Mercy Among the Children by David Adams Richards

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Challenges: Canadian Book Read - New Brunswick Back to History Challenge
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I chose this book for the Canadian Book Read, but found it draws an interesting look at the era after World War II up into the early seventies. It's a time when people find it quite unacceptable if you are very different, especially in a small, insulated town. There are references to the Beatles, growing technology, and quite a bit touching ecology and environmental concerns. The narrator is Lyle Henderson who tells the story of his father and mother and how their lives affected the lives of their three children. Sydney Henderson is an extreme passivist who marries the beautiful but slightly simple Elly and brings here to live with him in poverty. Something about Sydney reminds me of the main character in Taylor Caldwell's "Ceremony of Innocence." Sydney isn't quite an innocent but he is an object of scorn and derision by others. The derision becomes quite abusive leading to him being framed for murder and sabotage. Elly is an object of pity to those who think she is abused and enslaved by her odd husband. In fact, the two share a truly beautiful love. "And Sydney told that the day, and those bubbles of air and those wonderful fingers of starlight, were there just for her. . . .She thought of this and was suddenly happy with her lot. For as Sydney told her, no one owned the ice, or the sunlight spiralling down into it, or any other sunlight, nor crisp autumn days, and no one had authority over her enjoyment of the world. That was given to her by something--someone else. He told her that when he was a boy he had become convinced that nothing man did or said mattered until this was understood." Unfortunately, Lyle cannot accept his father's pacifism and fights to establish his place in society. Autumn, the albino daughter, seeks her way in less moral ways. Percy, the baby, grows to be a loving and soft-hearted child. When Lyle urges his father to retaliate, he refuses. "I will not tell you this again. But do you understand? They cannot do this and not destroy themselves. This will lead to their destruction . . . Men don't set things like this in motion, it always spirals out of control. That's why the men are outside. And it is out of control because men do not control themselves. I don't want to see you become involved and then lose yourself too." This statement basically foreshadows much of what happens in the last half of the book. Sydney is such a principled man that you admire him but wish he would be less unbending for the sake of his wife and children. It is a sad book and not easy to read, but beautifully written. I can understand why Richards won the Giller Prize for it. Rating: 4.25
Posted by Framed at 8:53 PM

3 comments:
Carrie K said...
So it's a great book to read when you want a well written book that will tear your heart out?
1/11/2008 1:16 PM
Teddy Rose said...
Thanks for the great book review. I have this one on my TBR and looking foward to reading it.
1/19/2008 6:27 PM
John Mutford said...
I've only read his non-fiction, which I wasn't crazy about. I really should try one of his novels.