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Tall Grass Trilogy #2
Lamb Bright Saviors
“Robert Vivian’s prose is lyrical and harrowing—harrowing in the Biblical sense,” Sven Birkerts said of The Mover of Bones, the first book in Vivian’s Tall Grass Trilogy. That same lyrical power carries this new volume to a place of hard-won hope and redemption at once both spiritual and earthly.
Lamb Bright Saviors begins as an apocalyptically inclined itinerant preacher staggers across the Nebraska prairie. With his young assistant, Mady, in tow hauling a wagon stacked with bibles, it’s not long before the preacher finds he’s come to the final fulfillment of his self-proclaimed life’s work: to die in front of a group of strangers. Odd as his own end-of-days might be, the lives and struggles of the strangers attending this deathbed scene are even odder. As the dying preacher unleashes a barrage of hallucinatory ramblings and rantings in the hope of imparting wisdom, each ragtag member of this unlikely congregation must reckon with his or her own dark past. And, through it all, the irrepressible Mady lends the preacher’s strange performance a surprising and unforgettable dignity and humor.
Lamb Bright Saviors begins as an apocalyptically inclined itinerant preacher staggers across the Nebraska prairie. With his young assistant, Mady, in tow hauling a wagon stacked with bibles, it’s not long before the preacher finds he’s come to the final fulfillment of his self-proclaimed life’s work: to die in front of a group of strangers. Odd as his own end-of-days might be, the lives and struggles of the strangers attending this deathbed scene are even odder. As the dying preacher unleashes a barrage of hallucinatory ramblings and rantings in the hope of imparting wisdom, each ragtag member of this unlikely congregation must reckon with his or her own dark past. And, through it all, the irrepressible Mady lends the preacher’s strange performance a surprising and unforgettable dignity and humor.
185 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
22 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 9, 2010
There’s so much to say about this book but paradoxically nothing can really be said about this book – it really presents a non-linear message in such a way that each reader can pull some type of meaning out; what that meaning is can be very difficult to describe.
Like “Mover of Bones,” this is written in a series of monologues from a number of different characters’ perspectives, simultaneously capturing a unifying plotline as well as a greater unifying theme of portraying the challenges and efforts towards redemption in each character’s walk of life. Whereas “Mover” contained 15ish different characters – all standing on their own – “Lambs” contains 4 older men who are friends, a young girl, a dying preacher, and a blind woman, most of whom have 2 or 3 sections devoted to.
I think one of the best things this book has going for it is the great ambition and overall mission of the unifying theme spreading over all the non-linear sections, focusing on such vague, complex, misunderstood, and pure notions of religion, belief, redemption, struggle, and – hopefully – eventually salvation; however, I also feel like under the weight of the intentions, a portion of the sections sagged with the bloated responsibility of conveying multiple plotlines. I thought “Mover” did a better job at portraying the struggles of everyday Americans. I though here the “confessionals,” – monologue style narration by each character – were filled with language, symbolism, questioning, all bringing up the religious nature of the preacher, the girl, and their own concerns with faith, that their own individual stories seemed to lose a bit of authenticity: would an ex-con who’s spent a life of crime, abuse, and imprisonment really take this lurching preacher seriously when he says he came here to die for them? I have a hard time taking that seriously; I can’t imagine he could. A drug-addicted, jobless, delusional man living in a baseball dugout wants to turn his life around because the dying preacher called him a “lamb”? I just think that there were many aspects of each character’s journey through guilt, responsibility, recognition, and redemption that were either glossed over as a way of creating the unifying theme of the preacher that I had a difficult time coming to terms with, leaving the characters themselves less believable and myself more unable to relate than with the characters in “Mover.”
That said, the characters still do have captivating journeys. The subject material here is definitely challenging and very far from anything you would normally encounter. The non-linear sequencing leaves the reader mildly distanced at first but as the sections progress the unifying themes become more and more recognizable. But still, how the reader puts these themes together in his/her mind is the journey that each of us characters are left with – nothing is clearly stated; it’s for us to make sense of as we individually respond.
Like “Mover of Bones,” this is written in a series of monologues from a number of different characters’ perspectives, simultaneously capturing a unifying plotline as well as a greater unifying theme of portraying the challenges and efforts towards redemption in each character’s walk of life. Whereas “Mover” contained 15ish different characters – all standing on their own – “Lambs” contains 4 older men who are friends, a young girl, a dying preacher, and a blind woman, most of whom have 2 or 3 sections devoted to.
I think one of the best things this book has going for it is the great ambition and overall mission of the unifying theme spreading over all the non-linear sections, focusing on such vague, complex, misunderstood, and pure notions of religion, belief, redemption, struggle, and – hopefully – eventually salvation; however, I also feel like under the weight of the intentions, a portion of the sections sagged with the bloated responsibility of conveying multiple plotlines. I thought “Mover” did a better job at portraying the struggles of everyday Americans. I though here the “confessionals,” – monologue style narration by each character – were filled with language, symbolism, questioning, all bringing up the religious nature of the preacher, the girl, and their own concerns with faith, that their own individual stories seemed to lose a bit of authenticity: would an ex-con who’s spent a life of crime, abuse, and imprisonment really take this lurching preacher seriously when he says he came here to die for them? I have a hard time taking that seriously; I can’t imagine he could. A drug-addicted, jobless, delusional man living in a baseball dugout wants to turn his life around because the dying preacher called him a “lamb”? I just think that there were many aspects of each character’s journey through guilt, responsibility, recognition, and redemption that were either glossed over as a way of creating the unifying theme of the preacher that I had a difficult time coming to terms with, leaving the characters themselves less believable and myself more unable to relate than with the characters in “Mover.”
That said, the characters still do have captivating journeys. The subject material here is definitely challenging and very far from anything you would normally encounter. The non-linear sequencing leaves the reader mildly distanced at first but as the sections progress the unifying themes become more and more recognizable. But still, how the reader puts these themes together in his/her mind is the journey that each of us characters are left with – nothing is clearly stated; it’s for us to make sense of as we individually respond.
September 11, 2011
If you are looking for a book that is full of beautiful writing that you really need to think about as you are reading every word, then this fictional story is for you. We are introduced to several characters within this novel that committed a crime against a helpless woman years ago, and now their lives have come full circle as they are all gathered in her home for a very unlikely event.
As a travelling preacher suddenly finds himself on death's doorstep, the young girl that travels with him seeks the help of some local residents in rural Nebraska in hopes that the preacher's passing will be swift and painless. The men that she runs into are men that haven't seen each other since many years ago, but have been harboring a deep, dark secret since then.
These men have felt guilty for the crimes they have committed and seem to be able to move on with their lives as the crime has been unpunished up til this day. One man has been released from prison for another crime, another has just returned from Iraq, and another has just been living an unfulfilled life in Point Blank, Nebraska.
As I mentioned this is a beautifully written story that is full of symbolism and hidden meanings, like the name of the town being Point Blank, and even the deficiency of the helpless woman. There is so much to contemplate within this small novel that it would make for a great literary analysis for a college course or any English major. For a person like me that just enjoys a great story that is written well, this book just didn't appeal to me. There was very limited dialogue within the book and what there was you really had to search for as it wasn't obvious. There was also a substantial amount of harsh language in this novel that I really thought was unnecessary. I may have enjoyed the story more without some of the profanity.
So with that said I think you can tell that this novel was not appreciated by me, but that's not to say that you will not enjoy it. This book is laced with themes, including but not limited to war, forgiveness, and death. If you are looking for a story that you need to continually concentrate on while reading then this one is for you!
As a travelling preacher suddenly finds himself on death's doorstep, the young girl that travels with him seeks the help of some local residents in rural Nebraska in hopes that the preacher's passing will be swift and painless. The men that she runs into are men that haven't seen each other since many years ago, but have been harboring a deep, dark secret since then.
These men have felt guilty for the crimes they have committed and seem to be able to move on with their lives as the crime has been unpunished up til this day. One man has been released from prison for another crime, another has just returned from Iraq, and another has just been living an unfulfilled life in Point Blank, Nebraska.
As I mentioned this is a beautifully written story that is full of symbolism and hidden meanings, like the name of the town being Point Blank, and even the deficiency of the helpless woman. There is so much to contemplate within this small novel that it would make for a great literary analysis for a college course or any English major. For a person like me that just enjoys a great story that is written well, this book just didn't appeal to me. There was very limited dialogue within the book and what there was you really had to search for as it wasn't obvious. There was also a substantial amount of harsh language in this novel that I really thought was unnecessary. I may have enjoyed the story more without some of the profanity.
So with that said I think you can tell that this novel was not appreciated by me, but that's not to say that you will not enjoy it. This book is laced with themes, including but not limited to war, forgiveness, and death. If you are looking for a story that you need to continually concentrate on while reading then this one is for you!
June 6, 2012
I read a review of this book that lamented its lack of dialogue, but here's what you need to know to truly appreciate "Lamb Bright Saviors": the most explosive exchanges happen not with words, but in the metamorphoses that happen within us just by encountering another person. The effects of such exchanges often have a depth for which we have no words. Robert Vivian, however, understands this unspoken language intimately and he acts as our patient interpreter as the characters in his novel (4 local men, a girl, a blind woman and an old preacher) struggle to come to terms with their disparate pasts and what it might mean now that they have been strangely drawn to the woman's home to witness the preacher's wrenching deathbed departure.
One of the characters, in remembering a past encounter with the blind woman, acknowledges the power of such silence: "But the way she laid right next to me, see. The way she didn't plead or beg or even cry. I just can't get it out of my head for some reason. Sometimes it seems like us two laying there, listening to what was going on in the other rooms, was the strangest, realist thing that had ever happened to me. And I don't know why. I don't."
In the same vein reading "Lamb Bright Saviors" will be one of the realist encounters you'll ever have with a novel's characters. Yes, it may seem strange at first--it may even feel uncomfortable or embarrassing to be on such intimate terms with such broken and yearning people. But this is new and vital storytelling and Mr. Vivian succeeds so abundantly with it because it is at once both risky and refreshing. "Lamb Bright Saviors" is no ordinary novel and I am heartily glad and grateful for it. It is a beautifully written, engaging book and I believe it is always a good day when you can discover a writer so willing to offer up something so challenging, different and life-affirming.
One of the characters, in remembering a past encounter with the blind woman, acknowledges the power of such silence: "But the way she laid right next to me, see. The way she didn't plead or beg or even cry. I just can't get it out of my head for some reason. Sometimes it seems like us two laying there, listening to what was going on in the other rooms, was the strangest, realist thing that had ever happened to me. And I don't know why. I don't."
In the same vein reading "Lamb Bright Saviors" will be one of the realist encounters you'll ever have with a novel's characters. Yes, it may seem strange at first--it may even feel uncomfortable or embarrassing to be on such intimate terms with such broken and yearning people. But this is new and vital storytelling and Mr. Vivian succeeds so abundantly with it because it is at once both risky and refreshing. "Lamb Bright Saviors" is no ordinary novel and I am heartily glad and grateful for it. It is a beautifully written, engaging book and I believe it is always a good day when you can discover a writer so willing to offer up something so challenging, different and life-affirming.
May 18, 2010
When I first started reading this book it was kind of strange. I couldn't figure out what was going on. But once I figured out what was going on, boy, I didn't want to stop reading. As the book opens it's telling you about the preacher and the girl traveling with a big wagon of bibles. The preacher is preaching to no one, just talking up to the sky. Then he drops and the girl leaves her bibles to go to him. And then 4 strangers that were fishing come bay and pick him up and take him to a nearby house. The whole book is about the preacher dying, the girl, Mady and the strangers that are there. You get information on each one of them. The things they have done and the consequences of those actions. The strange thing about all this is that the 4 men that are there broke into and raped this blind woman years ago. They house they have take this preacher to is the blind woman's house. They are all thinking of that act and the consequences of their actions. Does the blind lady know they are there and they are the ones that broke into her house all those years ago? Is the preacher really dying? What will happen to Mady? Will these 4 men figure out their lives now? This book is full of deeds, good and bad, and the consequences of those actions. If you have a chance to read this book, I highly recommend it.
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June 13, 2014http://www.full-stop.net/2011/01/09/r...
Review by Max Rivlin-Nadler
As if torn from Wise Blood, Robert Vivian’s Lamb Bright Saviors begins with the awesome image of an imposing reverend crossing the modern-day Nebraska prairie, railing about salvation and trailed by an attractive teenage girl dragging a stack of bibles in a red wagon. The preacher turns a pirouette in the air, and falls face first into the dirt. The girl begs some drunks by the nearby reservoir to help him into a house up the road. But the death throes of the Reverend Mr. Gene and the bedside performance of his kidnapped companion, Mady, have all been rehearsed. In hotels and stables across the West, the reverend has attempted to perfect his dying sermon. Too bad it doesn’t make a lick of sense.
Read more here: http://www.full-stop.net/2011/01/09/r...
Review by Max Rivlin-Nadler
As if torn from Wise Blood, Robert Vivian’s Lamb Bright Saviors begins with the awesome image of an imposing reverend crossing the modern-day Nebraska prairie, railing about salvation and trailed by an attractive teenage girl dragging a stack of bibles in a red wagon. The preacher turns a pirouette in the air, and falls face first into the dirt. The girl begs some drunks by the nearby reservoir to help him into a house up the road. But the death throes of the Reverend Mr. Gene and the bedside performance of his kidnapped companion, Mady, have all been rehearsed. In hotels and stables across the West, the reverend has attempted to perfect his dying sermon. Too bad it doesn’t make a lick of sense.
Read more here: http://www.full-stop.net/2011/01/09/r...
August 8, 2010
You want a tour de force? Try Lamb Bright Saviors by Robert Vivian. A traveling southern preacher's life mission: to die in front of a group of strangers. Imagine a combination of Bastard Out of Carolina, Paper Moon and Waiting for Godot. Told from multiple characters' points of view this unusual storyline takes you on a deep emotional journey. I was stunned and transported by the tidal wave of artful brilliance found in this book.
June 15, 2011
Don't bother. Weird.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews