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The Heaven of Mercury
Finus Bates has loved chatty, elegant Birdie Wells ever since he saw her cartwheel naked through the woods near the backwater town of Mercury, Mississippi, in 1917. Having “caught hold of some loose line in her that would attach itself to stray wildness” and never let go, he’s loved her for some eighty years: through their marriages to other people, through the mysterious early death of Birdie’s womanizing husband, Earl, and through all the poisonous accusations against Birdie by Earl’s no-good relatives. All during Mercury’s evolution from a sleepy backwater to a small city, Finus (reporter, radio host, and obit writer) has aimed to have the last word on its inhabitants, from obsequious undertaker Parnell Grimes to Euple Scarbrough, local encyclopedia of useless knowledge, and Vish, a real oldtime medicine woman. But ever loyal to Birdie, Finus won’t rush to unravel the mystery of her husband’s untimely passing—not until Birdie herself has entered Mercury’s heaven.
A gorgeous portrayal of lifelong friendship, restless passion, marital discord accommodation, aging and remembrance, death and afterlife, The Heaven of Mercury is inscribed in prose so eerily fine it is one of life’s true pleasures.
A gorgeous portrayal of lifelong friendship, restless passion, marital discord accommodation, aging and remembrance, death and afterlife, The Heaven of Mercury is inscribed in prose so eerily fine it is one of life’s true pleasures.
333 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2002
180 people are currently reading
1494 people want to read
About the author
Brad Watson
11 books174 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Brad Watson taught creative writing at the University of Wyoming, Laramie. His first collection, Last Days of the Dog-Men, won the Sue Kauffman Award for First Fiction from the American Academy of Arts & Letters; his first novel, The Heaven of Mercury, was a finalist for the National Book Award, and his Aliens in the Prime of Their Lives was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction.
Brad Watson taught creative writing at the University of Wyoming, Laramie. His first collection, Last Days of the Dog-Men, won the Sue Kauffman Award for First Fiction from the American Academy of Arts & Letters; his first novel, The Heaven of Mercury, was a finalist for the National Book Award, and his Aliens in the Prime of Their Lives was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 121 reviews
September 21, 2019
"If he’d been a poet, maybe, he could have written a poem and said what was in his memory concerning her. A brief epic. If he were a novelist he could tell her story. But he was an old man with a rambling imagination, a spotty if distinct memory."
Based on the passage above, I suppose I could argue that this book is one in which newspaper/radio man Finus Bates relays to us the story of the love of his life, Birdie Wells. A couple of years ago, I read and reviewed Brad Watson’s Miss Jane, a book I greatly admired. I went back to look at my review for that one before writing this. I used such words as meditative, lyrical, elegant, superb writing, solid, and convincing. Some of these adjectives hold true for this, his first novel, but there was something about it that lacked in cohesiveness and therefore made it less ‘solid and convincing.’ This is also a much darker novel in many ways – a real southern gothic piece. Not that this would deter from my enjoyment one bit, certainly not, but it felt a bit more experimental in some ways. As if Watson wasn’t quite sure what kind of book he wanted to offer us on his first shot. It was very episodic in nature, with a pretty large cast of characters that I had trouble grabbing hold of for the majority of the read. Any shortcomings in plot and structure, however, were made up for by the beauty of some very stunning passages.
There’s almost nothing I love more than an excellent character study, and I think this had potential to be just that. It’s an eccentric bunch without a doubt, with an old, gnarled medicine woman, Aunt Vish, and a creepy but somehow agreeable fellow who runs the local funeral parlor, Parnell Grimes, winning the prizes for most vivid female and male roles.
"The old woman’s hands lay on the table before her, two black crooked claws, long yellow nails resting on the unfinished plank top of the table. She showed what teeth she had then, one long dark horse tooth in front, gaps between what seemed occasional sharpened incisors here and there on back."
"His child-size hands were almost translucent, made Finus shiver a little at the thought of them handling the dead—or him, dead. And within that cartoonish gathering of flesh blinked those deep-set and absurdly pretty eyes, like a movie idol’s, so anomalous as to shock one upon first noticing."
Spanning the time between the earlier 1900s straight through a good chunk of that century, The Heaven of Mercury is set in the fictional town of Mercury, Mississippi. There are a number of valuable themes coursing through the heart of the novel, including reflections on love and lust, death and aging, racism, and the hazy lens of memory. There’s a mystery or two that added an element of suspense, but I felt at least one thread fizzled out. By the end I didn’t really care if one or the other was resolved or not, unfortunately. By far, the prose saved the day. Like I’ve said, I already knew Brad Watson could write – boy, can he write!! There’s a lot of wisdom he extends through the ruminations of Finus, and my highlighter got a decent workout on my kindle with this one. So, overall, I’d say this is a good introduction to Watson’s writing, and a foreshadowing of the brilliance to come. Of course, I say this with the foreknowledge of the excellence I know to be Miss Jane.
"Disappointments flock to us like crows and mock us from their perches on buildings or the flimsy swaying tips of pines, or flying over, a glimpse of black wing and parted beak, or in dreams, caustic, ephemeral. You love someone, you hate them. The major crime, as has been said: indifference."
Based on the passage above, I suppose I could argue that this book is one in which newspaper/radio man Finus Bates relays to us the story of the love of his life, Birdie Wells. A couple of years ago, I read and reviewed Brad Watson’s Miss Jane, a book I greatly admired. I went back to look at my review for that one before writing this. I used such words as meditative, lyrical, elegant, superb writing, solid, and convincing. Some of these adjectives hold true for this, his first novel, but there was something about it that lacked in cohesiveness and therefore made it less ‘solid and convincing.’ This is also a much darker novel in many ways – a real southern gothic piece. Not that this would deter from my enjoyment one bit, certainly not, but it felt a bit more experimental in some ways. As if Watson wasn’t quite sure what kind of book he wanted to offer us on his first shot. It was very episodic in nature, with a pretty large cast of characters that I had trouble grabbing hold of for the majority of the read. Any shortcomings in plot and structure, however, were made up for by the beauty of some very stunning passages.
There’s almost nothing I love more than an excellent character study, and I think this had potential to be just that. It’s an eccentric bunch without a doubt, with an old, gnarled medicine woman, Aunt Vish, and a creepy but somehow agreeable fellow who runs the local funeral parlor, Parnell Grimes, winning the prizes for most vivid female and male roles.
"The old woman’s hands lay on the table before her, two black crooked claws, long yellow nails resting on the unfinished plank top of the table. She showed what teeth she had then, one long dark horse tooth in front, gaps between what seemed occasional sharpened incisors here and there on back."
"His child-size hands were almost translucent, made Finus shiver a little at the thought of them handling the dead—or him, dead. And within that cartoonish gathering of flesh blinked those deep-set and absurdly pretty eyes, like a movie idol’s, so anomalous as to shock one upon first noticing."
Spanning the time between the earlier 1900s straight through a good chunk of that century, The Heaven of Mercury is set in the fictional town of Mercury, Mississippi. There are a number of valuable themes coursing through the heart of the novel, including reflections on love and lust, death and aging, racism, and the hazy lens of memory. There’s a mystery or two that added an element of suspense, but I felt at least one thread fizzled out. By the end I didn’t really care if one or the other was resolved or not, unfortunately. By far, the prose saved the day. Like I’ve said, I already knew Brad Watson could write – boy, can he write!! There’s a lot of wisdom he extends through the ruminations of Finus, and my highlighter got a decent workout on my kindle with this one. So, overall, I’d say this is a good introduction to Watson’s writing, and a foreshadowing of the brilliance to come. Of course, I say this with the foreknowledge of the excellence I know to be Miss Jane.
"Disappointments flock to us like crows and mock us from their perches on buildings or the flimsy swaying tips of pines, or flying over, a glimpse of black wing and parted beak, or in dreams, caustic, ephemeral. You love someone, you hate them. The major crime, as has been said: indifference."
September 11, 2019
3 ★
A three star read for me but the gorgeous prose is a solid 5.
It all came together in the end but I could not develop an emotional connection to the characters or story; the "mysterious death of Earl" was lukewarm at best. The jumpy and continual shifts in time kept me at a distance. The dialogue could be off-putting, sort of like the way adults talk in code in front of children which gave me the feeling I sometimes was missing something, like the way I didn’t know the pronunciation of main protagonist Finus’ name. The writing did keep me engaged so I never thought of quitting. A mildly interesting tale about a lot of unfulfilled lives told with exceptional prose with a very strong finish. His novel Miss Jane is on my favorites shelf and I will definitely be checking out his short stories at some point.
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A three star read for me but the gorgeous prose is a solid 5.
It all came together in the end but I could not develop an emotional connection to the characters or story; the "mysterious death of Earl" was lukewarm at best. The jumpy and continual shifts in time kept me at a distance. The dialogue could be off-putting, sort of like the way adults talk in code in front of children which gave me the feeling I sometimes was missing something, like the way I didn’t know the pronunciation of main protagonist Finus’ name. The writing did keep me engaged so I never thought of quitting. A mildly interesting tale about a lot of unfulfilled lives told with exceptional prose with a very strong finish. His novel Miss Jane is on my favorites shelf and I will definitely be checking out his short stories at some point.
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August 31, 2019
At the heart of this atmospheric Southern Gothic story is the love that Finus Bates feels for Birdie Wells ever since he saw her turn a cartwheel naked in the woods. They made some bad decisions later that affected the path of their lives with both involved in unhappy marriages.
The story is set in Mercury, a small town with stores lining the main street, a diner, and a newspaper office where Finus writes the obituaries. There is still a lot of racism present in mid-20th Century Mississippi, and Creasie, a black maid, feels that she is spending her life unseen, always at the service of Birdie's white family. Author Brad Watson writes beautiful descriptions of the hot, humid area with its abundant natural life. The reader can see the foliage and birds, hear the buzz of the insects, and feel the power of a hurricane.
Mercury has lots of quirky characters including Birdie's horrible in-laws, the black medicine woman Aunt Vish, and the mortician Parnell Grimes. There is a nod to Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" at Parnell's funeral home. Aging and death have a strong presence in the book, as does that liminal state of the recently deceased before they depart to another world. Even the title of the book reflects the afterlife since Dante's Second Sphere of Heaven in "Paradiso" is Mercury.
"The Heaven of Mercury" is literary fiction with a slow-moving, non-linear plot, unusual characters, and some dark Southern humor. This is a book for a reader who appreciates quality writing, and is willing to take the time to see the story unfold.
The story is set in Mercury, a small town with stores lining the main street, a diner, and a newspaper office where Finus writes the obituaries. There is still a lot of racism present in mid-20th Century Mississippi, and Creasie, a black maid, feels that she is spending her life unseen, always at the service of Birdie's white family. Author Brad Watson writes beautiful descriptions of the hot, humid area with its abundant natural life. The reader can see the foliage and birds, hear the buzz of the insects, and feel the power of a hurricane.
Mercury has lots of quirky characters including Birdie's horrible in-laws, the black medicine woman Aunt Vish, and the mortician Parnell Grimes. There is a nod to Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" at Parnell's funeral home. Aging and death have a strong presence in the book, as does that liminal state of the recently deceased before they depart to another world. Even the title of the book reflects the afterlife since Dante's Second Sphere of Heaven in "Paradiso" is Mercury.
"The Heaven of Mercury" is literary fiction with a slow-moving, non-linear plot, unusual characters, and some dark Southern humor. This is a book for a reader who appreciates quality writing, and is willing to take the time to see the story unfold.
September 11, 2019
3.4 stars rounded down - A finalist for the National Book Award, ‘The Heaven of Mercury’ by Brad Watson is filled with elegant prose and beautiful, at times, startling imagery. Although its characters are many and mostly eccentric, Watson takes for his main character, Finus Bates. In 1917, Mercury, Mississippi, at a church youth retreat through the cover of woods and brush, young Finus sees Birdie Wells naked, performing a cartwheel. From that time forward, he is smitten. In an episodic narrative, Watson explores the avenues of young love, marriages that grow stale, and the transformative effects of time and circumstance.
This is a dense narrative with much packed in, a slow-paced character study, that was for me, a pretty smooth reading experience until about two-thirds of the way through. Then, a major impetus behind my reading drive went missing from the book, i.e., a suspense element disappeared. I love character studies, but I need suspense or a little friction, to keep me going. I’m so glad I persevered because there are some gorgeous scenes toward the end of the book and I got a sense of resolution that I would have been denied if I hadn’t kept going. This is an excellent book to read with a group, as I experienced it. I'm sure that rereading would lead me to an even greater appreciation of the subtleties of Watson's narrative style.
This is a dense narrative with much packed in, a slow-paced character study, that was for me, a pretty smooth reading experience until about two-thirds of the way through. Then, a major impetus behind my reading drive went missing from the book, i.e., a suspense element disappeared. I love character studies, but I need suspense or a little friction, to keep me going. I’m so glad I persevered because there are some gorgeous scenes toward the end of the book and I got a sense of resolution that I would have been denied if I hadn’t kept going. This is an excellent book to read with a group, as I experienced it. I'm sure that rereading would lead me to an even greater appreciation of the subtleties of Watson's narrative style.
September 11, 2019
The writing was exceptional, the story was all over the place. Part gothic, part small town memoir, part study of racism then and now, it never really jelled for me as one thing or the other. I couldn't seem to get close to the characters either. But I am still a huge Brad Watson fan, so I'll move on to his short stories.
January 28, 2018
Brad Watson’s The Heaven of Mercury is simply a gorgeous undertaking beautifully executed. The story can't be shoe-horned into a style type though his writing is certainly southern, with atmospherics on a par with any of the other great southern writers. But there is also a profoundly metaphysical aspect to this telling. The story is, at heart, a provocative exploration of the spirit.
The first half of the novel is a fairly straightforward (though nonlinear) look at the lives of a handful of finely drawn characters from the Mississippi town of Mercury, starting in the early twentieth century. Watson takes us on a dreamy, melancholy trip through the lives and loves and losses of these characters and, in the process, delves deftly into the race, gender and class distinctions for which that world was known during the time.
The book is in two parts and the second half continues the story, fleshing out the mysteries and outcomes of the first but it also ranges seamlessly across the metaphysical border, taking the story to a higher but perfectly natural and, at times, exquisitely beautiful plane. The book’s title refers to Dante’s second sphere of heaven in "Paradiso" from The Divine Comedy and this half of the story, I’d suggest, is where the title comes to bear.
Watson’s lyricism is delicious throughout and that, I think, is what makes this novel so exciting. He crafts a vivid contrast between the gorgeous storytelling of the novel’s first half with the even more beautiful perspective of the spirits who’ve lost their corporeality. And, yes, the narrative touches ever-so-briefly (and lovingly) on the subject of necrophilia. The metaphor Watson uses there, however, seems to me just a bit of his extraordinary craftsmanship, reminding the reader that we each love someone who's passed (though, his character actually made love to a corpse; an admittedly notable distinction).
Bottom line: I cannot recommend this book highly enough. If I can compare it to any other work on the subject, I’d have to put it on a par with Tinkers . Though the two explorations are distinct in their respective splendidness, each left me with a broader view of both my place in the universe and the love I harbor for those spirits who no longer perceptibly share it with me. Brad Watson has made me more deeply examine my assumptions about these things and I'm always grateful for an author's gentle nudge down the road of enlightenment.
The first half of the novel is a fairly straightforward (though nonlinear) look at the lives of a handful of finely drawn characters from the Mississippi town of Mercury, starting in the early twentieth century. Watson takes us on a dreamy, melancholy trip through the lives and loves and losses of these characters and, in the process, delves deftly into the race, gender and class distinctions for which that world was known during the time.
The book is in two parts and the second half continues the story, fleshing out the mysteries and outcomes of the first but it also ranges seamlessly across the metaphysical border, taking the story to a higher but perfectly natural and, at times, exquisitely beautiful plane. The book’s title refers to Dante’s second sphere of heaven in "Paradiso" from The Divine Comedy and this half of the story, I’d suggest, is where the title comes to bear.
Watson’s lyricism is delicious throughout and that, I think, is what makes this novel so exciting. He crafts a vivid contrast between the gorgeous storytelling of the novel’s first half with the even more beautiful perspective of the spirits who’ve lost their corporeality. And, yes, the narrative touches ever-so-briefly (and lovingly) on the subject of necrophilia. The metaphor Watson uses there, however, seems to me just a bit of his extraordinary craftsmanship, reminding the reader that we each love someone who's passed (though, his character actually made love to a corpse; an admittedly notable distinction).
Bottom line: I cannot recommend this book highly enough. If I can compare it to any other work on the subject, I’d have to put it on a par with Tinkers . Though the two explorations are distinct in their respective splendidness, each left me with a broader view of both my place in the universe and the love I harbor for those spirits who no longer perceptibly share it with me. Brad Watson has made me more deeply examine my assumptions about these things and I'm always grateful for an author's gentle nudge down the road of enlightenment.
September 12, 2019
This book had the potential to be great. There were several points when the writing was superb and enthralling. There were moments when the characters came alive and sparkled. But there were also moments that fell flat, characters who seemed more caricature than reality, and places where the storyline seemed to plunge off into a place too dark and confusing for me to really wish to follow.
I’d like to tell you whose story this is, but I’m still a bit unsure. It seemed to be Finus’ story, but maybe it was Birdie’s, or perhaps it was Creasie’s tale. There is a black dummy that ought to stand for something, maybe does stand for something that I am not grasping, but that seems to be a plot device that doesn’t quite satisfy its purpose.
And, there are two instances when the plot is either a nod of tribute to two other writers, or the borrowing of a plot element that just comes a little too close to copying for my comfort. Again, I am having a hard time deciding which.
It must be said, Watson can write! His writing style is splendid and captivating and at times beautiful. Frequently he scores a perfect ten.
An open heart will save you, but you have to be smart, too. You have to be careful who you open your heart to. Some people can’t help but hurt you if they know it, he said, and kissed the young Finus on his forehead.
I’m unsure exactly what changes I would suggest to make this novel really work for me. It almost felt like Watson wanted to tell too many stories, so ended up not completely telling any. This is a 5-star read masquerading as a 3-star read. It’s like that face that just misses being beautiful because there is some lack of symmetry in the nose or the eyes are just a bit too far set. It still has character and personality, it just isn’t going to win the beauty contest.
I’d like to tell you whose story this is, but I’m still a bit unsure. It seemed to be Finus’ story, but maybe it was Birdie’s, or perhaps it was Creasie’s tale. There is a black dummy that ought to stand for something, maybe does stand for something that I am not grasping, but that seems to be a plot device that doesn’t quite satisfy its purpose.
And, there are two instances when the plot is either a nod of tribute to two other writers, or the borrowing of a plot element that just comes a little too close to copying for my comfort. Again, I am having a hard time deciding which.
It must be said, Watson can write! His writing style is splendid and captivating and at times beautiful. Frequently he scores a perfect ten.
An open heart will save you, but you have to be smart, too. You have to be careful who you open your heart to. Some people can’t help but hurt you if they know it, he said, and kissed the young Finus on his forehead.
I’m unsure exactly what changes I would suggest to make this novel really work for me. It almost felt like Watson wanted to tell too many stories, so ended up not completely telling any. This is a 5-star read masquerading as a 3-star read. It’s like that face that just misses being beautiful because there is some lack of symmetry in the nose or the eyes are just a bit too far set. It still has character and personality, it just isn’t going to win the beauty contest.
November 8, 2017
A beautiful book; engaging read. This is one of those books you don't want to zip through; I wanted to take my time and really enjoy it. The characters are so well developed and real--and it is that obvious that so much work went into making them come alive. They are imperfect, mean, hilarious, tragic. I have had this book since it was initially published and it wasn't until I read Miss Jane that I went back to find it and finally read it after (20?) years. Really glad I did.
November 29, 2015
Listen up: One of the best novels I've ever read. It might be the best Southern Gothic novel ever. No kidding. Why it took me so long to find this book, I have no idea--but Watson is one of America's most talented writers. Long been a fan of his short fiction. I loved every goddamn sentence of this book.
February 13, 2013
What a terrific book. Watson has been compared to a diverse array of southern writers, but I think the reason he's been compared to writers as different as Faulkner and O'Connor is that, really, he's not like any of them. This book is also hard to describe in any way that makes sense or doesn't make it sound less than it is, and so I think people grasp at comparisons.
The Mercury of the title is a town, and several of the townspeople feature in the story, but the main gist involves two of them--Birdie and Finus--who "should" marry each other, but who marry other people. In a way, the entire focus is on how one decision can send a life in a direction that's "wrong." But Watson is too smart to make it that simple. Both Birdie and Finus have satisfactions in life, though they are a little short on what we might call joy. The book covers their lives from childhood through death (though not all in chronological order) and seems to me to be saying something along the lines of "This is the way life is. Deal with it. Take it for what it really is."
That said, there is great mystery and magic, and death and life are not completely distinguishable. I'm sure some might say, in fact, that it's a book obsessed with death--and aging--but I loved the way that Watson gave us elderly characters who still had their younger selves inside of them. There's a profound sense of the rich inner lives of older people--and other people that tend to get overlooked--that I found very moving.
The prose of the book sings off the page, too. Watson writes in some ways simply, with the language of plain folk, but he can take a passage here and there into startling specificity and subsequent beauty.
I find, all too often, that contemporary novels are gimmicky. Sometimes I like that and enjoy the cleverness, but usually I find it tiresomely like reality TV or my stressful drives through traffic-clogged streets--just too busy. The Heaven of Mercury feels old-fashioned, but in a very good and contemporary way. It resonates with all the primary concerns of contemporary life, but nary a cell phone rings or text message comes in to artificially change fate. It keeps its focus on people and the natural world, not the ever-changing technology around us, and that gives it a timeless air. I really enjoyed being for a time in a world where I could concentrate and revel.
The Mercury of the title is a town, and several of the townspeople feature in the story, but the main gist involves two of them--Birdie and Finus--who "should" marry each other, but who marry other people. In a way, the entire focus is on how one decision can send a life in a direction that's "wrong." But Watson is too smart to make it that simple. Both Birdie and Finus have satisfactions in life, though they are a little short on what we might call joy. The book covers their lives from childhood through death (though not all in chronological order) and seems to me to be saying something along the lines of "This is the way life is. Deal with it. Take it for what it really is."
That said, there is great mystery and magic, and death and life are not completely distinguishable. I'm sure some might say, in fact, that it's a book obsessed with death--and aging--but I loved the way that Watson gave us elderly characters who still had their younger selves inside of them. There's a profound sense of the rich inner lives of older people--and other people that tend to get overlooked--that I found very moving.
The prose of the book sings off the page, too. Watson writes in some ways simply, with the language of plain folk, but he can take a passage here and there into startling specificity and subsequent beauty.
I find, all too often, that contemporary novels are gimmicky. Sometimes I like that and enjoy the cleverness, but usually I find it tiresomely like reality TV or my stressful drives through traffic-clogged streets--just too busy. The Heaven of Mercury feels old-fashioned, but in a very good and contemporary way. It resonates with all the primary concerns of contemporary life, but nary a cell phone rings or text message comes in to artificially change fate. It keeps its focus on people and the natural world, not the ever-changing technology around us, and that gives it a timeless air. I really enjoyed being for a time in a world where I could concentrate and revel.
Read
June 27, 2016So strange...I looked at the list of upcoming authors that'll be at the 2016 Mississippi Book Fest and saw the name of the author and this particular book of his. Wow - rang a bell. Turns out, I read about 3/4 of this a couple years ago, then mislaid the book! At the time, it reminded me a good deal of Love in the Time of Cholera - which, yeah, is totally NOT in this genre....but its main characters are a man who falls deeply in love with a woman and waits decades for her, waits until death is knocking upon the door. Beautiful Ruins was like that too in a way...that pining was beautiful.
Okay - going to re-read this sucker!
Okay - going to re-read this sucker!
May 10, 2016
Brad Watson's town of Mercury is delightful. His vivid description of this laid back southern landscape lures his readers in. Unfortunately, however, his character narration and the insertion of obsessed sexual macabre dabbled throughout the book left this reader repulsed. What could have been something beautiful was distasteful (I would have rated it one star higher if that was eliminated). The toying of his characters left me baffled, dismayed and confused. Timelines were CRAZY! Characters were young in one chapter and dying in the next. There was nothing conclusive about this story except for death and it came on like a storm! The end of the book left me very disengaged and uninterested. Story lines dropped leaving this reader hanging. Expect lots of grammatical errors inside the book as well. Two stars for description only.
September 17, 2019
Just so so for me. I’ve ordered Brad Watson’s Miss Jane though and hope to enjoy it more.
Read for Sept Club Selection for On The Southern Literary Trail. 3 stars
Read for Sept Club Selection for On The Southern Literary Trail. 3 stars
August 30, 2016
Gracious, I’m awarding so many stars for a book I almost put down about two-thirds of the way through. What gives? Watson’s story about small Mercury, MS, beginning at the turn of the 20th century and covering up to mid-century, has characters that thoroughly engaged me within the first few pages. The town’s long-time resident “Mercury” and story protagonist is local reporter/editor Finus Bates, a character who brings the reader insights and ironies about life and all the pain that comes with love. Ex-newspaper writer Watson has small-town journalism figured out, and his Finus goes about doing his job calmly, carefully, and with a clear eye -- even though his major output, both in the paper and on his radio show, seems to be obituaries. By using seemingly insignificant details in those reports, Finus reminds his readers of the complex beauty -- and hilarity -- of every life.
A number of other interesting town characters are introduced – Finus’ love interest, his wife (different women), a merchant family and its black maid, the local mortician, and a number of others. As strong as Finus is as a character, Watson matches that by developing stories for many of these characters that show their depth and make the narrative voice seem a bit like a piece of reporting. Much more happens to them than happens to him. The town was as much the main character as is Finus. I am no judge, but the language of the South Watson uses seemed authentic and added to the feeling for his characters’ struggles in their often bigoted and misogynist culture. Not all of these characters are likable (and some are despicable), but Watson (and Finus) report them knowingly and they add a great deal to the power of the book. Life in Mercury is often cruel – as it is to varying degrees everywhere. But it is always rich with complexity and human passion.
“Heaven” seemed to drag for me about two-thirds of the way through. There was a mystery playing out, but the insights about life seemed to slow to a trickle. But then it picked up with plot resolution and a wonderful ending featuring descriptions of the natural beauty of the southern coast and a cross-generational passing of the baton that moved this new grandpa greatly. Yes, it was a bit maudlin, but not enough to spoil the tone of calm and peace that surpassed most endings I read. That helped make the difference for me. There’s a lot of death in Mercury, and the ending showed me that Watson knows a great deal about the meaning of both life and death.
This book is about a long-gone time in America, but it spoke to me about the current state of journalism that should be a concern. As we look over Finus' shoulder we see how journalism that matters (the book narrative itself being the most important example) takes time, patience, and an unrelenting passion for observation and getting understanding of our world -- qualities that are hard to come by in any age, but that seem particularly in jeopardy now.
A number of other interesting town characters are introduced – Finus’ love interest, his wife (different women), a merchant family and its black maid, the local mortician, and a number of others. As strong as Finus is as a character, Watson matches that by developing stories for many of these characters that show their depth and make the narrative voice seem a bit like a piece of reporting. Much more happens to them than happens to him. The town was as much the main character as is Finus. I am no judge, but the language of the South Watson uses seemed authentic and added to the feeling for his characters’ struggles in their often bigoted and misogynist culture. Not all of these characters are likable (and some are despicable), but Watson (and Finus) report them knowingly and they add a great deal to the power of the book. Life in Mercury is often cruel – as it is to varying degrees everywhere. But it is always rich with complexity and human passion.
“Heaven” seemed to drag for me about two-thirds of the way through. There was a mystery playing out, but the insights about life seemed to slow to a trickle. But then it picked up with plot resolution and a wonderful ending featuring descriptions of the natural beauty of the southern coast and a cross-generational passing of the baton that moved this new grandpa greatly. Yes, it was a bit maudlin, but not enough to spoil the tone of calm and peace that surpassed most endings I read. That helped make the difference for me. There’s a lot of death in Mercury, and the ending showed me that Watson knows a great deal about the meaning of both life and death.
This book is about a long-gone time in America, but it spoke to me about the current state of journalism that should be a concern. As we look over Finus' shoulder we see how journalism that matters (the book narrative itself being the most important example) takes time, patience, and an unrelenting passion for observation and getting understanding of our world -- qualities that are hard to come by in any age, but that seem particularly in jeopardy now.
April 5, 2014
This book (which made Watson a finalist for the National Book Award) is jam-packed with fabulous dysfunction. Four examples right out of the gate. 1) Underlying everything, the freakishly enthusiastic radio personality and obituary-writer Finus has abiding and exhaustive adoration for the dismissive Birdie. I don’t know what he sees in her. 2) Since a shocking coming-of-age preadolescent experience, Mercury’s pitiable mortician Parnell is a delicate and tortured soul. Yet somehow he manages (rather unbelievably) to wed the only other person in Mercury who is as disturbingly morose as he. 3) Dear unfortunate house maid Creasie is appropriately superstitious; the wooden man in the shed giving her nightmares…that is… when his alter-ego is not sneaking in her window to hold her in the flesh. 4) The town floosy has notoriously putrid breath but still manages to catch imprudent lustful men in her web of deceit. The recap of one of these sordid unions was entirely nauseating and contained way too many references to the stupid fellow’s Thom McAns. Everyone in town is somehow connected to everyone else in this bizarre story of love and loss.
In the first half of the book the author lifts prose to an art form as he unpacks difficult issues like racism, death, and unrequited love. He writes with a delicious Southern speak, his words like my favorite kind of chocolate, dark and sweet at the same time. His subject matter is honeyed yet spicy, raw yet polished, rude and decidedly passionate. I was wholly prepared to forgive the unnecessary raunchiness and distasteful digressions involving polypectomy because Watson could make the phone book interesting, but it was not to be.
I was around page 260 thinking I couldn’t remember the last time I had read such a strangely disturbing and wonderfully addictive book when it all went to heck. It was as though the author became suddenly possessed by Dickens’ ghosts and the darn specters went flying around in their smug etherealness trying to tidily wrap up all the loose ends in the book (many of which did not necessitate wrapping.) It was a terrible way to end the story of Mercury and it sucked the charisma right out of it.
Had I lost the book halfway through, I would have been grieved. But by the time I gratefully reached the final page, I was ready to hand the whole thing over freely to the coroner’s slab. Have at it Parnell. Dissect away.
In the first half of the book the author lifts prose to an art form as he unpacks difficult issues like racism, death, and unrequited love. He writes with a delicious Southern speak, his words like my favorite kind of chocolate, dark and sweet at the same time. His subject matter is honeyed yet spicy, raw yet polished, rude and decidedly passionate. I was wholly prepared to forgive the unnecessary raunchiness and distasteful digressions involving polypectomy because Watson could make the phone book interesting, but it was not to be.
I was around page 260 thinking I couldn’t remember the last time I had read such a strangely disturbing and wonderfully addictive book when it all went to heck. It was as though the author became suddenly possessed by Dickens’ ghosts and the darn specters went flying around in their smug etherealness trying to tidily wrap up all the loose ends in the book (many of which did not necessitate wrapping.) It was a terrible way to end the story of Mercury and it sucked the charisma right out of it.
Had I lost the book halfway through, I would have been grieved. But by the time I gratefully reached the final page, I was ready to hand the whole thing over freely to the coroner’s slab. Have at it Parnell. Dissect away.
September 10, 2007
I am not the target audience for these sprawling, epic, multi-generational novels that get by with quirky characters, an evocative locale, and always feature a tragic story of lost love and some suppressed sexual abuse. I need an actual plot. For those of you who need only references to a turn-of-the-century hurricane and a little light necrophilia, help yourselves.
December 18, 2023
“He wandered toward a spot of color in the distance and when he got close he saw that it was a bush filled with preening monarch butterflies, migrated there from South America, resting and soaking up the sunlight. He lay on the sand and looked up at them. They were like the leaves of the shrub, they were so numerous. They seemed to shiver under his rapt attention. He felt such an outpouring of love for them, he thought he would weep. They seemed hardly able to contain their delight that he was gazing upon their beautiful wings.”
August 12, 2009
This is a novel that explores a dying town's relationship with death via a handful of characters. Peopled with the elderly and mostly narrated by an obituary writer, this is one of those odd books that I didn't really like but couldn't seem to put down. This is a good example of southern fiction (though I disagree with critics who compare his writing to Faulkner and O'Connor -- his sentences can be long, lovely poems but plotting is not strong enough to maintain a beginning, middle, and end novel).
I didn't enjoy being with the characters because they are so reluctant to pursue what they want out of life. Earl is in love with Birdie, who marries at sixteen and is widowed in her early fifties. Though Earl is separated from his wife, he is too much of a coward to pursue a relationship with Birdie, even though he's supposedly been in love with her since he was a teenager. (I don't buy that he was in love with her, merely infatuated.) When they are both in the eighties, Birdie mentions in passing that she never would have been happy with Earl anyway, since he's too much of a melancholy soul.
The plot is choppy and is really more of a collection of short stories that intermingle with each other than a novel -- which makes sense as the author teaches short fiction at Harvard.
I didn't enjoy being with the characters because they are so reluctant to pursue what they want out of life. Earl is in love with Birdie, who marries at sixteen and is widowed in her early fifties. Though Earl is separated from his wife, he is too much of a coward to pursue a relationship with Birdie, even though he's supposedly been in love with her since he was a teenager. (I don't buy that he was in love with her, merely infatuated.) When they are both in the eighties, Birdie mentions in passing that she never would have been happy with Earl anyway, since he's too much of a melancholy soul.
The plot is choppy and is really more of a collection of short stories that intermingle with each other than a novel -- which makes sense as the author teaches short fiction at Harvard.
Read
March 7, 2008The first part of the book was true southern story telling. Kept my interest and was easy to follow.However, the last part of the book was dry, boring, hard to follow, and I was glad to finish it.
March 14, 2010
I liked parts of it, but it seemed disjointed and needed more character development.
August 8, 2012
I thought this would never end...
December 21, 2020
On July 24, 2020, the New York Times wrote an obituary on Brad Watson, who died on July 8. He was from that line of Mississippi authors who have sh0wn us our worst and yet instilled us with hope for tomorrow. He fell short of being a Faulker, but some of his prose soars with the same emotion, complication, and relentless reality. Imagine a place within a bubble of time and space that leaves the world at a remove, where events are somewhere out there, where people are all there is in here and watch these mere humans live their lives with one another and with one another's foibles and strengths. It is this communal bond of lives, white and black, moving through time that animates Watson's novel, considered his best and a finalist for the National Book Award. Anyone who grew up in a small town, bounded by culture, acquaintence, location, and kinship, understands - and wrestles with - that bubble that enfolds all life within its circle and seems somehow more real and true than any outside event. In the middle of this little town of Mercury, Mississippi, there also is a livelong love never abandoned, never forgotten and never requited. You'll want to follow it from beginning to the end.
August 11, 2021
This is another book to love by Brad Watson.
While I did have a few quibbles here and there with passages that went on and on and really did nothing to serve the story, I will let that slide because it was beautiful writing, although admittedly I skipped some of it.
Mostly, I wanted to know about Finus, Avis, Birdie, Earl, Aunt Vish, Junius, Creasy, and Merry, and on and on.
This is a story of unrequited love, about people who support one another, hate one another, cause problems for one another and then try to patch it all up. It's about marriages that shouldn't have happened, infidelity, imperfect people, and those who believe they've never done any wrong. It's like reading a mashup of Cormac McCarthy, Larry Brown, Donald Ray Pollock with a solid dose of Rick Bragg's style small town living.
There were parts that were laugh out loud funny, and many parts that made me cringe. And finally, toward the end, I learned I'd been saying the name Finus in my head wrong the entire time.
All in all, still a five star read - a book I highly recommend!
While I did have a few quibbles here and there with passages that went on and on and really did nothing to serve the story, I will let that slide because it was beautiful writing, although admittedly I skipped some of it.
Mostly, I wanted to know about Finus, Avis, Birdie, Earl, Aunt Vish, Junius, Creasy, and Merry, and on and on.
This is a story of unrequited love, about people who support one another, hate one another, cause problems for one another and then try to patch it all up. It's about marriages that shouldn't have happened, infidelity, imperfect people, and those who believe they've never done any wrong. It's like reading a mashup of Cormac McCarthy, Larry Brown, Donald Ray Pollock with a solid dose of Rick Bragg's style small town living.
There were parts that were laugh out loud funny, and many parts that made me cringe. And finally, toward the end, I learned I'd been saying the name Finus in my head wrong the entire time.
All in all, still a five star read - a book I highly recommend!
August 16, 2020
The town of Mercury, Mississippi seems perennially elegiac for an earlier, Edenic period in its history, as the novel’s characters ruminate upon the impetuous choices and missed opportunities of youth that tethered them to the trajectories of their lives. The novel’s kaleidoscopic structure juxtaposes events with subsequent, wistful reflections, and its lyrical prose evokes life as it was lived in Mercury’s successive time periods, from childhood memories of a devastating storm in 1906 to an aging survivor writing the obits of his contemporaries decades later. Peculiar, illicit acts and brief, enchanting moments crystalize into burdensome dark secrets and mythical longing that shape the character’s perspectives amid life’s joys and traumas, injustices and misfortunes. A beautiful, funny, affecting novel rich with the passage of time and the shadow of aging and death.
Bravo and RIP, Brad Watson.
Bravo and RIP, Brad Watson.
July 26, 2021
I like his idea that the age you are in heaven is the age that you were the happiest.
October 24, 2023
The prose! It’s delicate, intricate and fine.
August 22, 2019
Beautiful and bizarre.
January 8, 2019
I can understand why Three Junes beat out this novel for the 2002 National Book Award, but I can’t understand why this book was a Finalist. Except for a startling incident in a funeral parlor near the beginning and a twisty revelation near the end, nothing much happens. The main character, Finus, has pined his entire life for Birdie, but she married Earl, a womanizer and very successful purveyor of shoes in coastal Mercury, Mississippi. Finus marries Avis, who bears a son, but their marriage soon becomes an estrangement and a long-term separation. The most lively and interesting character is Creasie, who begins work as Birdie’s maid at around age 12. She comes from a shanty black community and relies on an old woman there for advice and potions when things go awry. This novel follows all of these characters from the early 1900s until their deaths and/or old age. Honestly, if I want to read a really good novel about small-town life, I’ll go with Kent Haruf. As for the funeral parlor incident near the beginning, it is such a jaw-dropper that I expected more of the same. No such luck. The novel is pretty dull until the aforesaid twisty revelation near the end, in which a piece of dark mischief doesn’t result in any sort of consequences for the perpetrator. I don’t expect an author necessarily to tie up all the loose ends, but I do expect some sort of acknowledgment that a crime was committed, even if perhaps we could consider it to be water under the bridge. Maybe the author felt that any further explanation would be restating the obvious. Certainly, in this case, the culprit had probably suffered enough.
December 15, 2014
well I was currently reading, but my wife has borrowed, so I'll get back to it soon..
..back reading it now.. read.. review coming..
sort of review: a beautiful book, spoiled slightly by long-windedness and repetition. A generation span novel set in the coastal South of the USA taking in most of the twentieth century. The characters are good: vain, angry, delightful, stupid, clever, love-struck, selfish: everyone seems real. Some a re very quirky (or downright strange when it comes to some of them, eg the funeral director's son and his wife when he grows up). The prose dips and flows wonderfully. The set pieces work well, but - this is my only caveat - the novel endlessly (not quite endlessly obviously, but as my wife said - she also liked it a lot - he does go on a bit) circles key moments, the death of a main character for example, seen from many viewpoints, and this can get slightly tedious. Only slightly though!
..back reading it now.. read.. review coming..
sort of review: a beautiful book, spoiled slightly by long-windedness and repetition. A generation span novel set in the coastal South of the USA taking in most of the twentieth century. The characters are good: vain, angry, delightful, stupid, clever, love-struck, selfish: everyone seems real. Some a re very quirky (or downright strange when it comes to some of them, eg the funeral director's son and his wife when he grows up). The prose dips and flows wonderfully. The set pieces work well, but - this is my only caveat - the novel endlessly (not quite endlessly obviously, but as my wife said - she also liked it a lot - he does go on a bit) circles key moments, the death of a main character for example, seen from many viewpoints, and this can get slightly tedious. Only slightly though!
July 22, 2012
Love the characters, especially Aunt Vish and Creasie. I like the structure, the way each chapter moves from one character to the next. You might expect the chapters to be "loosely connected," but Watson's deft skill at threading them together tightens the connections in a clear way. The novel is funny and dark, but I thought the latent necrophilia of Parnell Grimes, for example, was treated in an appropriate manner: Parnell is revealed to be a sympathetic character in spite of his experiment a la "A Rose for Emily." And I lived the magical elements that seem ti have drawn comparisons with Marquez, but Watson's novel is original, nonetheless. Awesome read; I took my time with it.
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