always is a punishing weak thing. I suggest that this book has merit, but the lowness of Ralph and the naivety of the Master are too artless. Sweet William's father fixation is also without a doubt liberty with the horses mind that was an embarassment to read. Worse the way he wrote about women, mysogynistic and not very insightful about either the horses mind or the woman's. Clearly an outsider looking in. Whether he wants it to show or not. I think perhaps "perfect prose" becomes a ticket to not really understanding your subject. ... As someone who has trained horses and riders, this book does a disservice to horses. And it did not take to task the people who are out there training and riding. It did of course, make a few buffoons and ogres but the lack of understanding of training came through. And that's a disservice to the reader.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Poignant and grippingly accurate portrayal of a horse's life, January 15, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Sweet William: A Memoir of Old Horse (Paperback)

This is "Black Beauty" for adults (rated "R" for violence and sexuality)! It captures eloquently the life of a thoroughbred horse from birth through his struggle to find life after the racetrack. Although it is written from the horse's point of view, it isn't at all corny or juvenile. The author has drawn an accurate picture not only of horses in general, but of that unquenchable spirit that is only found in the thoroughbred breed. "Horsiness" aside, the book does superb characterizations of all players, from the women who influenced the horse's life as a baby to the wonderful old man who owns him in his old age. You DON'T have to be a horse lover to enjoy the story. It has everything from rage and violence to deep sensuality to simple pleasures to a poignant description of old age and dying.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GIANT NEIGHS FOR SWEET WILLIAM!, August 21, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Sweet William: A Memoir of Old Horse (Paperback)

I have to say this is my favorite book of all time. I opened the book at a local bookstore and after the first paragraph I knew I had to buy it. Oldhorse is a vivid character and you will never forget him. Read this one 4 or 5 times! NEIGH!!