"So Far Gone came from a question I kept asking over the last few years of what to do with all this dread: political, social, ecological, existential dread. Could a person simply run away from it…? That urge came over me like a fever in 2023 and 2024, so I wrote feverishly over that period" Jess Walter
Thank you to Susan at thecuecard.com who gave me a heads up a few weeks ago regarding So Far Gone by Jess Walter. This novel was released on June 10th. I put in my order through Libby early which is fortunate because right now So Far Gone is a 16 week wait.
So Far Gone is a timely novel about present day America and the deep divide that has taken place in our country. The novel centers around Rhys Kinnock and his family. They have been torn apart by politics and the trouble reaches a boiling point on Thanksgiving right after the 2016 Presidential election. Rhys becomes furious when his son-law Shane starts reciting conspiracy theories and calls him a snowflake. Rhy punches Shane and is shocked by what he has done. Rhys is not a violent man but Shane would not agree to give politics a rest and Rhys lost it.
Rhys as he drives away from the family gathering feels ashamed at what he did. And as he examines his situation he is becoming more depressed at the current political climate, the newspaper he worked for closing down. His ex-wife is remarried. His daughter Bethany, Shane and their young children have their own lives.
And so Rhys decides to make a radical change. He owns a cabin deep in the woods of Washington State and he could live there off the grid. He could read to his heart's content, write that second book he has been planning. Rhys at his old newspaper was an environmental reporter and so living in the wilderness has alot of appeal.
But seven years later Rhys has become a hermit. His cabin is falling apart. He rarely shaves and he is still writing that book that even he knows he will never finish. And then one day Rhys opens the door and two children accompanied by a woman are standing outside. They are Rhys' grandchildren, Leah 13 and Asher 9. Their mother Bethany has run off and Shane their father has gone looking for her. But before Bethanny left she asked her neighbor Anna to bring the kids to their grandfather's house.
Rhys is stunned by this turn of events and by the fact that until he was told who they were he didn't recognize his own grandchildren. And thus begins his journey back to civilization to find his daughter Bethany and rescue his grandchildren from the dangerous survivalist movement that Shane has gotten mixed up with.
So Far Gone raises important questions about our current political climate but also about why shutting yourself off from others is a bad idea. And once you reenter the world there can be danger and disappointment but there are also good people willing to help,
Such is the case with Chuck an ex-cop with bipolar issues and Brian, Rhys' Native American neighbor who ends up saving the day. Chuck and Brian are all in on helping Rhys locate his daughter and protect his grandchildren and they ask nothing in return. Such friends you don't get to meet if you stay holed up in your cabin. I am rating So Far Gone 4 stars.
Wow Kathy, thanks for the shoutout. I didn't realize you'd get to this one. But funny thing is: I am just now listening to it on audio. Some passages are a bit funny and some right on about America now. I'm not very far into it yet. It's a bit twisted. I actually got this recommendation for this book from PW ... so I thought I'd try it out. It's different but I'm glad to give it a whirl. Glad you enjoyed it well enough.
ReplyDeleteI hope you like it and when you get to the part about the racoons that is something else LOL. I read it in kindle form on Libby so it might read differently in audio. My favorite character was Brian and if Jess Walter ever writes a novel with Brian as the central character I'll read it.
DeleteSo Far Gone sounds like a good story. I don't think I would get to it soon since it came out so recently, but someday I will read it. Thanks for your review.
ReplyDeleteIt's a good story and Jess Walter has other novels as well that are critically acclaimed.
DeleteSounds like a very powerful novel. I have always felt so grateful that my own family is not as divided as some--it would be so horrific to feel that the only option is total retreat.
ReplyDeleteSame here. Jess Walter is a friend of Sherman Alexei. They both grew up in Washington State and Jess Walter still lives there.
DeleteThis sounds absolutely amazing. Not a book I would automatically pick up unless I'd read your excellent review, Kathy. I'll keep an eye out for it. Politics is a hot potato subject these days in a way that it was not years ago. So many divisions in society when we need to get along more, with the planet in the mess that it is.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Cath and I notice that in 1995 Jess Walter wrote a nonfiction book about Ruby Ridge which was the standoff between the Weaver family who had moved to an isolated part of Idaho and the FBI. Clearly this is an issue that interests Jess Walter and so I might check that one out. Politics is certainly a hot button issue and for most of my life the division was never this bad.
ReplyDeleteThis one sounds kind of intriguing, Kathy, because of the way it focuses on the bitter divide we are experiencing in this country…and, I suppose, all around the world, really. I think almost every family has experienced this to one degree or another; I know mine has, and it’s heartbreaking when it happens. I’ll try to get hold of this one.
ReplyDeleteHi Sam great to hear from you and I think you will like this novel and the action really picks up at the end where the story has some surprising turns. The divide is heartbreaking I agree and it's never been this bad.
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