Brotherly Love

Rating:
Summary: Compelling ,if downbeat tale.
Review: Brotherly Love is told in the present tense ,something which gives a sense of almost documentary style urgency and edge to the grim events it relates.
It spans a quarter century of life in blue colllar Philadelphia,although it unfolds in a series of shortish segments,jumping over long time periods in between.It starts in 1961 at a time when the city is riven by racial tensions between the Irish who control the labour unions and the Italian lead mob ,which is seeking to infiltrate and extend its influence over them.Pete Flood the eight year old son of a roofer's union leader sees his younger sisiter accidentally killed by their next door neighbour,a cop in thrall to the mob.His father disregards pressure from both sides and exacts bitter retribution on the cop,leading to his own death.
Pete is the centre of the events which follow-he resists the legacy of violence and tries to act as a restraining factor on the increassingly deranged and violent actions of his cousin Michael whose dispute with the mob escalates over the years.His solace comes in the boxing ring and in particular the gym owned by ex fighter Nick and his son -compassionate ,and hard working men who want no paart of the violence all around them.As Michael increasingly loses control and restaraint tragedy beckons ,its victims include family friend Jimmy Measles and increasingly threatens Pete himself.

Its structure gives it a rather disjointed feel and the tale suggests a series of vignettes rather than a smooth flowing narrative but the compassion and eye for social realism make it a worthwhile rather than compelling read

Rating:
Summary: Scary
Review: Peter Flood lost his family due to his father's involvement in the Irish Mob. He was raised by his uncle Phil who was a major player in the mob. He grew up with his cousin Michael who enjoyed the violent life of a mobster. Peter tried desperately to lead a "normal" life and not be involved in "the family". He struggled to no avail. It was a sad and very violent story.

Rating:
Summary: a terrible beauty is born(e)
Review: since i've got no more lehane in the cupboard, i've embarked upon his stated predecessors and influences: william kennedy, richard price and dexter, who poses on the back of this hardback with boxing gloves hanging in the background -- and he looks like a boxer. aptly-named book, for the story begins with the death of the protagonist's toddler sister while peter's on watch. the child's death destroys peter's family: his mother drops into neurathesia, and his dad's so consumed by revenge that he writes off his future, and his son's, by going against the italian don's wishes and wreaking obvious revenge. peter's father is betrayed, perhaps by his own brother, and his house is invaded by this uncle he can never trust, his wife and his son michael, who's cowardly, self-centered and infatuated with violence, the type who'd torture an old made man and then truss him up to the water heater, to be found by his wife. so much darkness here -- struggles between the irish and italian mobsters, filial struggles and betrayals of brothers, struggles between men and women -- and some strange beauty, for peter jumps. he jumps out of windows, off rooftops; he jumps after his sister's death, and he jumps when the italians come to finish the job he started when he offed michael. and it's that final jump that finally offers him forgiveness for the sin of distraction and a betrayal-that-wasn't, for he's been consumed by his sister's death, and its repercussions. tough and compelling, with moments of lyricism. my only complaint was that these lyrical strains sometimes jarred against dexter's hemingway-esque tendencies. plus, the women weren't drawn particularly well. but in general, this is a good good book.