Novels Now

It was like this all up and down the river and many of the young people, the way they accepted their lack of prospects, it was like watching sparks die in the night. [excerpt from American Rust]

It’s quite an endorsement when several book bloggers include a book on their top ten list of the year. American Rust was one such book in 2009. My interest in the book began before that, but, admittedly, became heightened even more as a result. Not everyone has been enamored by the book, however, which isn’t all that unusual. I don’t think I’ve ever come across a book that everyone liked. Isaac English wants only to leave his hometown. After the death of his mother and his sister’s escape to college, he is left to care for his disabled father. He is extremely intelligent and could have had his pick of colleges to attend, only the obligation of taking care of his father had set in–that and his strong desire to please his distant father. Billy Poe, Isaac’s unlikely best friend, is a former high school football star. Poe has a penchant for finding trouble and a temper to boot. He never backs down from a fight.

Isaac is finally striking out on his own and his friend agrees to accompany him to the outskirts of town. The weather forces them to seek shelter, and it is there where their lives, and those around them, are irrevocably changed through an act of violence, a death. One will leave town and one will face trial for murder, all the while not knowing the other’s fate. Their families will look inward and blame themselves.

My father grew up in Pennsylvania. Not in a steel town, but a small town nonetheless. It has seen many ups and downs over the years. Businesses have come and gone, people too. It is not thriving as it once was. Work is harder to find. My grandmother still lives there, but her children and their children have moved on. It’s a beautiful place, full of trees, rolling hills, and wild life that a city gal like me can only dream of. While my grandmother’s town is not as bad off as the Valley described in Meyer’s novel, I still couldn’t help but think of it as I read.

The beauty of American Rust is twofold. It is in the setting, in the landscape. Philipp Meyer’s descriptions of a financially devastated and eroding community in Pennsylvania paints a very real and vivid picture of our times. Many of the residents in the community are hanging on by a thread. The steel mills that had once made the area thrive are now in ruins and the community around it has long been suffering as a result. The author holds nothing back in describing the poverty and conditions of the Valley, the hardships of sleeping on the streets, nor of the violent and tenuous conditions inside the prison system. Given the state of many American cities today, the economic hardships facing communities, the novel seems all the more fitting in this day and age.

Then there are the characters. The novel follows several characters throughout the novel, allowing the reader a close look at the thought processes and feelings of each of them. There is Isaac and Poe, the two young men whose story sets the stage for the novel; Grace, Poe’s mother, who is lost and struggling to find her way; Bud Harris, the sheriff, a man who has always looked out for Poe, even when he shouldn’t, all for the sake of Grace; Lee, Isaac’s sister who is ever practical but has emotional baggage of her own; and Henry English, Isaac and Lee’s dad, who is afraid of being alone. This format drew out the isolation each character felt and made their desperation stand out all the more. Their pain and guilt and feelings of helplessness were all very real, their resilience astounding. In getting this across, the author succeeded. Yet I felt somehow distant from the characters. I cared about them, sure. Wanted to know how the events in the novel would play out, and hoped for the best, but, still, something was missing. Something I can’t quite put my finger on.

The story itself is complex. The situations the characters find themselves in and the choices they make are wrapped in moral ambiguity. These choices have consequences and the reader can clearly see the ripple effect of such decisions, including those made long past and the choices made near the end. Life is not black and white. The choices we make and their consequences are not isolated to only that moment. American Rust is a reminder of that.

American Rust is a strong debut for author Philipp Meyer. I liked the author’s writing style and the way he framed the story. My overall emotion while reading the novel was one of hopelessness and sadness. There were times when I grew frustrated with the characters, willing them to make wiser choices, yet knowing they wouldn’t because of who they are. While the novel does hold out some hope, however, small, it is a dark novel and will likely not appeal to everyone. It is well worth reading, however, if you are willing to take a chance on it.