The Darling by Russell Banks
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The Darling by Russell Banks is the
best
book I’ve read this year. What qualifies as a “best book” for me? There is a story line. The characters are empathetic. The writing is intelligent and vivid and elevates “news” to poetry and truth. Then, when I’ve closed the book, savoring the final words, I’m different; I have a new lens to bring the world into focus. Hannah Musgrave’s story is complicated; through the 20 or so years she narrates, she goes from pre-med student to radical member of the weather underground, is arrested and assumes a new identity and gender preference, travels from Chicago, to New Bedford, to Ghana and finally, to Liberia where she marries a Liberian government “official” (puppet), and contemporary of Charles Taylor. They have three boys who grow up as witnesses to rebellion and insurgency, becoming rebels themselves. Hannah is distant in her “close” (filial) relationships and has a high tolerance for discomfort in the physical world. She finds her soul mates in a collection of chimpanzees she rescues from poachers and traders; it is with these “dreamers” that she finds fulfillment, even praying with them when the violence surrounding her family in Liberia forces her to leave the country for a period of time. Musgrave is a remarkable character. Her story makes for a remarkable book. As he did in his terrific novel “Continental Drift,” Russell Banks makes Hannah’s story speak for our times and the struggles we face in a world of political, racial, and individual unrest. Come to think of it, maybe this is the best book I’ve read since “Continental Drift.” Review by Sarah Bagby, November 25, 2004 |