Wrestling with Gabriel

Rating:
Summary: Great twist in style - pick this one up!!
Review: David Lynn, editor of the Kenyon Review, has followed up his previous publications, a short story collection and a book of literary criticism, with a stunning novel. He employs a slight trick and does so masterfully to force his readers to think about how they view the world in terms of racism, class and morality, while enjoying a page turner of a novel.

The story is told from the point of view of Baltimore reporter, Jason Currant. He is a Viet Nam veteran who is recently divorced. His ex-brother in law has been accused of rape in a small Iowa town and he is asked by his ex-in laws to look into it.

Gabriel Salter, the ex-brother in law is an idealist and a working member of the International Socialist Alliance. He has worked in some of the worst conditions imaginable in order to get the word out that the common worker and illegal immigrant is getting screwed on a regular basis. He has been accused of raping the daughter of a Black, truck owner/driver who doesn't have the greatest reputation in town.

The two sides have completely irreconcilable stories in regards to the events of the evening. The police have Salter as a low level drug dealer in the neighborhood to collect on a debt. The ISA has Gabriel set up because of his rabble rousing ways, including a recent protest over the raid and arresting of many illegal immigrants working at the meat packing company he works at. They claim a woman accosted him and told him her boyfriend was dangerous and asking if he would take her home? Upon arriving, she disappeared into the home, and as she wandered through the home, the police appeared behind Gabriel and pulled his pants down and arrested him.

The slight trick that Lynn uses is offering two different prologues, one for each of the two sides. Throughout the remaining reading of the book, the reader will choose one of those two views as the one to believe as Lynn has set them so far apart that finding a middle ground is not possible. He set the prosecution view up first and then offers a second prologue titled, "Another Story," giving the ISA view.

Throughout my reading, as Currant investigates, talks to people, and builds up both sides of the case at the same time, I had to constantly question myself - did I think what I did because of Lynn's ordering of the prologues? Because of the race of the participants in the events? Because of the politics of those involved?

Currant is not only investigating the story of Gabriel Salter, but wrestling with himself as well. He is trying to piece together a history of his family and that of the Salters, coming to conclusions that would be shocking, and not just surprising, if Lynn didn't do such a good job of foreshadowing them. Lynn reminds us just how simple it is to hide from one's view what is going on around us when we don't want to know - Currant is a reporter, trained to observe and investigate yet he is the one most surprised by the revelations he discovers about his youth, and his family.

As the mystery of the rape is the one that is being written about front and center, with Lynn's format, it is not the one that is going to be most easily solved. That lifts this book above the level of a standard mystery and puts it in a special class. Lynn has delivered a page turner that is as thought provoking as any book I've read this year - I believe I have learned as much about myself through my reading of "Wrestling with Gabriel," as I did of the characters.

Rating:
Summary: Great twist in style - pick this one up!!
Review: David Lynn, editor of the Kenyon Review, has followed up his previous publications, a short story collection and a book of literary criticism, with a stunning novel. He employs a slight trick and does so masterfully to force his readers to think about how they view the world in terms of racism, class and morality, while enjoying a page turner of a novel.

The story is told from the point of view of Baltimore reporter, Jason Currant. He is a Viet Nam veteran who is recently divorced. His ex-brother in law has been accused of rape in a small Iowa town and he is asked by his ex-in laws to look into it.

Gabriel Salter, the ex-brother in law is an idealist and a working member of the International Socialist Alliance. He has worked in some of the worst conditions imaginable in order to get the word out that the common worker and illegal immigrant is getting screwed on a regular basis. He has been accused of raping the daughter of a Black, truck owner/driver who doesn't have the greatest reputation in town.

The two sides have completely irreconcilable stories in regards to the events of the evening. The police have Salter as a low level drug dealer in the neighborhood to collect on a debt. The ISA has Gabriel set up because of his rabble rousing ways, including a recent protest over the raid and arresting of many illegal immigrants working at the meat packing company he works at. They claim a woman accosted him and told him her boyfriend was dangerous and asking if he would take her home? Upon arriving, she disappeared into the home, and as she wandered through the home, the police appeared behind Gabriel and pulled his pants down and arrested him.

The slight trick that Lynn uses is offering two different prologues, one for each of the two sides. Throughout the remaining reading of the book, the reader will choose one of those two views as the one to believe as Lynn has set them so far apart that finding a middle ground is not possible. He set the prosecution view up first and then offers a second prologue titled, "Another Story," giving the ISA view.

Throughout my reading, as Currant investigates, talks to people, and builds up both sides of the case at the same time, I had to constantly question myself - did I think what I did because of Lynn's ordering of the prologues? Because of the race of the participants in the events? Because of the politics of those involved?

Currant is not only investigating the story of Gabriel Salter, but wrestling with himself as well. He is trying to piece together a history of his family and that of the Salters, coming to conclusions that would be shocking, and not just surprising, if Lynn didn't do such a good job of foreshadowing them. Lynn reminds us just how simple it is to hide from one's view what is going on around us when we don't want to know - Currant is a reporter, trained to observe and investigate yet he is the one most surprised by the revelations he discovers about his youth, and his family.

As the mystery of the rape is the one that is being written about front and center, with Lynn's format, it is not the one that is going to be most easily solved. That lifts this book above the level of a standard mystery and puts it in a special class. Lynn has delivered a page turner that is as thought provoking as any book I've read this year - I believe I have learned as much about myself through my reading of "Wrestling with Gabriel," as I did of the characters.