Adapting from Nietzsche, in the movie Wall Street, the Hal Holbrook character says to the Charlie Sheen character, when the latter is arrested for insider trading, "Man looks into the abyss, there's nothing staring back at him. At that moment, man finds his character. And that is what keeps him out of the abyss."
In the new novel, Cherry, author Nico Walker spins a semi-autobiographical tale that seemingly changes the quote to, "Man looks into the abyss, there's nothing staring back at him. At that moment, man finds drugs. And then he leaps into the abyss."
The voice of the novel is an unnamed narrator. He grows up in the suburbs of Cleveland, ends up in the army and gets commissioned to serve in Iraq as a medivac. Upon returning from service, he gets addicted to heroin and starts robbing banks and is finally arrested and imprisoned.
The first part of the book is an average coming of age story in the mid-western suburbs.
The middle parts of the book are quite gripping, when the narrator serves as a medivac evacuating wounded soldiers in battle and treating them. The sheer brutality, banality, obscenity of the situation in battle and in camp that the author wryly observes is quite unimaginable. It is blood, gore, drugs and pornography - everywhere all the time.
What was peculiar reading this part though, was there was no curiosity whatsoever by anyone on the narrator's side about the local population.
If one visits another place as a tourist, it is all about learning the local customs. observing the local language, enjoying the food and the arts. It is one of respect and joy.
In this version, it is subjugation of the enemy. Worse, in the narrators eyes, he is not even sure why they are the enemy.
After the service, the narrator returns home. Here the story joins the larger story taking place in society. The opioid crisis. I had written previously my review of the movie with Julia Roberts, Ben is Back. In that movie, a helpless mom fights against her sons opioid addition and realizes the array of structural forces against finding any remedy.
Here all that is in play, and the narrator is equipped with skills that the army taught him. Gripped by his addiction, he seeks recourse to find the money - by robbing banks! He robs, and robs and robs - until he is caught.
Indeed, the narrator in the story leaps into the abyss.
The author of the novel, Nico Walker himself has also stared into the abyss. By publishing this profanity-laced, wryly observed, gripping read, while in prison, has found his character.
That hopefully keeps him out of the abyss. We wish him the best.
In the new novel, Cherry, author Nico Walker spins a semi-autobiographical tale that seemingly changes the quote to, "Man looks into the abyss, there's nothing staring back at him. At that moment, man finds drugs. And then he leaps into the abyss."
The first part of the book is an average coming of age story in the mid-western suburbs.
The middle parts of the book are quite gripping, when the narrator serves as a medivac evacuating wounded soldiers in battle and treating them. The sheer brutality, banality, obscenity of the situation in battle and in camp that the author wryly observes is quite unimaginable. It is blood, gore, drugs and pornography - everywhere all the time.
What was peculiar reading this part though, was there was no curiosity whatsoever by anyone on the narrator's side about the local population.
If one visits another place as a tourist, it is all about learning the local customs. observing the local language, enjoying the food and the arts. It is one of respect and joy.
In this version, it is subjugation of the enemy. Worse, in the narrators eyes, he is not even sure why they are the enemy.
After the service, the narrator returns home. Here the story joins the larger story taking place in society. The opioid crisis. I had written previously my review of the movie with Julia Roberts, Ben is Back. In that movie, a helpless mom fights against her sons opioid addition and realizes the array of structural forces against finding any remedy.
Here all that is in play, and the narrator is equipped with skills that the army taught him. Gripped by his addiction, he seeks recourse to find the money - by robbing banks! He robs, and robs and robs - until he is caught.
Indeed, the narrator in the story leaps into the abyss.
The author of the novel, Nico Walker himself has also stared into the abyss. By publishing this profanity-laced, wryly observed, gripping read, while in prison, has found his character.
That hopefully keeps him out of the abyss. We wish him the best.
4 comments:
Well written!
Very good and a concise review. Is the author still in prison?
Yes - he has one more year in prison.
Concisely captures the essence.
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