Other times it’s the anticipation: “He knows we’re here. So I did-I started cramming my fingers into its nose but my husband kept yellingįor me to resist. Reality of an attack: “I knew I was dead. Or bear, which keeps the tension taut from page to page. Goodman doesn’t shy away from the horror of facing a hungry lion, tiger, Roaming about, looking for food, and finding people to be the easiest source of Often the answers only lead to more questions. The question that provides the driving force of the story is why? Why did Sammy let the animals loose? If the animals loved Sammy as much as his wife says they did, why did they eat him?Ī good breadcrumb trail, Goodman drops possible answers along the way, but Many of the animals are gone, and the ones that remain can’t be contained because the sides of the cages have been cut. When the sheriff and his deputies arrive at the Johnson home after being summoned by neighbors, they discover Sammy’s body in the animal warehouse, largely eaten by the animals.
Being immersed in the thoughts of a lion or a bear is fascinating.īut people are the ones who make the novel most engaging, especially Sammy Johnson, the owner of the exotic-animal zoo. The unexpected narrator isn’t new for Goodman-he told his novel Womb: A Novel in Utero from the point of view of an unborn fetus-and he excels at making the animals in this novel believable and sometimes sympathetic. He also shows his penchant for unusual storytelling by including several chapters from the point of view of the animals who have escaped. By using this unusual technique in various parts of the novel, Goodman shows the events happening in a larger context without spending too much time on long discussions or back stories. A traditional narrative doesn’t appear until the third chapter, but by that time the reader has a sense of the tone and scope of the story. Following the comments is a transcript of the local evening news broadcast in Chillicothe, so right away the reader knows that this story isn’t going to be told like most other novels. The novel opens with a series of comments about animals from famous people as well as fictional characters who play leading roles in the story that’s about to unfold.
It’s a compelling story told by a skillful, adventurous writer. The fact that he is so conflicted is indicative of the many opposing threads that Goodman weaves together to create suspense and compassion in this tale of the escape of dozens of exotic animals from a homemade zoo in Chillicothe, Ohio. Goodman, one of the main characters thinks about what has to be done to “end this bloody twenty hours, thereby closing the darkest ordeal of his life,” but he can’t bring himself to do it. Toward the end of Setting the Family Free by Eric D.
0 kommentar(er)
