The Wettest County In The World: A Novel Based On A True Story (2008) - Plot & Excerpts
I couldn’t tell you why exactly, but I’m a bit of a history junkie with things surrounding the Great American Experiment that’s more commonly known as Prohibition. It’s always been an era that’s fascinated me for a variety of reasons, none of which relate specifically to my background or my upbringing. I guess that maybe there’s something I find uniquely fascinating about the prospects of so many ordinary folks suddenly picking up, defying the law of the land, and essentially becoming not only lawless but wealthy in the process, especially when you figure in the fact that for years after the fact families just never ‘talked’ about what they did, what it cost them, and where their private fortunes came from.For example, do a little reading on the Kennedy family – you’ve heard of them? America’s royalty? You’ll find that the bulk of their riches stem from illegal activities during Prohibition.In any event, I principally was interested in reading THE WETTEST COUNTY IN THE WORLD after seeing the Shia LaBeouf film LAWLESS which is based on the book. See, I didn’t find the film all that compelling a story some of which was due to the performances (there were a variety of actors I saw as being horribly miscast in the flick, especially LaBeouf), so I was interested in seeing how different the source material was from Matt Bondurant’s book. Because I’ve read so much about Prohibition and because I’ve watched so many documentaries and/or conventional films on the subject I had a hard time believing that this particular story didn’t have a better tale behind it. You know what they say, right? The book is always better than the film?Well, in this case, it’s really a toss-up. In many respects, the book is better than the film. Bondurant writes with a style that is a bit heavy on flowery prose, so much so I think it really kills any negligible momentum of the first half of this 300-page tale; around the 150-page-mark, things actually start to happen, and the latter half is probably as close to brilliant as the best novels are. (But that first half? Really, really, really slow.) As a consequence, I think that’s why so much of the film seemed as if it was manufactured – Bondurant spends far too much time and effort trying to bring this world to life even after already having done so that it gets tiring, and I think the screen adaptation floundered in much the same way.However – as happens as too often when Hollywood seeks to not only adapt a hot-selling novel but also seeks to make it a box office starring vehicle (Shia LaBeouf was the headliner, but the film also stars the notable Tom Hardy and the critical darling Jessica Chastain in a role that probably could’ve gone to an actress of lesser skills given the minor significance of the player) – the film story wildly rewrites the novel’s climax in order to make unlikely action heroes out of players like Shia LaBeouf. The film unnecessary crafts out an epic shoot-out – one entirely drawn from someone’s imagination – while the recounting of events in the book actually make vastly more sense and are far more believable. Plus, there’s a bit more story after said shoot-out, and I can’t help but point out that the film may actually have garnered better ticket receipts if it had stayed closer to the source material.Still, there’s no forgiving Bondurant’s prose. I hate to feel as though I’m harping on any author’s style, but he regales himself with flowery passage after flowery passage that just never quite felt in sync with the world he presents. These characters – not to diminish them in any respect – were a bunch of backwoods bootleggers seeking to circumvent the authorities (and weren’t exactly all that bright about the ways they did it), but Bondurant clearly sought to elevate them to larger-than-life characters far too often than was necessary for their perspectives to seem authentic. Again, hate to sound like I nitpicking, but a stronger editorial role was definitely needed in the first half.That doesn’t stop me from recommending it, though. Although shackling the narrative with more adjectives than any author should even conceive of as well as a quirky device involving the author Sherwood Anderson (that still really made no sense to me), THE WETTEST COUNTY IN THE WORLD does effectively capture some of the secret skullduggery that makes the study of American Prohibition as fascinating to me today as it was when I first discovered it. So, yes, the book is better than the film, but it also suffers from its own creative shortcomings.HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. After watching "Lawless", the movie based on this book, I was eager to learn more about the moonshining, bootlegging, rough, tough trio of brothers! The dynamic of Jack, Howard, and Forrest is an interesting story in itself, but when you add in some Prohibition era tomfoolery and corruption, the story whips around like a "white lighting" run. I really enjoyed the story, but felt like it read too much like a history textbook for being written by a Bondurant grandson.
What do You think about The Wettest County In The World: A Novel Based On A True Story (2008)?
At the point that the main character's throat was getting slit, I had to put it down. Not for me.
—Zebekiah
Listened to it. I'd give it 3.5 stars. I like the fact that it is based on a true story.
—McAwesome
Not bad. Different from the movie but still enjoyable
—lolita
