Customer Reviews

War Memorials

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

 

 

What Clint McCown accomplishes in his new novel is nothing short of miraculous: reveal meaning in the most mundane occurrances of our lives. Through his meticulous examination of small town life, he locates the universal in experiences ranging from father/son relationships to love and death. His feckless hero is nonetheless a hero and his adventures and misadventures become guideposts for the pitfalls we all face in our lives. It's a wonderful book, beautifully rendered, and recommended for everyone.

McCown sets out to make his protagonist, Nolan Vann, very likable, and he succeeds. He sets out to capture the positive aura of a small town where everyone knows everyone, and he succeeds there also, without whitewashing some unsavory aspects of small town life. The book is quite readable, but a little too slick. The final scene is particularly well written. For those readers who liked this book, but wish it weren't so slick, I recommend Shameless by Lisa Reardon.

I loved reading about the quirky, yet funny characters in this novel. I identified with Nolan's search for meaning in an ordinary life without guideposts, like his father's war, to lend him meaning. We all want to feel special and feel that we are doing something worthwhile and we want to be happy and loved. I rooted for Nolan to "get it together" and find his happiness. The writing style is fresh and I laughed out loud at some of the people in Nolan's little town, (especially the parts about "Fred"). I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes humor with great characters and a fresh outlook on ordinary humans who struggle to find their own war memorials.

Twice reported dead in World War II, Jimmy Vann finally found his life's calling after reading his own glowing (albeit premature) obituary -- the selling of life insurance! Nolan is Jimmy's son and falls far short of his father's expectations. With no war of his own to give him focus, Nolan lives a life without aim or direction in the small Southern town where he grew up. During the span of a two-week carnival (and in the midst of a failing marriage) Nolan finds work as a repo man and inadvertently finds himself launched upon a journey of self-discovery populated by a series of memorable characters including a zookeeper specializing in dangerous animals, an inconvenient corpse, and a family of snake handlers. War Memorials is original, surprising, exceptionally well crafted, and a totally satisfying novel of life, love, and the search for meaning -- accidental or otherwise!

Title: War Memorials

Author: Clint McCown

Publisher: Graywolf Press

Rating: 4 Shots of Espresso (The Red Eye)

I would first like to thank Graywolf Press for allowing me the opportunity to read Clint McCown's novel War Memorials. Graywolf Press graciously sent me McCown's novel to read and review.

I thought reading Clint McCown's War Memorials for Memorial weekend was only fitting. What better way than read about the lives of veterans during the weekend most of us "remember" while vacay-ing. But even more fitting than the not-so-coincidence weekend connection was enjoying all of the novel's carnival scenes--4H animals, Ferris wheels, fried food and the demolition derby. I decided to take a reading break by going to Chico's very own Silver Dollar Fair where I watched the Sprint cars, ate a soft pretzel with amazing nacho cheese and saw my favorite little furry friends--sheep and baby goats. Though I didn't go to the demolition derby, I am now well versed that McCown's figure eight track was much more exciting than Chico's version where they line up. But you didn't come to read about my fair adventure...

...back to McCown's story, which is of a man on the way to an unsuccessful and pitiful life. The main character, Nolan Vann, has lost his job, his cockroach eating lizard and possibly his pregnant wife, Laney. So why read? That's what I thought about twenty pages in, but the novel is MUCH MORE than a pathetic man "finding" himself. McCown's War Memorials examines how a man who seems to have nothing has a lot--he has relationships with everyone in his community. Nolan isn't trying to form his identity; Nolan is developing his relationship to his family and his community. He meets snake worshipers, veterans of all the wars Nolan never fought, and people who Nolan repossess their cars. Nolan is a man who finds a place for himself in a community he doesn't belong once other community outcasts reach out to him.

I recommend Clint McCown's War Memorials to anyone who wants to remind himself or herself that individuality is a good thing. McCown reminds his readers to acknowledge the past but, also, create your future; be yourself. I give War Memorials four shots of espresso because I enjoyed where Nolan ends up. The missing shot, however, is due to the slow beginning that doesn't provide the necessary connection between characters. I needed to have a deeper investment with Nolan, initially, but by fifty pages I was fully sucked into to Nolan's life. War Memorials is a wonderful novel for all tastes!

This novel is not original. Neither is it entertaining. So what's the point?

...but at its worst the "novel" (a little too flimsy to call it that, to be honest) falls apart around a plot so loosely and poorly conceived that it almost becomes difficult to follow. Which is hard to believe, since the conceit of the plot isn't all that ambitious to begin with. I'd have to say this is truly not worth the time, certainly not the price.