Russell BanksAffliction

It wasn’t too long ago that I became somewhat messianic in my desire to discover how vaunted novelist Russell Banks became so expository on the downtrodden and melancholy human condition. With his 2011 work “The Lost Memory of Skin,” he seemed to dial in so affectingly on the sex offender sub-culture with “The Kid,” a 22-year-old product of a broken home who’d become convicted of an internet sex crime with a minor. And then with 2013’s “A Permanent Member of the Family,” he provided twelve diverse and often dark stories that profoundly reached into the commonality of us all, exploring our inner uncertainties, apprehensions and, oftentimes, homicidal tendencies. And so, upon completing these more contemporary works, I then, rather madly, started purchasing his catalogue of older novels, hoping to get a better sense of this trait. And since then, although certainly not able to master this literary technique (I mean, other than Banks himself, who really could?), I CAN readily confirm that he has been more than accomplished at it for a very long time…this work “Affliction” was published way back in 1989 and is yet exceedingly abundant in these very same qualities (if not even more so), proving, at least to me, that Mr. Banks has apparently carried this gift from his career inception.This work, in particular, really seems to define Banks’ persona as a superior novelist of this genre. Wade Whitehouse, our protagonist, is the quintessential working class, blue collar combatant…divorced, purposely limited by his ex-wife in his child visitation time, a somewhat heavy drinker who seems chained to the small New Hampshire town that he grew up in, he can’t seem to get ahead, stumbling along in a job he despises for a boss he despises even more. Narrated in a third-person singular form by his brother Rolfe, who’d somehow found the good fortune/sense to escape their drab small town, we follow Wade as he slowly comes apart, first in an unsuccessful attempt to win custody of his daughter and then as he, mistakenly, makes accusations against a fellow worker of murder in a hunting accident. All these sudden personality/emotional exigencies come coupled with Wade’s and Rolfe’s mother’s sudden death. And all of it further (for Wade especially) can be slowly attributed (as we read on) to the severe abuse inflicted by their father during his youth. Banks is exceptionally penetrating here with his brutal portrayals of violence against Wade as a youth and its subsequent effects on him as our story unfolds.Wade, of course, ultimately goes off the deep end (as described by Rolfe), hurting and confusing many in their small town. Banks’s mastery of storyline and method is truly compelling here as the nexus of the plot unwinds…events really start to unwind at a rapid rate in the last one hundred pages or so and the narrative here is amazingly riveting; not a rapid reader by any stretch, I was able to blaze through to the finish as these pages are impossible to put down. Rolfe’s “conclusion” is surfeit with details and supposition, leaving the reader both imminently satisfied and wanting more.This novel “Affliction” certainly continues to affirm for me the genius of Russell Banks. Gritty, humanistic while always carrying a deep literary component, it is to me critical reading, not only for the man’s catalogue but for those committed to bold, reformist writing. A little bit of a slow burn perhaps, the reward is absolutely well worth the investment. I give this a very high recommendation.

I don't know how to feel about this book. It is about a man who has everything wrong going for him in his life. He has an abusive, alcoholic father, a few not-so-great jobs, two divorces from the same woman, a child he doesn't get to see much, and a myriad of other issues. He has serious anger problems, like his father before him. He gets into the occasional fight when he drinks, but never anything as bad as his alcoholic father.He's always mentioned wanting to leave the small town he grew up in. He's even inquired about jobs out of state. However, he can't bring himself to leave the small town he calls home, even when he finds opportunities elsewhere. He has a younger brother who lives out of town who is really the only family member he communicates with: mostly when he's drunk. It seems he's a bit jealous of his brother even though he truly seems to love him, because his brother managed to get out of town and get a white collar job.His anger keeps mounting and getting worse as the book progresses, to the point where he ends up isolating himself from the people around him. Eventually, he disappears, and no one seems to know to where or why. The book actually begins with his younger brother trying to piece together the mystery of what may have happened to his older brother and where he may be.The "affliction" mentioned in the title of the book mainly seems to be anger (and maybe some alcoholism, although anger seemed to be the main theme). The book seemed to be a slow read at times and a bit of a depressing one. However, it was worth a one-time read. It is interesting to see the many ways anger can turn a person's life upside-down and to contemplate if anger can really be passed down through a person's genes, or if the "affliction" of anger in this particular scenario may have more to do with living in a small, cold, New England town with a tiny population.

This is probably one of the best novels I've ever had the pleasure to read. The characters are fully alive, neither of them completely likable or unlikable, ambivalent just like most people I know in real life (and maybe you, too). Except the FATHER (he needs to be capitalized, because he's one of the most heinous, evil and pitiful characters ever invented), I wanted him to come alive and strangle him for what he did to his family, especially to his son Wade.I did not want the book to end. What happens to the main character, tore my heart, I felt so terribly sad for him. This novel will stay with me for a long time and I'll probably read it more than once. I think it's one of those books that get better each time you read them.One thing I'd like to mention: I've seen the movie "Affliction" twice, before I ever read the book, and the most amazing thing happened: the movie sticks very close to book and does not disappoint. Also, I'm sure, you readers know what usually happens when you read the book after you've seen the movie: you can't shake the movie characters and it spoils the entire reading experience, because it messes with your imagination. Not this time. I was not irritated at all. The movie captures the characters, atmosphere and events of the book almost perfectly. That's quite an achievement.

Like most of Banks' novels, this is intense, introspective, and full of great visuals and interior vitality. The locale adds much in its grimness and isolation to Wade's situation, and the external perspective of brother Rolfe lends just enough reportorial perspective to throw the reader off and believe it is really omniscient, when clearly his view is filtered significantly by their joint histories. Kept me moving on to the end and beyond, asking questions about what really happened and the amount of unknowns even in a closed community like Lawford exist.

One of the best fictional explorations of certain aspects of masculinity I have ever read. Banks is a splendid writer.

LIbro eccellente, Russell Banks racconta di un uomo e una provincia americana ancora attuali e credibili. Una storia che si legge come un giallo. Lo raccomanderei senz'altro.

Cette histoire de famille américaine, cabossée par la vie et par ses propres erreurs, est très bien écrite et, de bout en bout, captivante. Ecrit avec la distance qui s'impose, dans un style objectif qui s'attache à la face concrète des choses, le roman explore indirectement mais magistralement tous les replis de l'âme humaine, dans une infinie variété de drames et de situations, tout en respectant sa part de mystère. A lire absolument, si l'on est un fervent de littérature américaine contemporaine.