Good Brother Description
How do you describe Good Brother? One word…MUD. Or maybe MOON. Okay more than one word.
What about GIRL? I still don’t know who Girl is. Girl is everyone, mother,
sister, and maybe even Brother? Who are the Good Brothers? They are FISH. “I
drove that rusty nail right through Brother’s hand.” Why??? Religious Metaphors
are a factor but not the book in its entirety. You can’t help but think of
Jesus and the crucifixion. Offensive? Maybe a little. I’m not quite sure. Good Brother could simply be a coming of
age story but it seems like it should be more than that. You can read this
story however you want to. In my mind it said, “Right on Brutha!” Black ‘brutha’?
Nope, that’s not it. Sorry, wrong type of ‘brother’. What kind of Brothers are
we dealing with? The kind of brothers that can die but come back to life in
different forms. That answers one question? Not really, it answers none of the
questions. Question: What is Good Brother
About? Answer Key: You can’t really describe Good Brother with one answer. Good
Brother is many answers. Good Brother
is every answer.
Mud Analysis
“We did not like it much when our Mother made us
wash the mud from off the bottoms of our muddy boots. We liked mud and those
dirty river smells that smelled of fishing and worms.” Mud is everything in
this story. The Brothers live for the mud and I began to think the Brothers
were mud themselves. According to Brian Evenson “Markus shapes and reshapes
river and mud into a protean world perpetually reasserting itself…” I agree.
The mud is multiple things. The mud is multiple meanings.The mud is everything.
Good Brother Revisited
Lesson
to be learned: We’re all good brothers. We love Mud. And We don’t know who Girl
is but she seems to be very important.
I
didn’t like the book but I would recommend it only because it’s good to read
things that are completely out of your comfort zone and a little strange. The
only warning I would give to the reader is: CAUTION PREPARE TO BE MIND-F**KED.
I like the sections because they mirror the chapters of the book; they leave and come back with slightly different tones but still a similar message. I think you could say "Caution Prepare to Be Mud F**ked" instead of "mind-f**ked" at the end, to keep things a little more good, brother oriented.
ReplyDeleteAt the very end, Girl is a love story.
ReplyDelete"Girl whispers into my ear for me to close my hand, to squeeze it tight, as tight as I can, as if I am holding onto something that I could not live without. What I picture is Girl. Girl is in the palm of my hand."
I actually read an interview with Peter Markus in which he talked about the violent ends of his characters being compared to crucifixion.
ReplyDeleteAn excerpt from that interview:
"The apparent violence in my stories is softened, I think, by the fact that in this world that I’m conjuring up, these acts of violence (what some have called a crucifixion) lead the characters (the two brothers) into a world that is a sort of muddy-rivered neverland where miracles are known to occur."
I like the stream of consciousness quality of this post. When reviewing abstract works, it is often difficult to qualify them in clear and concise ways because the work itself is not clear and concise.
I like how you give an excellent review even though you did not like the book. Usually when people don't like a book they encourage others not to read it by giving a bad review but the fact that you incorporate so much of the book into your review despite how you feel about it is enticing and would ultimately make someone want to read this book.
ReplyDeleteI am also confused about GIRL.. I have come to the conclusion that she is everything--maybe even God
ReplyDeleteI like how you put your personality into the book review and were able to admit your position. because of the strange things that take place within the book, it would have been less interesting if you would have written a "normal" book review.. this way is better.