Closing out CBR14 with a whimper, not a bang, folks. This is one of those books that I’m sure will get rave reviews. There are probably countless deep dives out there about how this book is an indictment of capitalism. And it is. It is about a lot of relevant things, but it’s also very boring.
The story of a boy who grew into adulthood within various utopian societies throughout the United States should be interesting at least. But it isn’t. I’m going to blame Banks’ method of delivery here. The novel is introduced by the “author” as a true story they transcribed from a series of audio tapes found in a hurricane-soaked library basement in St. Cloud, Florida. In the tapes, Harley Mann, an 80-year-old real estate tycoon, is looking back on his adolescence as a member of a Shaker community located in the swamps near what would become Disney World’s Magic Kingdom.
All of the bones for a gripping story are here, but Banks does not put the skeleton together. It’s hard for me to wrap my mind around what happened because Banks is such a great writer. The writing here, however, was just extremely repetitive, circling the meaty center of the story without ever taking a bite. Honestly, it was probably one of the most frustrating books that I have ever read because it could have worked but it didn’t. A book full of religious zeal, forbidden love, swampy boat rides, beekeeping, and suspected murder should be a page-turner, right?
I loved Russell Banks’ Cloudsplitter and The Reserve but this one was not for me.