Driftless discussion

Since I first wrote a rather snarky review of this book, I have heard the author read and discuss it. Maybe because HE is such a nice person, but I hope because I came to understand what he is attempting, I would like to edit my review to say that while I still feel the central "plot" or problem is the heavy-handed mystery story involving the tainted milk, others have convinced me that I am not seeing how it fits in. Others feel that there is no real plot, but rather snapshots of how several people interact with the land in this small spot on the Earth and that that is enough. In that way, it is Winesburg, Ohio meets Spoon River Anthology meets Faulkner. I appreciate that kind of associative approach.

I thought it had no plot and got irritated by that. it seemed like a bunch of interconnected short stories, of the literary sort where the language is nice but nothing happens, and while that's fine now and again, I'd rather the publisher didn't say "novel" on the dust jacket but "story cycle" or the like. He may be the nicest person in the universe (and I certainly am not) but I reviewed this negatively elsewhere and stand by the thought.

I felt that, while there really wasn't a major plot uniting the whole book, there are still a number of strong ideas and smaller plots weaving through the book to qualify it as a novel. None of the chapters/episodes felt to me like it could stand alone, or even that they were trying to stand alone, for that matter. On the contrary, it seemed to me that the various episodes did a lot of cross-pollinating, building off each other to inform more than what they would have otherwise. I think a main element of that is the "how several people interact with the land in this small spot on the Earth," but I think Rhodes really opens up that "how" into new dimensions.

I would agree, however, that some parts of the plot (the milk mystery, the sudden mad-dash for a love story towards the end) and some of Rhodes' more philosophical points feel rather forced at times. And those moments of pushiness are what led me to be a bit more critical in my initial review than what I am now.

Several story lines about different people. To tell the truth the tainted milk plot was not believable. I have lived in a rural area all my life and I can't see that happening. I did skip some characters stories, just did not find them interesting for instance the lady preacher. Other characters I found intensely interesting and still think, what if......... even though I finished the book weeks ago.

I took it as life in current small town midwestern USA. Some things were more realistic than others. The government plot theme is explored also in his book Jewelweed and is a theme that many in small town America sincerely believe.