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Whiteout
American expatriate Paul Bauer, a freelance journalist living in Paris with his French lover, thinks he has it made. And then his mother dies. When he returns for the funeral to a little town in northern Minnesota, he encounters unsettling contradictions to his understanding of his family history and begins a quest into his past that leads him back among the dead. He hears the voices of his parents talking of dreams,desires, and loss, and inexorably their story leads him to ask the question--the very question his family has always wanted to prevent him from What really did happen in that whiteout thirty-five years ago? The answer changes everything.
- GenresFiction
390 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2009
1 person is currently reading
28 people want to read
About the author
Brian Duren
5 booksBrian Duren has a doctorate in French Literature from the University of Paris and a Ph.D. in French and a B.A. in English from the University of Minnesota. He has taught at the Universities of Texas, Tulsa, Iowa, and Minnesota, and at Gustavus Adolphus and Augsburg College. He has three sons and lives in St. Paul, Minnesota. "
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 24, 2009
You don't have to live in Minnesota or have visited one of its many north woods lodges to know how perfectly the author knows not just the people but the landscape. Written in finely crafted prose, Whiteout is the story of a family, a secret, and the lengths people will go to so that innocents can stay that way.
Paul Bauer grew up at his family's fishing lodge, the youngest of three children being raised by a sometimes unstable mother. He hardly knew his father, who died in a blizzard when Paul was just four. There's not a lot that ties Paul to his mother, brother and sister and so he eventually makes a good life for himself as a journalist in Paris, living with his lover, Claire.
But when Paul's mother dies and he returns home to meet the obligation of the funeral, he is drawn to stay at least long enough to draw out why his sister and brother are so wounded. Over weeks and months, the true nature of the family spins out as the seasons change and the north woods goes silent. As with most families, the secrets (when they finally emerge) are shocking and tragic and answer so very many questions.
This book lives up to so many standards--great writing, deep characters and fabulous storytelling. A wonderful debut from a talented writer!
Paul Bauer grew up at his family's fishing lodge, the youngest of three children being raised by a sometimes unstable mother. He hardly knew his father, who died in a blizzard when Paul was just four. There's not a lot that ties Paul to his mother, brother and sister and so he eventually makes a good life for himself as a journalist in Paris, living with his lover, Claire.
But when Paul's mother dies and he returns home to meet the obligation of the funeral, he is drawn to stay at least long enough to draw out why his sister and brother are so wounded. Over weeks and months, the true nature of the family spins out as the seasons change and the north woods goes silent. As with most families, the secrets (when they finally emerge) are shocking and tragic and answer so very many questions.
This book lives up to so many standards--great writing, deep characters and fabulous storytelling. A wonderful debut from a talented writer!
November 24, 2014
Whiteout surprised me.
Going in, I expected something of a who-done-it, a pot-boiler perhaps. But what I got was a thoughtful reflection on family and who is and who isn’t, on place and what does our home of origin mean and can we ever really leave.
The setting is mostly in northern Minnesota at a resort that has seen better days. Paul Bauer has been living in France for years, estranged from his family and his mother. When she dies, he reluctantly returns home to see the dysfunction he had fled to have only grown into near pathos. Who are these people, and what is going on here? He has to know. Plus, what about his father, who was supposed to have died in a snowstorm when he was a small boy? Could he be alive? He has to know, and so does the reader.
The setting in this book is key. Despite being set in a place of natural beauty, the claustrophobia that is his family and the lodge that they run is overwhelming. The reader feels this throughout, this feeling of being boxed in by family history and relationships. In one key scene—not key in moving the plot forward but for getting us to really get Paul’s situation—he goes cross country skiing by himself. A route he had taken many times as a kid, now it’s more challenging and we see that Paul is trapped by history, he can run, but not hide.
I recommend this book. It’s from a small press, and the reader can see why—the big four have no stomach for books that cross genre and don’t fit neatly into a one sentence pitch (that’s why I tend to stick to small presses—think indi film, not blockbuster). While there is definitely a mystery component and maybe even a dash of something darker, that’s the least of it. No, this is an onion—a story with many layers the reader will enjoy pealing back.
Going in, I expected something of a who-done-it, a pot-boiler perhaps. But what I got was a thoughtful reflection on family and who is and who isn’t, on place and what does our home of origin mean and can we ever really leave.
The setting is mostly in northern Minnesota at a resort that has seen better days. Paul Bauer has been living in France for years, estranged from his family and his mother. When she dies, he reluctantly returns home to see the dysfunction he had fled to have only grown into near pathos. Who are these people, and what is going on here? He has to know. Plus, what about his father, who was supposed to have died in a snowstorm when he was a small boy? Could he be alive? He has to know, and so does the reader.
The setting in this book is key. Despite being set in a place of natural beauty, the claustrophobia that is his family and the lodge that they run is overwhelming. The reader feels this throughout, this feeling of being boxed in by family history and relationships. In one key scene—not key in moving the plot forward but for getting us to really get Paul’s situation—he goes cross country skiing by himself. A route he had taken many times as a kid, now it’s more challenging and we see that Paul is trapped by history, he can run, but not hide.
I recommend this book. It’s from a small press, and the reader can see why—the big four have no stomach for books that cross genre and don’t fit neatly into a one sentence pitch (that’s why I tend to stick to small presses—think indi film, not blockbuster). While there is definitely a mystery component and maybe even a dash of something darker, that’s the least of it. No, this is an onion—a story with many layers the reader will enjoy pealing back.
February 14, 2025
Warning: Some spoilers below.
I finished this book with a number of questions, which is probably what the author intended. It was pretty clear early on what had happened to the father and where his body was. But who exactly killed him, I'm still not sure. Since Paul's information came mainly from Stone, who was proven to be somewhat of an unreliable narrator, could he have been the actual killer? Or even young Fran, in a fit of rage (less likely). Did Stone really have the inappropriate relationship with Joyce, or was it part of his fantasy? Did the two of them kill Bill together? For a while, I thought Stone might have been Paul's biological father (ew), but at least that seemed to be settled as not the case.
I enjoyed the writing and the depictions of northern Minnesota as almost a character in the book. I thought the chapter of letters between young Bill and Joyce went on longer than needed...I wanted to know more about how they ended up becoming the hardened, bitter people they were by the time of Bill's murder. Understand it was partially because of all the hardships and disappointments they endured--plus being mismatched--but especially in the case of Bill, it's hard to reconcile the bright, idealistic college student with the person he became just a few years later. One thing I did notice with the letters is that while both wrote like uneducated teens at the beginning, complete with spelling and punctuation errors, Bill's writing became much more polished as the correspondence continued. That was a nice touch on the author's part. It showed what he could have been if life hadn't thrown him a curveball--he probably would have been much like his son Paul.
I would be interested if anyone else had similar questions.
I finished this book with a number of questions, which is probably what the author intended. It was pretty clear early on what had happened to the father and where his body was. But who exactly killed him, I'm still not sure. Since Paul's information came mainly from Stone, who was proven to be somewhat of an unreliable narrator, could he have been the actual killer? Or even young Fran, in a fit of rage (less likely). Did Stone really have the inappropriate relationship with Joyce, or was it part of his fantasy? Did the two of them kill Bill together? For a while, I thought Stone might have been Paul's biological father (ew), but at least that seemed to be settled as not the case.
I enjoyed the writing and the depictions of northern Minnesota as almost a character in the book. I thought the chapter of letters between young Bill and Joyce went on longer than needed...I wanted to know more about how they ended up becoming the hardened, bitter people they were by the time of Bill's murder. Understand it was partially because of all the hardships and disappointments they endured--plus being mismatched--but especially in the case of Bill, it's hard to reconcile the bright, idealistic college student with the person he became just a few years later. One thing I did notice with the letters is that while both wrote like uneducated teens at the beginning, complete with spelling and punctuation errors, Bill's writing became much more polished as the correspondence continued. That was a nice touch on the author's part. It showed what he could have been if life hadn't thrown him a curveball--he probably would have been much like his son Paul.
I would be interested if anyone else had similar questions.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 22, 2019
The final 20% of this book was not enough to make up for the first 80%.
November 1, 2015
I don't currently read a lot of fiction to be honest. This book sort of fell into my hands. The author was at a local bookstore with a little table set up, with copies of his book on it, it was near Christmas and I was Christmas shopping. The author and I got to talking. His book had been rejected by major publishers, etc. The cover and title intrigued me as I am a winter type person, as did the setting... as I had always envisioned myself running a north woods resort in retirement. I ended up buying Whiteout, a unique read that has stuck with me over the years. It was both beautiful and haunting, and human in the way only a remote small-town enclave could be, with a cast of characters to match. What is the truth about a car crashing in a whiteout blizzard 35 years ago and what does it have to do with Paul's parents, or his siblings who continue to run the resort? While the plot unravels slowly, it mirrors the steps any of us might take to get to the bottom of family vagaries and secrets, in a gradual connect-the-dot fashion... memories, letters, all the while lodging in his own boyhood room at the resort, untouched from childhood. The beauty of the book is in the journey of course; Paul's relentless search to travel back, make sense of a dysfunctional family situations a boy could not know or even imagine. The climactic unravelling of the whiteout crash, and the what it leads to, took me completely by surprise. Duren's beautiful descriptions of a cross-country ski outing, the call of the loons, and especially the way he described Pauls' looking at old photographs, articulating what likely we all experience but are unable to put into words, contain some of the most eloquently written psychological insights I have come across in the literary world. Some official (and much more succinct) reviews here along with the awards he has received since somehow getting this published! http://www.brianduren.com/
May 28, 2011
Paul returns home to Minnesota after his mother dies. He has always felt disconnected from his family and has recurring bad dreams. His father died in a Whiteout when Paul was three. When Paul finds out that his family was once very happy, he sets out on a personal quest to find out the truth about the parents he never really knew. What he finds buried deep in the past will haunt you.
Paul finds the love letters between his parents before they were married and reading them is voyeuristic. I think it was one of my favorite parts of the novel. I felt like I was reading over the character's shoulder and I couldn't get through the letters fast enough.
WHITEOUT is a multi-genre book. It is a mystery, love story, and literary thriller that will keep you guessing till the very end.
To read my entire book review please visit my book blog at http://www.booksnob-booksnob.blogspot...
Paul finds the love letters between his parents before they were married and reading them is voyeuristic. I think it was one of my favorite parts of the novel. I felt like I was reading over the character's shoulder and I couldn't get through the letters fast enough.
WHITEOUT is a multi-genre book. It is a mystery, love story, and literary thriller that will keep you guessing till the very end.
To read my entire book review please visit my book blog at http://www.booksnob-booksnob.blogspot...
October 10, 2009
I loved reading Whiteout. A great book like this can transport you back to your childhood where it was once easy to be swept away by a story without all of the fears and distractions. Brian's book did this for me despite the fact that I have reached adulthood and am easily distracted by almost anything, especially competing media.
January 27, 2010
Read this for a bookclub. It took a while to get started, and then things got really weird...That's all I'll say.
July 19, 2011
Great descriptions and I always love a story with a secret or unforeseen twist. I tried to predict the twist while I was reading and couldn't figure it out.
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August 9, 2011Creepy story.....but definitely a page turner!
November 24, 2013
Awful. Terrible. Soooo poorly written, and then the last 10% is just too filthy and disgusting for words. Had to read it for book club, otherwise would have used it for firewood much earlier.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews