The Marrowbone Marble Company. Glenn Taylor (2010) - Plot & Excerpts
This novel is written in a standoffish and brusk style, with short, matter-of-fact sentences that aren't exactly brimming over with emotion. It's the sort of book where you might read a passage like: "Ma died that fall. The corn harvest was good. We got a new dog." Thus it took almost the full book to feel like I really knew the characters, but I'm pleased to say that it was worth it. Even some of the lesser characters - that throughout the book I kept getting mixed up and couldn't remember where they came from - by the end had endeared themselves to me. I was concerned that I would be disappointed with the ending, and that the cool hand of the author meant that he might not care if it satisfied the reader's need for closure, so I'm very pleased that did not happen. I enjoyed the book very much, especially the last few chapters. I read this for a book club, or I would never have even picked it up. I didn't really enjoy it, or ever care what was going to happen. Here are some of the reasons:Loyal Ledford is the primary character, and I think we are supposed to sympathize with him, but there is never any internal dialog, not much in the way of character development, no way for the reader to understand why Ledford does the things he does. We are told that he drinks to much, that he loves his wife, that he has nightmares, that he blows glass. But we are never allowed into his thoughts or shown anything. Most of the other characters are like that as well. The women characters are mere shadows - Rachel, Loyal's love and then wife, is never developed beyond her desire to have children and the fact that she knits. The other women, including their daughter Mary, are given even less. Throughout the book, characters say that Marrowbone Cut is not fit for people to live in, but we are never really told why. Bad things happen there, but they just show the evil of the place, instead of explaining it. We aren't shown many of the good times without a foreshadowing of something bad to come, or a feeling of inexplicable dread. There is no plot. No beginning, middle, end, just a time line where events happen, babies are born and people die. The fractured time line structure of the book didn't work for me either. We are shown small glimpses of events, but never enough to really figure out what makes the characters tick.I think my dislike of the book comes down to my preference for more character-driven stories. This book is not bad, exactly, but it doesn't offer much for me to connect to.
What do You think about The Marrowbone Marble Company. Glenn Taylor (2010)?
I really enjoyed this book, but you need to understand Southern clans for it to make sense.
—betsybook1
I just did not care for this book.........don't know why! It happens once in awhile!!
—Scribble
Would love this story to just go on and on...Characters lived in my head.
—Shin
Great storytelling and very compelling characters.
—SashaMonet
