This month’s book club pick was by Karen, and one that was on my list of things I would like to read – yay! Karen is an online phenomenon, so some of you may know her from her writing at Bad Moms’ Club, Canadian Family, or her own website, The Kids Are Alright, where she rights beautiful and funny stories that I always want to read. She is also the brain behind the #momthevote movement of the last couple of elections. Yep, she’s a powerhouse!
She also happens to be fantastic to be around. She’s funny, smart, down to earth, brutally honest, and fairly twinkles with mischief. This past year, she also took the bold step of quitting her day job and moving to a small town in Ontario where she is enjoying her “retirement,” writing freelance, and spending more time with her family while her two girls are still small. I didn’t actually see Karen often while she still lived in town, but I have to say that I miss having her near anyhow – so now I live for book club even more than usual!
The Sisters Brothers
by Patrick deWitt
House of Anansi
ISBN: 978 1 77089 032 9
Eli and Charlie Sisters are killers – notorious ones, at that – and they are on a job. There are a few complications and adventures as they make their way to California to complete their mission, so the two leave a bit of a trail of mayhem behind them, but this is the still-largely-wild west, the days of the Gold Rush, so they continue along relatively unopposed. thing is, while Charlie is intent on this being his path to greatness, Eli, who narrates, is not much in love with the business of killing. he notes that they have an aptitude for it, but dreams of other, quieter lives. He has, in fact, a bit of the gentle poet about him, and his mild tone creates a little dissonance that makes for a small undercurrent of humour all the way through the story.
It is a difficult thing to give some sense of the many twists and turns that come about once the pair reach the end of the trail in California without spoiling anything, for nothing goes as planned, and they end up changing direction and allegiance many times over. I won’t give away the ending, for sure, except to say that the number of times their fortune changes makes for an almost farcical last act, on top of a few of the rather ridiculously picaresque episodes that they became involved with along the way.
The whole is written in a voice that works for the period without being hard to engage in, and reads well. There is, as I mentioned, a gentle humour about it – it reminds me a bit of the way Guy Ritchie or Quentin Tarantino can turn brutal violence into a dryly amusing moment by the addition of some mild, offhand conversation. Because yes, there is plenty of violence and brutality in this book, as well. These are cold-blooded killers, after all, and when they do provide their full name, it commands fear and respect. The whole, though, is a really fun read, well-written, with moments of beauty and depth alongside moments of humour and pure adventure, and well deserving of the many honours and all the ciritcal acclaim that has been heaped upon it.
Thanks for this. It’s definitely on my To Read list! : )
i really want to read this one!!!