Postcards is a convincing,
unsentimental portrait of a rural family in the time between 1944 and
1984. It is
the first novel by the author of Brokeback Mountain and The Shipping News.
With amazing attention to detail she shows us the hardships, fears and
dreams of the down- trodden.The narrative switches back and forth
between the protagonist, Loyal Blood, and his family struggling to get
along without him. Despite the often tragic events, there are lots of
humour in between.
Loyal is a young man who lives with his family on a farm in Vermont.
With the war going on, things are scarce and they have no electricity.
Loyal invests a lot of energy in their farm. he intends to specialize
in dairy and to buy milking machines. Unfortunately, he is prone
to hot tempers, and his
life seems to be ended when he accidentally
kills his girlfriend Billy.
After hiding her body, Loyal tells his family that he and Billy want to
go west to find jobs in order to buy a farm someday. As this is
contrary to his behaviour, his family cannot believe this and his
father gets furious. It will be difficult for them to run the farm
without him. His brother Dub lost one arm in an accident; his sister
Mernelle is still at school. Farm hands are not easy to get, because
the young men are in the war.
Loyal only has his car and some money. Driving through the land,
working here and there, never settling down, he has no emotional bonds
to anyone.
He suffers severe accidents: at one point he gets struck by a tornado,
later he is injured in a cave-in when he
works as a miner.At regular
intervals, he sends his family postcards, but always without a return
address as he does not want to be found. Because of this one-way
communication, he learns nothing of what happens back home.
After the war, the Bloods have to scramble for a living. When his father
Mink discovers that his cows have the Mad Itch, he attempts an
insurance fraud, having Dub set fire to the property. Later, Mink
commits suicide in prison, but eventually Dub is released.
Nevertheless, he never gets a job.
He moves to Florida to lead the life of a con artist.
At first desperate when Mink and the money are gone, the mother,
Jewell, is now free to lead a self-determined life. She still hopes
hat Loyal will return
one day.
We follow Loyal through a large part of the USA; he works as a farm
hand, as a trapper, prospects for uranium, works at an observatory in
New Mexico and digs up dinosaur bones in Wyoming.
Half of the story is a kind of travelogue with Loyal´s
observations, impressions and memories. It is close in spirit to Of
Mice and Men. Dub calls
to mind one-armed Candy who also has difficulties finding a job. But
while
Steinbeck´s itinerant workers George and Lennie dream of having a
ittle place of their own, the Bloods already own a farm, yet all goes
down the drain.
The author uses earthy humour, a realistic setting, detailed
descriptions, coarse language and dialects and a vividness of phrasing.
Therefore, the story fells authentic. there is no sugar-coating; we are
shown the dirty and messy side of things. The tone is matter-of-fact,
yet often grimly funny. The author offers us original and strong
imagery and hilarious anecdote-like stories within the narrative.
Characterization is a major factor in the appeal of the book. We enter the
minds and hearts of characters who have both good and bad aspects to
them. We encounter a lot of fully-drawn characters that aren´t
essential to the plot and might be distracting, however they give the
story added depth.
There are few big scenes, but events of great importance to the
characters. Their lives are changed forever- for the better or worse.
All of them have high stakes in what is happening and have to face
crucial decisions. With the exception of Mink, they are uncrushable by
nasty circumstances.