Tuesday, June 22, 2010

William Kennedy's "Iron Weed"

I know it's been a while since I wrote about ANYTHING here at all. The kid was sick, I was sick.. still am sick I guess. The boss asked me today if I have laryngitis. I hope not! I thought I just had a stomach bug, which is hell by itself, but maybe I'm coming down with something else. Not eating for a few days was hopefully good for my waistline but since I don't have a working scale at home I won't really know.

Meanwhile I managed to actually get through this book "Iron Weed" which I wasn't sure I was going to read. It's not my usual thing. It takes place in the 1930s I guess, in Albany, NY. The whole story is only a couple of days in the lives of the characters but there is a lot there because the main character, Francis, is a little crazy and has a lot of flashbacks. So a lot of history gets said in these flashbacks of his. In the end, it ends well for him. Not so well for some of the other characters, but okay for him at least. I'm not sure if I would recommend a book like this to everyone, but it's good writing and good reading but you really have to be in the mood for it. Maybe check out a used copy or get a copy from the library like I did.