My inaugural book review is about the first book I've read since I was liberated from my studies. Actually that's only half true- I was using it to dislodge the vagaries of information literacy from my brain at night before sleep for the last month. And technically I'm not finished but I've got less than 30 of the 500-odd pages of the book left and feeling the familiar loss of a good book already. As I dont think the ending will weigh too heavily on my feelings about it, it's review time!
It's not a new book, so there are plenty of better, more comprehensive reviews elsewhere, but here's my take.
This is a book which I loved reading, despite its lenth, dark undercurrents and somewhat brisk dispatching of most of the characters. It follows the trail of a green button-accordion across the United States from its passage from Sicily in 1890, and from immigrant to immigrant's child and beyond. Along the way it's lost, sold, given away, and stolen by a colourful variety of characters. Part of what makes the story flow is the emotional investment most of the down-trodden owners make in the similarly misused and abused musical instrument. They recognise in its wail of misery a kindred spirit which comforts them at their lowest moments. There is a historical bent to the novel and Proulx's flair for grimy detail give each of the ages and places the accordion passes through a distinct odour, flavour and feeling. Some of the characters are unlikable and their demise draws little sympathy, but I got quite attached to a few of them and was sad when they met their wonderfully grim ends. The book says a lot about America's treatment of its immigrants - from Germans and Poles to French and Irish, all find the place a harsh and unforgiving land where dreams serve only to remind them of their own naiveté.
I've often wondered at the previous lives of some of my second-hand items (in fact I think this book was second or third or who knows how many hands!) so I enjoyed the detailed vignettes of the owner's lives and cultures, and how each one made the instrument their own. Highly recommended for an entertaining, sad, and sometimes disturbing read.
