about a book

overflowing:

Empire Falls, Richard Russo

After re-reading Huck Finn as an adult I’ve learned that I love the literary function of Regionalism - focusing on dialect, customs, history, characters and topography to portray a particular region. Stepping into their world, be it set in the present or past, is an interesting vacation from my own. The tale may not be nail-biting or have me on the edge of my seat - it may even take a while for me to immerse myself into it, and often, the full effect is not realized until the story has ended and I am still thinking of the characters. 

This guy from Scooter Chronicles knows what I’m talking about (and is referring to the same novel above):

What I have come to find out is that I like these sprawling epic type stories that are about families and friends, and that it’s not some thriller or gigantic mystery that needs to be solved. It’s just about their lives and how they lived them. Maybe this isn’t an epic, but it’s a long story. There are sections that float back to the days that Francine meeting her husband, and Miles spending time on Martha’s Vineyard as a kid and his high school days. No matter where Russo tread with the story, it was all well thought out, nicely paced, and arranged well.

Empire Falls by Richard Russo is one of these sprawling tales that focuses on the inhabitants of a small town in Maine. Once a thriving textile manufacturing community, the people of Empire Falls are now struggling to stay afloat with only one restaurant, The Empire Grill, and a couple taverns, while one family inherently owns almost the entire town. Each character is exhibiting his or her own personal struggles as well - something that is also gone into great detail as Russo fully develops each and every character. In true small town fashion, each character is connected in some way. 

It took me some time to get through this novel and as I mentioned, it was not often suspenseful. There were a few shocking points in the end that provided just enough effect to make the novel worthwhile. It is a slow-going story, so not a good beach read, but if you ever want to sit a while and take your time learning about and being immersed in another way of life, Empire Falls is good choice.