I had a nice Scott Phillips weekend, finishing up his book
_The Walkaway_, which is both sequel and prequel to _The Ice
Harvest_, and then braving the wintry weather (we finally got
some snow in the Twin Cities) to see the film version of _The
Ice Harvest_. The movie is very good, even though it does
depart some from the book, most notably at the end.
Otherwise, the screenwriters (Robert Benton and Richard
Russo) have primarily streamlined what was already a pretty
streamlined plot. The movie is dark and cynical and pretty
depressing--I bet there are more than a few people who've
been suckered in by the marketing campaign that tried to
showcase this as a comedy. There wasn't much laughing in the
theater I was in.
_The Walkaway_ is a very good book, too, though not quite so
cynical and world weary as its predecessor. One of the things
I've noted about both books is that they almost present a
sort of secret history of the town of Wichita, as viewed
through its criminal underclasses. In the book, we've got
parallel narratives, one set in 1989 (10 years after the
events of _Harvest_), and the other in 1952. In the present
day, Gunther Fahnstiel, who with his wife, Dot, absconded
with the money at _Harvest_'s end, has walked away from an
old folks home. He's losing his memory, but still has the
occasional lucid moment, just enough to keep him headed
toward where he thinks he buried the money ten years before.
An assortment of characters are looking for him, including
stepson Sidney, the bartender/bouncer from _Harvest_, now a
middle-aged businessman, and Gunther's old police friend, Ed
Dieterle. Back in 1952, we follow Wayne Ogden, apparently
AWOL from the army and back in town for u
ndetermined reasons, though it appears he's back to
settle a score with his estranged wife, Sally, a woman who
the younger Fahnstiel has a soft spot for and for whom he
provides off-the-clock security in a highly illegal "sex
lottery" run out of one of the local airplane assembly
plants. All of this comes together in a very satisfying and
rich payoff by the end of the book. Though not as dark as
_The Ice Harvest_, the book still prowls through the
underbelly of Wichita and its lowlifes and predators and is a
very well-written book. I immediately ordered Phillips' next
book, _Cottonwood_, through my local library.
Craig Larson Plymouth, MN
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 28 Nov 2005 EST