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Come il paradiso, come la morte
Una terra vergine, una compagnia che la sta dissanguando, uomini che vivono in branco come lupi, pronti a scatenare una rivoluzione: Neill Null firma un esordio che nel tratteggiare un disastro ecologico ante litteram ci parla di luoghi crudeli, dentro e fuori di noi, con voce lirica e potente.
Una foschia azzurra inonda la vista di un manipolo di soldati impegnati nella guerra di secessione americana: è il mare di rilievi e crinali del West Virginia, con le sue foreste inviolate. Anni dopo, finita la guerra, tre di loro decidono di tornare per dar vita alla Cheat River Paper & Pulp Company. Sono privi di scrupoli, induriti dal passato, decisi ad avere successo. Abbattendo alberi e sfruttando uomini.
Quando il giovane Cur Greathouse, costretto a lasciare la fattoria in cui è cresciuto per evitare l’ombra di uno scandalo, approda nella compagnia vi trova una nuova, improbabile famiglia; ma il lavoro è durissimo, il valore dei compagni si misura secondo le colonne dei libri mastri e voci sempre più insistenti di uno sciopero scivolano di branda in branda.
In un tempo scandito dalle frustate della miseria e dai tonfi sordi degli abeti rossi che cadono, Cur incontra il ministro di una congregazione allo sbando, un venditore ambulante siriano che sogna di aprire un vero negozio, una donna slovena oppressa dal marito che trova il suo riscatto tra le fila del sindacato: uomini e donne che mettono in discussione l’integrità e la lealtà del ragazzo in un mondo di frontiera dove l’unica vera legge è quella del più forte.
Una foschia azzurra inonda la vista di un manipolo di soldati impegnati nella guerra di secessione americana: è il mare di rilievi e crinali del West Virginia, con le sue foreste inviolate. Anni dopo, finita la guerra, tre di loro decidono di tornare per dar vita alla Cheat River Paper & Pulp Company. Sono privi di scrupoli, induriti dal passato, decisi ad avere successo. Abbattendo alberi e sfruttando uomini.
Quando il giovane Cur Greathouse, costretto a lasciare la fattoria in cui è cresciuto per evitare l’ombra di uno scandalo, approda nella compagnia vi trova una nuova, improbabile famiglia; ma il lavoro è durissimo, il valore dei compagni si misura secondo le colonne dei libri mastri e voci sempre più insistenti di uno sciopero scivolano di branda in branda.
In un tempo scandito dalle frustate della miseria e dai tonfi sordi degli abeti rossi che cadono, Cur incontra il ministro di una congregazione allo sbando, un venditore ambulante siriano che sogna di aprire un vero negozio, una donna slovena oppressa dal marito che trova il suo riscatto tra le fila del sindacato: uomini e donne che mettono in discussione l’integrità e la lealtà del ragazzo in un mondo di frontiera dove l’unica vera legge è quella del più forte.
304 pages, Paperback
First published September 8, 2015
10 people are currently reading
628 people want to read
About the author
Matthew Neill Null
5 books52 followersMatthew Neill Null is a writer from West Virginia, a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and a winner of the O. Henry Award, the Mary McCarthy Prize, and the Joseph Brodsky Rome Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He is author of the novel HONEY FROM THE LION and the story collection ALLEGHENY FRONT.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
March 13, 2015
Can I give my own book 5 stars? Ah hell, I'll go ahead and do it...
September 11, 2015
Review forthcoming in The Master's Review--but, sweet lord, this book is astonishing. Dark, violent, lyrical, heartbreaking, and somehow redemptive. One of the most enjoyable reading experiences I've had recently. Matthew Neill Null is not just someone to watch, he's fully formed. Get this book.
Edited to add: (https://mastersreview.com/book-review...)
Matthew Neill Null’s debut novel, Honey from the Lion, is an extraordinary and powerful examination of the steady decimation of ten thousand acres of the West Virginia Allegheny forest. The novel moves with the assured pace of a thriller, while sentence by sentence Null plays with the language of place, of longing, and of violence. Within the book are echoes of Edward P. Jones’ The Known World in its scope and generous spirit in the face of overwhelming adversity. The encompassing omniscient narration and deliberate, masterful plotting brings to mind Shirley Hazzard’s The Transit of Venus. Frankly no first novel has the right to be this good—and yet, Null succeeds. He announces himself as a fully formed novelist.
Honey from the Lion centers around Helena, the company town for Cheat River Paper & Pulp. In the early years of the 1900s, the forest is ripe for industry. Located at the base of the Alleghenies, Helena has stores, bars, pastors, prostitutes, and—once a month—the company’s workers. These men descend to collect their pay, seeking a reprieve from their dangerous work. “Like sunflowers,” Null writes, “the wolves dished their faces to the sky. Light was a luxury the forest denied them. They clenched their eyes shut and savored the warmth, showing off the white undersides of their chins.”
The wolves are the timber wolves: the men who cut down the trees, which the teamsters then drag away. Too, there are “sawyers, filers and bulls, tallymen and grade crews, buckers and trimmermen with pitch on their hands.” By 1904, logging is a robust and healthy industry, and three soldiers from the Civil War’s early years have grown into land barons, amassing wealth from a distance.
At a time when California’s coast has been given a death sentence, ice caps are melting, and warnings about the sustainability of man’s consumption are still dismissed by some politicians and citizens, Null’s evocation of the forest’s steady destruction is both a prescient fable of our future and a humbling reminder of man’s consistent and tyrannical history of ruin at any cost. Yet, a newly cut tree’s descent can read like poetry: “With a metallic groan the tree twisted and fell—so fast, so slow, the drizzling molasses, as they all do. It parted the forest like a blade, the world shook and blurred with its percussion. Branches snapping, birds flaring. Like a courthouse coming down.”
The work is dangerous. Men’s lives mean nothing in comparison to profit. A drunken man notes that “the cities of Baltimore and Washington reads a hundred acres of poplar every morning over breakfast.” If a man dies, work must—and will—go on. Other men eager for work will come. Unsurprisingly, the workers of Cheat River have begun to compile a list of complaints: “Dying horses. Unmended bones. Rain, drudgery, bleeding hands. They wanted a doctor to visit the camps once a week, not once a month. Twenty-five cents an hour, not two dollars a day. A hot lunch. A ten-hour shift, not one without end. Collective bargaining, glory, power, recognition, revenge, a right to jury trial…” The solution comes in the form of a proposed union strike, as well as acts of violence—suggested by the more radicalized men—meant to shake the land barons’ control.
Null introduces a large cast of men who are no more than figures in a ledger to the company’s owners, but to the reader are fully realized men with ambitions, dreams, fears and longings: father-and-son Vance and Amos Church; Italian Leo Caspani; drunkard Blue Ruin; skilled timber wolf Neversummer; and Cur Greathouse, who has fled his family’s home following the death of his twin brother and an unwise but passionate dalliance with his stepmother. Null carefully fleshes out the wider world of the town, too: the union strikers use the Gulley, the black section of Helena, as a secret meeting place; Grayab is a Syrian peddler who befriends the struggling pastor Seldomridge; Zala, hiding under the name Sally Cove, has been abandoned by her foreign husband and is now disastrously involved with Cur.
Null controls the abundance of characters and plot through an omniscient narration that dips in and out of the story, weaving together—often before the reader understands the connections—several threads of plot. This voice is capable of knowing more than the characters and the reader. Time is malleable: prolepsis hints at the future and flashbacks inform the present. Distant but not distancing, evaluative but not cold, the novel’s perspective also allows for moments of true tragedy, as when a character who might have been the novel’s hero is killed off in a single paragraph, or a betrayal that will cost several lives is revealed in a single line.
Uniting the novel is Null’s writing: lyrical, dense, descriptive and poetic, but never forgetful that plot and character are essential. By following Cur, a West Virginian, Null speaks to the endless pull of time, and the unbreakable draw of returning to your native land. As alive and present as his characters seem, Null writes, “This country always belonged to the dead. The living rented upon their memories. The living looked embarrassed to be here.” Yet these men and women—the living—cannot help but long for home. Here is Null’s greatest gift: in the face of misery, of a cruel system built upon the broken backs of the men it is profiting from, Honey from the Lion is essentially a love song to the Alleghenies. Both the novel and the author love the flora and fauna, the poetry of the voices, the faces and bodies of the people, but especially the mountains themselves, looming overhead. Long ago stripped bare of their trees, they cast a long shadow, still.
Edited to add: (https://mastersreview.com/book-review...)
Matthew Neill Null’s debut novel, Honey from the Lion, is an extraordinary and powerful examination of the steady decimation of ten thousand acres of the West Virginia Allegheny forest. The novel moves with the assured pace of a thriller, while sentence by sentence Null plays with the language of place, of longing, and of violence. Within the book are echoes of Edward P. Jones’ The Known World in its scope and generous spirit in the face of overwhelming adversity. The encompassing omniscient narration and deliberate, masterful plotting brings to mind Shirley Hazzard’s The Transit of Venus. Frankly no first novel has the right to be this good—and yet, Null succeeds. He announces himself as a fully formed novelist.
Honey from the Lion centers around Helena, the company town for Cheat River Paper & Pulp. In the early years of the 1900s, the forest is ripe for industry. Located at the base of the Alleghenies, Helena has stores, bars, pastors, prostitutes, and—once a month—the company’s workers. These men descend to collect their pay, seeking a reprieve from their dangerous work. “Like sunflowers,” Null writes, “the wolves dished their faces to the sky. Light was a luxury the forest denied them. They clenched their eyes shut and savored the warmth, showing off the white undersides of their chins.”
The wolves are the timber wolves: the men who cut down the trees, which the teamsters then drag away. Too, there are “sawyers, filers and bulls, tallymen and grade crews, buckers and trimmermen with pitch on their hands.” By 1904, logging is a robust and healthy industry, and three soldiers from the Civil War’s early years have grown into land barons, amassing wealth from a distance.
At a time when California’s coast has been given a death sentence, ice caps are melting, and warnings about the sustainability of man’s consumption are still dismissed by some politicians and citizens, Null’s evocation of the forest’s steady destruction is both a prescient fable of our future and a humbling reminder of man’s consistent and tyrannical history of ruin at any cost. Yet, a newly cut tree’s descent can read like poetry: “With a metallic groan the tree twisted and fell—so fast, so slow, the drizzling molasses, as they all do. It parted the forest like a blade, the world shook and blurred with its percussion. Branches snapping, birds flaring. Like a courthouse coming down.”
The work is dangerous. Men’s lives mean nothing in comparison to profit. A drunken man notes that “the cities of Baltimore and Washington reads a hundred acres of poplar every morning over breakfast.” If a man dies, work must—and will—go on. Other men eager for work will come. Unsurprisingly, the workers of Cheat River have begun to compile a list of complaints: “Dying horses. Unmended bones. Rain, drudgery, bleeding hands. They wanted a doctor to visit the camps once a week, not once a month. Twenty-five cents an hour, not two dollars a day. A hot lunch. A ten-hour shift, not one without end. Collective bargaining, glory, power, recognition, revenge, a right to jury trial…” The solution comes in the form of a proposed union strike, as well as acts of violence—suggested by the more radicalized men—meant to shake the land barons’ control.
Null introduces a large cast of men who are no more than figures in a ledger to the company’s owners, but to the reader are fully realized men with ambitions, dreams, fears and longings: father-and-son Vance and Amos Church; Italian Leo Caspani; drunkard Blue Ruin; skilled timber wolf Neversummer; and Cur Greathouse, who has fled his family’s home following the death of his twin brother and an unwise but passionate dalliance with his stepmother. Null carefully fleshes out the wider world of the town, too: the union strikers use the Gulley, the black section of Helena, as a secret meeting place; Grayab is a Syrian peddler who befriends the struggling pastor Seldomridge; Zala, hiding under the name Sally Cove, has been abandoned by her foreign husband and is now disastrously involved with Cur.
Null controls the abundance of characters and plot through an omniscient narration that dips in and out of the story, weaving together—often before the reader understands the connections—several threads of plot. This voice is capable of knowing more than the characters and the reader. Time is malleable: prolepsis hints at the future and flashbacks inform the present. Distant but not distancing, evaluative but not cold, the novel’s perspective also allows for moments of true tragedy, as when a character who might have been the novel’s hero is killed off in a single paragraph, or a betrayal that will cost several lives is revealed in a single line.
Uniting the novel is Null’s writing: lyrical, dense, descriptive and poetic, but never forgetful that plot and character are essential. By following Cur, a West Virginian, Null speaks to the endless pull of time, and the unbreakable draw of returning to your native land. As alive and present as his characters seem, Null writes, “This country always belonged to the dead. The living rented upon their memories. The living looked embarrassed to be here.” Yet these men and women—the living—cannot help but long for home. Here is Null’s greatest gift: in the face of misery, of a cruel system built upon the broken backs of the men it is profiting from, Honey from the Lion is essentially a love song to the Alleghenies. Both the novel and the author love the flora and fauna, the poetry of the voices, the faces and bodies of the people, but especially the mountains themselves, looming overhead. Long ago stripped bare of their trees, they cast a long shadow, still.
December 16, 2015
What an excellent read! Full disclosure for anyone of my friends here who don't know, Matt's parents are very good friends of mine. When all the kids were smaller, we'd do beach trips together, family cookouts, etc. Matt then went to W&L at the same time as my niece. we've stayed in touch through the years until FB and sites like goodreads.com made staying in touch very easy. Matt has written a few books of short stories that I haven't read, but plan to in the near future.
This story is an excellent tale of life in the remote mountains of West Virginia at the turn of the 20th century. A great mix of the beauty of the landscape (before the timbering) with the darkness of the souls who float in and out. Although the country is beautiful, anyone who has lived in the mountains of West Virginia how quickly the land and weather can change and kill you. (Crossing the fog filled New River Gorge every morning I am reminded of Kurtz's observation of the Thames: "This too has been one of the dark places of the earth") Matt really catches this dichotomy perfectly. The story turns quickly into a saga of trust and betrayal that kept my on the edge of my seat. (no spoilers!) 5 stars and a recommendation to everybody!
This story is an excellent tale of life in the remote mountains of West Virginia at the turn of the 20th century. A great mix of the beauty of the landscape (before the timbering) with the darkness of the souls who float in and out. Although the country is beautiful, anyone who has lived in the mountains of West Virginia how quickly the land and weather can change and kill you. (Crossing the fog filled New River Gorge every morning I am reminded of Kurtz's observation of the Thames: "This too has been one of the dark places of the earth") Matt really catches this dichotomy perfectly. The story turns quickly into a saga of trust and betrayal that kept my on the edge of my seat. (no spoilers!) 5 stars and a recommendation to everybody!
July 27, 2015
Matthew Neill Null's first novel has writing that reaches out and grabs you. The style is full of pyrotechnics: metaphors, similes, playful new word usages. All done in an assured manner. And this is good because the subject of the writing is not pretty or nice. It centers on the logging of northern Appalachia in the early 20th Century, the pillaging and plundering of the landscape that left it practically uninhabitable for both humans and animals.
Cur is the main character but has a psychologically dependent personality, and he often follows the lead of a physically imposing logger, Neversummer. A group of these woefully underpaid and overworked timberwolves (loggers) form an insurgent force, bent on violently overthrowing the establishment. Most of the novel's conflict has to do with company loyalists and the fifth column connivers. Cur reminds me of certain characters out of Faulkner and Cormac McCarthy. Hell sweeps along some people.
Cur is the main character but has a psychologically dependent personality, and he often follows the lead of a physically imposing logger, Neversummer. A group of these woefully underpaid and overworked timberwolves (loggers) form an insurgent force, bent on violently overthrowing the establishment. Most of the novel's conflict has to do with company loyalists and the fifth column connivers. Cur reminds me of certain characters out of Faulkner and Cormac McCarthy. Hell sweeps along some people.
March 5, 2016
Beautiful writing.
November 6, 2015
hot tipped novel by scibona, joy williams, jaimy gordon, anthony marra...historical novel set in west virginia where gilded robber barons log off the forests and own the towns and govt, and mine the coal...our protag is poor, fairly dumb, hillbilly who'd been fing his stepmom, but got thrown off the farm, so he goes to work cutting trees... there's a crazy preacher, a couple of thinking-men blue collar union dudes, some se euro immigrant anarchos, a czech fatal down on her luck but could think straight, and lots and lots of hillbillys, sheriffing, cutting trees, gettting drunk, burning stuff, "voting repub" in 2015 talk. very beautiful writing, but rather short story. i liked 'marrowbone better for its working rights and progressivism story, but The Marrowbone Marble Company i can't wait for his next one.
cool press here lookout books http://www.lookout.org/books.html
cool press here lookout books http://www.lookout.org/books.html
November 27, 2015
Fascinating historical novel focused on a 19th century West Virginia logging community. This is a novel jam-packed with ideas and themes, but for me the sheer destructive force of the timber industry was the most resonant, especially as our culture still struggles to respect humanity's only home (to put it mildly). The entire book is lyrical, even poetic, but the action really picks up in the second half.
December 7, 2015
For a first novel, this was very good. Exceptional writing, but the story tended to drift. What is it with non linear story lines? If the author had focused more on the main character and told his biography from beginning to end, I think this could have been extraordinary.
I look forward to Mr. Null's next book.
I look forward to Mr. Null's next book.
September 4, 2025
Brutally honest, yet fun.
Boy, what a ride. Okay. This book almost received 5 stars, and I mean, it came extremely close. I was going back and forth in my mind between 4 and 5 stars. The first half of the book I remember saying to myself flatly, “this is perfect. Or nearly perfect.” It had earned itself 5 stars at first as if by birthright the book deserved it. However, some things came up that really retracted from the reading experience, which is why I decided on a final but strong 4 stars. I will note my reasoning down below.
From the first page, this book was screaming quality. All the formatting, editing, font choices, headings, and use of space/spacial disposition and simple cover jacket design were top notch, really elegant. I had to pause for a minute to appreciate it and flip through and admire the stellar job of whoever put it together.
Prose and style of writing: I’m sure the author has heard this before, but the prose is absolutely unlike anything I’ve ever read before. As I was reading, I kept thinking he has a way of sentencing a sentence like it’s never been sentenced before. The descriptions and language were incredibly unique, I found myself rereading bits and admiring the different ways he managed to cleave words together to convey his story. Sometimes with words here and there that I didn’t think could ever be used in the way they were. Yet somehow, the author pulled it off.
Characters: The characters were real and memorable and I was very attached to some of them. I felt as though I could walk past and see them going about their day. The author holds nothing back in their roughness, which I appreciated. I love their names too, so divergent.
I was very immersed in Amos’s point of view. I craved more time with him before he died. He was out of the picture so early on and I was like noooooo, I think this was a missed opportunity. I also hated the fact that when he died he was like “there is no God.” That did irritate me for a couple of pages. I knew the author was trying to get a range of people and opinions and mindsets into his book, so I understood but it still made me grumble.
McBride was, well… McBride. I imagined in my head some of the other men being like “where’s McBride?” And Cur would reply, “oh you know, McBriding somewhere.” I laughed and enjoyed how distinct their personalities were to the point of making up small stories for them in my head.
There’s a tiny part where the author writes the dog “pogoing in the snow,” I loved that. It filled my heart with such happiness to picture it. It made me feel all the more gut punched when Grayab suddenly turned toward the dog and was like (paraphrasing), “he stared into its eyes. ‘A man needs to survive, I have to eat you doggie.’” And then the description was like: “the dog accepted its fate.” I’m not going to lie, I had to hold back a tear. I was not expecting that at all. Yet it was still funny somehow despite being sad. It makes complete sense though for the context and was a good choice writing wise. Yes I know, I know, it’s not a real dog.
I really really enjoyed the immigrant plot lines with Caspani, Zala, and Grayab. It felt so right, and I was delighted on all the bits these characters were in (unfortunately not enough)! It’s coming in my critique below.
World-building: The world building was spectacular. Colorful, textual and alive. All the train parts were very good. I could imagine the characters hopping train to train. It felt as though the author spent a lot of time hiking around West Virginia, as the historical accuracy made me trust the writer’s ability to tell us about his home state.
I’ll mention here quickly. I loved the subtle commentary on environmental destruction. I could feel the author’s plight. Especially that dedication page, to the land and the people, so right, and I found myself admiring that the author went for this instead of writing something that might catch attention. To tell the tiny forgotten person stories. He wrote this, and it felt heartfelt. I was like, good for him, Null stuck to his gut in what he really wanted to write.
I think Mr. Null writes really good scenes. You can tell he shines at writing chaos and multiple things going on at once.
Some of my favorites:
Amos running from Caspani and his gang, I could see it so vividly. When he slid through the mud and horse poop. I did this with a character in one of my novels too. It makes the characters feel realistic, a bit humorous, and have charm, even in intense moments like the one Amos was in.
I loved where they were all eating and then there’s a fist fight that breaks out and then food is flying everywhere. I’m like wow this scene sounds like something I would write. For some reason the style feels kind of similar to mine, yet still completely different, I just couldn’t quite put my finger on why. Anyway, Cur slips on the gravy and then the cook comes over and kicks him. When Cur was like hey I wasn’t even involved in this, the cook smirks like he knew that, but kicked him just for the heck of it. I was like aww man so he’s that kind of guy.
- - - - - - -
Alright. Now the reasons this book not only lost it’s 5 stars in the running, but also lost the privilege of getting a perfect book review. Here’s some critique that I think the author should be aware of for his future projects.
Prose: His prose of course, is stunning, dynamic and fresh, as I’ve mentioned above. However, it really suffers in clarity. It is the same thing I noticed in his short story collection as well. Because the language is so rich and dense, you really have to take your time to read it, a turtle’s pace. I found myself rereading sentences in trying to figure out what the author meant. Some of the wording choices leaned a little too purple prosey, where it sounded pretty but didn’t make sense. I got a few of the meanings after mulling some of the sentences over in my head.
Consistency: There’s a huge lack of consistency in this book with the characters. An example is there’s a part where Cur is with Neversummer and admiring him and the text says it was “almost sexual.” But then in the later half of the book it said Cur tried to make a father figure out of Neversummer. I had such whiplash on what the heck the author was trying to convey and felt really confused. Okay, Cur clearly respects and looks up to Neversummer, but I was not getting father figure role at all.
Some characters also come into the story and then leave, then reappear like 60 pages later, and there isn’t much time to spend with them. We are so focused on Cur to the point where it was a breath of fresh air when we were in someone else’s point of view. Cur is, of course, the main character, but the side characters felt as if they needed more attention.
Sexuality topic: The first half of the book handled this really well I thought. While I don’t like crudeness in my books, the first part of the story, the crudeness made sense for the realism, time period factors, and the characters' rough edges. It still had an element of classyness that I didn’t feel uncomfortable at all reading the sexual scenes or crude bits, since they felt small and smoothed over for a broad general audience, appropriate to still give context but not too much. A perfect balance. No complaints there.
But the second half of the book felt way too raunchy. These parts not only felt disjointed from the rest of the book but honestly made me feel a little gross. There’s so much time spent on the characters' masturbating(not too graphic thankfully but still) or a scene with a VERY graphic description of women sexually on some cards Grayab had. I really hated that part. That might be a subjective reading experience on my part and the author most likely will disagree. You could have the same scene too, but it felt the author went too into detail. It just felt awkward and made me uncomfortable.
The Plot: I actually would have to disagree with other reviewers who said there is no plot. To my eye, in the first half of the book, I felt the plot started off very strong, with many threads. Simple yes, but it still was there and I could tell the author felt confident when he first started with it. I was very much enjoying the plot!
In the second half of the book it starts to feel disjointed, buried, and then disappeared sort of. To Null’s credit, he did seem to try and wrap things up and bring us back around to where we started. But, I think I know why it feels this way. It’s due to the overcrowding of characters and too much time spent on none relevant things. There’s not enough time with great side characters and too much time stretching and describing our main characters. For example, do we really need Sarah Greathouse, Old Neil, Cur’s family, and all side characters in this book? Especially if they come up only once or twice.
I understood the author was trying to flesh out Cur and his loneliness, time lost, and why he ran away, finding solace and belonging mostly with the worker wolves. You can still convey this same idea I think, but we don’t need the relationship between Cur and Sarah. A brief paragraph about Cur having a sexual affair with his father’s wife and that his father running him off the property with the gun would have sufficed on why he ran away. Not because the subject material is uncomfortable but because I didn’t care about it much and was annoyed when Cur kept mentioning these things, because these characters had no real bearing on the plot I felt. I was like where is this story going?
Zala, Amos, and Caspani barely had any time to breathe in this book. Zala in particular was such an interesting and endearing character! I wanted her to be in this more!!! Her first parts in the book were so incredibly good that I couldn’t wait to get back to her. I was craving it. The beginning described her as one of the wolves, and I was so intrigued by the little things she was doing to contribute to the strike. Then all of sudden there’s a too fast scene between her and Cur where she’s like “I’m done!” It felt a scene that should have taken place much later. She was a prostitue but then I was hopeful when she started going to church and seeking redemption when we came back to her character. I was like yes, yes, yes, you can do it Null, you cannot screw this up! She had a reason to be in the story and now her turn away from the strike sort of makes sense to protect the innocent from violence! Right?
Instead, she disappears for most of the book and then shows up in a brief paragraph near the end and didn’t really do much. I was like ??? What the fudge? What happened to her redemption arc? It almost felt like the author was aware of this problem and had Cur thinking about these characters and mentioning them passively to keep them in the story and I was like no, this is not working.
The pastor too, Seldomridge. He was a mixed bag for me. I was still attached to him somewhat, his mini plot line interesting, the scenes were good that he was in. But he became angry because he wasn’t hearing God’s voice for a while and so just decided to burn bibles to manipulate God into speaking because he was bitter about his failing congregation. I was annoyed.
It felt as if the author tried to make the character have a come back and “yay now people are hungry for God and want to be baptized and he’s got his fire back.” I got so excited, I was like yes he will have a reason to be in this book, this is where his part comes into the strike! It’s gonna evolve God and prayers and like he’s gonna do something awesome for all his stupid crap in this book, it’ll all have a point. And then, no. I was not convinced about his “turn.” He had a rolling his eyes vibe about many very serious and sacred things. Salvation is no joke, and I was angry at his character when he was like “okay now it’s time to drown them in the water haha, I don’t trust God anyway.” I wanted to throw the book across the room. Why? What is the point? Other than critique on religious hypocrites? Then why have a “come back” moment at all? Especially if Seldomridge already said he thinks all religious people and those in authority in the church were all charlatans anyway. THEN WHY ARE YOU A PASTOR?
No. No they aren’t all charlatans. It felt disrespectful, I’m deeply sorry to the author if I misunderstood. This character disappears for a lot of the story anyway.
You could make the case that the point of his character is that he’s a terrible pastor but in the overall scope of the book, the only reason I could see this serving is to be honest about how some pastors in West Virginia were during this period. This would have made sense, especially about the part that he eventually ended up in jail for helping the miner strike. But then it was just quick summary like yeah he did this deed and now he’s behind bars. I was like that would have been so cool to actually see! Was he a pastor still at that point? There was no clarity. Maybe it’s up to us to guess but I don’t know, I felt unsatisfied.
The ending: I was hoping we would get an actual final push, a final strike, where all the side characters and main characters came together to protest, or negotiate higher pay, get their rights, change the system! All their roles blending into one group moment. I felt SO promised this. I even think the explosion of the meeting house could have still been in this book but earlier on as a moment of despair. When all of the characters were like “okay, time to give up, let’s go home,” I was left being like ??????? Is this based on something that happened in real life? Let this fuel your rebellion!!!!
Why did the author make it seem like something really huge was going to happen where all the threads he had been writing would finally merge? When they didn’t I was like aww man…. Such a huge missed opportunity there. Instead we got Cur in jail and Sarah Greathouse, and I was like, great, get out of the house of this book. Then Grayab’s wife????? Again, why? I do not care about this! (Sorry Null).
This is just my subjective opinion for this review. I still really enjoyed most of this book. I’d say the plot was the biggest reason I took a star off because I was so disappointed, but otherwise there’s a lot to love here. I think for a debut this is still really good. I was laughing and enjoying myself through most of it. It’s not for everyone, as it feels very niche. Some are going to love this book and others will hate it. I still think it was worth reading. Great work.
Boy, what a ride. Okay. This book almost received 5 stars, and I mean, it came extremely close. I was going back and forth in my mind between 4 and 5 stars. The first half of the book I remember saying to myself flatly, “this is perfect. Or nearly perfect.” It had earned itself 5 stars at first as if by birthright the book deserved it. However, some things came up that really retracted from the reading experience, which is why I decided on a final but strong 4 stars. I will note my reasoning down below.
From the first page, this book was screaming quality. All the formatting, editing, font choices, headings, and use of space/spacial disposition and simple cover jacket design were top notch, really elegant. I had to pause for a minute to appreciate it and flip through and admire the stellar job of whoever put it together.
Prose and style of writing: I’m sure the author has heard this before, but the prose is absolutely unlike anything I’ve ever read before. As I was reading, I kept thinking he has a way of sentencing a sentence like it’s never been sentenced before. The descriptions and language were incredibly unique, I found myself rereading bits and admiring the different ways he managed to cleave words together to convey his story. Sometimes with words here and there that I didn’t think could ever be used in the way they were. Yet somehow, the author pulled it off.
Characters: The characters were real and memorable and I was very attached to some of them. I felt as though I could walk past and see them going about their day. The author holds nothing back in their roughness, which I appreciated. I love their names too, so divergent.
I was very immersed in Amos’s point of view. I craved more time with him before he died. He was out of the picture so early on and I was like noooooo, I think this was a missed opportunity. I also hated the fact that when he died he was like “there is no God.” That did irritate me for a couple of pages. I knew the author was trying to get a range of people and opinions and mindsets into his book, so I understood but it still made me grumble.
McBride was, well… McBride. I imagined in my head some of the other men being like “where’s McBride?” And Cur would reply, “oh you know, McBriding somewhere.” I laughed and enjoyed how distinct their personalities were to the point of making up small stories for them in my head.
There’s a tiny part where the author writes the dog “pogoing in the snow,” I loved that. It filled my heart with such happiness to picture it. It made me feel all the more gut punched when Grayab suddenly turned toward the dog and was like (paraphrasing), “he stared into its eyes. ‘A man needs to survive, I have to eat you doggie.’” And then the description was like: “the dog accepted its fate.” I’m not going to lie, I had to hold back a tear. I was not expecting that at all. Yet it was still funny somehow despite being sad. It makes complete sense though for the context and was a good choice writing wise. Yes I know, I know, it’s not a real dog.
I really really enjoyed the immigrant plot lines with Caspani, Zala, and Grayab. It felt so right, and I was delighted on all the bits these characters were in (unfortunately not enough)! It’s coming in my critique below.
World-building: The world building was spectacular. Colorful, textual and alive. All the train parts were very good. I could imagine the characters hopping train to train. It felt as though the author spent a lot of time hiking around West Virginia, as the historical accuracy made me trust the writer’s ability to tell us about his home state.
I’ll mention here quickly. I loved the subtle commentary on environmental destruction. I could feel the author’s plight. Especially that dedication page, to the land and the people, so right, and I found myself admiring that the author went for this instead of writing something that might catch attention. To tell the tiny forgotten person stories. He wrote this, and it felt heartfelt. I was like, good for him, Null stuck to his gut in what he really wanted to write.
I think Mr. Null writes really good scenes. You can tell he shines at writing chaos and multiple things going on at once.
Some of my favorites:
Amos running from Caspani and his gang, I could see it so vividly. When he slid through the mud and horse poop. I did this with a character in one of my novels too. It makes the characters feel realistic, a bit humorous, and have charm, even in intense moments like the one Amos was in.
I loved where they were all eating and then there’s a fist fight that breaks out and then food is flying everywhere. I’m like wow this scene sounds like something I would write. For some reason the style feels kind of similar to mine, yet still completely different, I just couldn’t quite put my finger on why. Anyway, Cur slips on the gravy and then the cook comes over and kicks him. When Cur was like hey I wasn’t even involved in this, the cook smirks like he knew that, but kicked him just for the heck of it. I was like aww man so he’s that kind of guy.
- - - - - - -
Alright. Now the reasons this book not only lost it’s 5 stars in the running, but also lost the privilege of getting a perfect book review. Here’s some critique that I think the author should be aware of for his future projects.
Prose: His prose of course, is stunning, dynamic and fresh, as I’ve mentioned above. However, it really suffers in clarity. It is the same thing I noticed in his short story collection as well. Because the language is so rich and dense, you really have to take your time to read it, a turtle’s pace. I found myself rereading sentences in trying to figure out what the author meant. Some of the wording choices leaned a little too purple prosey, where it sounded pretty but didn’t make sense. I got a few of the meanings after mulling some of the sentences over in my head.
Consistency: There’s a huge lack of consistency in this book with the characters. An example is there’s a part where Cur is with Neversummer and admiring him and the text says it was “almost sexual.” But then in the later half of the book it said Cur tried to make a father figure out of Neversummer. I had such whiplash on what the heck the author was trying to convey and felt really confused. Okay, Cur clearly respects and looks up to Neversummer, but I was not getting father figure role at all.
Some characters also come into the story and then leave, then reappear like 60 pages later, and there isn’t much time to spend with them. We are so focused on Cur to the point where it was a breath of fresh air when we were in someone else’s point of view. Cur is, of course, the main character, but the side characters felt as if they needed more attention.
Sexuality topic: The first half of the book handled this really well I thought. While I don’t like crudeness in my books, the first part of the story, the crudeness made sense for the realism, time period factors, and the characters' rough edges. It still had an element of classyness that I didn’t feel uncomfortable at all reading the sexual scenes or crude bits, since they felt small and smoothed over for a broad general audience, appropriate to still give context but not too much. A perfect balance. No complaints there.
But the second half of the book felt way too raunchy. These parts not only felt disjointed from the rest of the book but honestly made me feel a little gross. There’s so much time spent on the characters' masturbating(not too graphic thankfully but still) or a scene with a VERY graphic description of women sexually on some cards Grayab had. I really hated that part. That might be a subjective reading experience on my part and the author most likely will disagree. You could have the same scene too, but it felt the author went too into detail. It just felt awkward and made me uncomfortable.
The Plot: I actually would have to disagree with other reviewers who said there is no plot. To my eye, in the first half of the book, I felt the plot started off very strong, with many threads. Simple yes, but it still was there and I could tell the author felt confident when he first started with it. I was very much enjoying the plot!
In the second half of the book it starts to feel disjointed, buried, and then disappeared sort of. To Null’s credit, he did seem to try and wrap things up and bring us back around to where we started. But, I think I know why it feels this way. It’s due to the overcrowding of characters and too much time spent on none relevant things. There’s not enough time with great side characters and too much time stretching and describing our main characters. For example, do we really need Sarah Greathouse, Old Neil, Cur’s family, and all side characters in this book? Especially if they come up only once or twice.
I understood the author was trying to flesh out Cur and his loneliness, time lost, and why he ran away, finding solace and belonging mostly with the worker wolves. You can still convey this same idea I think, but we don’t need the relationship between Cur and Sarah. A brief paragraph about Cur having a sexual affair with his father’s wife and that his father running him off the property with the gun would have sufficed on why he ran away. Not because the subject material is uncomfortable but because I didn’t care about it much and was annoyed when Cur kept mentioning these things, because these characters had no real bearing on the plot I felt. I was like where is this story going?
Zala, Amos, and Caspani barely had any time to breathe in this book. Zala in particular was such an interesting and endearing character! I wanted her to be in this more!!! Her first parts in the book were so incredibly good that I couldn’t wait to get back to her. I was craving it. The beginning described her as one of the wolves, and I was so intrigued by the little things she was doing to contribute to the strike. Then all of sudden there’s a too fast scene between her and Cur where she’s like “I’m done!” It felt a scene that should have taken place much later. She was a prostitue but then I was hopeful when she started going to church and seeking redemption when we came back to her character. I was like yes, yes, yes, you can do it Null, you cannot screw this up! She had a reason to be in the story and now her turn away from the strike sort of makes sense to protect the innocent from violence! Right?
Instead, she disappears for most of the book and then shows up in a brief paragraph near the end and didn’t really do much. I was like ??? What the fudge? What happened to her redemption arc? It almost felt like the author was aware of this problem and had Cur thinking about these characters and mentioning them passively to keep them in the story and I was like no, this is not working.
The pastor too, Seldomridge. He was a mixed bag for me. I was still attached to him somewhat, his mini plot line interesting, the scenes were good that he was in. But he became angry because he wasn’t hearing God’s voice for a while and so just decided to burn bibles to manipulate God into speaking because he was bitter about his failing congregation. I was annoyed.
It felt as if the author tried to make the character have a come back and “yay now people are hungry for God and want to be baptized and he’s got his fire back.” I got so excited, I was like yes he will have a reason to be in this book, this is where his part comes into the strike! It’s gonna evolve God and prayers and like he’s gonna do something awesome for all his stupid crap in this book, it’ll all have a point. And then, no. I was not convinced about his “turn.” He had a rolling his eyes vibe about many very serious and sacred things. Salvation is no joke, and I was angry at his character when he was like “okay now it’s time to drown them in the water haha, I don’t trust God anyway.” I wanted to throw the book across the room. Why? What is the point? Other than critique on religious hypocrites? Then why have a “come back” moment at all? Especially if Seldomridge already said he thinks all religious people and those in authority in the church were all charlatans anyway. THEN WHY ARE YOU A PASTOR?
No. No they aren’t all charlatans. It felt disrespectful, I’m deeply sorry to the author if I misunderstood. This character disappears for a lot of the story anyway.
You could make the case that the point of his character is that he’s a terrible pastor but in the overall scope of the book, the only reason I could see this serving is to be honest about how some pastors in West Virginia were during this period. This would have made sense, especially about the part that he eventually ended up in jail for helping the miner strike. But then it was just quick summary like yeah he did this deed and now he’s behind bars. I was like that would have been so cool to actually see! Was he a pastor still at that point? There was no clarity. Maybe it’s up to us to guess but I don’t know, I felt unsatisfied.
The ending: I was hoping we would get an actual final push, a final strike, where all the side characters and main characters came together to protest, or negotiate higher pay, get their rights, change the system! All their roles blending into one group moment. I felt SO promised this. I even think the explosion of the meeting house could have still been in this book but earlier on as a moment of despair. When all of the characters were like “okay, time to give up, let’s go home,” I was left being like ??????? Is this based on something that happened in real life? Let this fuel your rebellion!!!!
Why did the author make it seem like something really huge was going to happen where all the threads he had been writing would finally merge? When they didn’t I was like aww man…. Such a huge missed opportunity there. Instead we got Cur in jail and Sarah Greathouse, and I was like, great, get out of the house of this book. Then Grayab’s wife????? Again, why? I do not care about this! (Sorry Null).
This is just my subjective opinion for this review. I still really enjoyed most of this book. I’d say the plot was the biggest reason I took a star off because I was so disappointed, but otherwise there’s a lot to love here. I think for a debut this is still really good. I was laughing and enjoying myself through most of it. It’s not for everyone, as it feels very niche. Some are going to love this book and others will hate it. I still think it was worth reading. Great work.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 12, 2018
Une lecture qui m'a demandé énormément de concentration, plus qu'habituellement, mais qui m'a permis de me plonger dans l'enfer des travailleurs américains dans une scierie perdue dans la montagne, au début des années 1900. Rêves et désillusions, camaraderie et chacun pour soi, l'histoire aborde des tas de sentiments différents, et l'auteur réussit ce voyage à merveille !
October 18, 2015
It took a while to get in to this book. It's very detail oriented, so I found myself rereading pages often. I did have a little trouble following some of the characters. The style of writing reminded me a little of Russell Banks (most specifically, Cloudsplitter).
October 12, 2015
Review forthcoming on LitChat.com.
March 18, 2020
I am very conflicted over this book and I’m still trying to process it. I read Mr. Null’s short story collection Allegheny Front 2-3 years ago and thought it was hands down the best short story collection I had ever read. I’ve been meaning to re-read that to analyze what it was I loved so much about it.
This novel was released a few years earlier, and while amazing in many ways, I struggled with it. I agree with the review that is quoted on the back cover, it reads like a first hand account from 100 years ago, it is remarkable how extensively detailed Mr. Null’s knowledge of that place and time is. The prose is wonderful but I feel the story was hard to follow through the dense minutiae, and the protagonist was just not a very compelling character. Again, I might come around a little more on this, but as of right now, I feel like I struggled through this book and didn’t quite get the emotional payoff I was hoping for.
This does not dull my enthusiasm for Mr. Null’s future work at all. He is a truly gifted writer. He reminds me of Mark Helprin in that he seems to have an endless ability to creatively describe the world he is trying to create, to an extent and in a manner that is just different than most everyone else. I’m convinced those guys both see the world through a much different lens then the rest of us, and I love that about them. I look forward to his next project.
This novel was released a few years earlier, and while amazing in many ways, I struggled with it. I agree with the review that is quoted on the back cover, it reads like a first hand account from 100 years ago, it is remarkable how extensively detailed Mr. Null’s knowledge of that place and time is. The prose is wonderful but I feel the story was hard to follow through the dense minutiae, and the protagonist was just not a very compelling character. Again, I might come around a little more on this, but as of right now, I feel like I struggled through this book and didn’t quite get the emotional payoff I was hoping for.
This does not dull my enthusiasm for Mr. Null’s future work at all. He is a truly gifted writer. He reminds me of Mark Helprin in that he seems to have an endless ability to creatively describe the world he is trying to create, to an extent and in a manner that is just different than most everyone else. I’m convinced those guys both see the world through a much different lens then the rest of us, and I love that about them. I look forward to his next project.
April 20, 2024
Come il paradiso, ma lento come la morte. Parte anche abbastanza bene, il ritmo è quello giusto per quanto riguarda un'altra epoca storica in cui tutto era decisamente meno fulmineo di ora. E potrebbe anche piacermi se si comincia a parlare di guerra civile americana; è che purtroppo ad un ritmo troppo lento si aggiungono flashback/flashforward, o presunti tali, non scanditi benissimo, tali per cui ne risulta una lettura piuttosto noiosa e dunque difficile da seguire, anche per le omissioni e le sfocature sui dettagli nella descrizione delle scene.
April 1, 2025
I read this for background on the lives of ancestors who were early WV foresters. I knew life was hard then, but had no idea how difficult it was until following these fictional men. Unfortunately, I also knew how destructive it was to nature and eventually the economy. The narrative makes this very clear.
The use of language by the author is perhaps the most lyrical and creative I’ve ever encountered. Although I did not like the story line as a whole, I’d like to follow this talented wordsmith’s future.
The use of language by the author is perhaps the most lyrical and creative I’ve ever encountered. Although I did not like the story line as a whole, I’d like to follow this talented wordsmith’s future.
July 25, 2024
much to chew on..... i enjoyed this but it was definitely a lumberer, burdened by style and research — not necessarily a bad thing! time will tell whether this is like one of the best books i'll ever read, or just really good
September 4, 2017
Picked up for no good reason from the new book shelf at the library. More than a little Faulkner. Great read about a moment in time.
August 6, 2020
This book keeps you on your toes. Exciting, suspenseful, with a good dash of historical fiction thrown in, and yes, even a bit of sex.
March 10, 2017
Null has a wonderful grasp of language and phrasing... i found the tale a bit meandering at times, but the overall sense was of a slow dying of a way of life, so maybe that was purposeful... well-developed characters of varying levels of humanity and evil and sadness...
December 11, 2016
highly praised debut novel from this author who on 08.07.2016 via the NY Times "Southern Fiction" Shortlist had another book recommended; not at any Madison Co. Libraries;...debut novel fr. new Southern writer that the NY Times loved: not so me. Very dense writing; also very hard scrabble subject matter. I am thinking if this guy keeps writing in time his density will soften and hopefully the subject matter will become lighter as well…this one was not my cup of tea. The only reason I finished it was it took forever to get via the Inter-Library Loan by way of Madison County Public Library, Berea, 249 pgs.; 2 out of 5 stars;
March 16, 2016
I received the book for free through Goodreads Giveaways.
I don't know about this book. I read some of the reviews by other readers and it seems to be a well liked book. I usually like to read historical fiction, but I did not 'get into' this book. I didn't even finish it this time. I will try to read it again later.
I don't know about this book. I read some of the reviews by other readers and it seems to be a well liked book. I usually like to read historical fiction, but I did not 'get into' this book. I didn't even finish it this time. I will try to read it again later.
March 23, 2021
"Viewed from that peak, the land was a mutilated sea. Naked Mount Spruce in the distance, biting clouds, highest in the state. They saw no deer, no livestock, not even a carrion crow. The horrible tranquility of it all. No birds sang. Nothing but the sound of their own voices, their own thoughts. They had emptied their world like a jug." page 239
December 7, 2015
Very lyrical and descriptively delicious. In some parts I got a little bogged down with too much effort put into the wording but loved the overall story and density of the language. Read Serena by Ron Rash! It's similar in time and setting.
January 14, 2016
excellent discussion of the western nc tree mining operation from the worker's perspective
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December 28, 2017Pick up a copy of the November/December 2016 issue of Orion Magazine to check out my review of Matthew Neill Null's Honey from the Lion. Purchase one here: https://orionmagazine.org/cart/orion-...
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January 2, 2018Bookmarks Festival Author 2015.
About logging in W Virginia.
About logging in W Virginia.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews