House Of Earth. By Woody Guthrie (2013) - Plot & Excerpts
Maybe 3½. The problem here is not so much the story - as the intro said, sort of a "grapes of wrath" about those who chose not to leave the Dust Bowl - but WG writes like he talks. It does not transfer to the page. Can you imagine, for example, Arlo Guthrie's "Alice's Restaurant Massacre" being given you to read, not to listen. Now, if someone with an Okie accent had read this to me ......... I must admit to not knowing much about Woody Guthrie beyond the folk songs he sang and of course, "This Land is Your Land." I suspect though that the synopsis of this book would have intrigued me no matter the author. Sadly, I think the only reason this book was published is BECAUSE it was written by Woody Guthrie.It is ostensibly a story about a man wanting a better life for his family. He thinks that building an adobe house is the answer because it will stand up the the ravages of the weather. It ends up being a four section, slow moving chronicle that mentions adobe houses at the most absurd times. The first chapter has a somewhat graphic and at the same time exceptionally boring sex scene and in the middle of it adobe houses are discussed. They are discussed in the middle of labor. They are discussed ad nasueum. I get it - he wants an adobe house. Enough already.I just didn't enjoy the book. I didn't enjoy the characters, I didn't enjoy what little plot there was and I'm pretty sure I don't want an adobe house. It's a shame because the foundation for a great book was somewhere in there, the clay to make the bricks just didn't solidify into anything usable.
What do You think about House Of Earth. By Woody Guthrie (2013)?
I get it and find it interesting as a thing, but as a novel it is painfully dull.
—Autumn
I wish I could give it more stars listening to it again tomorrow.
—Erik
