So Brave, Young and Handsome

Another book on CD. I loved the narrator.

So Brave, Young and Handsome by Leif Enger

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Five stars for style...Leif Enger can write, boy howdy! Three stars for plot because it meandered a bit to the point of feeling sloooooooow...at least at times. Just saying the pacing could have been better.

So I listened to this little gem while taking long walks, and the narrator, Dan Woren, was a delight, I tell you a deeeelight! It felt like having a companionable old friend along to tell me a little story about a man named Monte Becket. Monte is a writer, but it seems he may be a one hit wonder. His first book has gone through several printings now, but his editor is less than impressed with his last few manuscripts, and Monte might be bound for the U.S. Postal Service, a job he once held and still hates.

And then along comes Glendon Hale, an erstwhile train robber turned boat builder, wanting to make up for his past by seeking out his ex-wife, Blue, and apologizing to her for his swift departure twenty years earlier. Monte sets off with Glen and let the heroics ensue.

The story meanders along with the outlaw and Mr. Becket as they head south to find redemption. While Glen seeks forgiveness from his beloved Blue, Monte attempts to rediscover his ability to write. But it's not that easy, and Monte must face his own fears...that perhaps he might not be the artist he thought he was.

Of course, there is the chase. Glen gets away, but Siringo, the persistent Pinkerton detective, is not about to let him go so easily, and Monte finds himself Siringo's unwilling accomplice. They gad about the country-side, and Monte discovers that his Pinkerton abductor is perhaps the biggest fraud of them all.

I love the surprise of Enger's prose. It's plain, perhaps, but beautiful for certain. More than that, the story is thoughtful and thought provoking. What makes a person "good"? What does it mean to love? What does it mean to be loyal?

The brilliance of the story is Siringo. Of course you should cheer for the law, but you find yourself questioning the detective. His obsessive search for Glen isn't about the law, after all. Mostly it's just about him and his ego and some false history Siringo concocts on his way to get him. Siringo becomes the perfect foil for both Glen and Monte, proving that might isn't always right.

It's a great story, if a bit meandering at times. And Leif Enger is fantastic.

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