Train

Rating:
Summary: Excellent writing, flawed story, extreme violence
Review: Pete Dexter paints a vivid picture of life for Afro-Americans in 1950s L.A., but he doesn't have the plot to go with it. The story of Train, an Afro-American golf caddie, is excellently told. The other two characters are less well-rounded. Is Packard really a police sergeant? He seems to work only part-time, if that. I couldn't get a real reading on him. And Norah. The description of what happens to her is almost too awful to read. I feel that Dexter invented her as a pivot to connect Packard and Train.

I think the plot lost steam as Packard began taking Train to play golf for money. Dexter tried to tie it all up in the end, but the novel lost its focus in my opinion. Who is the lead character afterall? I finished the book feeling up in the air about what I am supposed to think.

As for Train, why is he so tied to Plural? I guess he'll just go on as best he can. The descriptions of him and his dog tugged at my heart. Being inside Train's head is a wonderful experience. But readers who want a more well rounded Dexter book should go for his novel "Paris Trout." That is a real winner.

Rating:
Summary: Doesn't work
Review: The author tries to pull together a varied cast of characters,
and from various periods of our history, and it doesn't
seem to work.
There is much brutality presented, and old-time racism is at
the heart of much of the writing, but this book doesn't make
it very interesting.

Rating:
Summary: Racism is a Losing Proposition
Review: This is a tough book to like. None of the characters are all that redeeming yet I recommend this book because of its insights on the destructive results of racism and discrimination. Dexter has an important perspective on the subject which tends to show how everyone loses. He also tends to imply that as destructive as racism is, we are all vulnerable to being sucked into it.

The main character in this book is a caddy names Lionel "Train" Walk who is truly a great golfer and eventually is befriended by a policeman/hustler Miller Packard.

Being a black caddy in Los Angeles a number of decades ago was not a pleasant experience. During the book, Lionel will be wrongly arrested and will have problems keeping a job.

The one job he eventually lands is in playing golf for high stakes with Miller Packard who funds the entire enterprise while relying on Train's abilities. Packard's experience with racism is exacerbated by the experience of his girlfriend, a social activist whose husband is brutally murdered.

Throughout the book, the characters will encounter a number of challenging events that often force them to reconsider their stands on race and relationships. The only constant in the book is a dark and bleak outlook along with Lionel's stellar golfing.

As a whole, the book will not leave you with a warm feeling about humanity but will cause you to think long and hard about an important subject.

The only annoyance is there seems to be a few plot threads that are left hanging in the end. Still, worth reading.