This book is the real reason its been so long since I've added to this blog. This book is loooooong...even longer than its page count(892) indicates...but, in the end, probably worth the read. Let me elaborate.
"Shadow Country" is actually one story, split into three separate books, then combined in one volume. Sound confusing? Its actually this book's confusing development and path to its current state that got me interested enough to pick it up, as a writer and a reader. Peter Matthiessen originally wrote what is now "Shadow Country" as one gigantic tome. It is historical fiction, set in the wild Everglades frontier of Florida at the turn of the century, and details the death and life (in that order) of a fictional pioneer/planter/outlaw/murderer E.J. Watson. Publishers passed on it due its length (despite the fact that Mr. Matthiessen is a two-time National Book Award Finalist), and he was finally persuaded to break the story into three separate books, to be published individually. He rewrote it as three books, they were published, and they enjoyed critical and commercial acclaim...but the author never felt good about it (this, by the way, is all explained in the introduction). So, recently, he rewrote it AGAIN, from start to finish, to restore it as one cohesive book, a little shorter than the original (from 1500 pages to 900). "Shadow Country" is the result of all that work, and it also has received plenty of acclaim. So...that's how the book got to where it is...but how does it read?
Well, at about the 500 page mark, I was prepared to pan it. It is just so long, and so dark (I mean dark...its chief themes and plot points all deal with murder, racism, rape, violence, deception, poverty and viciousness), that I found it exhausting and burdensome to battle through, no matter the clear and undeniable quality of the writing. But, then, I hit the last third or quarter of the book, and I was hooked. Hooked like rarely I've ever been. It transformed from a book that I had to force myself to pick up (I am a fast reader, and this book took me more than two months...I normally would have read 8-10 books in that time) to a book I could not put down.
Why the hook? A very brief plot summary might explain. The story begins with the death/murder of the main character, E.J. Watson, by a group of his neighbors. The first third of the book (which was once, remember, its own book entirely) details the immediate events leading up to that traumatic event, told from the various perspectives of about a dozen people who were involved. This constant changing of perspective and voice, with occasional backwards movements in time or jumping ahead, would normally alienate me, but Matthiessen pulled it off. You're still left unclear on Watson and his murder...was he a misunderstood hero, or a bloody murderer? Was his death a necessary act of justice, or a case of cold-blooded vigilante lynching? The second third of the books is all from one perspective, that of Watson's son; he digs around, investigates, interviews, trying to piece together the truth of his father's life and death; really, he is seeking to vindicate his father, but the information that he finds is murky and troubling and unclear (this middle third, by the way, was the least interesting and compelling and was where I really started to fall off the boat). The last third, though, is told from the perspective of Watson himself, going back to his earliest childhood. Page by page, year by year, event by event, we see what really happened. Slowly, the truth in all its complexity and ugliness, is revealed to us. And, all along, you know that you are hurtling toward that last climactic scene where Watson, who is now our narrator, gets gunned down...and all along you (or at least I was) are dying to finally see that event through his eyes, to understand what really happened. And...it doesn't disappoint. I've rarely been so sucked into a story - especially one I'd grown disenchanted with. I just had to know the truth behind the violent event that had started the story over 800 dark pages previous.
Its quite a work, "Shadow Country." Would I recommend it to all readers? No. To most readers? Probably not. To readers who love dark fiction, and historical sagas, and biographical character studies...you betcha. But I wouldn't read it all at once...I'd read something light and breezy between each third. Dave Barry, maybe. But...if it's your kind of thing, and you stick with it, "Shadow Country" does not disappoint.
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