2 out of 4 stars
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Blow Fly Creek by Jonathan Gair is an unusual book about an unusual town named, as one would expect, Blow Fly Creek. The story takes place in northern Australia. We are first introduced to the townsfolk at the funeral of a man nicknamed Toad, who is buried (at his own request) next to a town local named Cincinnatus McGregor. Toad’s family members, having arrived for the funeral, attempt to discover the reason for this unexpected request, as well as the manner in which both men died. The town locals are an odd bunch, prone to telling tall tales laced with double-meanings and living by their own unique code of conduct, somewhat reminiscent of the American Wild West.
Stories are exchanged of Toad’s history among the townspeople, and of the recent purchase of an abattoir (slaughterhouse) by his grandson, Hugh. As Toad’s family members delve into the secrets of the town’s history, they discover that folks don’t always meet their end in the most natural ways. The local sheriff, who happens to also be the narrator of the story, seems himself to be both perplexed and overwhelmed by the tendency of the locals to take legal matters into their own hands. Complicating matters further is a struggle over possession of the deceased Cincinnatus’s journal, which appears to contain many of the town’s secrets, and has the potential to expose its criminal enterprises.
Several aspects of this story render it one of the strangest of the many books I have read. Most noticeable is the style of writing that permeates the entire work. Nearly every single sentence in the book is written in a convoluted and verbose manner, frequently branching off on long tangents before returning to the main point at hand. Frequently, the author’s use of punctuation eschews the standard rules of grammar, and sentences are either extended much farther than they need to be (creating long run-ons,) or chopped half-way through an idea by a period (where a comma would suffice). Even when grammatical rules are followed, many of the sentences are so long and packed with so much detail, that it was an ordeal just to get through a paragraph without losing focus. One example, from page 43:
Needless to say, despite its fairly short length, this was a relatively exhausting read, and required a very attentive mindset. I found I was able to process the book best if I mostly ignored the placement of the periods and commas, and read the contents as a stream-of-consciousness flow.Since the ignoble events that had taken place on the Flat Plateau two or so weeks previous that now apparently almost everyone knows, but which the chairman generously stated for the sake of the newspapers. Had brought so much attention that essentially he had robbed them of almost any control or leverage over him by letting their shared and very little big secret out.
Because the writing style was so unusual, it dominated the experience of this book, and the storyline became almost secondary to the task of getting through each page. It was a challenge, and I can’t quite say that it was worth the effort. The story was definitely unique, and the characters were vividly portrayed, but due to the difficulty of the language there were many loose ends left untied. The situation within the plot is presented as a sort of mystery, and by the end of the book I was still confused by several aspects of the story, primarily because the method of delivering the information was largely through hints and roundabout tales told by the town’s residents. It was not always clear what was being implied by the veiled language, though perhaps the ambivalence was part of what the author was going for. One of the major themes of the book seemed to be the fluid nature of justice within such remote places as the town described. I just wish I was better able to understand the author’s motive and intention for this story.
I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars. I believe, with a very thorough edit, the story has strong potential to be a unique and memorable work. Due to some implications of violence, but mostly due to the complexity and confusing nature of the language in which it is written, this is not a book I would recommend to young readers. Folks who may enjoy this story are those who like a challenging read and enjoy deep explorations of the psyche of a small-town culture. This is not a book that is packed with action, but rather it is laced with subtleties of mannerisms and expressions, and I would have a hard time attempting to place it within a particular genre.
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Blow Fly Creek
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