David Putnam's Reviews > Brules: A Novel

Of late I've had a difficult time getting into contemporary books. The current fad in structure just doesn't float my boat. How every chapter is in a different point of view. This makes the book episodic and more a string of short stories. All fads change and move on this one will too. Eventually.
So in the meantime I am ordering books (based on memory) that I really enjoyed. I read Brules thirty years ago after attending a writer's conference in San Diego. The author's agent was there and really touted this book. The had free copies for the attendees. I started reading this one and couldn't put it down.
Now my favorite book of all time is Lonesome Dove not because it is a western and not because it won the Pulitzer Prize. I loved it because its not about a cattle drive but about the relationship between two people and how that relationship weathers severe adversity. The cattle drive is just the vehicle to tell this story. The author is so adept in his craft he seamlessly shifts from one point of view to another on the same page. Truly amazing.
Anyway, I digress (you can plainly see I'm a big Lonesome Dove fan).
Brules is not a Lonesome Dove. Its the story of one man who weathers severe adversity all alone. But this is one heck of a story.
By my reckoning there are three parts of voice. Voice is the big Kahuna in writing its the everything in writing (This is where Lonesome Dove excels above many many other books). If the author can conquer the intricacies of voice he/she and flub on some of the other precepts and still write a heck of a book.
In Brules the story is excellent, the character is great (even though he at times walks the line of bad-good guy--okay by me I love a diverse character), the scene sequencing is excellent but where the author excels is in his MAR, motivation action reaction. Every scene is perfectly Motivated to support the Action. He blends the Action with the transitions. This is the author's first book and he really hit the nail on the head (sorry for the cliche').
Anyway, back to the three parts of voice (teach, and preach, my own 16 precepts of writing a novel). The first part is language and syntax. This is the only part of the book structure I kinda took exception too. The author, in my humble opinion overuses the language and syntax of the time period. I appreciated the authenticity this method lends to the story but it did slow down my reading speed.
The book is also written in a common structure called a "Frame." Where in current day character sits down with the main character and asks him to tell the story. The author does this to justify the use of the reminiscent voice that periodically pops up on the prose. This voice tends to (almost always) disrupts the fictive-dream for the reader. There is also another aspect of the frame story structure that tamps down the suspense as the story unfolds. The reader knows the character survives to tell the story decades later.
Even with these minor blivets, the Rem voice, the language and syntax, frame story, I still absolutely loved this book. It is a great western romp and highly recommend it.
Side note: This book reminded me of another great book by a great author. This one is written similarly with a frame story and one character traveling through the west and dealing with every kind of pitfall, The Little Big Man. I just ordered it and it will be the next novel I reread thirty years later to see if it holds up. I also ordered Centennial by Mitchener but as I recall I had a difficult time with that one dropping down into the fictive dream. But once I did it turned int a page turner.
Other books I just ordered, The First Deadly Sin, The Godfather, Clockers, Winds of War and Young Blood Hawk. The only wonderful thing about an aging memory is that I can enjoy a previously read book like it's brand spanking new.
David Putnam author of the Bruno Johnson series, the Dave Beckett series and the Imogene Taylor series.