When we were on the plane flying back from my brother's wedding in San Diego, my boyfriend leaned over to me while I was reading Ironweed and said, "Well there's a depressing book." I asked if he had read it, but in fact, he had only seen the movie. I didn't realize that there had been a movie make of Ironweed, and with Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep no less. How have I never even heard of this? And Tom Waits too? Geesh.
So Ironweed is about an alcoholic homeless drifter, Francis Phelan, who used to be a major league baseball player, returning to his hometown of Albany, New York in the late 1930s. I know, that should have been a pretty obvious clue there that this wasn't going to be a smiley, happy read. I don't know if there is a distinct plot, per se, but mostly narrates his experiences over a couple day span on Halloween and into a bitterly cold November. It tells of him trying to kick the hooch, getting odd jobs here and there to make a couple bucks, haunting the many places that him and the other bums frequent (from bars, to a mission to get soup and socks, to the apartment of another indigent couple where the one woman is sitting on a toilet with diarrhea in their living room the entire time, to a flea-infested flop house). It also tells of the complicated relationship between him and another bum, Helen, who have been in love for years, but living a very complicated life together.
The writing in this book was brilliant. I think I read the first chapter through about 4 times, because I was so perplexed with what was being said. The book starts with Francis working as a gravedigger, and some of the chapter includes interjections from the dead people in the cemetery. But the way it's written makes them seem as though they're active characters, commentating on Francis, and each other, on death, and eating weeds on their graves. And in fact, throughout the book, Francis is haunted by multiple other people who he has come across in his life. Which made me certainly question Francis' mental health; without necessarily being a shrink, I would guess that the character was intended to appear schizophrenic; because not only do these specters follow him around but it seems that at points Francis' own memory becomes blurred with reality. But more importantly, Francis is so very haunted by his past. The entire book really revolves around him being the product of his choices, and while Francis clearly feels great guilt for the things he has done, his inability to accept them and forgive himself has led him to the life he now leads.
Back to the writing of the book, there was one particular passage, that was probably one of the best, and most well-done sections that I've ever read. At one point, Francis, Helen, and another bum, Rudy, are in a bar and Helen has an opportunity to go up and sing on stage. Without giving too much away, it is a delightful moment of Helen remembering what a talented singer she was growing up and how much other people adored hearing her sing. Like the first chapter, I had to go back and re-read this section multiple times to make sure I was clear on what happened. And I don't know if I've ever read something that could have been so very difficult to convey, so successfully written.
While I generally liked the book, it was exactly as advertised (and as astutely pointed out by my boyfriend): a huge downer. Not that I expect all books that I read to be light and fluffy unicorns or anything, but yeah, there was a lot of darkness in this book. But most certainly one of the more unique novels I've read in a while. I know that there are other novels that William Kennedy has written about Albany, and some of the characters in Ironweed appear in those novels as well. While not necessarily on my list, I wouldn't be opposed to picking them up one day. But you know, I have a bit on my plate still.
So as noted in my previous post, my binge book buying has left me with quite a few non-list books to read, so on I go to The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson. The book seems quite long, but for some reason, I have a much easier time getting through more current fiction than older stuff. I would imagine it's because of the contrast in language from then versus now, but hopefully this one is a good one!
233 to go.
