Wow,
this is not my kind of book. The Son, by Philipp Meyer, is a sprawling, multi-generational saga
set in Texas and spanning over 160 years, replete with such standard
Western elements as cowboys, Indians, cattle, oil, death, greed,
betrayal - not exactly in my wheelhouse. Yes, I loved
“Lonesome Dove” - not multi-generational but certainly a saga –
but so often books in this genre fall into the cliches of the strong,
silent cowboy, the noble savage, the patient wife, the money-grubbing
oilmen, the romanticized view of the Old West. So I took advantage
of Kindle's option to sample the first few chapters before deciding
if it's worth buying. And let me just say that when I finished that
sample I could not push the Buy Book button fast enough. I would say
those early chapters were hair-raising, but, given that they involve
Comanches attacking a homesteading family, that would be a little too
literal.
The
book's chapters alternate in three different voices. Centenarian Eli
McCullough, patriarch of the family, speaking to a WPA recorder,
narrates the story of his long and eventful life, beginning with his
abduction by the aforementioned Comanches. His son Peter's story is
told by entries in his diaries. They reveal a man who possesses the
moral compass his father lacks, but who is powerless against the
dogged ruthlessness that allows Eli to build his empire. Eli's
great-granddaughter Jeanne Anne has inherited his greed and
determination, even his brutality, but at the start we see her as an
eighty-six year old lying helpless on the floor in her mansion, and
even as she unfolds the events of her life, we sense that she has
sown the seeds of her own destruction.
This
is a long, rich, powerful story that avoids every stereotype. There
are no heroic cowboys, no brave Rangers, the Indians are noble and
they are savage, the strong steal from the weak. The three narrative
perspectives eventually merge into a complicated tapestry of Texas
history.
