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From Publishers Weekly
Duncan took almost 10 years to follow up the publication of his much-praised first novel, The River Why, but this massive second effort is well worth the wait. It is a stunning work: a complex tapestry of family tensions, baseball, politics and religion, by turns hilariously funny and agonizingly sad. Highly inventive formally, the novel is mainly narrated by Kincaid Chance, the youngest son in a family of four boys and identical twin girls, the children of Hugh Chance, a discouraged minor-league ballplayer whose once-promising career was curtained by an industrial accident, and his wife Laura, an increasingly fanatical Seventh-Day Adventist. The plot traces the working-out of the family's fate from the beginning of the Eisenhower years through the traumas of Vietnam. One son becomes an atheist and draft resister; another immerses himself in Eastern religions, while the third, the most genuinely Christian of the children, ends up in Southeast Asia. In spite of the author's obvious affection for the sport, this is not a baseball novel; it is, as Kincaid says, "the story of an eight-way tangle of human beings, only one-eighth of which was a pro ballpayer." The book portrays the extraordinary differences that can exist among siblings--much like the Dostoyevski novel to which The Brothers K alludes in more than just title--and how family members can redeem one another in the face of adversity. Long and incident-filled, the narrative appears rather ramshackle in structure until the final pages, when Duncan brings together all of the themes and plot elements in a series of moving climaxes. The book ends with a quiet grace note--a reprise of its first images--to satisfyingly close the narrative circle. Major ad/promo; author tour.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Library Journal
If John Irving reimagined The Brothers Karamazov as one of his kooky families and Thomas Pynchon did a rewrite, the result might be something close to this long-awaited second novel by the author of The River Why ( LJ 2/15/83). The brothers are the Chance boys, sons of Papa Toe, a minor league pitcher whose crushed thumb is replaced by a transplanted toe, and his devout Seventh Day Adventist wife. Like Dostoevsky's Karamazovs, the Chances speculate on the nature of God, delve into the nuances of what constitutes moral behavior, experience evil, suffer from criminal acts, and, finally, determine that God is love and love redeems. But these are American boys, and although their lives contain some terrible moments, this is essentially a comic novel. Among its many merits, it reflects far better than most fiction the wide variety of Sixties experiences, giving student radical and Vietnam grunt alike their sympathetic due. Baseball provides the central metaphor for this huge hypnotic novel, but although in that sport a "K" indicates a strikeout, here it scores a home run.
- Charles Michaud, Turner Free Lib., Randolph, Mass.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
- Charles Michaud, Turner Free Lib., Randolph, Mass.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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First Sentence
outside, and Irwin darts into the diningroom, his mouth stuffed full of something, his eyes bulging, then, seeing no one, relieved. "Where's Papa?" Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt
outside, and Irwin darts into the diningroom, his mouth stuffed full of something, his eyes bulging, then, seeing no one, relieved. "Where's Papa?" Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Steigleder Book Report Review-Cassie B,
By Cassie (Spokane,WA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Brothers K (Paperback)
Out of all of the brothers, I found myself connecting mostly with Everett, the eldest. He was the first one of the children to challenge the existence of God, therefore challenging his mother's beliefs and authority. He became a radical that the other brothers found comfort in. "Dear God, if you exist," says Everett while praying aloud at the dinner table (Duncan, 168). Never before had any one of the children contravened the values of their mother, and Everett's actions earned him three strikes to the face from Laura as well as one to Irwin. Three of the brothers, Everett, Peter, and Kade, all grew closer from these events due to the consequences they each endured by going against their mother in what later becomes known as the "Psalm Wars." Irwin, however, remained faithful to his mother's wishes and continued in his devout ways. I too have grown up around a very religious environment and have never been allowed to really question my faith. For twelve years, I have learned about God and the wonders he has created. Like Everett, I am continually challenged with the topic of whether God exists or not. "Unlike Irwin, Bet, of Mama, I don't even believe in God" (Duncan, 547). I find this quote rather harsh and my feelings, although independent, are not as strong as this passage expresses. Though I believe in a greater being, I am not positive about the existence of God.
5.0 out of 5 stars
western lit,
By danny cronin (gprep) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Brothers K (Paperback)
"Prem se bhiksha dijiye." David James Duncan ends his novel The Brothers K with these Arabic words. Translated into English, the phrase means "what you give, with love I accept." Everett, the power-crazed agnostic, struggles to accept the situations life presents him, particularly the loss of his college fame and his love, Natasha. Irwin, however, is the embodiment of this attitude, and accepts what life gives him including an untimely tour of duty in Vietnam and a visit to the asylum. These brothers have vastly different approaches to life, but by the end of The Brothers K they have both learned to accept with love what life has given them.
4.0 out of 5 stars
The strength of one woman in a family,
By Laura Simpson (Spokane, WA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Brothers K (Paperback)
David James Duncan wrote the novel, The Brothers K, which depicts the four Chance Family brothers. The novel is written through the voice of the youngest brother, Kincaid, yet the plot also follows the dark life of their mother, Laura Chance. The protagonist of this novel could easily be argued to be many characters, but I believe that the true protagonist is the boys' mother. This novel follows Laura through her horrific childhood, her falling in love, her struggle to be a mother, her devotion to religion, and her coping with the loss of her husband. The strength of this woman is so amazing by the end of the novel, that it practically jumps off the pages.
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