Synopsis: In semiautobiographical stories set largely in David Vann’s native Alaska, Legend of a Suicide follows Roy Fenn from his birth on an island at the edge of the Bering Sea to his return thirty years later to confront the turbulent emotions and complex legacy of his father’s suicide.

Review: I was offered this novel and since I had never heard of it, I wondered how it would be like.

The format is very particular and quite different from the usual novels. There are no chapters and the dialogues are not marked with dashes or quotation marks but are melted into the narrative, which is quite surprising. I use to stop at the end of a chapter and start again afterwards, but this was not possible here.

So we follow Jim and his son who live in a cabin in the mountains but this moment of adventure will not be that simple or that great.

I found the idea interesting, but I have to admit that I had a hard time hanging on to the story or the characters. So I have to say that I’m not totally convinced by this novel.

 

7 thoughts on “Sukkwan Island: A Novella from Legend of a Suicide by David Vann

  1. Sophia Rose

    That would be hard to follow the story without dialogue markings and breaks. It would be an emotional one, for sure.

    1. Melliane

      yeah, it’s not a format that I like

  2. Kim Daher

    This book sounds cool, I like the story

  3. Carole Rae

    Gah bummer.

  4. Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer

    What a bummer. The cover is cute.

  5. Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum

    Yeah, I don’t think this one would work that well for me either.

  6. blodeuedd

    Yeah I am not convinced either

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