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Capernaum
Louis D. Lo Praeste's stunning debut novel spans one man’s turbulent childhood in the bucolic rural hills of New Hampshire to the morning of 9/11, his decision to join the war in Afghanistan and his awkward homecoming. In Capernaum, Lo Praeste examines the ravages of post traumatic stress from war and abuse with sensitivity and humor through Atticus Brunna's sardonic narration as he struggles toward redemption and comes to terms with the inevitability of death.
Through Atticus's memories the reader encounters the demons of addiction along the broken road to recovery, and discovers the futility of channeling regret into violence. Navigating a splintered landscape of family relations and fractured friendships to work out his own salvation, he finds that an act of forgiveness does not always take the shape we want or expect it to.
Through Atticus's memories the reader encounters the demons of addiction along the broken road to recovery, and discovers the futility of channeling regret into violence. Navigating a splintered landscape of family relations and fractured friendships to work out his own salvation, he finds that an act of forgiveness does not always take the shape we want or expect it to.
188 pages, Paperback
First published June 5, 2016
9 people want to read
About the author
Louis Prowe
4 books5 followersLouis Prowe (1970-) was born in Andover, Massachusetts.
His first novel, Capernaum, was published in July 2016 and reissued in 2019.
His 2017 breakout collection of essays, Vague Apocalyptica, Capitalism, Humanism, and Democracy earned him critical acclaim and was reviewed as, “One book every American should read ASAP”, in the Huffington Post. Readers frequently compare his work to Calvino, Mailer, Bukowski, and Tosches.
The author lives in rural Vermont and is working on his second novel and a new collection of essays.
His first novel, Capernaum, was published in July 2016 and reissued in 2019.
His 2017 breakout collection of essays, Vague Apocalyptica, Capitalism, Humanism, and Democracy earned him critical acclaim and was reviewed as, “One book every American should read ASAP”, in the Huffington Post. Readers frequently compare his work to Calvino, Mailer, Bukowski, and Tosches.
The author lives in rural Vermont and is working on his second novel and a new collection of essays.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
November 1, 2016
Capernaum is the kind of immersive, personal book that brings you deeply into an experience. The story itself is both compelling and heartbreaking as we follow the protagonist in and out of his conscious mind and memories of abuse, war, and post-traumatic stress. The telling of the story, the feel of the book, the process of moving through it is really what brings the story to life and turns it into an experience.
The writing is dark, confused, difficult to navigate…then again, so is the mind of someone who’s life and wellbeing have been torn out of their own hands by “the general s***tiness of life that is an American Family” (ch. 11) and the horrors of the type of conflicts we found ourselves in during the late 20th and early 21st centuries. This aggressive use of narrative style to force empathy is one of the most poignant features of the novel.
To be clear, I don’t think the quote above and other similar existential quips in the book are meant to make an objective case for the nature of family, life, or war—rather, that the effects of abuse, violent combat, or the type of ambiguity of allegiance in our current sectarian conflicts will permeate to the core of anyone who experiences them and make such ruinous outlooks a near certainty.
I found this book challenging to get through, but at a certain point it became clear that this was intentional, that the topics of this book make every facet of life challenging, and sometimes that can only be felt, not told. That is the beauty of this novel and it’s the kind of story and the kind of storytelling that we need ringing in our ears as a people as we continually try to craft the best world we can.
The writing is dark, confused, difficult to navigate…then again, so is the mind of someone who’s life and wellbeing have been torn out of their own hands by “the general s***tiness of life that is an American Family” (ch. 11) and the horrors of the type of conflicts we found ourselves in during the late 20th and early 21st centuries. This aggressive use of narrative style to force empathy is one of the most poignant features of the novel.
To be clear, I don’t think the quote above and other similar existential quips in the book are meant to make an objective case for the nature of family, life, or war—rather, that the effects of abuse, violent combat, or the type of ambiguity of allegiance in our current sectarian conflicts will permeate to the core of anyone who experiences them and make such ruinous outlooks a near certainty.
I found this book challenging to get through, but at a certain point it became clear that this was intentional, that the topics of this book make every facet of life challenging, and sometimes that can only be felt, not told. That is the beauty of this novel and it’s the kind of story and the kind of storytelling that we need ringing in our ears as a people as we continually try to craft the best world we can.
Displaying 1 of 1 review