Dies ist mein zweites Buch von T.C. Boyle nach Wassermusik und wieder bin ich völlig begeistert, obwohl World's End deutlich anstrengender zu lesen ist. Neinnein, keine Angst! Es geht nicht um Schachtel- oder Bandwurmsätze, überdurchschnittlich viele Fremdworte (obwohl, wenn ich so überlege... - naja, vielleicht doch ein bisschen) oder hochgeistige Gedankengänge. Die Sprache ist gut verständlich und überaus bildhaft, sodass bestimmte Szenen einem wohl für länger (wenn nicht sogar immer) im Gedächtnis bleiben werden. Was die Lektüre anstrengend macht, ist die Vielzahl von Personen und die steten Zeitsprünge.Boyle beschreibt die Geschichte zweier Familien in einem Abstand von rund 300 Jahren, sodass es vier verschiedene Erzählstränge gibt, die sich jedoch immer wieder überschneiden. Dass die Personen teils über die Jahrhunderte hinweg die gleichen Namen aufweisen, erschwert das Ganze noch etwas. Doch das Alles ist so herrlich lebhaft und bunt erzählt, dass ich mir gerne die Mühe machte, wiederholt im Stammbaum nachzuschauen, der glücklicherweise im hinteren Teil abgedruckt ist. Da die Geschichte zudem immer wieder auf realen Begebenheiten beruht, die ich selbst aber nur unvollständig (oder kaum) kannte, habe ich mich auch wiederholt über die tatsächlichen Vorgänge informiert, da Manches schlicht kaum zu glauben ist. Somit ist die Lektüre dieses Buches nicht nur unterhaltsam, sondern ganz nebenbei erfährt man noch eine Menge über die Anfänge der Besiedlung in den USA ebenso wie über die Hippiezeit. Dennoch ist es kein wirklich realistisches Buch wie es auch schon 'Wassermusik' nicht war. Vieles ist stark überzeichnet und/oder ins Groteske gezogen, doch nie so, dass es unglaubwürdig wirkt. Boyle beherrscht es wie kein Zweiter, Dinge auf die Spitze zu treiben und sie dennoch überzeugend wirken zu lassen.Wer lieber einer geradlinig verlaufenden Geschichte folgt, die nah an der Realität bleibt, wird sich mit diesem Buch wohl schwer tun. Allen Anderen aber kann ich dieses Buch nur empfehlen!
I read this book because it was given to me several years ago, and time after time I have passed it up because I was immediately confused after the first 3 chapters. This is primarily due to the structure of the book - how T.C. Boyle jumps from one time period to the next, and as all the characters are somewhat related (or have incredibly similar names), I was often lost. However, once you get the hang of the flow of this book, it's easier to read.I'd have to say I was fairly disappointed. Several people have raved how much they LOVE this book, and honestly, I found the whole thing depressing. I guess there is a lot of hidden meaning and symbolism found throughout the book (and through the characters), but the story itself depressed me. I grew to hate Walter and felt sorry for Dipe. I'm still not sure what the point of Mardi was. All she did in the story was serve up trouble, but by the end, she played a much smaller part in the overall story than I imagined. As did Walter's father, Truman. Regardless, I think the book was written well. (Other than the confusing part I mentioned above.) I stayed somewhat interested in the book as I went a long, but was fairly disappointed by the end.
What do You think about World's End (1990)?
The story opens up in the late 1960s with Walter Van Brunt, a 20-something year old who sees ghosts and had a motorcycle accident that caused him to lose his foot. He attempts to find out what happened to his father and why his father abandoned him.T.C. Boyle then switches between Walter's story in the present, Walter's Dutch ancestors in colonial America before the English took over, and sometimes goes into the story of the Communist raids in the 1950s. The entire novel plays out in upstate New York and all of the characters are somehow interconnected. The character list is long and wide, but Boyle has a list explaining everyone in the beginning of the novel. It's necessary to check it in the beginning so you don't get everyone mixed up, but it becomes easier to remember once you get into the story. There are Dutch colonists, the rich Van Wart family and their tenants, the Van Brunts, plus a scatter of English colonists and Native Americans. In the 1960s, all of the characters stem from those in the 1600s, but none of them are aware how similar their lives reflect those in the past.Perhaps this sounds confusing, but Boyle writes well and once you get it into it, it's very difficult to put down. What I loved about the novel the most is its mix of historical fiction with family drama in the present. It never gets boring and just when you start to think, "But what happened to...?", Boyle delivers and gives you what you want.
—P.Sannie
I am a huge TC Boyle fan. I read almost everything he writes. His vocabulary, plotting, sense of history and how it crashes into the living all make him extraordinary. World's End won the Pen/Faulkner Award for him early in his career. This book examines where we came from and how much it influences us. Are we trapped like Walter with ghosts that frame us inside a future we can't escape? He explains how brutal the wealthy Dutch settlers of the 17th c. were to their own kind, how mistreated the Indians were and how abusive the 60s could be a few centuries later, although my favorite for that topic is his Drop City. I think he's a genius for tying it all together. My favorite is still Tortilla Curtain (when is someone going to make a movie of it?!); however, World's End will stay with me for a long time. I will never visit NYC and its environs without thinking about it.
—Marcia Fine
Dramatic, hilarious and harrowing tales of parallel fates of many generations of Dutch, English and Native Americans from colonial New Amsterdam/New York to 1960's Peterskill. TC Boyle mixes expert storytelling with fascinating accounts of the history of the Hudson River Valley. His accounts of daily life under Dutch feudalism in New Amsterdam (well before the arrival/rule of the English) are unforgettable. Boyle's writing is fantastic - juxtaposing grand, classical language with a hilarious sort of faux-nihilism that is particular to his protagonist, Walter. Overall, this book reminded me of a Hugo novel, with its grandiose effects, theatrical characters and loads of suspense that bring history to life.
—Sara Regan
