The Cure for Death by Lightning : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Magical Realism, Translated/Transported North
Review: A very interesting first novel by Gail Anderson-Dargatz, just out in quality paperback. It's the story of 15-year-old Beth Weeks, daughter of a farming family in western Canada in the early years of WWII. Along with the commonplace grittiness of their farm life (the endless chores, the birth and death of livestock, the loneliness), there's also the oddities of small-town life, with its eccentrics, tragedies, property feuds, marriages, funerals, and festivals...and given the fact that Beth's dominating, temperamental father seems to be suffering from a combination of depression and psychosis, the Weeks family's popularity is not too high in town just now. There's also a strong undercurrent of Native American spirituality and mythology running through the novel---at times it's the only explanation for an event, unrational as that might sound. One might almost think of this as a Canadian version of a Latin American "magical realism" novel: translate tropic to temperate, jungle to prairie, Spanish heritage to British...The title originates with the scrapbook kept by Beth's mother, a hodgepodge of recipes, Christmas cards, household and family lore, observations, and agonies, a sort of collaged diary of this woman's private life.

I enjoy novels told in first-person narration, if the narrator's voice is an interesting one---and Beth is one of the more interesting voices I've come across lately.

Rating:
Summary: Country Style coming of age story
Review: A year in the life of Beth Weeks, a 15/16 year old girl growing into a young woman craving love and relationship, living in an extremely dysfunctional family and in hard circumstances. Set in the 1940's in a British Columbia rural area, the family ekes out a living on their farm, and Beth has a full share of the workload. The story is told as seen through her eyes in a straight forward as it happens fashion and as such does not offer solutions, explanations or even blame, this is a teenager telling about the only life she knows. I found parts of her story heartbreaking but she does not, she does not have any other world to compare hers to and besides that many of the other characters are far worse off than Beth.

The father has a metal plate in his head from the war and is unstable, crude and has problems with anger, he is abusive to his family and workers, and forces himself on Beth sexually. The mother seems even worse to me, for while she loves her daughter, she pretends not to see what is going on with the father, refuses to believe her daughter when Beth is attacked and stripped by other kids at school, and thinks she is faking problems with her arm when Beth is struck by lightning. Perhaps the mother is incapable of protecting Beth as she herself grew up as a victim of incest also. There are a few good relationships, with her brother Dan, and Billy, but most of the people in this novel struck me as bleak and/or ignorant.

Did like the mother's scrapbook and recipes, also the First Nations people stories were great. Beth's ability to keep seeking love and ability to see the beauty in nature made me feel she'll make it out of there one day, would be interesting to see what became of Beth by the time she was 30 or so.

Rating:
Summary: slippery and sensuous
Review: I found this book in the Englsh-language section of a bookstore in Rome, Italy. What a great find! I spent an entire day of my vacation reading. Anderson-Dargatz incorporates hauntingly delicate prose in a tale of anguish, abuse, terror, and finally redemption. I thought Beth's sexual confusion was handled beautifully; in an atmosphere tense with straied and repressed desire,Beth stumbles along as well as she is able.

Rating:
Summary: disturbing and beautiful
Review: I picked this up for a light read, but soon realized I'd judged too quickly from the cover. The Cure for Death by Lightning layers folklore and mythology and the simple pleasures of baking with the gritty realities of family tragedy - of incest, violence, blindness and mental illness- all the while illuminating the strength and inner beauty of Beth Weeks and her growth into a woman.

I read an essay about Jane Austen once that discussed how tragedy, real tragedy, occurs in the setting of the household. It is because they are so close to us and so beloved that our family can be the cause of the greatest hurt. Brother pitted against brother, incest, domestic violence...the household is the centerpiece of tragedy. And if this is so, then Beth Weeks has known more than her fair share of tragedy. And yet, the novel manages to be hopeful without being sentimental, realistic without forgoing beauty.

Reading this book may disturb you, but will leave you with an indelible impression of blue forget-me-nots, the sooty marks of a hand on another, the imagined scent of violets, and the fragrance of fresh-baked pound cake.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful
Review: I think that a lot of other readers missed the point of "The Cure for Death by Lightning." This is not a novel about the solution to the problem of a dysfunctional family. It is merely a journey that relays things how they happened. Unfortunately, aspects of this story happen too often in reality then most people would like to admit. By "aspects," I am referring to sexual abuse, violence and confusion of the soul. I'm not sure if this is a sort of autobiographical account from the writer or what motivated her to write this story. However, I suspect that these things did happen to her. We are so used to reading things that deal with issues of sexual abuse and violence and expect a remedy or some sort of therapeutic message to be sent, however, this is not necessary. Simply telling the tale tells a lot. As for Gail Anderson-Dargatz' writing style, it is surely a masterpiece. She starts off with a suspenseful beginning by making the reader wonder what it is that the main character hears. I appreciate the Indian folklore, or should I say First Nations' folklore that she includes in her story. When reading "The Cure for Death By Lightning," just stop and absorb the poetry of her words and appreciate the subtle message sent and remember that there is always redemption.

Rating:
Summary: Vivid and Provocative Imagery
Review: Like several other readers who have reviewed this book, I stumbled accross it almost by accident. But what a great novel! It has been a long time since a book has sparked such vivid images for me - some were diturbing, others deeply moving. I imagined every detail... the one-story farm house, the winter house, the barn yard,Coyote Jack, the Albino Crow. Dugatz is to be commended for her poetic writing style. A truly captivating novel which is beautifully written.

Rating:
Summary: Failed potential
Review: The Cure for Death by Lightning has so much potential that, for me, is never fulfilled. What a great start! The writing, the imagery, the rhythms, the characters all sucked me into the vortex that was a languid small town in British Columbia in WW II. But then, such a letdown! It seems that the Gail Anderson-Dargatz tried so hard to create unusual and interesting characters that she forgot what to do with them. According to the jacket blurb of the copy that I have, The Cure for Death by Lightning was prompted by a short story the author had written earlier. And I think here is the problem. She tries to stretch a good short story into a novel, thereby leaving it somewhat threadbare.

Rating:
Summary: The cure for boredom!
Review: This book is wonderful... The author uses detailed imagery which made me feel as though I was in the thick of the story itself, watching close-by. Like that of the previous reviewer, while I read each page, it felt as though something significant and terrible was on the cusp of occurring. An enjoyable read, The Cure For Death By Lightning will guide you into the rural British Columbia setting and life of fifteen year old, Beth Weeks, a girl who struggles to live a normal life. this proves to be tough, with a father who hasn't been the same since 'the bear incident'; An old-fashioned mother who is undeniably the thread who keeps Beth's father from completely losing it; The neighbors and kids who won't let Beth and her family forget their troubles... and a host of other characters who help make this the heart-felt and compelling read this is.

Rating:
Summary: An explicit and sensitive portrait
Review: this book succeeds in showing how a neglected adolescent, starved for love and for admiration, as well as for intellectual stimulation, can easily go for attractions that are only mildly satisfying and certainly short-lived. Beth, a young & sensitive girl, is stimulated by nature, in love with life, yet prevented from experiencing what attracts her as her father forbids any kind of pleasure, scares her by being abusive sexually and otherwise, and her mother is secretive, not defending her, nor explaining life to her. Beth, being in love with love, goes for a girl who provides her with warmth, with excitement, with the life and the love she so badly needs. The author succeeds in showing all the subtlety of such relationships, which so often occur to girls afraid of experiencing "boys" yet always end up so unsatisfying. The complexity of a family stuck in an abusive relationship are also well portrayed. An excellent, if emotionally difficult (what else are novels for?) novel, which aids in understanding and provides many memorable characters.

Rating:
Summary: (3.5)Clear and resonant prose, exceptional moments.....
Review: This small novel could be a simple coming-of-age story. Or it could be a more complex structure of Canadian farm life, circa WWII, a small town, reservation Indians and common prejudice, nature's random cruelties and the vagaries of family dynamics.

The Weeks family depends upon one another for all their needs, in a daily battle for survival, caring for sheep and cows, planting fields, and other continuous farm chores, with the help of two hired hands. At a time when most young men have enlisted, the Weeks farms is envied, their son still at home, as well as two young Indian field workers, also of recruitment age. Nearby farms are plagued by marauding coyotes, as well as another "coyote", an animal, according to local lore, that inhabits weak men, causing brutal and barbarous acts against innocent victims, often helpless children. Whether this is fact or rumor, remains a mystery, and no easy explanation is suggested. Further complicating the churning sense of physical and mental exhaustion of farm life is an escalating boundary feud between Beth Week's father and a neighbor, "the Swede".

Beth confronts her own demons and sexual awakening, and discovers an inner core of strength, gleaned from her mother's own stolid self-reliance, a more defined sense of self. Eventually Beth fights off her father's unwanted attentions, and turns her frustration and hate for him into self-determination. He loses the power to stalk her days and nights, as does the frightening specter of the "coyote", a metaphor for the unknown fears we each carry in our hearts, and she resolves to face her fears, refusing intimidation. Some passages actually reminded me of the blunt honesty in To Kill A Mockingbird, recalling the ability children have to look at things (fears) straight on, unflinching. I felt a vague air of threat following me while I read; I found myself anticipating something, on alert. This particular sense added to the flavor of the novel, a kind of edginess I don't often find.