Shine Hawk

by Charlie Smith

Returning for a confrontation after seven years of exile, Billy Crew discovers his best friend is now married to Billy's former lover, and the three set out on a journey during which they run afoul of the law

Genres: Fiction

367 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1988

Reviews

[Rusty · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think the prose in this book is top-notch. Charlie Smith is a poet, and every sinuous line in this book proves it.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in George and North Florida in 1959, Shine Hawk borrows from As I Lay Dying with its small band of eccentrics transporting a dead body while suffering a variety of misadventures. The story further reveals influences from Jack Kerouac and Walt Whitman with Billy’s rambling, exhilarated passages on the beauty of his native countryside, his flights of fancy into the ultimate truth of things, and memories of his wild escapades with old friend and lover Frank. Still, this is the Deep South on the eve of the Civil Rights movement, and though these coming events are never alluded to, a feeling of repressed violence pervades the story, periodically bursting forth, and dysfunction lurks in idyllic small towns. Death and desire are sensually intertwined, with our three lovers engaging in prolonged orgies in the dark rural night while Frank's late brother Jake putrefies nearby in his coffin, like the uninvited Masque of the Red Death. Our cast of main characters - Billy, Frank, and Frank's wife Hazel - exert a toxic hold on each other that seems rushing headlong to a catastrophe, likely fatal.

Unfortunately, Shine Hawk loses its breakneck speed and gets bogged down by Frank and Billy's midlife crises and angst issues. I'm not sure why Hazel put up with either of them, or why, for that matter, Frank is the madman even though Billy exhibits much of the same impulsive, destructive behavior. Billy observes that growing older means recognizing that there are limits, that "we give in, we return childhood's license, the stamped and smeared passport that allowed us entries into the reckless countries of our youth," yet this seems like a late and sudden development. It got to the point where I was just tired of these idiots and even the most evocative Southern Gothic essence just didn't make up for annoying, unappealing protagonists.

[Side note: I recommend avoiding the Kirkus review before you read this, as it is loaded with spoilers.]

[Harriet Dovvard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just finished this book. Overall, it was incredibly poetic. Some of the best prose I've ever read with more quotable lines than I can count. BUT... it does require a lot of patience. Even as someone who is used to slower paced novels, I struggled a bit during some pages with the sheer amount of tangential description. These would then be contrasted with, what seemed to me, really abrupt and out-of-place action sequences. But maybe I should've just been more prepared for these.
Aside from that, I still consider this a 4 star book at the minimum. I really love books that delve deep into the psychology of flawed characters, particularly how their upbringing played into it, and this one knocked that out of the ballpark. But I do kinda wish we got some more from Hazel and what her motivations are for sticking with these two as long as she did.

[Notcathy J · Rating 1 out of 5]

Cathy was reading this when I fell in love with her. She has written, "rather ghastly".

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-crafted novel. This is for people who love the art of literature.