From the Bookshelf of Constant Reader…

Kings of the Earth

Jon Clinch

Start date: May 15, 2011

Finish date: June 15, 2011

Discussion: Reading List

Discussion leader: Gabrielle

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Reading List

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What Members Thought

Mar 20, 2010 Ruth rated it it was amazing

A few years ago Clinch's Finn was a best book of the year for me so I was really looking forward to Kings of the Earth. I was not disappointed. It’s a marvelous book, beautifully written. Faulkneresque without Faulkner’s opacity, the book shifts back and forth in time and focus, but we’re never confused. Clinch builds his story in bits and pieces until they fit together as beautifully as a dry-stack stone wall.

Finn was mean as a junkyard dog, but there’s not an ounce of meanness in the three Pro ...more

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May 02, 2011 Mary Ellen rated it it was amazing

The novel starts with the death of one of three elderly brothers who live isolated, eccentric lives on their farm in upstate New York. It is written in a series of short chapters - from a few sentences to a few pages in length, from the perspectives of at least a dozen characters, sometimes in the first person, sometimes in the third person. The chapters jump from 1990 (the novel's "present") to the 1930's and most of the decades in-between. Does this sound like a book you'd like? Not to me, eit ...more

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Oct 27, 2010 Barbara rated it it was ok

Shelves: my-kindle-books, book-club

This is my Book Club pick for next meeting on Nov. 30, 2010. After "Sacred Hearts: a Novel," set in 15th Century, we were anxious to get back to some contemporary reading.
Also, just finished up trilogy The Hunger Games. It was okay, but I don't think my genre. Looking forward to this Jon Clinch novel which should have more substance.
Just finished Kings of the Earth and met with Book Club. Majority hated it. They felt there was no story here! MaryAnn and I disagreed. There is no plot, so to speak ...more

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Oct 05, 2010 Linda rated it really liked it

Excellent read. Memorable book. Based on a true story in upstate New York, the Proctor brothers live on an isolated farm in poverty and filth. They have lived that way their entire lives. When one of them dies, the world comes knocking and changes their lives forever, but not their relationships to each other.

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