Witches on the Road Tonight, (Conclusion)

The odd – very odd – assortment of characters in this story gets even odder as we near the end.  But part of the message here seems to be that we are all this odd; we just don’t see ourselves objectively enough to realize it.  When the husband of the witch at Panther Gap comes home to find it invaded by some curious city-folk, the chemistry which comes about is very strange indeed; yet, it’s quite believable in retrospect – we have all been in uncomfortable social situations that seem just on the verge of going completely off the tracks. 

When the “witchcraft” we’ve been waiting for finally takes place, it is presented in an almost allegorical manner, as the victim runs for his life in a panic, yet sensing just what it is he has to do to survive.  Strangely, we never really know whether he did, in fact, survive, or what became of him afterward - although there are hints earlier in the narrative - and the story concludes without our ever receiving the answer.  Perhaps this adds to the mysteriousness of the tale. 

The promiscuity of the adult heroine mentioned earlier is overshadowed by the revelation of the latent homosexuality of her father.  Of course, the book starts with allusions to this, but when it is revealed in the story, it comes as rather a surprise, and there is little to connect the two manifestations of the character.  Again, the message here may be that in real life that’s the way things happen, despite our expectations of the way things should be. 

The issue of suicide – or perhaps our sometimes tenuous grasp on our survival instincts – is explored here.  Our heroine feels the persistent guilt of the last thing she said to Jasper before he kills himself: “You were right,” she says. “If you were dead, we’d all be so relieved.”  When her father’s suicide attempt at the end is thwarted by her, she wonders if she shouldn’t have just let him have his way.  The fact that he had given her a clue, almost as if daring her to interfere, is telling – this, too, happens in real life, documented in suicide cases.  He thanks her at the very end. 

Those of us who were looking for a more “spooky” story were left hanging a little.  This story is more about how tough life can be and how it can throw you some nasty curves.  Yes, there is some spookiness involved, and a taste of supernaturalism, but these are very secondary features.  We are taking a good long look at some of the thornier patches in the human psychological make-up with this novel.  And this is done very well.




November's book has been changed to "Lunatics," by Dave Berry and Alan Zweibel! (If you already got a copy of "White Tiger," let me know and we'll read that in January or February.) Lunatics was recommended by a club member and is an excellent choice - good call, CJ!

Witches on the Road Tonight, (Pages 123-195)

The jumping back and forth on the timeline is beginning to be a little disconcerting at this point.  In this segment, we start in 1980 with the younger version of our main heroine going to the isolated cabin with her father who was the little boy who grew up there; to 1967 when her mother was pregnant with her and discovers photographs in a photography display of her husband when he was that little boy, taken by the woman who appeared in the first main segment of the story; to 1940, when the father was a little boy and the photographer and her bewitched husband appeared at the cabin.  It’s starting to appear as if there is no justification for all this skipping around, and that perhaps the story would have been just as appealing, or more so, without it.  Keeping an open mind to the end, however. 

The discovery of the father (who was once the little boy) that the husband of the photographer had met with a bad end is delightfully disturbing.  His anguish over the fact that he had waited in vain all those years for the man, who was presumably dead, to return, and his daughter’s attempt to comfort him, are poignantly told.  There are some very thoughtfully crafted passages like this throughout the book, as well as subtle interplay between the characters.  The original witch and her 1940 victim have a fascinating relationship that takes several unexpected twists and turns.  We’re building to a climax here which promises to be chillingly superb. 

Reading novels written by women, I’m always hopeful that I might gain some insight into how women think.  It’s actually strange to me how seldom this happens, but occasionally it does, and sometimes in profound ways.  Consider the following passage from this book: “She always imagined she’d marry someone useless, have a brilliant decorative husband she could admire but who was fragile so that she’d never be tempted to lean on him.  Who puts weight on a china poodle or a failed playwright?  A husband she could lean on would be the worst possible thing, because then she might be tempted to relax, to soften, and then she would be lost.”  It seems we’re always seeing certain couples in public and thinking, “What’s an outstanding-looking woman like her doing with a creep like him?”  Does the passage above help explain this?

Just as there are different conceptions of vampires (contrast Edward in “Twilight” who “sparkles” in the sun, with Bill in the Charlaine Harris books who would perish in the sun), there are different conceptions in the fictional depiction of witches.  The oddity of a witch who literally sheds her skin - then looking like a medical dictionary’s muscle chart and dripping blood as she goes - is an idea of witches I haven’t previously encountered.  Maybe it’s fresh with this author?  Very creepy.  In a good way!

 

Maybe it’s just my imagination, but the scenes set in 1940 seem to take on an “old black-and-white movie” quality at times.  Is it the dialog?  The phrasing and sentence structure?  The allusions to outmoded clothing and photographic equipment?  I would like to ask the author if she did this purposely, to create a different atmosphere for each period.  If so, this is masterful prose indeed!  (It might also explain the timeline skipping, to contrast the writing techniques even more.)


Next segment, Conclusion



November's book has been changed to "Lunatics," by Dave Berry and Alan Zweibel!  (If you already got a copy of "White Tiger," let me know and we'll read that in January or February.)  Lunatics was recommended by a club member and is an excellent choice - good call, CJ!

Witches on the Road Tonight, (Pages 64-122)

The prose, in this second segment of the story, continues to be remarkably fresh, a little odd, but very natural and accessible.  More memorable similes continue to delight, such as: “Through the fog, the neon lights of Shea Stadium glowed red like a flashlight shone through the palm of a hand.”  This kind of imagery is used just sparingly enough to continue to charm us, along with the “creepshow” imagery that is germane to the characters – such as the adult Eddie appearing as Captain Casket on late night TV as the host of old-time cheesy “horror” movies. 

This story is one of those that skips around its time line, giving us glimpses of where the characters are coming from or going to.  I know I’m not alone in my cynicism for this particular plot device, but for some reason I’m comfortable with it here.  There seems to be a compelling reason for constructing the story this way, though it’s hard to put one’s finger on that reason this early on.  Telling it linearly would be giving away too much too soon, one senses, so that it’s easy to be patient with the author. 

Her creativity with plot and simile extends to creating expressive terms and words as well.  I like “trailerish,” referring to something or someone as that which one might find in a cheap trailer park.  “He is mean and trailerish in the thin gray and green baseball shirt he wears, the ragged fringe of his cutoff jeans…”  This author uses such words and terms as an artist uses paint.  Not quite Percy Bysshe Shelley, but it does make me wonder if Ms. Holman has had any poetry published. 

And what about the “Witches” promised in the title?  Mostly we are tantalized by the most obscure references.  But this section does include a superb passage describing the young girl’s exit from the house late at night while everyone else is sleeping, and a convincing description of her spell-weaving with the victim’s hair and fingernail clippings, a candle … and more graphic substances as well.  She is the granddaughter of the woman referred to earlier in the book, though she has never met the woman or even heard much about her.  The Black Art just comes to her naturally – or perhaps, supernaturally.

 

Early in this segment, our main heroine blatantly cheats on her husband.  It remains to be seen why this is important to the story.  If it turns out not to be important, it’s disappointing; not because of any prudish sentimentality or conservatism, but because we want to respect this woman, and this stands in the way.  We don’t generally have a great deal of respect for those who don’t keep their promises, and marriage is perhaps the ultimate promise.  If this passage was intended to show weakness in our heroine, there must be better ways to do that.  Here’s hoping that the indiscretion turns out to be important to the plot.


Next segment, pages 123-195




November's book has been changed to "Lunatics," by Dave Berry and Alan Zweibel! (If you already got a copy of "White Tiger," let me know and we'll read that in January or February.) Lunatics was recommended by a club member and is an excellent choice - good call, CJ!

Witches on the Road Tonight, (Pages 1-63)

This book interested me because of the subject matter; being about witches (and this being October – Happy Halloween!), and described as being a fresh treatment of the subject, it intrigued me.  What I was not prepared for was the highly developed stylistic expertise it displays.  It is very intelligent writing without being the least pedantic or professorial. Very artistic without being pretentious or vague.  In short, precisely what I look for in a good writer. 

Ms. Holman doesn’t leap right into the story at the beginning, preferring to hint at things to come with a rather tangential (or so it appears at this point) sub-plot at the outset.  We are even left to guess and infer gender and sexual preference of characters referred to.  All this will become clear in due time, we can assume, as the plot develops.  Once the meat of the plot is begun, however, a linear momentum is established which takes us some way down an understatedly disturbing path. 

The characters are engagingly complex, helping the reader to imagine them as real people with comparatively little development.  I’m always impressed with writing that manages to do this, and the present book displays the talent particularly well.  Each moment in the action is adequately described without become tedious, while a subtle dark cast colors the sequence of events in just the right tone.  There is just enough “spookiness” here to whet our appetite for more.   

The technical aspects of the prose are impressive but not gaudy.  A representative example of the author’s touch with the simile: “Secrets are always hardest at the beginning.  After a while they settle in, like the cavities in your teeth, and you only think about them when they hurt.”  At the same time, sentences are often economically short, the dialog realistically terse.  “Taking his pouch of tobacco and his papers from his satchel, he rolls himself a cigarette.  He is too lost for comfort.  ‘Like one?” he asks.  Cora shakes her head.”  (This “present tense” style of writing is well-crafted, not distracting in the least.)

 

Descriptive passages of settings show the same deftness of presentation, not requiring long-winded exposition.  When we reach the isolated, dilapidated homestead in the wooded mountains we get a sense of being in the middle of nowhere, and a sense of how rundown and ancient the buildings are.  We feel what the city-bred characters must feel as they find themselves drawn deeper into the wilds.  And the idea of there being witches involved is brought to light gradually, so that the suspension of belief is coaxed from us by degrees.  Thus far, very satisfying!


Next segment, pages 64-122 (up to Wallis / Panther Gap / 1980)