Cloudsplitter by Russell Banks

[kingrat]

I have been trying to read Cloudspliiter by Russell Banks. I loved every other book I've read by him except Rule of the Bone which was just too meandering a story for me to get into (though I did finish it). Cloudsplitter is just too slow and tries to use a style of writing prevalent in the 19th century That's when the protagonist spent most of his time alive. And it's written in first person as a sort of memoir, so the style makes sense. It's just off-putting to me and I don't feel like dragging myself through it. I gave up after about 50 pages in a couple of weeks. It's about as far as I've gotten before.

Because I really like Banks' other books, I will put the book on the shelf and try again in a few years. Perhaps a few years of aging and added patience will allow me to read through the style and get to the actual story, which Banks' has shown in the past is well worth the wait. I had the same problem with Affliction and when I picked up the book later and got through the slow first part of the book, the author rewarded me with a rich story with interesting fully fleshed characters.