Okay, so you need to read this now. And by "this" I don't mean this blog post (but keep doing that); I mean The Sisters Brothers. It's terribly good. I checked it out because someone described it to me as "a Coen Brothers movie on paper," and of course that was all I needed to hear. (Their names are like catnip to me. I hesitate to tell you this, lest I give you too much power over me, but if you ever want me to try something, just tell me it's the Coen Brothers of whatever. "Ali, try this cookie. It's the Coen Brothers of cookies." Except that's a bad example because I will always try a cookie.)
It's about two brothers, Eli and Charlie Sisters, who are contract killers in California during the early years of the gold rush. They're hired by a man called The Commodore to kill a prospector for reasons unknown. That's all I'll say, except that the book is so good. The dialogue is perfect. The characters say exactly what needs to be said and no more, and the prose is like a kind of poetry.
Read it! And then thank me. Maybe with a cookie...
6 comments:
Ooo, I saw this at the library last week and the title almost made me pick it up, but I already had four books in my hands and figured I needed to draw the line. Next time!
Next time, indeed! And don't you just love that cover art?
I do! I would hang that on my wall, but I think people would be put off by the guns.
Coen brothers is indeed high praise, but I have found it takes a certain je ne sais quoi to get their dark humor. Obviously we are two of them.
Just finished the book! Awesome! The Coens should make this into a movie! Loved the writing style and Eli's "voice." I guess I should read the Night Circus next unless you have something else you think is worthwhile.
I also loved Eli's voice! What a great narrator he is. I loved how he'd close some of the chapters with, "I thought..." and then lay something totally profound on us.
Yes, The Night Circus, I think you'll enjoy it.
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