"Grainier, an orphan sent to Idaho by train at the age of 6 or 7 with a destination pinned to his coat, is an ordinary person-a laborer who makes a living building railroads, joining seasonal logging crews, and, as an older man, hauling freight with a wagon. "He'd had one lover-his wife, Gladys-owned one acre of property, two horses, and a wagon,""
"No, Grainier is no boldface name, but the novella's magic is that it makes his life seem huge to the reader. Johnson's protagonist is a mild, hard-working man who's superstitious and trustworthy, a person who is barely formally educated, whose mind constantly searches for an understanding of the meaning of life. This man's perception of his small hometown, the lumber crews he works on, and his own place in history come to matter deeply to the reader."
Robert Grainier, an orphan sent to Idaho as a child, spends his life as a laborer building railroads, joining seasonal logging crews, and later hauling freight by wagon. He marries Gladys, owns one acre, two horses, and a wagon, and leaves no heirs. A mild, hard-working, superstitious, and trustworthy man with little formal education, he constantly searches for meaning. His perceptions of his small hometown, the lumber crews, and his place in history become deeply significant. The narrative culminates in a burst of resonant imagery that links a 'wolf-boy' howl to train whistles, opera, foghorns, and bagpipes.
Read at Slate Magazine
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]