It turns out Annie Proulx went too far in "The Shipping News." You don't have to go all the way to Newfoundland to find irresistibly quirky people living off the cold sea. Elizabeth Gilbert found them in Maine.In "Stern Men," her first novel, Gilbert describes the contentious battles between lobstermen living on Fort Niles and Courne Haven, two almost identical islands 20 miles off the coast. These are places inhabited by quiet men who carry a big claw.As Gilbert wittily suggests at the start of each chapter, their lives reflect the prickly, hard-bodied lives of their catch. Their work is isolating and fiercely competitive. There are no fences in the ocean, no legal way to mark one's lobster "fields" except by tradition and intimidation."Every lobster one man catches," Gilbert notes, "is a lobster another man has lost. It is a mean business, and it makes for mean men. As humans, after all, we become what we seek."Despite the wry comedy of this novel, it doesn't try to hide the scars of human cruelty. For generations, the two islands have fallen into periodic "lobster wars" that decimate their business, destroying boats, traps, and lives.But beneath a fierce-looking exoskeleton, these hard-drinking, foul-mouthed characters are surprisingly sweet. You just have to know how to handle them. Gilbert does.And eventually, so does her heroine, Ruth Thomas. She's a smart, aimless young woman who's returned to Fort Niles after an expensive private-school education that makes her a misfit in this little world of misfits.Ruth isn't sure what to do on an island that employs only men. Women here typically become mothers or alcoholics (or both), but neither of those career moves interests her. She'd like to work as a sternman for her father, the island's most successful lobsterman, but he won't hear of it.Ruth's peculiar family history conspires with her own immaturity to keep her on the island in a state of agitated suspension. Her grandmother and mother spent their lives working as virtual slaves for the Ellises, a wealthy dynasty that stripped the island of its granite and Ruth's family of its dignity.The Ellises are now down to a few ancient members - hysterically described in all their self-absorption - but they're still trying to exert their influence. Determined to resist them and their controlling generosity, Ruth turns down their offer of college tuition to loiter around the island, alternately concerned and annoyed with her father and his quarrelsome friends.She spends her days chatting with Mrs. Pommeroy, her sweet foster mother who supports herself by cutting the hair of everyone on the island. Mrs. Pommeroy had always hoped Ruth would marry one of her seven boys, but her boys are more numerous than desirable.Ruth's other companion is old Senator Simon Adams, the island's archaeological authority who was never a senator nor an archaeological authority. He dreams of putting his collection of artifacts (junk) into a museum of natural history. But his greater concern is providing employment for one of Mrs. Pommeroy's mentally challenged sons. His latest quest concerns the tusks of a circus elephant that died in a shipwreck 138 years ago. Ruth and the senator spend weeks watching young Webster trudge through the mud flats looking for such treasures.This is all funny for us, but it's no life for a smart young woman, and Ruth knows it. In the midst of her boredom and despair, she spots Owney Wishnell, the quiet nephew of a wealthy minister from the other island. Think "Romeo and Juliet" with a Maine drawl and a much happier ending. It turns out ya can get thah from heah."Stern Men" maintains a tricky balance between romance and tragedy, the comic and the grotesque. Gilbert demonstrates a sweet care for these wounded, quirky characters with all their foibles and limitations. She's particularly sensitive to the way they talk or, more commonly, sulk.If there's anything to complain about in "Stern Men," it's clustered at the end. Why, in such a delightfully original story, are we served up a clich sex scene that reads like something from the true confessions column of a men's magazine? (Gilbert was a writer for GQ when she wrote this novel.)Second, and perhaps more disappointing, the most substantial character development takes place off-stage during a five-year gap between the end of the story and a brief epilogue that lets us know how wonderfully everything turned out once everyone started behaving better. Having detailed these people's stagnant lives so effectively, Gilbert seems unwilling to describe their molting process during the crucial phase.But these are minor complaints about a book that's perfect for summer reading and deep enough to crack the prevailing wisdom that competition is the highest state of being. Beneath the waves of wit and romance, "Stern Men" is a rich meal.http://www.csmonitor.com/2000/0720/p1...
Lo he encontrado bastante sin sentido, pointless es la palabra que se me viene a la mente; no exijo que en los libros haya una trama fuerte, pero me gusta que por lo menos me lleven a alguna parte, que no sea una serie (más bien un par) de sucesos que les ocurren a los personajes y frente a los cuales sólo pueden reaccionar o no-reaccionar. Hace unas semanas que terminé el libro y a pesar de haber ido apuntando en una preciosa libretita las ideas generales y las sensaciones que me iban provocando, no recuerdo que pasara nada, y eso no dice mucho en su favor. Cuatrocientas páginas de monotonía o se hacen muy bien, o simplemente no se hacen y nos ahorramos el papel. No es que el libro no tenga cosas buenas (después de todo, en la puntuación lo he aprobado por los pelos), las tiene; pero De hombres y langostas está sobrevalorado; puedo decirlo porque me he pasado un mínimo de trescientas páginas poniendo los ojos en blanco, y, porque cuando leo un libro, espero que se centre mínimamente en la (pesada de la) protagonista, y menos en las historias personales de cada personaje secundario que existen en la faz del universo literario pertinente, incluso de los que sólo salen una vez para hacer de relleno.Leer la reseña completa en La Madriguera Literaria
What do You think about Stern Men (2001)?
Gilbert deserves far more credit for this novel than for her much publicised 'Eat, Pray, Love' and wishy-washy 'Commited'. In 'Stern Men' she takes us into the very heart and soul of this isolated island community of lobstermen. The subject, Ruth Thomas, is a fiesty young lady who is determined to stay on the island and join the gruff seamen in pursuit of lobsters. Here Gilbert delves into the dubiuos ancestery of Ruth, the longstanding fued between the people of the neighbouring island and the many characters of island inhabitants. It is definitely a well-researched novel, and a smoothly woven tale about a little known community. cant say i have read many novels set within a lobster-fishing community and i began this novel with a sense of trepidation less the content appeared too dry, but i think Gilbert skilfully broached the subject, without boring any reader with too much technical detail.
—Baljit
This is really a 2.5. I can only relate it to eating sunflower seeds.....a whole lot of work for very little pleasure. True to lobster men vocab the conversations are liberally seasoned with the mother of all words. So, I became quite efficient at reading over them as well as the Lords name in vain. ugh.... I hate that. The story is "artistically" choppy. The stories of the islanders are intertwined and then smooshed together to give you an "inside" look into their complex (or simple) lives. By the description I was expecting a beautiful and well written love story. 3/4 of the way through the story she jumps a brow beaten young man she vaguely knows (in great detail I might add, blech!) and gets knocked up. Is this what passes as true love? The only reason I gave it an extra half is because I loved the prologue. I should have jut skipped the book and read the ending......who knew? Unimportant side note: I enjoyed Cathrine Gilbert Murdock's (author's sister) writing style more.
—Teea
Reading other reviews, I have a feeling that (completely by accident) I am reading Elizabeth Gilbert's books in the right order. It seems that a lot of people who read Eat Pray Love first are disappointed in this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Of course, I agree with the comparisons to John Irving, one of my favorites. My only wish is that she had written out the plot rather than taking it to a climax and then stuffing half of the plot line into an epilogue. I would have been completely satisfied if the book were twice as long.Stern Men is completely different from The Signature of All Things, and from the other reviews I assume that Eat Pray Love is completely different from these two as well. I am impressed by anyone who can write well, and even more impressed by authors who are diverse enough to write well in many different styles.
—Josh Gould
