Customer Reviews

Willem's Field: A Novel

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3 star:		(1)
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WILLEMS FIELD by Melinda Haynes

If you are in the mood for something different, try reading Melinda Haynes dark comedy WILLEMS FIELD. Full of quirky characters, it takes place in Purvis, Mississippi, a stereotypical small rural town. In the opening chapter, we are introduced to Willem Fremont, a successful businessman who also suffers from extreme panic attacks. He is on his way to Purvis to find his childhood home, in the hopes of remembering what caused him to have these panic attacks to begin with. So bad are these attacks that he finds himself sometimes fainting, or reacting in a manner that only an insane person would react. In this scene, Willem is having a meal at a roadside restaurant, and a paper crown dangling from the doorway of the restaurant is starting to make him crazy. As this paper crown continues to move with the wind that is blowing from outside, he can only hold it in for so long when he suddenly runs to the door and starts to scream. This is just one of his typical attacks. The oddest movement or thought will set him off, and he has no way to control it.

In the meantime, the Till family back in Purvis are going about their every day lives. They are the family that happen to live on the land that is next to Willems old family plot, but decades ago the land was abandoned for reasons unknown. The Tills began to pay the taxes on this property, so now the descendants have legal rights to it. It is this land that Willem Fremont is in search of.

The Tills comprise of Bruno and Sonny, brothers both of whom live on this land. Sonny lives with their mother Eilene, and to Eilenes disappointment, Sonny doesnt know the meaning of the word work. He lies around all day, eating and working on a boat that he thinks will help him make some sort of living. Bruno is a Vietnam War vet and he too sits around all day, claiming that a neck injury prevents him from doing anything, including sex. His wife Leah takes care of their farm, looking after the cattle and their crops. She has no choice, as there is no one else that will do it. And brother-in-law Sonny does everything he can to get out of doing any of the work on the farm.

Leah becomes a pivotal character when she falls into a ravine while in search of a missing cow, and there she finds a whole new world, including the missing cow and a house that had been abandoned years ago. She returns to this place often, and it is one of the places where the worlds of the Tills and Willem Fremont collide.

It would take too long to fully describe all the characters and the various sub plots of WILLEMS FIELD. However, Id like to state that although it took me a while to fully get into the book, by the third chapter or so I was fully absorbed in the lives of the Tills and poor Willems panic attacks. It isnt apparent in the beginning, but there is a point to this book, despite the different storylines that weave in and out of the story. Once I completed reading the book, I was able to say that this was probably one of the best books Ive read in 2003.

These people could be my neighbors! Haynes' characters were placed and portrayed in such a way that I felt like I was watching this whole sensitive and serious, yet incredibly humorous story right from a house next door. The Writer has a way of 'curling a statement,' causing me to re-read certain sections for my own pure enjoyment. Willem's Field is a cleverly orchestrated story that left me fervent to find out what outlandish thing would happen next. My favorite chapters were 'Willem and the moles,' which comforted not only an old man in an impossible situation, but me as well; and 'Sonny and Conchita and the tap shoes,' which I dare anyone to read with a straight face. Melinda Haynes has a style I thoroughly enjoy, and she's placed it in a book I couldn't put down. I highly recommend this great read.

I just read a strange review of Willem's Field in the Washington Post and wondered if the reviewer had read the same book I did. The first thing she did was type-cast Haynes as a woman's writer. (Her evidence was that Haynes first book was an Oprah selection). After reading my third Haynes book in Willem's Field, I wonder how the reviewer came up with that soubriquet. By her standards Pat Conroy is a military brat writer and Amy Tan is a Chinese immigrant kid's writer. It totally ignores what raises Haynes to the level of outstanding writer. Though Haynes sets her books in the South, I don't find her a genre writer. If she has a genre it is like that of Walker Percy's -- redemption in the face of everyday repression.
One of the worst things that one can do about Willem's Field is to judge it by synopsis as the Post writer did. I don't know any artist who would survive such a judgement; Melville, Faulkner (a frequent victim of the technique in his lifetime) and Twain couldn't survive such a spiritless scrutiny.
Willem's Field is a seductive work. It blends a field (pun accidental)of black humor with a deep introspection. Haynes does it with her greatest gift, her canvas of words. And one of the amazing things is that in situations where you can feel like laughing outloud, but still feel emotionally tied to the characters. Haynes loves all her characters. With one noticeable exception. And she has you grinning with nasty, gloating justice when he meets a gruesome and most unladylike end.
One caveat: Willems Field requires an enjoyment of reading for the sake of reading, with reading being a creative experience of its own. Is is a seductive process. The opening chapter of the book works because she draws the reader into this creation, which sets off a panic attack by an old man whose life is being destroyed by the affliction. It could have been off-putting, but Haynes makes it something special by treating panic disorder that is also a part of her own life with that dark humor. She can be rough and raunchy at times. She writes from life.
I loved the book, and find it the best of her three. There is a growth in her fiction that is delightful.

Melinda Haynes has written a wonderfully simple, yet delightfully complicated book about how ordinary people can overcome seemingly debilitating social and familial malaise. The reader is left wondering how Haynes recreates the panic disorder scenes without suffering from the affliction herself. The ease with which she writes about Willem's episodes leaves you with understanding and empathy for a condition that is not present in everyday life, for most.
However, she also confronts an affliction that is all too common in many families - the consequence of living generations without communicating. Circumstances conspire against the characters, bringing them to a point where either violence or clarity will emerge. And until the end, you're never sure which it will be. All those who are stuck in the rut of everyday life, that are unhappy with their boring, monotonous lives, will read this book and be thankful for the simple things that can bring them happiness. For these characters, their happiness was just below the surface, the last place they were all looking. And by persevering, they survived. "Willem's Field" is a commentary on the lives of ordinary people, looking for happiness. And a message that life's purpose may be right under our noses.

I became familiar with Melinda Haynes's work a few years ago when I picked up the challenging Mother of Pearl. I can't say that I enjoyed Mother of Pearl, so it was with some trepidation and a certain amount curiosity that I picked up a copy of Willem's Field. I was really surprised how much I enjoyed this novel, and I'm shocked that's it's not getting more notoriety. This is wonderfully eloquent piece of work - just gorgeous. Haynes has a beautiful, rolling lyrical style that just melts over the page - you can tell that she's just passionate about the South. There is so much attention to detail here, and just so much to take in that a second reading would certainly do this book justice.

Willem's Field is far more character driven than plot driven, but this doesn't detract from the story at all. Haynes beautifully weaves both plot and character to satisfying effect. She has an ear for natural dialogue and is also able to portray intimate details of small town life, along with the environment - fields sounding the town of Purvis, Mississippi - and the major characters' intimate domestic habits. The dialogue will have you laughing and crying - moving from the absurdly acerbic and funny to the sad and heart rendering; this is a real achievement for Melinda Haynes.

The characters are startling in their three dimensionality: the aging Eilene, lonely and bitter over her "lot" in life and resentful of her fat lazy son, Sonny; Eilene's eldest son, Bruno, suffering a spinal injury from the Vietnam war, caught in an unhappy and discontented marriage to his wife Leah; and Leah herself, feeling deserted and alone, left to care for the farm and ponder with bitterness the dysfunctional relationship she's had with her eccentric parents. And then there's Willem, old, tired and suffering terminal panic attacks, and returning to Purvis from Colorado, to reconnect with his old life and search for home and happiness. There are many wonderfully eccentric and "real" characters and all of them, both major and minor, are searching for acceptance while trying to get by in a world that seems harsh and distant. The depiction of these characters is so authentic that you can imagine knowing these people or having them live next door to you, and it was such a wonderful opportunity to spend some time with them.

Willem's Field is also a great depiction of the 1970's, deftly recreating an era of Nixon, rock music, bell-bottoms, and the innocence of a country rocked by the effects of the Vietnam War. This is definably one the best books of the year, and Melinda Haynes's finest and most nuanced book to date. Five stars.

Michael

The book had some good detailed writing, but I could just not get into the story. I notice above that they offer this book along with Mother of Pearl which, was a truly wonderful book;honestly, one of my favorites.William's field had some good descriptive work, the charactors were fairly well developed, but not too sure if the author knew where they were going with the book. Not too sure I would read this one again. Had to try Ms. Haynes's book though. She's a good author overall, just didn't care for this one. Maybe you will feel differently.

Similar in voice and rich, deep characterization as her other novels (Mother of Pearl and Chalktown), this book will not disappoint. Touched to the depths of my soul, I look into a mirror when I read Haynes' work; I promise that Willem's Field will enlighten while it entertains, evokes and perplexes. Great read!

When I find an author that I love to read, I wait for them to bring us another book. I was certainly not disappointed by Ms. Haynes third book. As I read her work I am in awe, how does she come up with these storylines? Between the brothers, the mother and Willem, we are given a cast of true characters. this is a must read.

Another gem from Melinda Haynes. Haynes' writing continues to delight and has matured and improved with each book. As with all great literature, the writing itself is at least as important as the story line. And what a story line it is! These characters draw you in with their raw humanity and hold you there with their quirks and flaws and dreams and charms. That she could create these very real and living characters and have their lives flawlessly intertwine is a real credit to Haynes as a storyteller. As you are reading this book your heart has no doubt that these stories are "true" and that these people have lived and loved and died in towns like this all through the south through all time. We love them and we come from them, and any scholar of the south and of human beings and their stories would do well to read this book. You won't be disappointed, and you will most certainly be enriched. Haynes is a writer whose reputation will only grow with time. You can read her work right now, and I have no doubt that our children and/or grandchildren will be reading her work in college one day.

Melinda Haynes does not write enough books! I have loved reading her work over the years and have resorted to reading them again recently. Willems Field is a great story with twists and turns and not without humor. Her characters are alive and vital. I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for something different.