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Your Fathers, Where are They?
And the Prophets, Do They Live Forever?
by Dave Eggers
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How'd he get there? Why is he there? And who put him there?
This man is a Kev, a NASA engineer, and he wakes up to find himself chained to a post. Thomas is his captor, but Thomas never wanted to be his captor. Thomas just wants to talk. They share some history, and although Kev doesn't really recall Thomas, Thomas needs Kev to remember.
You and I read the same books and hear the same sermons and we come away with different messages. That has to be evidence of some serious problem, right?Dave Eggers's little-known novel (somehow at 225 pages) strips away everything but dialogue: this is a story about communication, and the desperate lengths one man will go in order to understand his place in the world. It's about a breakdown, and it's about breaking down barriers...
-so conversations, when they take place in this book, look like this.
-oh, really?
-absolutely, they do. character dialogues are stylized as bare, lovelorn rants between two angry wisps of characters within a hyper-minimal ghost-like military outpost.
-but doesn't this stylized dialogue look much more like the rough draft outline of a potential novel? or maybe the scribblings of a fever dream?
-yes, that too.
-...
-the author, Dave Eggers, is known for his experimental literary fiction. everyone knows he can write. look, he founded McSweeney's, which is famous. so this is a risky way for untested first-time authors to write, but he's established. he's obviously experimenting here. he is established and he has proved he is more than capable of writing traditionally. his experience has earned him this style.
- ...are you sure?
-look, is anyone sure of anything?
Obviously the style isn't for everyone, and a few might call it lazy. The dialogue isn't realistic, and it never tries to be. But Dave Eggers writes the same way people throw punches-- it's controlled, but it's passion and mania fueling the reasons behind the punches. The world owes Eggers an explanation, and Eggers is ready to collect what he is owed. The essence of this passion, this search for a purpose, is bottled in every one of his works-- but none moreso than this one.
If his works are punches, though, I'm not sure this one is connecting. It's always worth watching him take a swing.
The title Your Fathers, Where are They? And the Prophets, Do They Live Forever? by Dave Eggers is available for checkout as a library e-book through Overdrive.
Kimberly Cascio
Central Library Staff
Central Branch YA Programming Event Coordinator
337-721-7116