Meaning beyond blame, 28 Jun 2002
Mitchell Stephens, the admittedly angry New York City negligence lawyer from Banks' "The Sweet Hereafter" runs through a litany of societal problems that have caused a blinding fissure between generations. "We have lost our children," he says, and though he blames drugs and the "sexual colonization of our young people by industry," he is too logical to attempt to focus his anger at vague ideas. Instead, he mounts angry cases against the cities, counties and states from which the children disappear. We see that his true occupation is avoiding the sorrow and guilt he feels because of the "loss" of his own daughter.

When children are lost, parents are left in a sort of amoral timelessness, without history or perspective. The future disappears, and suddenly everything is permitted. The freedom is lonely and terrifying, and parents, in an attempt flee back to the world of rules and consequences, turn their grief outward where it mutates into blame.

But "The Sweet Hereafter" is more than an examination of grief and culpability. The novel investigates the communities that arise when anger and blame are the primary means of social currency. By the end of the book we find ourselves within questions much larger than the individual lives involved, and though we are sad that two characters must be martyred, we are relieved, because we know that martyrs couldn't exist without the morality we thought we'd lost. Even the martyrs find can solace in an understanding their of roles: they are proof of redemption.

The Sweet Hereafter was very entertaining and realistic., 01 Jun 1999
The Sweet Hereafter was a book that I chose to read after I saw the movie. I liked the movie a lot and decided to give the book a try. It was very similar to the movie, but I think that the book was easier to follow. It was about a tragic accident in a small town. It goes through the process of healing and whos to blame for this accident. There are also some other twists that come about in this book. It showed how people tend to always have to put blame onto somebody when really it is nobody's fault. It also shows how a family can be ripped apart by a tragedy. When I started the book, I really did not want to put it down until I was finished. I liked the book a lot and think that if anybody is looking to read a easy to follow interesting book, this should be the one. The author is Russell Banks, he seems to be a good writer. I will probably try to read something else written by him.

Won't Let You Down!, 31 May 1999
After a bus accident kills several children in a small town, everyone needs someone to blame. Russell Banks tells this story well by focussing on only a few characters and letting us get into their heads by way of switching narrators, among whom are parents of the dead children, a teenager who survived the accident, the bus driver, and a lawyer in town to get rich off of the accident. Banks is unwavering in his portrayal of immense grief and you feel by the end as though you personally know the characters. I read this only after seeing the movie and was not disappointed

Great book, 14 Apr 1999
A lot of other people have reviewed this book, probably better than I could do. I'll just add my two cents, it's a terrific book.

A Quick Lesson in Objectivity, 14 Feb 1999
Russell Banks has written a strange book that tells the tale ofa terrible school bus accident which kills 17 children from four different perspectives including: the bus driver, a survivor, the lawyer who tries to organize a suit, and one of the parents who falls apart because of the incident. The story is griping, but it is not really about the children or their suffering. Rather it focuses on the adults and how they variously preceive the event. In some strange ways the book ignores the rfate of the children and tells a story of adults each in a separate world in which the children play a very small role. This is a strange introspective book, not my favoriate for the year, but interesting.

The cover of Russell Banks' mountain-sized novel Cloudsplitter features an actual photo of Owen Brown, the son of John Brown, hero of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic". His terrorist band murdered proponents of slavery in Kansas and attacked Harpers Ferry, Virginia, in 1859 on what he considered direct orders from God, helping spark the American Civil War.

A heavily researched but fictionalised Owen narrates this remarkably realistic and ambitious novel by the distinguished author ofThe Sweet Hereafter. Owen is an atheist, but he is as dominated by his father, John Brown, as John was haunted by the angry God who demanded human sacrifice to stop the abomination of slavery.

Cloudsplitter takes you along on John Brown's journey-- as period-perfect as that of the Civil War deserter in Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain--from Brown's cabin facing the great Adirondack mountain (whose Native American name is "Cloudsplitter"), amid an abolitionist settlement called "Timbuctoo", to the various perilous stops of the Underground Railroad spiriting slaves out of the South, and finally to the killings in Bloody Kansas and the Harpers Ferry revolt. We meet some great names--Frederick Douglass, Ralph Waldo Emerson and a (fictional) lover of Nathaniel Hawthorne--but the vast book keeps a tight focus on the aged Owen's obsessive recollections of his Pa's crusade and the emotional shackles John clamped on his own family.

Banks, a white author, has tackled the topic of race as impressively as Toni Morrison does in earlier novels such as Continental Drift. What makes Cloudsplitter a departure for him is its style and scope. He is noted as an exceptionally thorough chronicler of today's USA in rigorously detailed realist fiction such as David Guterson's Snow Falling on Cedars) which Banks championed. Banks spent half a decade researching Cloudsplitter, and he renounces the conventional magic of his poetical prose style for a voice steeped in the King James Bible and the stately cadences of 19th-century political rhetoric. The tone is closer to Ken Burns' tragic, elegiac The Civil War than to Bruce Olds' recent crazy-quilt modernist novel about John Brown, Raising Holy Hell.

A fan of Banks' more cut-to-the-chase, Hollywood- hot modern style may get impatient, but such readers can turn to, say, Gore Vidal's reissued Lincoln, which peeks into the Great Emancipator's head with a modern's cynical wit. Banks' narrator is poetical and witty at times: Owen notes, "The outrage felt by whites [over slavery] was mostly spent on stoking their own righteousness and warming themselves before its fire." Yet in the main, Banks writes in the "elaborately plainspoken" manner of the Browns, restricting himself to a sober style dictated by the historical subject.

John Brown's head resembles the stone tablets of Moses. You do not penetrate him, and you cannot declare him mad or sane, good or evil. You read, struggling to locate the words emanating from some strange place between history, heaven and hell. --Tim Appelo

Meaning beyond blame, 28 Jun 2002
Mitchell Stephens, the admittedly angry New York City negligence lawyer from Banks' "The Sweet Hereafter" runs through a litany of societal problems that have caused a blinding fissure between generations. "We have lost our children," he says, and though he blames drugs and the "sexual colonization of our young people by industry," he is too logical to attempt to focus his anger at vague ideas. Instead, he mounts angry cases against the cities, counties and states from which the children disappear. We see that his true occupation is avoiding the sorrow and guilt he feels because of the "loss" of his own daughter.

When children are lost, parents are left in a sort of amoral timelessness, without history or perspective. The future disappears, and suddenly everything is permitted. The freedom is lonely and terrifying, and parents, in an attempt flee back to the world of rules and consequences, turn their grief outward where it mutates into blame.

But "The Sweet Hereafter" is more than an examination of grief and culpability. The novel investigates the communities that arise when anger and blame are the primary means of social currency. By the end of the book we find ourselves within questions much larger than the individual lives involved, and though we are sad that two characters must be martyred, we are relieved, because we know that martyrs couldn't exist without the morality we thought we'd lost. Even the martyrs find can solace in an understanding their of roles: they are proof of redemption.

The Sweet Hereafter was very entertaining and realistic., 01 Jun 1999
The Sweet Hereafter was a book that I chose to read after I saw the movie. I liked the movie a lot and decided to give the book a try. It was very similar to the movie, but I think that the book was easier to follow. It was about a tragic accident in a small town. It goes through the process of healing and whos to blame for this accident. There are also some other twists that come about in this book. It showed how people tend to always have to put blame onto somebody when really it is nobody's fault. It also shows how a family can be ripped apart by a tragedy. When I started the book, I really did not want to put it down until I was finished. I liked the book a lot and think that if anybody is looking to read a easy to follow interesting book, this should be the one. The author is Russell Banks, he seems to be a good writer. I will probably try to read something else written by him.

Won't Let You Down!, 31 May 1999
After a bus accident kills several children in a small town, everyone needs someone to blame. Russell Banks tells this story well by focussing on only a few characters and letting us get into their heads by way of switching narrators, among whom are parents of the dead children, a teenager who survived the accident, the bus driver, and a lawyer in town to get rich off of the accident. Banks is unwavering in his portrayal of immense grief and you feel by the end as though you personally know the characters. I read this only after seeing the movie and was not disappointed

Great book, 14 Apr 1999
A lot of other people have reviewed this book, probably better than I could do. I'll just add my two cents, it's a terrific book.

A Quick Lesson in Objectivity, 14 Feb 1999
Russell Banks has written a strange book that tells the tale ofa terrible school bus accident which kills 17 children from four different perspectives including: the bus driver, a survivor, the lawyer who tries to organize a suit, and one of the parents who falls apart because of the incident. The story is griping, but it is not really about the children or their suffering. Rather it focuses on the adults and how they variously preceive the event. In some strange ways the book ignores the rfate of the children and tells a story of adults each in a separate world in which the children play a very small role. This is a strange introspective book, not my favoriate for the year, but interesting.

boring, 06 Sep 2004
it was overall an extremly boring book. it started out very slow and was hard to follow. it picked up a little durring the kansas wars, but it was overall a very dull book

A fine piece of writing, 26 Jun 2000
When reading a novel we all have a bias. I'm aware that this is quite a generalisation but in most cases I feel it's reasonably realistic. My personal bias has typically been against fiction written in the first person. While I value the subtle nature of this style often I've found that it leads to the thoughts of the charecter flooding the actions of that person.

So it was with some reservations that I picked up Cloudsplitter by Russell Banks. Some 758 pages later Banks had gently led me away from some of my preconceptions. Here is a piece of writing that uses the first person narrative to great effect. Taking the thoughts and actions of Owen Brown - son of John Brown - as it's focus the novel is an enthralling read.

Although the author makes it clear that the book is a work of imagination, the depth of conviction within the writing often lends itself to the belief that the words are autobiographical in nature.

You've obviously read the offical overview of the book thus there is no need for me to comment on that here. Rather, it's the structure, the studied use of language, the emotion and the "feel" of this book that makes it without doubt a splendid and captivating read.

I always struggle with a 5 star review - it's got to reach perfection to gain five stars and I'm not sure perfection exists. Cloudsplitter, however comes very close. You will enjoy this book!

Brings history to vivid life. Essential reading, 11 Dec 1999
An utterly gripping and convincing novel, which tells you more about the American civil war than Gone with the Wind and any number of gung-ho 19th-century westerns put together. The character of John Brown is drawn in great, perceptive detail, and the choice of his troubled, idealistic son Owen as narrator is inspired, allowing us a clear analysis of the political and social factors behind slavery and its opponents. Looked at another way, the narrator may be a bit of a windbag, but he tells the story beautifully. The structure of the novel - it is essentially one long flashback - also gives it strength. Don't be put off by the size of this book: it's a smooth, haunting, educational journey, and it must be read.

This is a big book in every sense!, 12 Aug 1999
This massive novel is a fictionalised account of the life of the radical abolitionist John Brown, as told 50 years after his death, by his son Owen.

Owen's memories initially flit around in a confusing (but believable) manner, but the narrative gradually gains focus and eventually develops a powerful drive towards the climactic Harpers' Ferry incident.

I knew nothing about Brown when I started this book (apart from the words of the song). Banks stresses that this is a work of fiction, so I don't know how closely it follows the facts, but this scarcely matters because this book operates on so many levels, and raises many questions which are still relevant about race and sex, about masculinity, violence and the roots of the 'gun culture', about political extremism and religion, about family loyalty versus individualism, etc., etc.

John Brown exerts a dominating influence on Owen and on the events of the novel, but this book is really a complex and convincing psychological study of Owen himself.

Aside from all this, it's a terrifically evocative read about the period leading up to the Civil War, packed with description, incident and characters. It's maybe a little bit too long - particularly Owen's self-justification to his contemporary reader.

And the title is a bit of a let down - apart from the period and setting, this has little in common with 'Cold Mountain'. Banks' mountain anyway makes only an occasional appearance, presumably to justify the title.

But these are minor quibbles - I was completely gripped throughout these 750 pages.

Compelling and convincing, 18 Jul 1999
This book is at pains to point out that this is a fictionalisation of this man's life. Nevertheless it paints a convincing portrait of the Brown family and their motivations. While the slow might present itself as excessively sober, it is this tone that draws you in and makes the unwinding tale so very convincing. I raced through it - and recommend it as one of the best books of the year.

Meaning beyond blame, 28 Jun 2002
Mitchell Stephens, the admittedly angry New York City negligence lawyer from Banks' "The Sweet Hereafter" runs through a litany of societal problems that have caused a blinding fissure between generations. "We have lost our children," he says, and though he blames drugs and the "sexual colonization of our young people by industry," he is too logical to attempt to focus his anger at vague ideas. Instead, he mounts angry cases against the cities, counties and states from which the children disappear. We see that his true occupation is avoiding the sorrow and guilt he feels because of the "loss" of his own daughter.

When children are lost, parents are left in a sort of amoral timelessness, without history or perspective. The future disappears, and suddenly everything is permitted. The freedom is lonely and terrifying, and parents, in an attempt flee back to the world of rules and consequences, turn their grief outward where it mutates into blame.

But "The Sweet Hereafter" is more than an examination of grief and culpability. The novel investigates the communities that arise when anger and blame are the primary means of social currency. By the end of the book we find ourselves within questions much larger than the individual lives involved, and though we are sad that two characters must be martyred, we are relieved, because we know that martyrs couldn't exist without the morality we thought we'd lost. Even the martyrs find can solace in an understanding their of roles: they are proof of redemption.

The Sweet Hereafter was very entertaining and realistic., 01 Jun 1999
The Sweet Hereafter was a book that I chose to read after I saw the movie. I liked the movie a lot and decided to give the book a try. It was very similar to the movie, but I think that the book was easier to follow. It was about a tragic accident in a small town. It goes through the process of healing and whos to blame for this accident. There are also some other twists that come about in this book. It showed how people tend to always have to put blame onto somebody when really it is nobody's fault. It also shows how a family can be ripped apart by a tragedy. When I started the book, I really did not want to put it down until I was finished. I liked the book a lot and think that if anybody is looking to read a easy to follow interesting book, this should be the one. The author is Russell Banks, he seems to be a good writer. I will probably try to read something else written by him.

Won't Let You Down!, 31 May 1999
After a bus accident kills several children in a small town, everyone needs someone to blame. Russell Banks tells this story well by focussing on only a few characters and letting us get into their heads by way of switching narrators, among whom are parents of the dead children, a teenager who survived the accident, the bus driver, and a lawyer in town to get rich off of the accident. Banks is unwavering in his portrayal of immense grief and you feel by the end as though you personally know the characters. I read this only after seeing the movie and was not disappointed

Great book, 14 Apr 1999
A lot of other people have reviewed this book, probably better than I could do. I'll just add my two cents, it's a terrific book.

A Quick Lesson in Objectivity, 14 Feb 1999
Russell Banks has written a strange book that tells the tale ofa terrible school bus accident which kills 17 children from four different perspectives including: the bus driver, a survivor, the lawyer who tries to organize a suit, and one of the parents who falls apart because of the incident. The story is griping, but it is not really about the children or their suffering. Rather it focuses on the adults and how they variously preceive the event. In some strange ways the book ignores the rfate of the children and tells a story of adults each in a separate world in which the children play a very small role. This is a strange introspective book, not my favoriate for the year, but interesting.

boring, 06 Sep 2004
it was overall an extremly boring book. it started out very slow and was hard to follow. it picked up a little durring the kansas wars, but it was overall a very dull book

A fine piece of writing, 26 Jun 2000
When reading a novel we all have a bias. I'm aware that this is quite a generalisation but in most cases I feel it's reasonably realistic. My personal bias has typically been against fiction written in the first person. While I value the subtle nature of this style often I've found that it leads to the thoughts of the charecter flooding the actions of that person.

So it was with some reservations that I picked up Cloudsplitter by Russell Banks. Some 758 pages later Banks had gently led me away from some of my preconceptions. Here is a piece of writing that uses the first person narrative to great effect. Taking the thoughts and actions of Owen Brown - son of John Brown - as it's focus the novel is an enthralling read.

Although the author makes it clear that the book is a work of imagination, the depth of conviction within the writing often lends itself to the belief that the words are autobiographical in nature.

You've obviously read the offical overview of the book thus there is no need for me to comment on that here. Rather, it's the structure, the studied use of language, the emotion and the "feel" of this book that makes it without doubt a splendid and captivating read.

I always struggle with a 5 star review - it's got to reach perfection to gain five stars and I'm not sure perfection exists. Cloudsplitter, however comes very close. You will enjoy this book!

Brings history to vivid life. Essential reading, 11 Dec 1999
An utterly gripping and convincing novel, which tells you more about the American civil war than Gone with the Wind and any number of gung-ho 19th-century westerns put together. The character of John Brown is drawn in great, perceptive detail, and the choice of his troubled, idealistic son Owen as narrator is inspired, allowing us a clear analysis of the political and social factors behind slavery and its opponents. Looked at another way, the narrator may be a bit of a windbag, but he tells the story beautifully. The structure of the novel - it is essentially one long flashback - also gives it strength. Don't be put off by the size of this book: it's a smooth, haunting, educational journey, and it must be read.

This is a big book in every sense!, 12 Aug 1999
This massive novel is a fictionalised account of the life of the radical abolitionist John Brown, as told 50 years after his death, by his son Owen.

Owen's memories initially flit around in a confusing (but believable) manner, but the narrative gradually gains focus and eventually develops a powerful drive towards the climactic Harpers' Ferry incident.

I knew nothing about Brown when I started this book (apart from the words of the song). Banks stresses that this is a work of fiction, so I don't know how closely it follows the facts, but this scarcely matters because this book operates on so many levels, and raises many questions which are still relevant about race and sex, about masculinity, violence and the roots of the 'gun culture', about political extremism and religion, about family loyalty versus individualism, etc., etc.

John Brown exerts a dominating influence on Owen and on the events of the novel, but this book is really a complex and convincing psychological study of Owen himself.

Aside from all this, it's a terrifically evocative read about the period leading up to the Civil War, packed with description, incident and characters. It's maybe a little bit too long - particularly Owen's self-justification to his contemporary reader.

And the title is a bit of a let down - apart from the period and setting, this has little in common with 'Cold Mountain'. Banks' mountain anyway makes only an occasional appearance, presumably to justify the title.

But these are minor quibbles - I was completely gripped throughout these 750 pages.

Compelling and convincing, 18 Jul 1999
This book is at pains to point out that this is a fictionalisation of this man's life. Nevertheless it paints a convincing portrait of the Brown family and their motivations. While the slow might present itself as excessively sober, it is this tone that draws you in and makes the unwinding tale so very convincing. I raced through it - and recommend it as one of the best books of the year.

My favourite book , 04 Sep 2008
A wonderful moving story that has been compared with Huckleberry Finn. The author's best work in my opinion. I felt like I as there with the central character every step of the way. Just writing about it now makes me want to pick it up for a third time. Gotta go!

Rule of the Bone, 22 Sep 2002
'Bone' is a character we can all identify with. We all want to be as rebellious and carefree as him, and 'Rule of the Bone' is the easiest way to live it! You are swept along and around the places Bone takes you from trailer trash white America to Montego Bay in the Carribbean. And all this time you love the characters he loves, agree with his every decision even though you know they are inherently wrong and going to get him in a lot of trouble.

The Bone Rules!, 13 Jun 2001
This is a truly uplifting, funny, chilled and well-thought out piece of fiction. It was recommended to me by a friend a couple of years ago, and I took it along with me to a summer festival (which os a great environment in which to read this book by the way). I immediately became totally caught up in the main character's tale of emotional rags-to-riches, his love of simple things (gear, being cool, and chilling out) and is it narrated in one of the most authentic first-person styles I have ever read. Read this book and be uplifted and transported. This should be a cult classic if there is any justice in the world.

Read it and discover America's leading contemporary author., 23 Apr 1999
I can only agree with the previous reviewer. It was my second R.Banks book and served only to underline the strength of the first book I had read of his "Continental Drift". But neither of these had led me to expect the sheer wonder of "Cloudsplitter". Get them all and read them. When does Russell Banks (along-side his Scottish namesake Banks) receive the Nobel Prize for Literature? arte et labore Bryson Dalgleish

I was in there with him..... a totally absorbing read., 21 Apr 1999
From the first words of the book I was convinced I was reading the account first hand of what had happened to the author. The book gave what seemed to be an extremely compelling account of a boys rather messed up life so that whilst, what happens to him seems increadable, it is also absolutely believeable and you as the reader are in there too living it with him, listening to his strangely profound comments on what has occured to him. "The Bone Rules"

Just what kind of novel is Russell Banks' The Darling? The author is, after all, one of the most impressive writers in America today, and his work (in such books as Affliction has been marked by its refusal to deal with the parochial: Banks' subject is always ambitious in every sense of the word, and this new book may be his most large scale yet. The Darling is a massive, multi-stranded novel about Africa today.

Banks' heroine, Hannah Musgrave, is not a woman at ease with herself. Others might be happy with supportive parents and enthusiastic lovers, but Hannah finds that their blandishments do not plug the gap in her life. She abandons her comfortable middle-class existence and plunges into the dark terrorist world of the ruthless group known as the Weather Underground. Soon she is on the run from the FBI and takes refuge in Liberia in West Africa. It seems that her life will now change forever, as she marries a youthful politician and adopts the role of wife (and even mother). In the past, Hannah's life had been at threat from her own, internal forces, but now she finds that it is her environment which is the powder keg. The ruthless and corrupt military state which is Liberia (long shored up by America) is about to be plunged into massive bloodshed, and Hannah finds that all she has come to hold dear is at risk.

This is powerful and far-reaching writing, on a scale that few novelists (on either side of the Atlantic) are prepared to tackle today. The nearest modern equivalent to this epic novel of character, set against a seething backdrop is probably the work of Robert Stone, but the shade of Graham Greene is often evoked, and not to Banks' discredit. The conflicted heroine is a wonderful creation, and the turbulent dangerous world of war-torn Liberia is brilliantly evoked. -- Barry Forshaw

Meaning beyond blame, 28 Jun 2002
Mitchell Stephens, the admittedly angry New York City negligence lawyer from Banks' "The Sweet Hereafter" runs through a litany of societal problems that have caused a blinding fissure between generations. "We have lost our children," he says, and though he blames drugs and the "sexual colonization of our young people by industry," he is too logical to attempt to focus his anger at vague ideas. Instead, he mounts angry cases against the cities, counties and states from which the children disappear. We see that his true occupation is avoiding the sorrow and guilt he feels because of the "loss" of his own daughter.

When children are lost, parents are left in a sort of amoral timelessness, without history or perspective. The future disappears, and suddenly everything is permitted. The freedom is lonely and terrifying, and parents, in an attempt flee back to the world of rules and consequences, turn their grief outward where it mutates into blame.

But "The Sweet Hereafter" is more than an examination of grief and culpability. The novel investigates the communities that arise when anger and blame are the primary means of social currency. By the end of the book we find ourselves within questions much larger than the individual lives involved, and though we are sad that two characters must be martyred, we are relieved, because we know that martyrs couldn't exist without the morality we thought we'd lost. Even the martyrs find can solace in an understanding their of roles: they are proof of redemption.

The Sweet Hereafter was very entertaining and realistic., 01 Jun 1999
The Sweet Hereafter was a book that I chose to read after I saw the movie. I liked the movie a lot and decided to give the book a try. It was very similar to the movie, but I think that the book was easier to follow. It was about a tragic accident in a small town. It goes through the process of healing and whos to blame for this accident. There are also some other twists that come about in this book. It showed how people tend to always have to put blame onto somebody when really it is nobody's fault. It also shows how a family can be ripped apart by a tragedy. When I started the book, I really did not want to put it down until I was finished. I liked the book a lot and think that if anybody is looking to read a easy to follow interesting book, this should be the one. The author is Russell Banks, he seems to be a good writer. I will probably try to read something else written by him.

Won't Let You Down!, 31 May 1999
After a bus accident kills several children in a small town, everyone needs someone to blame. Russell Banks tells this story well by focussing on only a few characters and letting us get into their heads by way of switching narrators, among whom are parents of the dead children, a teenager who survived the accident, the bus driver, and a lawyer in town to get rich off of the accident. Banks is unwavering in his portrayal of immense grief and you feel by the end as though you personally know the characters. I read this only after seeing the movie and was not disappointed

Great book, 14 Apr 1999
A lot of other people have reviewed this book, probably better than I could do. I'll just add my two cents, it's a terrific book.

A Quick Lesson in Objectivity, 14 Feb 1999
Russell Banks has written a strange book that tells the tale ofa terrible school bus accident which kills 17 children from four different perspectives including: the bus driver, a survivor, the lawyer who tries to organize a suit, and one of the parents who falls apart because of the incident. The story is griping, but it is not really about the children or their suffering. Rather it focuses on the adults and how they variously preceive the event. In some strange ways the book ignores the rfate of the children and tells a story of adults each in a separate world in which the children play a very small role. This is a strange introspective book, not my favoriate for the year, but interesting.

boring, 06 Sep 2004
it was overall an extremly boring book. it started out very slow and was hard to follow. it picked up a little durring the kansas wars, but it was overall a very dull book

A fine piece of writing, 26 Jun 2000
When reading a novel we all have a bias. I'm aware that this is quite a generalisation but in most cases I feel it's reasonably realistic. My personal bias has typically been against fiction written in the first person. While I value the subtle nature of this style often I've found that it leads to the thoughts of the charecter flooding the actions of that person.

So it was with some reservations that I picked up Cloudsplitter by Russell Banks. Some 758 pages later Banks had gently led me away from some of my preconceptions. Here is a piece of writing that uses the first person narrative to great effect. Taking the thoughts and actions of Owen Brown - son of John Brown - as it's focus the novel is an enthralling read.

Although the author makes it clear that the book is a work of imagination, the depth of conviction within the writing often lends itself to the belief that the words are autobiographical in nature.

You've obviously read the offical overview of the book thus there is no need for me to comment on that here. Rather, it's the structure, the studied use of language, the emotion and the "feel" of this book that makes it without doubt a splendid and captivating read.

I always struggle with a 5 star review - it's got to reach perfection to gain five stars and I'm not sure perfection exists. Cloudsplitter, however comes very close. You will enjoy this book!

Brings history to vivid life. Essential reading, 11 Dec 1999
An utterly gripping and convincing novel, which tells you more about the American civil war than Gone with the Wind and any number of gung-ho 19th-century westerns put together. The character of John Brown is drawn in great, perceptive detail, and the choice of his troubled, idealistic son Owen as narrator is inspired, allowing us a clear analysis of the political and social factors behind slavery and its opponents. Looked at another way, the narrator may be a bit of a windbag, but he tells the story beautifully. The structure of the novel - it is essentially one long flashback - also gives it strength. Don't be put off by the size of this book: it's a smooth, haunting, educational journey, and it must be read.

This is a big book in every sense!, 12 Aug 1999
This massive novel is a fictionalised account of the life of the radical abolitionist John Brown, as told 50 years after his death, by his son Owen.

Owen's memories initially flit around in a confusing (but believable) manner, but the narrative gradually gains focus and eventually develops a powerful drive towards the climactic Harpers' Ferry incident.

I knew nothing about Brown when I started this book (apart from the words of the song). Banks stresses that this is a work of fiction, so I don't know how closely it follows the facts, but this scarcely matters because this book operates on so many levels, and raises many questions which are still relevant about race and sex, about masculinity, violence and the roots of the 'gun culture', about political extremism and religion, about family loyalty versus individualism, etc., etc.

John Brown exerts a dominating influence on Owen and on the events of the novel, but this book is really a complex and convincing psychological study of Owen himself.

Aside from all this, it's a terrifically evocative read about the period leading up to the Civil War, packed with description, incident and characters. It's maybe a little bit too long - particularly Owen's self-justification to his contemporary reader.

And the title is a bit of a let down - apart from the period and setting, this has little in common with 'Cold Mountain'. Banks' mountain anyway makes only an occasional appearance, presumably to justify the title.

But these are minor quibbles - I was completely gripped throughout these 750 pages.

Compelling and convincing, 18 Jul 1999
This book is at pains to point out that this is a fictionalisation of this man's life. Nevertheless it paints a convincing portrait of the Brown family and their motivations. While the slow might present itself as excessively sober, it is this tone that draws you in and makes the unwinding tale so very convincing. I raced through it - and recommend it as one of the best books of the year.

My favourite book , 04 Sep 2008
A wonderful moving story that has been compared with Huckleberry Finn. The author's best work in my opinion. I felt like I as there with the central character every step of the way. Just writing about it now makes me want to pick it up for a third time. Gotta go!

Rule of the Bone, 22 Sep 2002
'Bone' is a character we can all identify with. We all want to be as rebellious and carefree as him, and 'Rule of the Bone' is the easiest way to live it! You are swept along and around the places Bone takes you from trailer trash white America to Montego Bay in the Carribbean. And all this time you love the characters he loves, agree with his every decision even though you know they are inherently wrong and going to get him in a lot of trouble.

The Bone Rules!, 13 Jun 2001
This is a truly uplifting, funny, chilled and well-thought out piece of fiction. It was recommended to me by a friend a couple of years ago, and I took it along with me to a summer festival (which os a great environment in which to read this book by the way). I immediately became totally caught up in the main character's tale of emotional rags-to-riches, his love of simple things (gear, being cool, and chilling out) and is it narrated in one of the most authentic first-person styles I have ever read. Read this book and be uplifted and transported. This should be a cult classic if there is any justice in the world.

Read it and discover America's leading contemporary author., 23 Apr 1999
I can only agree with the previous reviewer. It was my second R.Banks book and served only to underline the strength of the first book I had read of his "Continental Drift". But neither of these had led me to expect the sheer wonder of "Cloudsplitter". Get them all and read them. When does Russell Banks (along-side his Scottish namesake Banks) receive the Nobel Prize for Literature? arte et labore Bryson Dalgleish

I was in there with him..... a totally absorbing read., 21 Apr 1999
From the first words of the book I was convinced I was reading the account first hand of what had happened to the author. The book gave what seemed to be an extremely compelling account of a boys rather messed up life so that whilst, what happens to him seems increadable, it is also absolutely believeable and you as the reader are in there too living it with him, listening to his strangely profound comments on what has occured to him. "The Bone Rules"

"There are certain things about me..., 03 Sep 2008
... that I won't reveal to you until you understand...", Hannah Musgrave tells her readers. She is the central axis of this rich and engaging tale of one woman's journey from a privileged childhood to quiet life on a farm in the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York. The interim period, however, is dramatic and unconventional. She drops out of her middle class life as a young student, frustrated with the comfort of that life and the people around her. Joining the Weathermen Underground in the early nineteen seventies, she participates at the fringe of the movement. Eventually she escapes to West Africa and settles for an extensive period in Liberia, witnessing the overthrow of the corrupt pro-US president Tolbert by the brutal regime of Samuel Doe, a lowly military officer, and the complete collapse of the Liberian society, ending with the no less violent regime of Charles Taylor.

Now in her late fifties, she is recounting her story, divulging her varied life experiences in different episodes and on a need-to-know basis. Russell Banks captures her voice convincingly, getting into her mind, as well as, he explained elsewhere, "being her very close trusted male friend" who listens empathetically to her story. Will the reader do the same?

Hannah's account is of herself against the backdrop of dramatic circumstances. As the revelations progress, the readers are able to see beyond her words and messages and paint a more comprehensive picture of Hannah's strengths and weaknesses than she can herself. Bank is brilliant in providing the tools for such a process. Factual descriptions of her surroundings unwittingly divulge more of her persona than she intends, adding depth and incisiveness to her version of events. In Liberia, for example, Hannah has more than enough opportunities to engage with the political and serious societal issues at hand, yet, she stays again on the sidelines. Having married a middle ranking Liberian government official, she lives a life of privilege with her three sons. While analyzing, with hindsight, her status as the American "darling" among the political elite of the country and reflecting on her complex emotions for her parents, her lovers, her husband and children, the only deep love and affection she admits to feeling is for a group of suffering chimpanzees. Why? What made her this reserved and distant observer of life?

Banks tackles challenging issues with his novel: race, for example is a recurring thread throughout Hanna's story. In her youth, Hannah displayed her solidarity with African-Americans, yet in Liberia, she is not able to comfortably relate to her African in-laws and their traditions. The author accurately depicts the tumultuous conditions in Liberia during Hannah's life there and gives her account authenticity. The special relationship between Liberia, established in 1847 by African-American returnees, mainly freed slaves, and the US is still evident. The role of the CIA and the American diplomats are made explicit as Hannah constantly feels both their friendship and scrutiny. The Americo-Liberians have maintained their privileged position in comparison to the indigenous African population. Woodrow Sundiata, Hannah's husband, while vividly drawn, comes across more as a composite of many facets of what could be a "typical" African bureaucrat: insensitive and ambitious, yet malleable to the powers to be, and expecting privileges through gaining a white American "trophy" wife. With her as a wife, Hannah reflects in retrospect, "Woodrow was exotic, a little sexy, and possibly dangerous, as if his newly consecrated American connection gave him access to power and information that were unavailable to other Liberians, even among the elite."

Another thread in the novel that gives the reader food for thought, revolves around deep emotions or the lack thereof, or establishing where "home" is and what it means for somebody on the run or underground for a large part of her life. Hannah always felt that departures are quick and painless, long tearful good-byes uncalled for. Yet, sitting at her farm now, she wonders about her Liberian home, the destiny of her children. Could she reconcile her life with that of her parents? It is up to the reader to explore those questions with Hannah and draw their own conclusions. Banks novel is very worth the effort. [Friederike Knabe]


Superb, if Harrowing, 26 Jul 2006
An incredible book, hard work at times but only because of the themes it covers and the shocking events the narrator witnesses. Tremendous descriptions of a Westerner trying to find a place in Africa and a vivid attempt to portray the innermost workings of a woman who has never truly understood herself.

This book is so evocative that I was greedy for more when I finished, I may have to go to Liberia! Or failing that, order another Russell Banks book.

Bank's Fan, 23 Jun 2005
I'm a big Russell Banks fan. I very much looked forward to this novel and in most regards it didn't let me down. I'll never really fault an author for writing serious, insightful fiction, especially this sort of work which brings to mind Norman Rush, Robert Stone or even, in some ways, Graham Greene. I'm absolutely glad to have read this novel and do recommend it.

But that recommendation comes with the caveat that there are probably aspects of this book that most readers won't like. There's gonna be something that rubs you the wrong way. I'm sure that's no secret to Mr. Banks himself. For example, Hannah is sort of hard to sympathize with. She's not a very nice person. She's willing to abandon many people in her life - including her parents and her children, and in a larger sense she abandons (or tries to) her country. She's conflicted about this stuff, but she still does it. It's hard to know also how she really feels about Africans. On one hand she marries and has children with a Liberian, but on the other hand she hardly seems in love with him. It's almost like events and circumstance propel her though life. If she expresses unconditional love it's for her monkeys, her "dreamers" - rather than actual people. It leaves me unsure how to read it all. Which might be what literature is all about. No easy answers to any of the issues raised here. No winners or loosers. Just people stumbling through life with many tragic consequences.

Meaning beyond blame, 28 Jun 2002
Mitchell Stephens, the admittedly angry New York City negligence lawyer from Banks' "The Sweet Hereafter" runs through a litany of societal problems that have caused a blinding fissure between generations. "We have lost our children," he says, and though he blames drugs and the "sexual colonization of our young people by industry," he is too logical to attempt to focus his anger at vague ideas. Instead, he mounts angry cases against the cities, counties and states from which the children disappear. We see that his true occupation is avoiding the sorrow and guilt he feels because of the "loss" of his own daughter.

When children are lost, parents are left in a sort of amoral timelessness, without history or perspective. The future disappears, and suddenly everything is permitted. The freedom is lonely and terrifying, and parents, in an attempt flee back to the world of rules and consequences, turn their grief outward where it mutates into blame.

But "The Sweet Hereafter" is more than an examination of grief and culpability. The novel investigates the communities that arise when anger and blame are the primary means of social currency. By the end of the book we find ourselves within questions much larger than the individual lives involved, and though we are sad that two characters must be martyred, we are relieved, because we know that martyrs couldn't exist without the morality we thought we'd lost. Even the martyrs find can solace in an understanding their of roles: they are proof of redemption.

The Sweet Hereafter was very entertaining and realistic., 01 Jun 1999
The Sweet Hereafter was a book that I chose to read after I saw the movie. I liked the movie a lot and decided to give the book a try. It was very similar to the movie, but I think that the book was easier to follow. It was about a tragic accident in a small town. It goes through the process of healing and whos to blame for this accident. There are also some other twists that come about in this book. It showed how people tend to always have to put blame onto somebody when really it is nobody's fault. It also shows how a family can be ripped apart by a tragedy. When I started the book, I really did not want to put it down until I was finished. I liked the book a lot and think that if anybody is looking to read a easy to follow interesting book, this should be the one. The author is Russell Banks, he seems to be a good writer. I will probably try to read something else written by him.

Won't Let You Down!, 31 May 1999
After a bus accident kills several children in a small town, everyone needs someone to blame. Russell Banks tells this story well by focussing on only a few characters and letting us get into their heads by way of switching narrators, among whom are parents of the dead children, a teenager who survived the accident, the bus driver, and a lawyer in town to get rich off of the accident. Banks is unwavering in his portrayal of immense grief and you feel by the end as though you personally know the characters. I read this only after seeing the movie and was not disappointed

Great book, 14 Apr 1999
A lot of other people have reviewed this book, probably better than I could do. I'll just add my two cents, it's a terrific book.

A Quick Lesson in Objectivity, 14 Feb 1999
Russell Banks has written a strange book that tells the tale ofa terrible school bus accident which kills 17 children from four different perspectives including: the bus driver, a survivor, the lawyer who tries to organize a suit, and one of the parents who falls apart because of the incident. The story is griping, but it is not really about the children or their suffering. Rather it focuses on the adults and how they variously preceive the event. In some strange ways the book ignores the rfate of the children and tells a story of adults each in a separate world in which the children play a very small role. This is a strange introspective book, not my favoriate for the year, but interesting.

boring, 06 Sep 2004
it was overall an extremly boring book. it started out very slow and was hard to follow. it picked up a little durring the kansas wars, but it was overall a very dull book

A fine piece of writing, 26 Jun 2000
When reading a novel we all have a bias. I'm aware that this is quite a generalisation but in most cases I feel it's reasonably realistic. My personal bias has typically been against fiction written in the first person. While I value the subtle nature of this style often I've found that it leads to the thoughts of the charecter flooding the actions of that person.

So it was with some reservations that I picked up Cloudsplitter by Russell Banks. Some 758 pages later Banks had gently led me away from some of my preconceptions. Here is a piece of writing that uses the first person narrative to great effect. Taking the thoughts and actions of Owen Brown - son of John Brown - as it's focus the novel is an enthralling read.

Although the author makes it clear that the book is a work of imagination, the depth of conviction within the writing often lends itself to the belief that the words are autobiographical in nature.

You've obviously read the offical overview of the book thus there is no need for me to comment on that here. Rather, it's the structure, the studied use of language, the emotion and the "feel" of this book that makes it without doubt a splendid and captivating read.

I always struggle with a 5 star review - it's got to reach perfection to gain five stars and I'm not sure perfection exists. Cloudsplitter, however comes very close. You will enjoy this book!

Brings history to vivid life. Essential reading, 11 Dec 1999
An utterly gripping and convincing novel, which tells you more about the American civil war than Gone with the Wind and any number of gung-ho 19th-century westerns put together. The character of John Brown is drawn in great, perceptive detail, and the choice of his troubled, idealistic son Owen as narrator is inspired, allowing us a clear analysis of the political and social factors behind slavery and its opponents. Looked at another way, the narrator may be a bit of a windbag, but he tells the story beautifully. The structure of the novel - it is essentially one long flashback - also gives it strength. Don't be put off by the size of this book: it's a smooth, haunting, educational journey, and it must be read.

This is a big book in every sense!, 12 Aug 1999
This massive novel is a fictionalised account of the life of the radical abolitionist John Brown, as told 50 years after his death, by his son Owen.

Owen's memories initially flit around in a confusing (but believable) manner, but the narrative gradually gains focus and eventually develops a powerful drive towards the climactic Harpers' Ferry incident.

I knew nothing about Brown when I started this book (apart from the words of the song). Banks stresses that this is a work of fiction, so I don't know how closely it follows the facts, but this scarcely matters because this book operates on so many levels, and raises many questions which are still relevant about race and sex, about masculinity, violence and the roots of the 'gun culture', about political extremism and religion, about family loyalty versus individualism, etc., etc.

John Brown exerts a dominating influence on Owen and on the events of the novel, but this book is really a complex and convincing psychological study of Owen himself.

Aside from all this, it's a terrifically evocative read about the period leading up to the Civil War, packed with description, incident and characters. It's maybe a little bit too long - particularly Owen's self-justification to his contemporary reader.

And the title is a bit of a let down - apart from the period and setting, this has little in common with 'Cold Mountain'. Banks' mountain anyway makes only an occasional appearance, presumably to justify the title.

But these are minor quibbles - I was completely gripped throughout these 750 pages.

Compelling and convincing, 18 Jul 1999
This book is at pains to point out that this is a fictionalisation of this man's life. Nevertheless it paints a convincing portrait of the Brown family and their motivations. While the slow might present itself as excessively sober, it is this tone that draws you in and makes the unwinding tale so very convincing. I raced through it - and recommend it as one of the best books of the year.

My favourite book , 04 Sep 2008
A wonderful moving story that has been compared with Huckleberry Finn. The author's best work in my opinion. I felt like I as there with the central character every step of the way. Just writing about it now makes me want to pick it up for a third time. Gotta go!

Rule of the Bone, 22 Sep 2002
'Bone' is a character we can all identify with. We all want to be as rebellious and carefree as him, and 'Rule of the Bone' is the easiest way to live it! You are swept along and around the places Bone takes you from trailer trash white America to Montego Bay in the Carribbean. And all this time you love the characters he loves, agree with his every decision even though you know they are inherently wrong and going to get him in a lot of trouble.

The Bone Rules!, 13 Jun 2001
This is a truly uplifting, funny, chilled and well-thought out piece of fiction. It was recommended to me by a friend a couple of years ago, and I took it along with me to a summer festival (which os a great environment in which to read this book by the way). I immediately became totally caught up in the main character's tale of emotional rags-to-riches, his love of simple things (gear, being cool, and chilling out) and is it narrated in one of the most authentic first-person styles I have ever read. Read this book and be uplifted and transported. This should be a cult classic if there is any justice in the world.

Read it and discover America's leading contemporary author., 23 Apr 1999
I can only agree with the previous reviewer. It was my second R.Banks book and served only to underline the strength of the first book I had read of his "Continental Drift". But neither of these had led me to expect the sheer wonder of "Cloudsplitter". Get them all and read them. When does Russell Banks (along-side his Scottish namesake Banks) receive the Nobel Prize for Literature? arte et labore Bryson Dalgleish

I was in there with him..... a totally absorbing read., 21 Apr 1999
From the first words of the book I was convinced I was reading the account first hand of what had happened to the author. The book gave what seemed to be an extremely compelling account of a boys rather messed up life so that whilst, what happens to him seems increadable, it is also absolutely believeable and you as the reader are in there too living it with him, listening to his strangely profound comments on what has occured to him. "The Bone Rules"

"There are certain things about me..., 03 Sep 2008
... that I won't reveal to you until you understand...", Hannah Musgrave tells her readers. She is the central axis of this rich and engaging tale of one woman's journey from a privileged childhood to quiet life on a farm in the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York. The interim period, however, is dramatic and unconventional. She drops out of her middle class life as a young student, frustrated with the comfort of that life and the people around her. Joining the Weathermen Underground in the early nineteen seventies, she participates at the fringe of the movement. Eventually she escapes to West Africa and settles for an extensive period in Liberia, witnessing the overthrow of the corrupt pro-US president Tolbert by the brutal regime of Samuel Doe, a lowly military officer, and the complete collapse of the Liberian society, ending with the no less violent regime of Charles Taylor.

Now in her late fifties, she is recounting her story, divulging her varied life experiences in different episodes and on a need-to-know basis. Russell Banks captures her voice convincingly, getting into her mind, as well as, he explained elsewhere, "being her very close trusted male friend" who listens empathetically to her story. Will the reader do the same?

Hannah's account is of herself against the backdrop of dramatic circumstances. As the revelations progress, the readers are able to see beyond her words and messages and paint a more comprehensive picture of Hannah's strengths and weaknesses than she can herself. Bank is brilliant in providing the tools for such a process. Factual descriptions of her surroundings unwittingly divulge more of her persona than she intends, adding depth and incisiveness to her version of events. In Liberia, for example, Hannah has more than enough opportunities to engage with the political and serious societal issues at hand, yet, she stays again on the sidelines. Having married a middle ranking Liberian government official, she lives a life of privilege with her three sons. While analyzing, with hindsight, her status as the American "darling" among the political elite of the country and reflecting on her complex emotions for her parents, her lovers, her husband and children, the only deep love and affection she admits to feeling is for a group of suffering chimpanzees. Why? What made her this reserved and distant observer of life?

Banks tackles challenging issues with his novel: race, for example is a recurring thread throughout Hanna's story. In her youth, Hannah displayed her solidarity with African-Americans, yet in Liberia, she is not able to comfortably relate to her African in-laws and their traditions. The author accurately depicts the tumultuous conditions in Liberia during Hannah's life there and gives her account authenticity. The special relationship between Liberia, established in 1847 by African-American returnees, mainly freed slaves, and the US is still evident. The role of the CIA and the American diplomats are made explicit as Hannah constantly feels both their friendship and scrutiny. The Americo-Liberians have maintained their privileged position in comparison to the indigenous African population. Woodrow Sundiata, Hannah's husband, while vividly drawn, comes across more as a composite of many facets of what could be a "typical" African bureaucrat: insensitive and ambitious, yet malleable to the powers to be, and expecting privileges through gaining a white American "trophy" wife. With her as a wife, Hannah reflects in retrospect, "Woodrow was exotic, a little sexy, and possibly dangerous, as if his newly consecrated American connection gave him access to power and information that were unavailable to other Liberians, even among the elite."

Another thread in the novel that gives the reader food for thought, revolves around deep emotions or the lack thereof, or establishing where "home" is and what it means for somebody on the run or underground for a large part of her life. Hannah always felt that departures are quick and painless, long tearful good-byes uncalled for. Yet, sitting at her farm now, she wonders about her Liberian home, the destiny of her children. Could she reconcile her life with that of her parents? It is up to the reader to explore those questions with Hannah and draw their own conclusions. Banks novel is very worth the effort. [Friederike Knabe]


Superb, if Harrowing, 26 Jul 2006
An incredible book, hard work at times but only because of the themes it covers and the shocking events the narrator witnesses. Tremendous descriptions of a Westerner trying to find a place in Africa and a vivid attempt to portray the innermost workings of a woman who has never truly understood herself.

This book is so evocative that I was greedy for more when I finished, I may have to go to Liberia! Or failing that, order another Russell Banks book.

Bank's Fan, 23 Jun 2005
I'm a big Russell Banks fan. I very much looked forward to this novel and in most regards it didn't let me down. I'll never really fault an author for writing serious, insightful fiction, especially this sort of work which brings to mind Norman Rush, Robert Stone or even, in some ways, Graham Greene. I'm absolutely glad to have read this novel and do recommend it.

But that recommendation comes with the caveat that there are probably aspects of this book that most readers won't like. There's gonna be something that rubs you the wrong way. I'm sure that's no secret to Mr. Banks himself. For example, Hannah is sort of hard to sympathize with. She's not a very nice person. She's willing to abandon many people in her life - including her parents and her children, and in a larger sense she abandons (or tries to) her country. She's conflicted about this stuff, but she still does it. It's hard to know also how she really feels about Africans. On one hand she marries and has children with a Liberian, but on the other hand she hardly seems in love with him. It's almost like events and circumstance propel her though life. If she expresses unconditional love it's for her monkeys, her "dreamers" - rather than actual people. It leaves me unsure how to read it all. Which might be what literature is all about. No easy answers to any of the issues raised here. No winners or loosers. Just people stumbling through life with many tragic consequences.

"She was luminous to him, enveloped by a light that seemed to emanate from inside her, a gleaming halo wrapped around her entire, 20 Mar 2008
Awash with Hollywood sensibility, The Reserve with all of its over-the-top melodrama remains a compelling study of adultery, murder, and sexual and emotional obsession. Possessed of an unashamedly cinematic quality, Banks' novel is peppered with an assortment of colourful characters: the misunderstood artist, the brooding and gruff mountain guide, the beautiful, but half-crazy young heiress, and the wealthy matriarch who holds a long-buried family secret.

In the Tamarack Lake area of the Adirondacks, a place of dark and lonely Nordic thoughtfulness a vast space opens up between lake and forest and mountain and sky when nine people are gathered to celebrate Dr. Cole's 1936 annual Fourth of July Celebration. Here at Rangeview, the largest of only half-dozen rough-hewn log camps, a few of which are elaborately luxurious, Carter and Evelyn Cole wine and dine with their eminently well-connected friends, the men and their wives who have made a great deal of money buying and selling stocks and bonds in the roaring 1920's.

Also in attendance is Vanessa, the Coles' only child. Adopted and at thirty, married and divorced twice, Vanessa has remained childless, "barren," as she puts it. A disconsolate and rather wayward, girl, she's more content to walk by the rocky seashore with a soft wind sifting the tall pines behind her, than join her parents in their patriotic festivities. For months now, Vanessa has been unhappy, perhaps because she's realized that this scene with her parents and their well-to-do friends is just not hers anymore.

This is a world where the mountains and forests and lakes and streams are held for the exclusive use and enjoyment of members and their guests, and is off-limits to strangers and tourists. So Vanessa is surprised when she hears an airplane growing louder in the distance, a seaplane with two large pontoons that touches down on the far side of the lake. When the pilot introduces himself as Gordon Groves, Vanessa immediately recognizes the famous artist.

Known mostly for his graphic work - woodcuts, etchings, prints, Groves has become increasingly known, both in the United States and the Soviet Union for his radical leftist politics. Of course, the attraction between Jordan and Vanessa is instant, and as her cheek nearly brushes him and pulls away, neither of them can deny this electric sexual energy that passes between them, and in typically rebellious fashion, she begs him to take her for a ride in the airplane.

When he lets her fly dangerously close to the mountains, and then leaves her to walk alone back to her family's cabin, the stage is set for a battle of wills. For Jordan proves to be totally enraptured by the heiress and enveloped by a light that seems to emanate from inside her. When an incident at the club Tamarack Club Estates, involving her angers him, he blames her for what she thought she knew about him. Then an unusual request from her charts him on a course, which ends up threatening his marriage to his beloved Alicia.

Banks fills his pages with shame and remorse and broken-down marriages. Jordan ends up finding himself caught in secrets and lies, rumors and gossip, while the author paints a portrait of an egocentric man, blindsided by his own arrogant self-image. In the end all is mired in histrionics and melodrama, kidnapping and imprisonment, with the plot hinging on a fatal accident involving a shot gun and a set of lurid photos - possibly kiddie porn that may or may not exist - and a fire that proves to be the climax to the events of this over-the-top but always entertaining novel. Mike Leonard March 08.

Meaning beyond blame, 28 Jun 2002
Mitchell Stephens, the admittedly angry New York City negligence lawyer from Banks' "The Sweet Hereafter" runs through a litany of societal problems that have caused a blinding fissure between generations. "We have lost our children," he says, and though he blames drugs and the "sexual colonization of our young people by industry," he is too logical to attempt to focus his anger at vague ideas. Instead, he mounts angry cases against the cities, counties and states from which the children disappear. We see that his true occupation is avoiding the sorrow and guilt he feels because of the "loss" of his own daughter.

When children are lost, parents are left in a sort of amoral timelessness, without history or perspective. The future disappears, and suddenly everything is permitted. The freedom is lonely and terrifying, and parents, in an attempt flee back to the world of rules and consequences, turn their grief outward where it mutates into blame.

But "The Sweet Hereafter" is more than an examination of grief and culpability. The novel investigates the communities that arise when anger and blame are the primary means of social currency. By the end of the book we find ourselves within questions much larger than the individual lives involved, and though we are sad that two characters must be martyred, we are relieved, because we know that martyrs couldn't exist without the morality we thought we'd lost. Even the martyrs find can solace in an understanding their of roles: they are proof of redemption.

The Sweet Hereafter was very entertaining and realistic., 01 Jun 1999
The Sweet Hereafter was a book that I chose to read after I saw the movie. I liked the movie a lot and decided to give the book a try. It was very similar to the movie, but I think that the book was easier to follow. It was about a tragic accident in a small town. It goes through the process of healing and whos to blame for this accident. There are also some other twists that come about in this book. It showed how people tend to always have to put blame onto somebody when really it is nobody's fault. It also shows how a family can be ripped apart by a tragedy. When I started the book, I really did not want to put it down until I was finished. I liked the book a lot and think that if anybody is looking to read a easy to follow interesting book, this should be the one. The author is Russell Banks, he seems to be a good writer. I will probably try to read something else written by him.

Won't Let You Down!, 31 May 1999
After a bus accident kills several children in a small town, everyone needs someone to blame. Russell Banks tells this story well by focussing on only a few characters and letting us get into their heads by way of switching narrators, among whom are parents of the dead children, a teenager who survived the accident, the bus driver, and a lawyer in town to get rich off of the accident. Banks is unwavering in his portrayal of immense grief and you feel by the end as though you personally know the characters. I read this only after seeing the movie and was not disappointed

Great book, 14 Apr 1999
A lot of other people have reviewed this book, probably better than I could do. I'll just add my two cents, it's a terrific book.

A Quick Lesson in Objectivity, 14 Feb 1999
Russell Banks has written a strange book that tells the tale ofa terrible school bus accident which kills 17 children from four different perspectives including: the bus driver, a survivor, the lawyer who tries to organize a suit, and one of the parents who falls apart because of the incident. The story is griping, but it is not really about the children or their suffering. Rather it focuses on the adults and how they variously preceive the event. In some strange ways the book ignores the rfate of the children and tells a story of adults each in a separate world in which the children play a very small role. This is a strange introspective book, not my favoriate for the year, but interesting.

boring, 06 Sep 2004
it was overall an extremly boring book. it started out very slow and was hard to follow. it picked up a little durring the kansas wars, but it was overall a very dull book

A fine piece of writing, 26 Jun 2000
When reading a novel we all have a bias. I'm aware that this is quite a generalisation but in most cases I feel it's reasonably realistic. My personal bias has typically been against fiction written in the first person. While I value the subtle nature of this style often I've found that it leads to the thoughts of the charecter flooding the actions of that person.

So it was with some reservations that I picked up Cloudsplitter by Russell Banks. Some 758 pages later Banks had gently led me away from some of my preconceptions. Here is a piece of writing that uses the first person narrative to great effect. Taking the thoughts and actions of Owen Brown - son of John Brown - as it's focus the novel is an enthralling read.

Although the author makes it clear that the book is a work of imagination, the depth of conviction within the writing often lends itself to the belief that the words are autobiographical in nature.

You've obviously read the offical overview of the book thus there is no need for me to comment on that here. Rather, it's the structure, the studied use of language, the emotion and the "feel" of this book that makes it without doubt a splendid and captivating read.

I always struggle with a 5 star review - it's got to reach perfection to gain five stars and I'm not sure perfection exists. Cloudsplitter, however comes very close. You will enjoy this book!

Brings history to vivid life. Essential reading, 11 Dec 1999
An utterly gripping and convincing novel, which tells you more about the American civil war than Gone with the Wind and any number of gung-ho 19th-century westerns put together. The character of John Brown is drawn in great, perceptive detail, and the choice of his troubled, idealistic son Owen as narrator is inspired, allowing us a clear analysis of the political and social factors behind slavery and its opponents. Looked at another way, the narrator may be a bit of a windbag, but he tells the story beautifully. The structure of the novel - it is essentially one long flashback - also gives it strength. Don't be put off by the size of this book: it's a smooth, haunting, educational journey, and it must be read.

This is a big book in every sense!, 12 Aug 1999
This massive novel is a fictionalised account of the life of the radical abolitionist John Brown, as told 50 years after his death, by his son Owen.

Owen's memories initially flit around in a confusing (but believable) manner, but the narrative gradually gains focus and eventually develops a powerful drive towards the climactic Harpers' Ferry incident.

I knew nothing about Brown when I started this book (apart from the words of the song). Banks stresses that this is a work of fiction, so I don't know how closely it follows the facts, but this scarcely matters because this book operates on so many levels, and raises many questions which are still relevant about race and sex, about masculinity, violence and the roots of the 'gun culture', about political extremism and religion, about family loyalty versus individualism, etc., etc.

John Brown exerts a dominating influence on Owen and on the events of the novel, but this book is really a complex and convincing psychological study of Owen himself.

Aside from all this, it's a terrifically evocative read about the period leading up to the Civil War, packed with description, incident and characters. It's maybe a little bit too long - particularly Owen's self-justification to his contemporary reader.

And the title is a bit of a let down - apart from the period and setting, this has little in common with 'Cold Mountain'. Banks' mountain anyway makes only an occasional appearance, presumably to justify the title.

But these are minor quibbles - I was completely gripped throughout these 750 pages.

Compelling and convincing, 18 Jul 1999
This book is at pains to point out that this is a fictionalisation of this man's life. Nevertheless it paints a convincing portrait of the Brown family and their motivations. While the slow might present itself as excessively sober, it is this tone that draws you in and makes the unwinding tale so very convincing. I raced through it - and recommend it as one of the best books of the year.

My favourite book , 04 Sep 2008
A wonderful moving story that has been compared with Huckleberry Finn. The author's best work in my opinion. I felt like I as there with the central character every step of the way. Just writing about it now makes me want to pick it up for a third time. Gotta go!

Rule of the Bone, 22 Sep 2002
'Bone' is a character we can all identify with. We all want to be as rebellious and carefree as him, and 'Rule of the Bone' is the easiest way to live it! You are swept along and around the places Bone takes you from trailer trash white America to Montego Bay in the Carribbean. And all this time you love the characters he loves, agree with his every decision even though you know they are inherently wrong and going to get him in a lot of trouble.

The Bone Rules!, 13 Jun 2001
This is a truly uplifting, funny, chilled and well-thought out piece of fiction. It was recommended to me by a friend a couple of years ago, and I took it along with me to a summer festival (which os a great environment in which to read this book by the way). I immediately became totally caught up in the main character's tale of emotional rags-to-riches, his love of simple things (gear, being cool, and chilling out) and is it narrated in one of the most authentic first-person styles I have ever read. Read this book and be uplifted and transported. This should be a cult classic if there is any justice in the world.

Read it and discover America's leading contemporary author., 23 Apr 1999
I can only agree with the previous reviewer. It was my second R.Banks book and served only to underline the strength of the first book I had read of his "Continental Drift". But neither of these had led me to expect the sheer wonder of "Cloudsplitter". Get them all and read them. When does Russell Banks (along-side his Scottish namesake Banks) receive the Nobel Prize for Literature? arte et labore Bryson Dalgleish

I was in there with him..... a totally absorbing read., 21 Apr 1999
From the first words of the book I was convinced I was reading the account first hand of what had happened to the author. The book gave what seemed to be an extremely compelling account of a boys rather messed up life so that whilst, what happens to him seems increadable, it is also absolutely believeable and you as the reader are in there too living it with him, listening to his strangely profound comments on what has occured to him. "The Bone Rules"

"There are certain things about me..., 03 Sep 2008
... that I won't reveal to you until you understand...", Hannah Musgrave tells her readers. She is the central axis of this rich and engaging tale of one woman's journey from a privileged childhood to quiet life on a farm in the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York. The interim period, however, is dramatic and unconventional. She drops out of her middle class life as a young student, frustrated with the comfort of that life and the people around her. Joining the Weathermen Underground in the early nineteen seventies, she participates at the fringe of the movement. Eventually she escapes to West Africa and settles for an extensive period in Liberia, witnessing the overthrow of the corrupt pro-US president Tolbert by the brutal regime of Samuel Doe, a lowly military officer, and the complete collapse of the Liberian society, ending with the no less violent regime of Charles Taylor.

Now in her late fifties, she is recounting her story, divulging her varied life experiences in different episodes and on a need-to-know basis. Russell Banks captures her voice convincingly, getting into her mind, as well as, he explained elsewhere, "being her very close trusted male friend" who listens empathetically to her story. Will the reader do the same?

Hannah's account is of herself against the backdrop of dramatic circumstances. As the revelations progress, the readers are able to see beyond her words and messages and paint a more comprehensive picture of Hannah's strengths and weaknesses than she can herself. Bank is brilliant in providing the tools for such a process. Factual descriptions of her surroundings unwittingly divulge more of her persona than she intends, adding depth and incisiveness to her version of events. In Liberia, for example, Hannah has more than enough opportunities to engage with the political and serious societal issues at hand, yet, she stays again on the sidelines. Having married a middle ranking Liberian government official, she lives a life of privilege with her three sons. While analyzing, with hindsight, her status as the American "darling" among the political elite of the country and reflecting on her complex emotions for her parents, her lovers, her husband and children, the only deep love and affection she admits to feeling is for a group of suffering chimpanzees. Why? What made her this reserved and distant observer of life?

Banks tackles challenging issues with his novel: race, for example is a recurring thread throughout Hanna's story. In her youth, Hannah displayed her solidarity with African-Americans, yet in Liberia, she is not able to comfortably relate to her African in-laws and their traditions. The author accurately depicts the tumultuous conditions in Liberia during Hannah's life there and gives her account authenticity. The special relationship between Liberia, established in 1847 by African-American returnees, mainly freed slaves, and the US is still evident. The role of the CIA and the American diplomats are made explicit as Hannah constantly feels both their friendship and scrutiny. The Americo-Liberians have maintained their privileged position in comparison to the indigenous African population. Woodrow Sundiata, Hannah's husband, while vividly drawn, comes across more as a composite of many facets of what could be a "typical" African bureaucrat: insensitive and ambitious, yet malleable to the powers to be, and expecting privileges through gaining a white American "trophy" wife. With her as a wife, Hannah reflects in retrospect, "Woodrow was exotic, a little sexy, and possibly dangerous, as if his newly consecrated American connection gave him access to power and information that were unavailable to other Liberians, even among the elite."

Another thread in the novel that gives the reader food for thought, revolves around deep emotions or the lack thereof, or establishing where "home" is and what it means for somebody on the run or underground for a large part of her life. Hannah always felt that departures are quick and painless, long tearful good-byes uncalled for. Yet, sitting at her farm now, she wonders about her Liberian home, the destiny of her children. Could she reconcile her life with that of her parents? It is up to the reader to explore those questions with Hannah and draw their own conclusions. Banks novel is very worth the effort. [Friederike Knabe]


Superb, if Harrowing, 26 Jul 2006
An incredible book, hard work at times but only because of the themes it covers and the shocking events the narrator witnesses. Tremendous descriptions of a Westerner trying to find a place in Africa and a vivid attempt to portray the innermost workings of a woman who has never truly understood herself.

This book is so evocative that I was greedy for more when I finished, I may have to go to Liberia! Or failing that, order another Russell Banks book.

Bank's Fan, 23 Jun 2005
I'm a big Russell Banks fan. I very much looked forward to this novel and in most regards it didn't let me down. I'll never really fault an author for writing serious, insightful fiction, especially this sort of work which brings to mind Norman Rush, Robert Stone or even, in some ways, Graham Greene. I'm absolutely glad to have read this novel and do recommend it.

But that recommendation comes with the caveat that there are probably aspects of this book that most readers won't like. There's gonna be something that rubs you the wrong way. I'm sure that's no secret to Mr. Banks himself. For example, Hannah is sort of hard to sympathize with. She's not a very nice person. She's willing to abandon many people in her life - including her parents and her children, and in a larger sense she abandons (or tries to) her country. She's conflicted about this stuff, but she still does it. It's hard to know also how she really feels about Africans. On one hand she marries and has children with a Liberian, but on the other hand she hardly seems in love with him. It's almost like events and circumstance propel her though life. If she expresses unconditional love it's for her monkeys, her "dreamers" - rather than actual people. It leaves me unsure how to read it all. Which might be what literature is all about. No easy answers to any of the issues raised here. No winners or loosers. Just people stumbling through life with many tragic consequences.

"She was luminous to him, enveloped by a light that seemed to emanate from inside her, a gleaming halo wrapped around her entire, 20 Mar 2008
Awash with Hollywood sensibility, The Reserve with all of its over-the-top melodrama remains a compelling study of adultery, murder, and sexual and emotional obsession. Possessed of an unashamedly cinematic quality, Banks' novel is peppered with an assortment of colourful characters: the misunderstood artist, the brooding and gruff mountain guide, the beautiful, but half-crazy young heiress, and the wealthy matriarch who holds a long-buried family secret.

In the Tamarack Lake area of the Adirondacks, a place of dark and lonely Nordic thoughtfulness a vast space opens up between lake and forest and mountain and sky when nine people are gathered to celebrate Dr. Cole's 1936 annual Fourth of July Celebration. Here at Rangeview, the largest of only half-dozen rough-hewn log camps, a few of which are elaborately luxurious, Carter and Evelyn Cole wine and dine with their eminently well-connected friends, the men and their wives who have made a great deal of money buying and selling stocks and bonds in the roaring 1920's.

Also in attendance is Vanessa, the Coles' only child. Adopted and at thirty, married and divorced twice, Vanessa has remained childless, "barren," as she puts it. A disconsolate and rather wayward, girl, she's more content to walk by the rocky seashore with a soft wind sifting the tall pines behind her, than join her parents in their patriotic festivities. For months now, Vanessa has been unhappy, perhaps because she's realized that this scene with her parents and their well-to-do friends is just not hers anymore.

This is a world where the mountains and forests and lakes and streams are held for the exclusive use and enjoyment of members and their guests, and is off-limits to strangers and tourists. So Vanessa is surprised when she hears an airplane growing louder in the distance, a seaplane with two large pontoons that touches down on the far side of the lake. When the pilot introduces himself as Gordon Groves, Vanessa immediately recognizes the famous artist.

Known mostly for his graphic work - woodcuts, etchings, prints, Groves has become increasingly known, both in the United States and the Soviet Union for his radical leftist politics. Of course, the attraction between Jordan and Vanessa is instant, and as her cheek nearly brushes him and pulls away, neither of them can deny this electric sexual energy that passes between them, and in typically rebellious fashion, she begs him to take her for a ride in the airplane.

When he lets her fly dangerously close to the mountains, and then leaves her to walk alone back to her family's cabin, the stage is set for a battle of wills. For Jordan proves to be totally enraptured by the heiress and enveloped by a light that seems to emanate from inside her. When an incident at the club Tamarack Club Estates, involving her angers him, he blames her for what she thought she knew about him. Then an unusual request from her charts him on a course, which ends up threatening his marriage to his beloved Alicia.

Banks fills his pages with shame and remorse and broken-down marriages. Jordan ends up finding himself caught in secrets and lies, rumors and gossip, while the author paints a portrait of an egocentric man, blindsided by his own arrogant self-image. In the end all is mired in histrionics and melodrama, kidnapping and imprisonment, with the plot hinging on a fatal accident involving a shot gun and a set of lurid photos - possibly kiddie porn that may or may not exist - and a fire that proves to be the climax to the events of this over-the-top but always entertaining novel. Mike Leonard March 08.


crazy, amazing, surprising..., 01 Aug 1999
An American writer comes to Jamaica with the idea of writing a book. At first he has to know Jamaica better and we accompany him as he discovers this exotic country. He meets many kinds of people from rastafarians to marrons to relatives of Eroll Flynn (The story with Eroll Flynn... incredible!). What a surprising country, unusual people and so an amazing book! A lesson? The writer will tell you it at the end. Hard to be a rich American!

Just what kind of novel is Russell Banks' The Darling? The author is, after all, one of the most impressive writers in America today, and his work (in such books as Affliction has been marked by its refusal to deal with the parochial: Banks' subject is always ambitious in every sense of the word, and this new book may be his most large scale yet. The Darling is a massive, multi-stranded novel about Africa today.

Banks' heroine, Hannah Musgrave, is not a woman at ease with herself. Others might be happy with supportive parents and enthusiastic lovers, but Hannah finds that their blandishments do not plug the gap in her life. She abandons her comfortable middle-class existence and plunges into the dark terrorist world of the ruthless group known as the Weather Underground. Soon she is on the run from the FBI and takes refuge in Liberia in West Africa. It seems that her life will now change forever, as she marries a youthful politician and adopts the role of wife (and even mother). In the past, Hannah's life had been at threat from her own, internal forces, but now she finds that it is her environment which is the powder keg. The ruthless and corrupt military state which is Liberia (long shored up by America) is about to be plunged into massive bloodshed, and Hannah finds that all she has come to hold dear is at risk.

This is powerful and far-reaching writing, on a scale that few novelists (on either side of the Atlantic) are prepared to tackle today. The nearest modern equivalent to this epic novel of character, set against a seething backdrop is probably the work of Robert Stone, but the shade of Graham Greene is often evoked, and not to Banks' discredit. The conflicted heroine is a wonderful creation, and the turbulent dangerous world of war-torn Liberia is brilliantly evoked. -- Barry Forshaw

Meaning beyond blame, 28 Jun 2002
Mitchell Stephens, the admittedly angry New York City negligence lawyer from Banks' "The Sweet Hereafter" runs through a litany of societal problems that have caused a blinding fissure between generations. "We have lost our children," he says, and though he blames drugs and the "sexual colonization of our young people by industry," he is too logical to attempt to focus his anger at vague ideas. Instead, he mounts angry cases against the cities, counties and states from which the children disappear. We see that his true occupation is avoiding the sorrow and guilt he feels because of the "loss" of his own daughter.

When children are lost, parents are left in a sort of amoral timelessness, without history or perspective. The future disappears, and suddenly everything is permitted. The freedom is lonely and terrifying, and parents, in an attempt flee back to the world of rules and consequences, turn their grief outward where it mutates into blame.

But "The Sweet Hereafter" is more than an examination of grief and culpability. The novel investigates the communities that arise when anger and blame are the primary means of social currency. By the end of the book we find ourselves within questions much larger than the individual lives involved, and though we are sad that two characters must be martyred, we are relieved, because we know that martyrs couldn't exist without the morality we thought we'd lost. Even the martyrs find can solace in an understanding their of roles: they are proof of redemption.

The Sweet Hereafter was very entertaining and realistic., 01 Jun 1999
The Sweet Hereafter was a book that I chose to read after I saw the movie. I liked the movie a lot and decided to give the book a try. It was very similar to the movie, but I think that the book was easier to follow. It was about a tragic accident in a small town. It goes through the process of healing and whos to blame for this accident. There are also some other twists that come about in this book. It showed how people tend to always have to put blame onto somebody when really it is nobody's fault. It also shows how a family can be ripped apart by a tragedy. When I started the book, I really did not want to put it down until I was finished. I liked the book a lot and think that if anybody is looking to read a easy to follow interesting book, this should be the one. The author is Russell Banks, he seems to be a good writer. I will probably try to read something else written by him.

Won't Let You Down!, 31 May 1999
After a bus accident kills several children in a small town, everyone needs someone to blame. Russell Banks tells this story well by focussing on only a few characters and letting us get into their heads by way of switching narrators, among whom are parents of the dead children, a teenager who survived the accident, the bus driver, and a lawyer in town to get rich off of the accident. Banks is unwavering in his portrayal of immense grief and you feel by the end as though you personally know the characters. I read this only after seeing the movie and was not disappointed

Great book, 14 Apr 1999
A lot of other people have reviewed this book, probably better than I could do. I'll just add my two cents, it's a terrific book.

A Quick Lesson in Objectivity, 14 Feb 1999
Russell Banks has written a strange book that tells the tale ofa terrible school bus accident which kills