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What the Dead Remember
Greene's poignant novel takes its readers through the life of an unnamed narrator over successive summers spent in Charleston, South Carolina, in this unsettling yet moving portrait of a man growing up and coming to terms with his sexuality during a time of crisis.
Hardcover
First published November 22, 1991
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
October 23, 2013
This book is very hard to review. Plots are easy to write about and can be just descriptive. This book is about more than plot. In fact the plot is simple enough and is described succinctly enough on the cover. What is not so easily described is the way the author conveys the thought processes of the boy/man and the atmosphere of Charlestown those three summers. One line describes the heat in the house hiding beneath the floorboards and nearly every line has something poetic in it. It's beautifully written.
I have read beautifully written books in the past but found there was no substance to them and was left mellow but none the wiser. This is not one of those books. This will leave you mellow, touched and a little bit spooked. Especially the final few pages. As a boy on the outside of life as it was lived on the beaches of Charleston at the time he is finally able to connect with the other boys. How that is done is only hinted at but is obvious reading between the lines. The derelict slave building serving as the place for another form of slavery. He is able to move beyond the wall of glass he has to live behind by connecting with Stevie the retarded older boy living on the poorer part of the island but - as Wilde said - we often destroy the thing we love. Stevie is a prominent character in the book providing another way for him to connect. Again, this comes at a high price for both of them.
Some reviewers have said this is a book about Aids. I find that hard to believe. It's like saying the Titanic is about engineering. The Aids part shows its head in the last page or so and is mentioned only in passing in one other passage. Also, and this is only personal, I think that it is used as a metaphor for something that joins him to other human beings - an issue that runs through the novel as the man as boy always feels outside the common run of childhood. Past and present meet up in a surprising way at the end and give him the connection he wanted but at a price.
If you can get a copy of this book take it. It isn't a long book but it is deep and will stay with you. A lot more than can be said for a lot of gay novels which are nothing but chewing gum for the mind.
I have read beautifully written books in the past but found there was no substance to them and was left mellow but none the wiser. This is not one of those books. This will leave you mellow, touched and a little bit spooked. Especially the final few pages. As a boy on the outside of life as it was lived on the beaches of Charleston at the time he is finally able to connect with the other boys. How that is done is only hinted at but is obvious reading between the lines. The derelict slave building serving as the place for another form of slavery. He is able to move beyond the wall of glass he has to live behind by connecting with Stevie the retarded older boy living on the poorer part of the island but - as Wilde said - we often destroy the thing we love. Stevie is a prominent character in the book providing another way for him to connect. Again, this comes at a high price for both of them.
Some reviewers have said this is a book about Aids. I find that hard to believe. It's like saying the Titanic is about engineering. The Aids part shows its head in the last page or so and is mentioned only in passing in one other passage. Also, and this is only personal, I think that it is used as a metaphor for something that joins him to other human beings - an issue that runs through the novel as the man as boy always feels outside the common run of childhood. Past and present meet up in a surprising way at the end and give him the connection he wanted but at a price.
If you can get a copy of this book take it. It isn't a long book but it is deep and will stay with you. A lot more than can be said for a lot of gay novels which are nothing but chewing gum for the mind.
January 27, 2015
One of the darkest books I've ever read but so beautifully written and profoundly poetic.
"And I wonder if it is their regrets the dead remember or is it their dreams they muse on eternally? It is the latter I think, for as the heat reached up and I fall asleep, everything else falls away. I feel buoyant and floating; I want to cry out with the panorama of happiness I see opening in front of me." -- Harlan Greene
"And I wonder if it is their regrets the dead remember or is it their dreams they muse on eternally? It is the latter I think, for as the heat reached up and I fall asleep, everything else falls away. I feel buoyant and floating; I want to cry out with the panorama of happiness I see opening in front of me." -- Harlan Greene
April 6, 2024
A brilliant novel by an unjustly overlooked author - I read his 'Why We Never Danced the Charleston' forty years ago and I am ashamed it has taken me so long to get round to this utterly perfect novel. It is short but it packs an emotional punch greater than any of those hefty New York Times bestsellers and says more wise things about life, family, growing up, making the right choice, recognising the right choice and love then so many better known novels. At the same time it is not a 'Southern' novel nor is it 'gothic' or 'grand guignol' although it takes place in Charleston and there are plenty of hot summer nights and days and even a Victorian mansion or two. It is not a 'gay' novel but a novel about men who love men and about when they were boys and loved other boys and straight boys were happy to use and be used. It is most definitely a novel concerned with, but not about, sex. It is about longing and searching to belong. Class is preeminent as a driving force in this novel, almost as much as money, society and prestige. It is not about AIDS though it appears and it has a place in the plot.
But above all it is about recognising what is important and making the right choice. We are all taken up to high mountain by the devil at some point in our lives and offered the kingdoms of the world. What those kingdoms are varies from person to person. But the choice is the same - do you take the meretricious and the tawdry or do you choose something real. Reality may not have a flat stomach and golden skin (chose particulars to suit individual taste) but if it is something whose loss leaves you bereft then you made the right choice.
This is a really exceptional novel and I assure you it is worth acquiring and reading.
But above all it is about recognising what is important and making the right choice. We are all taken up to high mountain by the devil at some point in our lives and offered the kingdoms of the world. What those kingdoms are varies from person to person. But the choice is the same - do you take the meretricious and the tawdry or do you choose something real. Reality may not have a flat stomach and golden skin (chose particulars to suit individual taste) but if it is something whose loss leaves you bereft then you made the right choice.
This is a really exceptional novel and I assure you it is worth acquiring and reading.
November 14, 2012
Harlan Greene has delicately crafted a novel with lyrical language that gives a deep inner voice to a complex, very imperfect narrator. "What the Dead Remember" is a rather low key examination of life, longing and making one's place in the world.
The actual story is minimalistic and rather heavy on old ideas. All the characters besides the unnamed narrator feel very distant, which is probably the point. The narration is pure subjectivity of a character out of place, dissociated from the community around him.
The novel is especially accomplished in depicting the protagonist as a child. He is cruel, selfish, unempathical, yet oddly complex and ambiguous instead of being repulsive. And as the character grows older, he gains even more complexity and depth.
The ending felt a bit contrived, but even that gives a reasonably new approach to the era of the AIDS epidemic. The last few pages are quite haunting, with their own kind of dark poetry to enforce the overall effect of the novel.
The actual story is minimalistic and rather heavy on old ideas. All the characters besides the unnamed narrator feel very distant, which is probably the point. The narration is pure subjectivity of a character out of place, dissociated from the community around him.
The novel is especially accomplished in depicting the protagonist as a child. He is cruel, selfish, unempathical, yet oddly complex and ambiguous instead of being repulsive. And as the character grows older, he gains even more complexity and depth.
The ending felt a bit contrived, but even that gives a reasonably new approach to the era of the AIDS epidemic. The last few pages are quite haunting, with their own kind of dark poetry to enforce the overall effect of the novel.
April 4, 2012
Although it's not the type of book I would recommend because I prefer happy uplifting gay themed books. I felt this was well written and keep me intriqued throughout the entire book. This was me stepping outside my box and reading something that I would not normally read. It's worth reading!
June 30, 2022
What a fascinating experience. In many parts I saw myself. The interconnections of characters through the summers is brilliant. A great and memorable read. In the end, I understand What the Dead Remembered.
January 23, 2022
The book as a whole was very poetic and an easy read. I feel as though the end was rushed, but reading the last page made it all really come together. The narrator focuses on the good and only touches on the bad in a minimal way. I wish I saved it for a summer read
November 30, 2024
Maybe 3.5 stars. I'd been looking for a slim volume/quick read. Felt very early 90's for sure (bought it used sometime ago and it had been sitting on the shelf ever since). I liked the characters and sense of place. Definitely feels somewhat autobiographical.
June 1, 2021
the last 10 pages are pretty masterful. A really unique portrait of Charleston in the 60s-80s
August 1, 2011
This almost reminded me of To Kill Mockingbird. Although, it wasn't as good. It did have rare bird metaphors though. I didn't force myself through this, but it wasn't a page turner either.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews