3.5 stars rounded up

It has been 18 months since I first heard the resounding praise for Richard Russo's writing.

Immediately after that, I snapped up "Empire Falls," but it has taken me this long to read it.

Although I completely enjoyed his story-telling ability and his sense of humour and wit, I wasn't swept off my feet in the way I thought I might be.

Once again, I suspect my expectations were a little too high.

I knew that "Empire Falls" was the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, so I kind of expected this to be a 5-star, knock-my-socks-off read.

It didn't exactly reach those heights, but it was not so very far off.

My understanding (thanks to Google) is that the Pulitzer "recognises distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life." This book certainly fits the bill as Russo introduces us to Miles Roby, his family, his friends, and his life in the struggling town of Empire Falls, Maine.

Woven through the present-day story are snippets of the Whiting family history.

For generations, they have been the town's wealthiest family, they own most of the businesses, and their actions have repercussions for everyone in the community, none more so than for the Roby family.

Not so much a coming-of-age story as a generational drama, this was a gentle story interspersed with a number of high-impact, gasp-worthy moments, tempered with numerous instances where he slipped in some humour which took me by surprise and caused me to laugh out loud.

I don't get the sense that "Empire Falls" will be one of those books where the storyline remains vivid and the characters remain with me long after the last page has been read.

However, I'm not sure that will really matter as I feel strongly that I'll remember the joy I found in Russo's writing, and I very much look forward to reading his novel "Straight Man."

Where have I been all this time?

This is a question that keeps popping up in my mind. I seem to have lost track of time and space. Have I been lost in a maze of my own thoughts?

Maybe I was too focused on the daily grind, going through the motions without really living. Or perhaps I was hiding from something, afraid to face the truth.

But now, as I look back, I realize that I have missed out on so much. There were beautiful sunsets I didn't stop to watch, kind words I didn't say, and opportunities I let slip away.

I don't want to waste any more time. It's time to wake up, step out of my comfort zone, and start living life to the fullest. No more wondering where I've been all this time. From now on, I'm going to make every moment count.

3.5★

I find myself in a rather conflicted state when it comes to this particular book. It's a lengthy Pulitzer Prize winner, filled with the charm of small town Americana and adored by many. However, while reading, I often found myself distracted by the tedious details and slow pace of this character-driven novel. It felt as if it was much longer than its 483 pages. But make no mistake, Russo is an excellent writer. There were passages that were sheer brilliance, filled with humor and heartbreak, vividly depicting the working class people in a dying town.

Empire Falls is under the control of a rich black widow who owns everything and has the townspeople, especially Miles, wrapped up in cocoons, ready to be fed upon when she needs to unleash her venom. Every character, even her cat, is painstakingly portrayed. Maybe it's a case of having too much of a good thing? The thought of "Cut to the chase" kept running through my mind, and at times my patience was truly tested. I kept wondering how many more pages there were to go. Yet, I never wanted to give up. As is often the case with a great writer, he can have his way with the reader, and the destination often justifies the journey. This is a slow burner that eventually started to boil, with a denouement that left me quite satisfied.

Al a carte

There is a two-part movie adaptation of Empire Falls done by HBO in 2005. It features an all-star cast and a screenplay written by the author himself. At the time of this posting, it is available for rental or free streaming to Amazon Prime members. I checked it out and thought it was very well done, perhaps even better than the book (I know what you might be thinking). It's perfect if you want to experience an abbreviated version of the story. It's perhaps worth noting that my husband was bored halfway through Part I and left to clean up the kitchen. I was okay with that. I'm guessing he won't be reading the book either.

https://www.amazon.com/Empire-Falls-P...

This is, of course, delight and love

I suspect that the majority of people reading this review do not reside in their hometowns. You didn't marry your high school sweetheart, and perhaps, approaching forty, you're not secretly in love with an old flame who still lives in the town. You don't inhabit a couple of shabby rooms above the diner you operate. Your ex-alcoholic brother and your borderline anorexic teenage daughter don't flip burgers and wait tables for you. Your ex-wife's new husband doesn't loiter around the lunch counter, sipping coffee and trying to be your friend, saying "No hard feelings." Your Dad doesn't come in, attempting to get free food and steal beer money from the register. The high school bully doesn't still torment you (and now he's a cop). Your ex-mother-in-law doesn't run the bar across the street from your diner. (But you're still friends with her because you're the harmless sort of guy that mothers desire their daughters to marry). You don't frequently go out of your way to park outside the house where you grew up and despair that it is now dilapidated and occupied by drug dealers.

To me, a significant theme of this book is what it would be like to have remained in your hometown. As a geographer, I relish reading and pondering about this theme. There are Movers and Stayers, and even research studies exploring how these individuals differ – we all know both types. A recent Pew Research study found that "movers" tend to be college-educated; they relocate for jobs and, once they leave their hometowns, are likely to move again in search of better employment and greener pastures. The "stayers," approximately 37% of American adults who still live in or around the town where they were born, stay for family ties. The Midwest has the highest proportion of stayers; the West has the least; the East and South are in the middle.

The story unfolds with snippets related to movers and stayers. There is a real narrative here, almost a plot that becomes evident as the story progresses. It's tightly woven and revealed bit by bit as we understand the significance of events that the boy experienced early in life without grasping what was happening at the time. (And it takes him 40 years to figure some of it out.)

We're in a dying former mill town in Maine, a few hours from Boston. A crucial aspect of the story involves the mover and stayer philosophy. When the main character's mother was dying from cancer, she more or less implored him: "Get out of this town; get out – don't stay --- that's why I sent you away to college." Even though his mother passes away, he chooses to drop out of college and stay.

An aging widow rules the town. Her family owns the now-abandoned shirt factory where almost everyone used to work; she even owns the diner that the main character manages and the bar that his mother-in-law operates. Even as an adult, the main character doesn't realize the full story of how these events fit together.

Along the way, we catch glimpses of modern American life in such a has-been place. The recurring Trump-like rumors, born of desperation, that the factory will reopen (as if Americans are going to start making shirts again for $2 an hour); the church closings due to population loss; the probably-gay priest; the desperation of the left-behind elderly like his father, who have to "borrow" and scam people for beer money; a horrendous school violence incident.

Here are a few passages I liked, which also reveal a bit more of the story:

The short man disliked calling attention to that fact, so “The furniture was of the sort used in model homes and trailers to give the impression of spaciousness; this optical illusion worked well enough except on those occasions when large people came to visit, and then the effect was that of a lavish dollhouse.”

“Kids today stuffed the entire contents of their lockers into their seam-stitched backpacks and brought it all home, probably, Miles figured, so they wouldn’t have to think through what they’d need and what they could do without, thereby avoiding the kinds of decisions that might trail consequences.”

“To her way of thinking, any man with no more sex drive than Miles Roby [the main character] possessed might better have just gone ahead and embraced celibacy and been done with it, instead of disappointing poor girls like herself.”

[the teen-aged daughter thinks:] “…at least she didn’t have to go to church anymore now that her mother had replaced Catholicism with aerobics.”

“The donut shop in Empire Falls had always been one of Max Roby’s favorite places because of its smoking policy, which was, ‘Go ahead. See if we care.’”

The old Alzheimer-prone priest thinks of the main character’s father: “…he’d always held Max Roby in the lowest possible esteem as a blasphemer, a shiftless charmer, a drinker and a general ne’er-do-well. What he seemed less clear about was why he’d objected to these qualities.”

The younger priest says of the older priest’s strange utterances: “I understand why it’s coming out but how do you suppose it got in there?”

“Listening to people talk on the telephone, for Father Tom’s way of thinking, was the next best thing to hearing confessions.”

When the main character is a young boy, his father is arrested as a public nuisance: “Having this short phrase to describe him was better than suspecting that his father was so different and unnatural that nobody had yet invented a way to describe him.”

“It pleased him to imagine God as someone like his mother, someone beleaguered by too many responsibilities, too dog-tired to monitor an energetic boy every minute of the day, but who, out of love and fear for his safety, checked in on him whenever she could. … Surely God must have other projects besides Man, just as parents had responsibilities other than raising their children?”

I liked the well-knit, gradually revealed plot, and I adored the humor and irony, as shown in some of the quotes above. It's a great read, and I'm adding it to my favorites – the first one in a couple of months.

photo of Gem Diner, syracusenews.com

mill in Maine from abnf.co

A serious novel that delves deep into the fabric of small towns, where the intimate knowledge of each other has been passed down through generations. This book, as melancholy as it may be, truly captured my heart. I was completely enamored with the rich history of both the characters and the town itself. In fact, it was almost impossible to distinguish between the two, as they were so intricately intertwined. Russo has quickly become one of my new favorite authors. His ability to infuse such compassion into his characters is truly remarkable. It makes you feel as if you know them on a personal level and can empathize with their joys and sorrows. The story unfolds in a way that keeps you engaged from beginning to end, and you find yourself reluctant to say goodbye to the world that Russo has created.

I purchased this book solely based on what I read on the back of its cover and the fact that it had won the Pulitzer. I sort of expected it to be a bit dull for the same reason, simply because I have a tendency to prefer books with a significant amount of action. And "Empire Falls" has very little action.

However, my goodness, this book is so superbly written that I had to stop and curse out loud several times, being a writer myself. Small, ordinary, everyday situations become incredibly interesting as the complex web of relationships gradually becomes clear. It felt almost like reading a soap opera, but with outstanding actors and a massive budget. I simply had to know what would happen next to the people in this tiny town.

And when the book came to an end, I still craved to know more. That, more than anything else, is a sign of a great novel.

The only reason I don't award it a full five stars is due to some of the flashback chapters. They do serve a purpose, but they also slowed down the pace, sometimes to the point of causing boredom. When I did put this novel aside, it was often during one of these chapters.

But all things considered, "Empire Falls" is a great American novel in its truest sense. I would highly recommend it to anyone and everyone.

The 'empire' has fallen in Empire Falls, Maine. This blue-collar town is now struggling to stay afloat as the three mills of Whiting and Sons Enterprises have closed. The sad reality is that "its wealth and vitality had been drained dry by generations of a single family." The Whiting dowager, Francine, still owns most of the remaining properties in the crumbling town. She sits in her 'hacienda' across the river, controlling the lives of those who have stayed, like a fat spider in her devious web, slowly sucking the life out of her victims.
Chief among these is Miles Roby, the manager of the Empire Grill. He is the son of the woman who once had a love affair with C.B. Whiting, Francine's late husband. Miles almost escaped from Empire Falls by going to college to pursue his dreams. However, he was drawn back before finishing when Francine informed him that his mother was dying of cancer. He took a job at the grill owned by Francine and has been stuck there ever since. The carrot she dangles in front of him is the promise to will the grill to him when she dies, so he can sell it and move away to start the life he was meant to have. In the meantime, she refuses to invest any money in repairs or improvements and strangely seems upset when the grill shows a profit.
At the moment we meet Miles, his life is in chaos. Janine, his newly-svelt wife of twenty years, is divorcing him to marry Walt, the owner of the local fitness gym. Max, his ne'er-do-well father, is driving him crazy with demands for cash so he can move to Key West. Tick, his beloved teenage daughter, is a source of worry and mystery. Cindy, the crippled, mentally-ill Whiting daughter and heir, is back in town (she has twice tried to commit suicide over her love for Miles). Charlene, the waitress he has secretly had a crush on for years, is having an affair with his brother, David. Jimmy Minty, the police officer who was once their childhood friend and is now in Francine Whiting's pocket, seems to have it in for the Roby family. And the list goes on. Miles himself realizes that his behavior is not rational as he "perversely maneuvers himself into situations that guarantee aggravation, if not outright distress." At the midpoint of the book, as Miles bounces from problem to problem, I wanted to shake him and shout, "Man, get a backbone!"
But as Mrs. Whiting points out, "it was all that catechism, its rote insistence on subordinating one's will to God." His character has been shaped by his Catholic upbringing, causing him to always weigh what he wants to do against what he knows is 'right' and hear his mother's voice in his head admonishing him to do the right thing. That good old Catholic guilt is at work. However, another aspect that drives his thinking is that so many life-changing events occurred when he was too young to fully understand their impact on his life. Now, at forty, he is only beginning to piece together the whole picture - namely, that the affair his mother had when he was nine was with Charlie Whiting himself, and everything since then has been about retribution.
The book is written from the perspectives of various characters, which enriches the story. There are some delightfully humorous scenes, such as when Janine discovers that 'The Silver Fox' she is about to marry is sixty, ten years older than she thought, and how Max always manages to get what he wants. There are also harrowing storylines, such as one involving a severely damaged student whom the principal, Tick, and Miles try to help but which sets in motion some life-changing, tragic events.

There's an abundance of love for this book. It truly has a certain charm that draws in readers.

I, too, found myself quite enjoying the story as I delved into its pages. The plot was engaging, and the characters had their own unique qualities.

However, despite my enjoyment, I don't think it's one that will particularly linger in my memory. There are so many books out there, and while this one was good, it didn't have that special something that would make it stand out and be unforgettable.

Maybe it's because the story followed a somewhat familiar pattern, or perhaps the ending didn't have that big impact that I was hoping for.

Nonetheless, I can see why others might have a deep affection for it, and I'm glad I gave it a chance.

An award winner, and rightfully so. This work展现出了比《Nobody's fool》更深刻的内涵，同时 Russo's幽默依然完好无损。The story likely delves into complex themes and characters, engaging the reader on a deeper level. Russo's ability to maintain a sense of humour throughout adds a unique charm to the narrative. It keeps the story from becoming too沉重 or overly serious, while still allowing for moments of poignant reflection. The award is a testament to the quality and craftsmanship of the work, and it's clear that Russo has created something truly special. Whether it's the engaging plot, the well-developed characters, or the clever use of humour, this work has earned its place among the best. It's a must-read for anyone who appreciates great literature.

This novel is set in the small town of Empire Falls, Maine.

Once, this town boasted a thriving textile industry that supported its blue collar residents. However, that industry has now vanished, and the town has suffered as a result.

The story centers around Miles. He was meant to receive a college education and leave Empire Falls forever. But he returned to take care of his dying mother and ended up staying. Now, he is trapped there, going through a divorce, handling his family members, and managing a struggling business.

This novel isn't so much plot-driven as it is a character study. It presents characters who are extremely real and full of flaws. The author描绘s a vivid image of life in Empire Falls in a very unassuming manner.

It's truly a great read that offers a deep exploration of human nature and the challenges of life in a small, declining town.

While reading this book, you can't help but marvel at the fact that anyone, anywhere, has ever found the courage to simply live their inner truth.

Empire Falls lays out all the numerous obstacles that interfere with our fidelity to our true selves. Russo presents a virtually omnipotent intelligence that hovers in the background of his characters’ lives (and ours). This intelligence, which we can read as Society, aims to control us, to subtly keep us obedient. It uses fear, pressure, and ridicule to own us. It preys on our loneliness and ego, on our craving to belong, and even on our physical limitations and susceptibilities.

Circumstances are created by this intelligence that make the abandonment of our inner truth seem logical and justified, while simultaneously offering us a safer, surer path – Society’s path. It also creates states of mind that,看似利他, can just as easily be a prison. And these obstacles are what await those who are born "lucky enough" to even struggle against Society for their truth. Not everyone is granted such latitude.

Moments do come though, for all of us, when by accident, the big controlling lies are exposed. And as long as we’re still living, Russo shows, we can find our truth. He demonstrates that as soon as we stop cooperating with that diabolical intelligence, the obstacles fall away. The message is that Society insists we live for its destiny, not for our own.

As grave as all this sounds, this is a thoroughly enjoyable read, with lots and lots of laughs. The theme is developed through richly drawn characters in a self-inclusive New England burg. I lived in a small town in Vermont for two years twenty years ago, so I spent the whole book basically revisiting in my mind its streets, diners, and river. That remote atmosphere, simultaneously reassuring and repressive, is the perfect setting to develop this theme. Of course, for some folks, such a setting is exactly where they find their truth.

My only reservation was that the climax felt a little gratuitous. It was logical, however, and definitely held me.

Overall, Empire Falls is a thought-provoking and engaging novel that makes you question the forces that shape our lives and the choices we make.