Wednesday 19 February 2014

PAULETTE LIVERS - CEMENTVILLE


Synopsis/blurb...........

In late spring of 1969, a picturesque southern town is turned inside out by the deaths of seven young National Guardsmen in a single Vietcong attack. The return of the bodies sets off something inside the town itself—a sense of violence, a political reality, a gnawing unease with the future—pushing the families of Cementville into alienation and grief.
The town appears blind to the PTSD of Harlan O’Brien, POW and war hero, even as his horrific experiences bend his mind in terrifying ways. Giang Smith, the ‘war bride,’ has fled the violence of Vietnam with her American husband only to encounter echoes of it in her new home. Evelyn Slidell, the wealthy icon and a descendant of Cementville’s founders, is no stranger to what close-mouthed grief can do to a family. And members of the notorious Ferguson clan, led by the violent Levon and his draft-dodging brother Byard, share a secret despair of their own. Through one strange summer Maureen, the adolescent sister of a recently returned GI, attempts to document the changes happening to her town.
CEMENTVILLE speaks as a grieving community—already several centuries old—being born again in times of intense change. With the Civil Rights Act only a few years old, a restless citizenry divided over the war, and the Women’s Movement beginning to send tremors through established assumptions about family life, CEMENTVILLE provides a microcosm of a society shedding the old order, a story resonant with echoes of the issues of war and social change still being confronted today.
This was another new author for me, another debut novel and my first female read of the month. I had high hopes for this book and whilst there was a lot of characters that I enjoyed reading about, unfortunately this book just didn't set me on fire. I have read a lot of books in the past, both factual and fiction about the Vietnam experience including the aftermath of the war. Books that have moved me and stirred something within, both fascinating and repelling in equal measure about the horror of a war a generation of American working class youth both black and white endured. (I’m not for one minute forgetting the horrors inflicted on Vietnam, the country and its people on both sides of the conflict. Nor those that continue to suffer today from the effects of 20 million gallons of Agent Orange.)

I mainly struggled with the cast of characters, at many points trying to reconcile, who was what to whom. I would partly blame myself for some of this confusion. Setting off with enthusiasm, I was kind of anticipating settling into a reading rhythm immediately, something which never happened. I wasn't immediately hooked, so consequently I didn't read at a pace that allowed me to gain familiarity with everyone – a self-perpetuating downward spiral ensued. The slower I read, the more distanced from the people and events outlined I felt and the greater my apathy and indifference and comprehension was, until finally it was a relief to finish. I would have benefited from a noddy guide to the cast of characters or a Ferguson family tree depicted at the front explaining all the branches of the clan as an aide memoire.

Cementville just wasn't the book I hoped for, but it was competing with a compelling rival read at the time. (My fault then!) Quite a few passages.........for example - the bus ride to the town undertaken by a couple of strangers and the realisation of where they were both headed and why - engaged and interested me, but overall I wasn't especially enthusiastic. The portrayal of the surviving veterans who returned to Cementville and their disconnection and remoteness from their families and community after their part in the war was over was convincingly depicted. 

Towards the end, one of the characters is revealed to have been responsible for the murder of the Vietnamese woman, the rationale for this and other acts, I didn't really understand. 

The fact that this would be considered more of a literary novel, as opposed to my usual fare of crime fiction, wouldn't explain my lukewarm response to it, I don’t believe.

Paulette Livers hails from Kentucky, so I will be ticking off this state on my US State Reading Challenge – 3 down, 48 to go!

3 from 5  - more of a 2 and a half, but I'm rounding up! 

Cementville is published next month by Counterpoint/Soft Skull Press. 

12 comments:

  1. I have exactly that problem with a lot of characters in a book - it's fatal to put it down and wander off for a few days! Vietnam was such a touchy subject in Australia for many years after we withdrew: the veterans were treated terribly (both by society and govt) when they returned.

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    1. I totally agree and am a bit annoyed at myself. If I had given it 100% concentration, I probably would have understood and enjoyed it a bit better.
      I went through a big Vietnam reading phase years ago - I think subconsciously growing up and seeing the tea time news images, probably more early 70's than 60's had an effect on me. I read some great writers and books.....Larry Heinemann, Michael Herr, Tim O'Brien....my tastes have evolved away from Vietnam now, but I still like to scratch that itch occasionally. To be honest, I don't think I have read that much about the Australian involvement other than one book on Long Tan, which covered a particular battle as opposed to getting an overview on Aus involvement.

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  2. I spotted this book in your 'currently reading' slot and thought it looked very interesting, I've been waiting for it to come up - I should have been warned by the fact that it occupied that slot for longer than your usual books! Sorry to hear it wasn't a great read - I'd thought from a quick lookup that it might have been in the area our interests cross over, but you haven't made me long to try it. Better luck next time.

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    1. Moira, I don't know if I shot myself in the foot with this one, or it just wasn't a great book - does that make sense? Probably 50/50. Still you never know until you've tried. Next!

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  3. Col, if you like historical fiction about Vietnam, then you'll like SAIGON by British journalist and author Anthony Grey. It's a hefty book. Have I mentioned this book before?!

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    1. I think you may have mentioned it on one of Tracy's threads. I think I read this maybe 20-odd years ago and you're right it's about the size of a housebrick. I used to read and keep my books at that stage, only in the last 4 years or so getting rid of what I read when I''m done, so it will be getting a re-read eventually......always assuming I get to it!

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  4. Col - Thanks, as ever, for your honest appraisal. Your comments remind me of how important it is to make characters distinctive and to consider how many there will be. If the story is only truly served by having a lot of characters, then I agree: some sort of list or family tree or something can be really helpful.

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    1. Margot, the writing process sounds incredibly complicated, how many things do you have to juggle at once - cast, setting, plot, pace, depth and detail?
      Much easier sitting on the sidelines as a reader throwing stones. I'd be interested to see other reviews on this novel, as I am not totally convinced it was all the fault of the author - I am culpable too.

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  5. Well, what can one say? Better luck next time? Try Ruth Rendell. As for this book, if you weren't hooked into the story at anytime then it just wasn't for you. I usually don't finish such stories finding my time to be better spent on a story that does engage me. The topic is an interesting one but I'll have to pass your grade notwithstanding.

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    1. Win some lose some - I'm not at a point where I feel comfortable giving up on a book enjoyable or not. I know life's too short, but the optimist in me thinks it will get better! Rendell is on the pile.

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  6. Even ignoring your appraisal, this would be a hard one for me. Set in the South, about the Vietnam era, which I remember the effects of well enough. Maybe some day.

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    1. Tracy, its not going to appeal to everyone and if there's plenty out there that you do like - why feel uncomfortable? Next one - maybe!

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