It may be different for other people, but we in our green youth have to settle the eternal questions first. Ivan to Alyosha KaramazovLet's get clear, The Brothers K struck me out. There are books which tell a story and then there are others, like The Brothers K, whose story resonates deep inside you in response to a call within the remotest nook of your inner being. Either as an iron hand clutching relentlessly at your bowels or as a scorching eruption of pure and unadulterated love, the novel gets into your system, leaving you breathless, exhausted and in a kind of perpetual stunned awe, even afraid of your own thread of thoughts. I was born in the eighties, nearly the date of the last chapter of this novel, and now I am here watching my past generation's dreams disappear. Because this sublime story has given me implacable proof of certain things that my dormant conscience already was aware of. That, whether we like it or not, we all are a product of our generation. And that my own generation comes out shallow, bland, devoid of values and lacking spiritual commitment in comparison to our past generations. The States, the sixties and early seventies. Take the Chance family. Their lives are defined by Wars. The Psalm War, campaigned by Laura, the radically devoted religious mother, tortured in silence by her own particular demons. Her enemy: Satan and her irreverent oldest son Everett.The Baseball War. Baseball, a new religion. Hugh, the ever idolised father, the indisputable source of inspiration. His enemy: his crushed finger and whatever threatening his family unity.The 'Nam War, which tears apart the Chances forever in unfathomable ways. Its enemy: Non existent. And of course, The Brothers K War. Four brothers. Four different, almost opposed, ways to understand the world, four voices to fight injustice, to claim what is right, to make us believe. Wars. Wars. Wars. Either imposed from the outside or inner wars, or both. Wars which threaten to break the ties between each other and bring out the best and the worst in them. But I couldn't help but admire how they planted their singular thoughts, nurtured and watched them grow and stuck to their own formed believes, using them as the only weapons to fight against these ruthless wars:Everett, a natural leader, bigheaded, bigmouthed and bighearted. An genial anarchist who defies the system and rebels against oppression.Peter, with his spiritual balance and outstanding intelligence, searches for answers in the Eastern World, finding his Westernized version of himself on the way. Irwin, the personification of goodness and innocence, still believes in Jesus after the bad joke 'Nam plays on him. Kincaid, the faithful and devoted narrator, his unconditional love the balm which eases the pain of this wounded family, his unselfishness and perseverance keeping them united, his words oozing with overflowing sensitivity and tenderness. But what moved me beyond words was the way these strikingly different voices mingled and danced with each other in apparent discordance. The result, an exquisite piece of music similar to Beethoven's String Quartet, Opus 131, which at heart I believe to be an optimistic masterpiece despite its distressing fugue and march to death closure. And how in Duncan's novel, I also identify something hopeful, something that feels eternal, immortal, divine...otherworldly in the way he shows us the long, unfolding paths these brothers follow and the way they are ready to sacrifice themselves for the sake of others, giving example of what's the true meaning of courage, honor and ultimately, of love.I know all these rambling thoughts might sound stereotypical, but believe me, they are not.This novel has changed my perspective in every possible way, some of its details will always stay with me and either blurred by unshed tears or repressed by fits of laughter, I'm taking memorable souvenirs from this epic journey; although now that I am back home and have time to cherish these new mementos I realize my own generation still has a lot of growing up to do. We can't afford to be drowsy and dispassionate, to commit the same mistakes over and over again, to be carried away on the wave of this void era. Not when some have sacrificed so much in the past. It's our deed to remember where we come from. And how dear the price of our present was.Embrace the unknown and let yourself be washed away by the intensity and the unsurpassed beauty of this novel. You'll see how your world spins around and everything shines in a new light, even yourself.I lost my religion ages ago, but like Everett, I realize that I have never stopped praying and that, perhaps, that's precisely what keeps all my loose pieces together. And for that, I can only be clumsily grateful.Yet knowing me, my weaknesses, my tedious anger, this tedious darkness, I know I could lose my hold even on you and find some way of flaming out here, and going down, if it weren't for...you.Not you, Tasha.I mean this other you. I refuse to resort to Uppercase here. But you hear me. And I feel you. I mean you, the who or whatever you are, being or nonbeing, that somehow comes to us and somehow consoles us. I don't know your name. I don't understand you. I don't know how to address you. I don't like people who think they do. But it's you alone, I begin to feel, who sends me this woman's love and our baby, and this new hope and stupid gratitude. Now, for those who are still reading and want a real review instead of my incoherent musings, check out Steve's astonishing review.http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Remember what it feels like to fall in love? Better, remember how exciting was the immersion into the love of this novel or that novel when you were younger? Remember falling in love with Siddartha? Or with Even Cowgirls Get the Blues? Remember how exciting the first read of Catch-22 was, or Gravity's Rainbow? To read The Brothers K is to experience all that again, and to be younger. It's a novel to love. It's one to remember fondly and to bask in having read it. About halfway through I began to wonder where this novel had been all my life.Duncan has written a kind of symphony. It's that grand in scope and that impressive in the diverse prose styles and voices he uses to tell his story. That story is a family saga encompassing love, family, war, religion, the current events of the Vietnam Era, and, yes, baseball. It's ultimately wise in what it has to say about those things and more. I was impressed with the author's prose style. I loved its zip and zing, the most energetic verbal knuckleballs I've read in a while. But also because in such a big novel, the control he maintains over the vast panorama of family history, and in each of the individual episodes making up the rosary of the Chance family. Duncan says the decades of his family with beauty and devotion.It's a little bit of a riff. Take a step to the left of The Brothers Karamazov and there you are in Camas, Washington with what Kincaid, the youngest of the 4 brothers, calls an 8-way tangle of parents, twin sisters and brothers. Each of the brothers--Everett, Peter, Irwin, and Kincaid--whose story this is, along with the father's, exhibit the same general characteristics as Dostoyevsky's famous brothers. Plus, the K is an allusion to the baseball scoring notation for a strikeout. Baseball is an important element in the novel.So is religion. Acceptance, though, isn't a foregone conclusion. The Chance family members display many gradations of belief and nonbelief. This character is pious while that family member is a sceptic while yet another tries to find transcendence through Eastern thought. There's something Zen-like about it all and about the relation to baseball, as its fans can appreciate. Krishna is invoked, the story of the 5 brothers of the Mahabharata is alluded to, as is Zen archery, Greek mythology, and Islam. The Christianity of those Chance believers is plumped by the goodness and wisdom of all religions. And religion is plumped by baseball being seen as a path towards a higher consciousness, a way to fill the emptiness of existence. Baseball is a conservatism, but it's a way toward transcendence. Not every Chance believes in God, but they all believe in baseball. It's impressive how Duncan can write a novel about both the power and the meaninglessness of religion, but he does.It's an antiwar novel. The Chance brothers are involved in some of the more visible endeavors of the 60s and 70s: the antiwar movement, service in Vietnam, fleeing to Canada, the search for spirituality in Asia. By refining his characters and narrative in the blast furnace of those tumultuous years of our country's history, Duncan paints a portrait of the times and has much to say about them.Maybe The Brothers K can't be included among the great novels. Maybe it can be. It is true it's a delicious, completely satisfying read. It's ambitious in its scope and the range of its ideas. The very richness and energy of those ideas means you can't hold it all in your head. It asks for thought, reflection. Maybe not great, but a reading experience that will delight you in many ways. It'll also break your heart. Uproariously funny, it'll make you laugh out loud. Sweet and touching, it'll make you wish it were true.
What do You think about The Brothers K (1996)?
The review below (which was written 5 months ago) still is anemic, but for the life of me, I am just way too intimidated to write a review for what remains my favorite novel.I've never had a book toss me between laughter and tears the way this has (literally-- and I am NOT someone prone to histrionics. Seriously).So, the lame review stands.And my adoration of David James Duncan increases with each read.________________________________________Sometimes I don't even want to review a book.You know how it is. You read it. You think, "Eh. That was okay, or pretty good-- or yes, I liked it but I have nothing more to say on the subject."I'm hesitant to write a review for this book.But for none of the reasons listed above.My fear is that any words I attempt to use will only detract from the beauty of Mr. Duncan's already flawless prose-- which, in my opinion, should speak only for itself.My friend Les said he's never been able to give a definitive answer to the "What's your favorite book" question, simply because there are too many from which to choose....until he read this.I'm joining his camp.I've never been so moved as I have by this story-- these characters.Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to go and see if the Brewers are playing today...(for those of you who know me well enough to know where my sports fanaticism usually lies, that speaks volumes all by itself).
—Gloria
The Brothers K is one of the best books I've ever read. This is the deceptively complex story of an American family. A mother, father, four sons, and two daughters, growing up in the 50s and 60s. Their childhoods shaped by the family's two passions: baseball and religion. Their adulthoods shaped by the family's own small bundle of insecurities and conflicts, and the overwhelming nightmare of Vietnam. I'm a Canadian agnostic who doesn't like baseball, and I loved it. The story is brutally honest and unflinchingly real: sprawling, heartbreaking, touching. David James Duncan isn't afraid to show all the sides of the characters, even the ones that if they were real people they'd try to hide from the world. The characters change and grow as the novel goes on, and the story is both epic and personal, just like the story of any family. The way he uses language is remarkable: at times, he effortly strings together words that create a sentence that would be flawed if even one word was replaced by a synonym. I loved The Brothers K and think it should be more readily available, but since it's not, you owe it to yourself to track it down and read it. It's a rewarding experience.
—Devin Bruce
“I won’t tolerate you teasing him…or trying to educate him into sharing your beliefs. You boys are four different animals, and the older you get, the more unalike you’ll get. So I want you to start respecting your differences here and now.” --Papa to the Brothers K (179)Sometimes a book incites me to fight for truth. David James Duncan teaches me that the deepest truth is to love and to respect others who think differently. There is a time for everything under the sun. And, with my apologies to Ecclesiastes, there are books for everything: Books to plant and books to uproot;Books to tear down and books to build;Books to kill and books to heal;Books to weep and books to laugh; Books to mourn and books to dance; Books to scatter stones and books to gather them; Books to embrace and books to shun; Books to keep and books to throw away; Books to tear and books to mend; Books to love and books to hate; andBooks for war and books for peace. The Brothers K is a book for mending, for building, for planting, for weeping, for laughing, for embracing, for gathering and for peace. I wish every preacher, pundit, and bloviator would read this book. Stories are better than sermons, and this story has the power to make you a better person.I gave this book 5 stars, not just because it is an excellent, well-written story but because it taught me wisdom. For books that change me for the better, I award 5 stars.Kincaid “Kade” Chance is the narrator, although he does not promote himself or elaborate his own story. Kade is a loyal observer of his family and his three older brothers, Everett, Irwin and Peter—who are “the Brothers K.” Kade’s story is primarily set in the sixties and early seventies, a time of social upheaval in the United States, which is still at the root of its current polarization. Hugh Chance is a decent and fair man who is the beloved papa of the Brothers K. A young man possessed of an “old soul,” he is a gifted pitcher who could have played major league baseball, but the Korean War and an accident to his pitching thumb condemn him to work at a paper mill in Camus, Washington. Though knocked down by life, Hugh comes back stronger, and his story testifies of courage and adaptation. (view spoiler)[ Hugh loses a finger and later has an operation to have a toe sewn in its place. Yet, his mangled hand gives "Papa Toe" a very weird pitch that is hard to hit, so Hugh, in his 30's, gets a second chance as a minor league pitching coach and relief pitcher (when there is nothing left to lose). He saves many a game as well as his family. (hide spoiler)]
—Steve Sckenda
