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Summary: Petr Lynch's review of Continental Drift
Review: CONTINENTAL DRIFT My choice book Continental Drift was a very enjoyable book for me to read. It had a strong plot and many good characters with whom I could easily relate to. The story starts off with a man, Bob Dubois, a middle aged man who works for an oil heater fixer company in New Hampshire. He has a wife, Elaine, two kids, a house, car, and boat. But Bob is very unhappy. He has everything he needs, but doesn't have what he really wants. Not knowing what he wants, causes great disruption and confusion in his life and he goes and does things like sleeping with other woman. This is an act that he follows often with a woman who he meets with often at the town bar. Many nights after work Bob would meet up with this woman, Doris, and would go to bed with her. But that was it. There was no other relationship other than that. It was purely the sex, which sort of made them both feel better. Another example of Bob's confusion occurred at a Sears's department store when he got in a fight with a store clerk over a pair of ice skates for his daughter. After the incident occurred, he went out to the parking lot and broke all of the windows in his own car. It is events like this, which then result in his move to Florida where he plans to work for his brother at a liquor store. His family agrees to go, and his wife and two children sell everything they have, and head to Florida. The family arrives in Florida and we are then introduced to the next very big character who is his brother Eddie. Eddie is a very rich man with a wife and no children. He is a very racist, vulgar, but is also a very kind man. He uses very foul language around anyone included his nieces and nephews and is not afraid to use violence (mainly because he knows what kind of people live in Florida). He gives his brother, Bob, a job at the store making quite a bit more money than he was at the oil company in New Hampshire. Bob now has what he wants. But he does he really. After a short period of time working at the store he realizes what a bore it really is, and again becomes unhappy. This then leads to the next main character whom we meet while Bob is working at the store. Bob becomes very interested in a black woman who acts as the daughter figure for the man who is the only other employee at the liquor store. Bob, with his past history of affairs, begins to have further sexual affairs with this woman, Maruerite, after work. This is when the plot thickens as Bob has now begun to lie to everyone and has now gotten himself involved with the black community, which is not a good situation. Bob's wife is also pregnant with their third child and all of this comes at a time when they had just been arguing for months. Along with this, Bob had just gotten held up weeks before by two black men at the store, one of whom he had to kill. This gets very exciting as Bob gets not only into a lot of trouble with almost everyone he knows and is related to, but gets further confused about his life and current situation. From then on it gets very good and keeps you reading as the trouble begins for Bob and his family. Bob, even with his completely new life is even more confused than he was before and finds himself still in the hunt for his identity and a life that he can find enjoyable. This is a book that I would highly recommend to any reader who is in their late teens or any adult who enjoys a rebellious book, which they can easily relate to. I found it very difficult to put down right from the first page I read. A must read.
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Summary: Too Much Ado
Review: In the end I was disappointed. Throughout the book two separate stories take place. One is a record of Bob Dubois, whose life is ruled by circumstances and bad life management skills. The other tells of Vanise Dorsinville, a young Haitian woman, who struggles to survive as she makes her way to America. Neither is a pretty story, and when the two characters finally meet it gets even worse. When I finished reading this book I was angry at myself for muddling through all the italicized Haitian accent dialogue and French Creole voodoo terminology. Yah mon, true!
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Summary: Disturbing Look At The Death Of The American Dream
Review: Russell Banks' CONTINENTAL DRIFT, published in 1985, is not an easy read and not a pretty one at that; however, it is a powerful, disturbing, thought-provoking look at the death of 'The American Dream' as experienced by two entirely different protagonists from entirely different worlds. We have married, philandering, blue-collar Bob DuBois, who is dissatisfied with his dull, boring, overly routine life in frigid New Hampshire who finally decides to take his seemingly happy and successful older brother's offer to come work for him in sunny, warm Florida. It becomes a a never-ending series of nightmares for him and his family---but mostly for him. At the same time, we have intelligent, unselfish, thoughtful but dirt-poor Haitian emigre Vanise Dorsinville, who decides to try and escape her seemingly hopeless homeland with her infant son and 13-year-old nephew Claude---and run into a series of nightmares of their own. I have just reviewed the classic 1980's Tom Wolfe novel THE BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES, which is a hilariously scathing social commentary of The Greed Decade that follows four separate tracks, one for each protagonist, until they all come together in the second half of the book. CONTINENTAL DRIFT follows just two tracks; however, it is a much more difficult read that requires a lot more patience. It is not the compulsive page-turner that BONFIRE is. One reason is the decidedly dark tone of Banks' story; it is a lament, not a satire. Also, it is written in two distinctly different styles: it alternates between standard modern American prose, when following Bob's life, and an English-language version of Haitian prose which is rich with that island nation's odd mixture of French-derived Catholicism and African-originated voodoo. This jarring contrast in tones is at first puzzling on the initial read; however, I found that over time I gradually got used to it. As I said, this is a story that requires a lot of patience, and goes through its plot revelations and permutations slowly. There is lots of background and exposition, particularly on the Haitian side of things, showing that Banks obviously has fully researched, studied and understands the Haitian culture. However, for those readers who do not particularly care for this area of knowledge, the book will really drag, perhaps past the point of patience. At over 435 pages, this book is not a quick read by any means. I first came across CONTINENTAL DRIFT back in college; it was originally assigned to us as part of the reading list in an American Studies class I took in 1988, one that was taught by a 40-something ex-hippy-ish professor who made the class very interesting. Our theme for the semester was The Myth of Rebirth in American Culture. Our reading list included Henry David Thoreau's WALDEN, James Dickey's DELIVERANCE, Abraham Cahan's YEKL...and thhis book. By the end of the semester, we had run out of time to cover CONTINENTAL DRIFT; however, my professor had strongly urged us to read this book on our own time. Well, five years later, in 1993, I finally did! CONTINENTAL DRIFT, as with any good work of art, is open to many different interpretations. I take it pretty much as the exposure of 'The American Dream' as one that is a complete myth and fantasy for most people. It is the Golden Ring which is out of reach for most of us, even if we do work hard. That's not to say that it is completely unattainable for anyone; certainly there have been many rags-to-riches success stories in the good ol' US of A. However, let's face facts: just about everyobdy growing up in this country of ours has been promised a bill of goods at some point in our lives, that they would make out better than their parents' generations, etc. etc., blah, blah, blah---and for most of us, now struggling with massive, unprecedented credit card debt which which *most* of our parents never had to deal, this bill of goods has come up unsatisfyingly short in reality. This is what I personally take as the crux of this novel. Your interpretation may vary. I like the fact that, right up front, we know that the story covers the last year-and-a-half of Bob DuBois' life. We know for certain that he will die, when he will die, and where he will die (On a rain-soaked night in Miami). The adventure is to find out on he came to go from Point A to Point B. Overall, I think this book is successful because now, after almost a dozen years since I had read it, I still remember most of what happens; it obviously made a big impression on me. Just a warning: it is not for the faint-of-heart, and is so graphic in certain scenes that I doubt if it will ever be adapted to the big screen (as Russell Banks' later works AFFLICTION and THE SWEET HEREAFTER have been). But for now, you can just read it and make up your own mind as to whether or not you liked it, and as to what it all means for you. RECOMMENDED, AGES 18 & UP
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Summary: The Great American Novel
Review: This book is underrated and underappreciated. All who want to find, read (or write) The Great American Novel should start and stop here. This is it. And, no surprise, it's about racism and class.
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Summary: Much repellent about this book
Review: This book was suggested to me by a professor (Preston Allen, author of the fine novel Hoochie Mama), whose opinion I respect very much; and thus, I continued reading even when I felt overwhelmed with emotion and was ultimately rewarded with a story that is really two stories. Mr. Banks is perhaps the finest writer I have ever read, his prose refined to the point of being almost too self-conscious. He is a master at making the reader FEEL for his characters. So I followed the main character from the Northeast to Miami, as he fled his boring life and found himself in more trouble than he knew was possible. That first story, surface story, works because of rich writing and some semblance of plot. As a Haitian American, I had a serious problem with the second main story (especially because of Banks' fine style), Claude and Vanise's story. I wept. It was fiction, but I wept. I remembered how I came here as a small boy. I remembered what happened to my mother, but I won't go into that. And I was angry because Mr. Banks is not Haitian. I kept waiting for him to get it wrong--there were some stereotypical things, but they were minor. This is the story I kept wishing someone would write. Both Haitians and Cubans see Miami as a haven from poverty and political oppression in their countries, but America usually sees only the Cubans as deserving of refuge. I am still a bit bothered that Banks is not Haitian, but for selfish reasons I wish every American would read this book. I number it among my favorites of all time.
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Summary: Much repellent about this book
Review: This dreary account of a foul-mouthed adulterer who consistently makes the wrong choices might remind some of other tragic characters in great fiction, such as the protagonist in An American Tragedy or in Crime and Punishment or Madame Bovary. But the difference here is that Bob Dubois never learns, he repeatedly does the dumb thing, whether it is adultery or use of dope or abusing his wife or his poor innocent children. One can hardly help being disgusted by a man who does not seem to have a brain in his body. Only a moron would break all the windows in his own car when he is short of money for his wife and kids, or wreck his home, or booze and do dope when he does not know how to pay for necessary care for his child. As for all the stuff about voodoo this may be interest to some but to me was a bore. Surely the account of the Haitians' plight is distressing, but it helps to make this book a depressing one. Frankly I was glad when I finished this pretentious and not well-written book, and thought Dubois got what he asked for and deserved.
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Summary: This book will shake you up - Immensely powerful!
Review: This is an almost perfectly crafted book. With the exception of maybe one or two scenes that were slightly confusing, this is one of those extremely rare books where after finishing it, there is nothing that I can think of that would have improved it. The story of Bob Dubois is such a prototypical American story that it is hard, though he is far from what would be considered a "heroic" character, to not relate to him on at least some level. Although this novel was written 15 years ago, in the current age of the dot.com millionaire, if anything, the themes of the novel seem even more relevant today than when it was first published. Banks is able to capture perfectly the frustration, jealousy, and sense of unfairness than many in the lower and middle classes feel, knowing that as they struggle just to keep their head above water financially, there are those around them, who are not even necessarily any smarter than themselves, who have nonetheless been able to amass great amounts of wealth. It is hard to get through this book without having the feeling of being grabbed by your throat and shaken. The drama in this book is so powerful because it never feels contrived. Though the book does contain its share of bizarre coincidences, there is never a point where the drama feels less than authentic. For just about every story we hear where someone went from having nothing to starting up their own Internet company and becoming an instant millionaire, there is also the story we don't hear about, the person just wise enough to know that life should have more to offer than just struggling though to make ends meet, but just naïve enough to not get in over their heads trying to attain the better life they dream about. It is this second story that is so brilliantly brought to life in "Continental Drift".
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Summary: Morally adrift in contemporary America
Review: Truly a great book of the past few decades. Continental Drift parallels the lives of two individuals co-existing in North America. The main character, Bob Dubois, is a mediciocre, who flees his drab life in New Hampshire for the riches of Florida. In the process, Banks comments on racism, sex and materialism. In contrast, is the tragic story of a young Haitian woman seeking the American dream. Bob Dubois is a ghost of man morally; adrift in a society that rewards greed, consumerism and de-emphasizes love and committment. The Haitian story reflects on poverty and the moral bankrupcy it extracts. Russell Banks is one of our best writers today. Don't miss this book.
Rating:
Summary: Morally adrift in contemporary America
Review: Truly a great book of the past few decades. Continental Drift parallels the lives of two individuals co-existing in North America. The main character, Bob Dubois, is a mediciocre, who flees his drab life in New Hampshire for the riches of Florida. In the process, Banks comments on racism, sex and materialism. In contrast, is the tragic story of a young Haitian woman seeking the American dream. Bob Dubois is a ghost of man morally; adrift in a society that rewards greed, consumerism and de-emphasizes love and committment. The Haitian story reflects on poverty and the moral bankrupcy it extracts. Russell Banks is one of our best writers today. Don't miss this book.
Rating:
Summary: An outstanding read!
Review: We meet the protagonist, Bob Dubois who is tired of his rather boring life in New Hampshire. The whole family packs up and they get ready for the better life in Florida, where Bob will be working in a liquor store owned by his rich brother Eddie. But in Florida the things don't turn out quite the way Bob expected. The fast cash comes Bob's way, but it's not like what he expected so he soon (again) finds the situation boring. Just to complicate things further, he takes on yet another mistress, while at the same time his wife is pregnant with their third child. On top of this he experiences a robbery at work with a tragic ending to it. Bob not being a very strong person, is soon pushed over and he soon looses control over the situation. So what was once a dull and boring life is now left to be controlled by forces totally out of Bob's control. The other parallel story, is the story of the young, struggling Haitian woman, Vanise Dorsinville and her nephew Claude, both illegal immigrant to US, in search for a better life and the American Dream. Banks has created a realistic and interesting mix of characters with whom we can easily relate to. Spanning from the very simpatico, likable protagonist Bob with a great moral, to Bob's not so charming brother, Eddie -racist, vulgar, and without scruples. At first I was a bit frustrated with this book, as I had failed to realize that in the first part of the book it is two parallel stories that we are following. The stories are not tied together until the latter part of the book. But now you know, so you won't be making the same frustrating effort to understand the connection between the characters in the first part of the book... This was my first novel by Russell Banks, and after reading this - I immediately went out and bought "Cloudsplitter" and "Affliction" as well.. A great read!
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