Sweet Hereafter: A Novel by Russell Banks
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Book Reviews of Sweet Hereafter: A Novel
Book Review: Utter perfection; calm, subtle and heartbreaking perfection...
Summary: 5 Stars
It's hard to write a review for the novel and the novel alone, for if you've seen the brilliant film adaptation they really mold into one amazing experience. Both the novel and the film add so many layers and compliment one another so well that I'm almost forced to advise everyone who has read the novel to see the movie and visa-versa. It's only in that way that you'll get the whole experience. That's not to say that either is incomplete but that each one is so well-rounded, so well fleshed out and so in tune that it's almost a continuation rather than an adaptation. That said I'll try and focus mainly on Russell Banks novel here but don't get upset it I reference Atom Egoyan's film adaptation more than once.
First I want to point out that Russell Banks is a masterful writer. This is the first novel of his that I have read and I'm so impressed that I've already ordered `Affliction'. His style is so calm and relaxed; it perfectly fit the atmosphere of the story. Some have mentioned this being boring or slow paced. It's far from boring in my humble opinion, but the slow pacing is essential to the feel of the novel. It helps you to get inside the aftermath of the tragedy by fully understanding the mindset of the town. If you've seen the film you'll understand better, for Egoyan also was able to brilliantly capture that pure unsettling serenity that Banks exposes on each and every page.
It was a very easy read, not something you long to put down. My only fault with the writing was more the arrangement. There are only five chapters, each with a different protagonist (except the first and last, each being the same) and each chapter is quite lengthy of course with no breaks in text to render a good stopping point. So, with that said it became difficult to find enough time to devote to finishing a chapter. I know that not everyone will have this problem, but for someone who can't seem to set aside more than ten minutes or so to get in some reading it can prove difficult. Don't let this detour you from divulging this brilliant novel. That would be a grave mistake.
The story focuses around the small town of Sam Dent after a tragic bus accident leaves 14 children dead, the bus driver, Dolores Driscoll, and a 14 year old student Nichole being two of the only survivors. The novel shifts between four key characters, Dolores, Nichole, Mitchell (a lawyer) and Billy Ansel, a widower who lost his two children in the wreck. The story follows Mitchell as he tries to persuade the town's people to file a negligence suit against the town of Sam Dent. There are conflicting opinions in regard to the suit, to the money and to the accident as a whole and those opinions are fleshed out so well before us. Each of these four human beings has so much history, so much baggage, yet Banks' superb novel never gets bogged down. That is due in large part to his calm and steady style.
To me the novel excels in really exposing Mitchell Stephens, the lawyer, for the man he really is. He's troubled by the wayward course his only daughter Zoe has taken and this affects his almost every move. It's almost as if he's fighting for her with every breath, every case, as if she was his only motive. I feel that film adaptation excels in really exposing Nichole's character. That's not to say that Banks doesn't breathe life into the soul he created, but Egoyan's film effortlessly makes her the star, giving her so much substance and character and really fleshing her out in all due subtlety to make her relatable and heartbreaking, the moral center of a tragic accident. The book brilliantly relates Dolores Driscoll's account of the accident as well as the post-accident life in the small town, her treatment by the town's people before and after.
Somewhere where the novel and the film seem to tie or at least both deliver valiantly is in the case of Billy Ansel, the Vietnam-War Vet widower who loved his kids more than anything, the man who was trailing behind the bus waving to his children when he lost his whole world with the sight of a crash. His story is heartbreaking. The book though really delivers with its final chapter, something that is not delved into with the film, and it adds a few more layers to both Ansel and Driscoll. So, this is why I can't help but recommend both in the same breath. They both add so much and deliver so well that you truly must read and then watch or watch and then read to grasp the magic in its entirety.
Book Review: From many perspectives
Summary: 5 Stars
The novel, by Russel Banks was exceptional. There is a great trajedy of a simple town, and most people did what people expected, and shut others off. Others became enraged. Mitchell Stevens esq. prayed for those people who looked for someone to blame. He was a big time lawyer who needed to make a living off anothers loss. He was a clever fellow, and was one of the main people to try to destroy the small town of Sam Dent. Of course their were those opposing him like Billy Ansel, who was a direct victim, having lost both his children in the accident. He knew that by people pointing blame on someone, it was bound to tear his town apart. He knew that. Or did he? After all that was only his point of view. Others had a different opinion. The lawyer, Mitchell Esquire, for example did not see the whole case as a way to destroy a town, rather than a way to make someone pay for a mistake. He believed that their are no accidents, and that there is always a corner cut somewhere, when an accident happens. Therefore he needed to do what he could to make sure that this type of thing never happened again. Of course he might come off as the type of person who was just trying to stir up trouble to other people, but there are many other lawyers out there, and if he didnt work fast to gain clients, there was a chance that things could be covered up. Therefore he must act the way he does, in order to best develop a case. Was it a case or a lie that Mitchell Stevens was creating? Nichole Burnell was not sure. She had known that he seemed like a nice guy, yet at the same time, she knew he had something up his sleeve. Not to mention the fact that she wanted the whole issue dropped, being the low-point in her life. She had heard his side of what should be done, and by evesdropping, she had heard Billy Ansels version as well. Two totally different opinions, and both not liking the others. She understood that there were hard payments to be made from the deads family and some money could help, but at the same time, she understood what a scapegoat was doing to the town. With all that was happening, her side was simply this: tell the truth, no matter what. The people of Sam Dent had two great trajedy happen to them. They lost some of their children, and they tried to blame someone to get revenge. It is hard to know the real truth of something horrible, when it comes from only one persons eyes. Each of the narrators told their side of the story, and I conclude simply: no one is to blame, and everyone is to blame.Book Review: Intensely moving
Summary: 5 Stars
I was perusing the reviews of this book earlier, and I have to agree that this book is one of Russell Banks' most haunting, despondent, and beautiful pieces of prose. The Sweet Hereafter chronicles the story of four individuals who are struggling with the aftermath of a horrific school bus accident, resulting in the deaths of many schoolchildren riding that morning. The book uses four different narrators; there is Delores, the once tough but eternally optimistic driver who now is consumed by guilt. Another voice is Billy Ansel, the ruggedly handsome widower who witnesses the accident from his truck. With the death of his twin son and daughter, Ansel becomes grief-stricken and shuts out any possibility of redemption, offerd in the form of a personal injury lawyer, who placed blame on the town and offers promise of financial reparitions. The lawyer is Mitchell Stephens, who also is reeling from the "death" of a child; his daughter has disappeared into a lifestyle of drugs and detox centers. The fourth and perhaps most intriguing voice is Nicole Burnell, a former cheerleader now paralyzed by the accident. She is a crucial witness for Stephens, and her surprising actions reveal ambiguous motives. I can't really reveal too much more about her, but she is the most interesting character in the book, in part because it is never clear why she does what she does. The book also has a heatwrenching epilogue, demonstating that, in a story like this, there can be no neat sense of closure. Rather, the devastation of survival plagues and haunts each member of the community, and time does not heal suffering, but rather prolongs it. Another reviewwer commented that the book was light on dialogue. Indeed, it is. However, I think it is necessary to omit large chunks of conversation, because so much of the book centers on the internal process of grief and the ianbility of hte characters to express their emotions effectively to others. Everything just shuts down, becomes static, and indeed, suspends people in a "sweet hereafter." This is an incredible book by one of the greatest contemporary authors in the United States. The film adaptaion is also stellar, with fantastic work by Ian Holm and a parade of talented Canadian actors.
Book Review: CAPTIVATING AND BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a great book that blew me away with its many layers of story and the credible tension that Russell Banks was able to create out of such a simple premise, it almost reads like a mystery. He writes in such a way that he opens up the small town of Sam Dent and deposits you right in the middle of it leaving you feeling like you personally know all the characters or might have once lived there yourself. It is also an interesting character study and from my experience realistic in the way each person here deals differently with grief; Some self-destruct while others find new strength, all want to lay blame somewhere and everyone in this once innocent town is irreversibly changed. Banks manages to show all sides of these ordinary characters, even the negative and because this was written from 4 different perspectives almost anyone will be able to find a piece of themselves in one of them. Ultimately it will leave you looking at yourself and those around you differently because every town has its secrets.
As I said the story is simple; One snowy morning a school bus goes off the road and into the frozen waters of a small American town, 14 children are lost in the accident and its citizens are confronted with life's most disturbing question when the worst happens who do you blame and how do you cope. We then enter surviving school bus driver Deloris Driscoll's head as she recalls the morning of the accident and introduces us to the town and its members while making stops along the bus route.
We then switch to widower and war veteran Billy Ansel who is following the bus on his way to work, his story is heartbreaking and full of secrets. The narration then turns to New York lawyer and pariah Mitchell Stevens who has come to Sam Dent like all the other lawyers and media to try and make a buck off the tragedy, surprisingly I really enjoyed his view as you can`t always judge a book (lawyer)by its cover. We also hear form 14 year old Nicole Burnell, who before the accident was a cheerleader and the town princess and is now confined to a wheelchair, her part in the story shocked me.
I highly recommend this and now hope to see if the movie can live up to this amazing book.
Book Review: This book has an issue for everyone-a must read!!
Summary: 5 Stars
The Sweet Hereafter is a compelling novel of a small town in America that has to overcome a devasating tragedy.The novel is written from the perspective of four completely different narrators which is what makes the story so interesting. The way Russel Banks portrays each character can make even the most insensitive reader identify with them. The language he uses can make you almost hear the character speaking and makes them seem more realistic. A reader from any cultural background can read this book and get the feeling of a small town in America and sympathize with the characters in it. The novel is written so well that every point of view can be clearly seen even when the characters are expressing some of their negative attributes.
The way the people deal with the accident is what is so compelling because their lives can be altered in a positive or very negative way depending on how they deal with the influx of big city lawyers and media.This novel gives you an in depth look at how ordinary people deal with pain and loss. We see how certain relationships deteriorate and others develop after the tragedy. The way they see each other and the way the reader sees the characters will change drastically from beginning to end.
There are themes in this novel for everyone from secret affairs, loss of loved ones, alcoholism, selfishness, divorce and the need to blame others are just a few. Anyone can get involved in this book and will most probably see some aspects of their own lives in it.
The outcome of the novel was pleasantly surprising but it is inevitable to have a slight feeling of sadness for some of the characters. It is very realistic but not at all dull, everyone has to read this book!