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Title: A Death in the Family
Author: James Agee
Published: New York: Random House, 1998 (1967)
Page Count: 310
Total Page Count: 18,956
Text Number: 56
Read For: My own enjoyment (borrowed from the library)
Short review: In the suburbain South, Jay Follet is summoned to his father's death bed. The summon is a false alarm, but on the drive back Jay is killed in a car accident. A Death in the Family, chronicling the days before and after his death, tells the story of the end of his life and his family's understanding of and ways of coping with his death. The narration moves from Jay to his wife to Jay's brother and finally to Jay's children, examining the delicate balance of domestic life, the roles of family background, the impact of religion, and how people, children in particular, understand and cope with death. The novel was edited and published posthumously and therefore reads as if it is still unfinished—which it is. While it begs editing and disparages, rather than advocates, the children it depicts, Agee confronts a number of normally notions (the romanticism of death, euphemisms for death, and religion's ability to weaken its practitioners) without apology or hesitation. To be honest, this book read like Faulkner without the good parts, but I still recommend it is a short, uniquely-constructed, cynical and honest text. Not my favorite, but I didn't mind reading it.
( Long review. )
Author: James Agee
Published: New York: Random House, 1998 (1967)
Page Count: 310
Total Page Count: 18,956
Text Number: 56
Read For: My own enjoyment (borrowed from the library)
Short review: In the suburbain South, Jay Follet is summoned to his father's death bed. The summon is a false alarm, but on the drive back Jay is killed in a car accident. A Death in the Family, chronicling the days before and after his death, tells the story of the end of his life and his family's understanding of and ways of coping with his death. The narration moves from Jay to his wife to Jay's brother and finally to Jay's children, examining the delicate balance of domestic life, the roles of family background, the impact of religion, and how people, children in particular, understand and cope with death. The novel was edited and published posthumously and therefore reads as if it is still unfinished—which it is. While it begs editing and disparages, rather than advocates, the children it depicts, Agee confronts a number of normally notions (the romanticism of death, euphemisms for death, and religion's ability to weaken its practitioners) without apology or hesitation. To be honest, this book read like Faulkner without the good parts, but I still recommend it is a short, uniquely-constructed, cynical and honest text. Not my favorite, but I didn't mind reading it.
( Long review. )
