Big Machine
2009 • 370 pages
Ratings4
Average rating3.8
15
Ratings4
Average rating3.8
A fiendishly imaginative comic novel about doubt, faith, and the monsters we carry within us.Ricky Rice was as good as invisible: a middling hustler, recovering dope fiend, and traumatized suicide cult survivor running out the string of his life as a porter at a bus depot in Utica, New York. Until one day a letter appears, summoning him to the frozen woods of Vermont. There, Ricky is inducted into a band of paranormal investigators comprised of former addicts and petty criminals, all of whom had at some point in their wasted lives heard The Voice: a mysterious murmur on the wind, a disembodied shout, or a whisper in an empty room that may or may not be from God. Evoking the disorienting wonder of writers like Haruki Murakami and Kevin Brockmeier, but driven by Victor LaValle's perfectly pitched comic sensibility Big Machine is a mind-rattling literary adventure about sex, race, and the eternal struggle between faith and doubt.From the Hardcover edition.
Reviews with the most likes.
One of those books that makes me realize that sometimes it's harder to talk about a book you love than a book that didn't do much for you. Objectively anyway.
Something this book does well is the first-person narration of Ricky Rice. The feeling is that he's right in the room with you, talking to you personally about his story. He's also amusing. It's not a hilarious book, but Ricky's way of looking at the world includes seeing the absurd and the humor even in the darkest situation.
When trying to categorize, I initially put this book into “horror” because there are references to cosmic horror/Lovecraft. Reading again, I'm thinking perhaps magical realism as the supernatural stuff is there to draw out Ricky's character development and not as the main focus of the story. We see Ricky go through two traumatic, near-death experiences and how they affected his life. The supernatural elements guide him towards believing in something outside of himself.
There are a lot of different themes here: faith vs. doubt, survivor guilt, fatherhood and parenting issues, revolution, and economic disparity are just a few.
I found this by chance at the library one day; the unusual cover attracted me (the red line that wraps around), and the blurb on the back sold me on reading it. I'm glad I did. It's a quirky, offbeat novel that's worth a shot. My enjoyment of The Big Machine inspired me to track down everything LaValle had available.
