Title: Winter's Bone (Goodreads)
Author: Daniel Woodrell
Published: Back Bay Books, 2006
Pages: 193
Genres: Crime
My Copy: Library Book
Buy: Amazon, Book Depository (or visit your local Indie bookstore)
Ree Dolly’s father has just skipped bail for Crystal meth charges. They will lose their house if he doesn’t show for his next court date. With two little brothers depending on her, Ree knows she must find and bring back her father dead or alive. But life in the Ozarks is harsh and she learns quickly that asking questions could be fatal.
I really wanted to read something dark and gritty like The Devil All the Time by Donald Ray Pollock and I was recommended Winter’s Bone. Daniel Woodrell describes this style as country noir and that was enough to sell me on the book, I knew nothing about the novel except there was an adaptation recently starring Jennifer Lawrence but I’ve still not seen it. The novel takes place just outside a fictional town in Missouri Ozarks where the Dolly’s have been known to be involved in the manufacturing of methamphetamine. This bleak landscape full of terrifying people makes for a dark southern novel that should satisfy most noir fans.
The plot is pretty straight forward but the continual helplessness of 16 year old Ree Dolly’s situation is what makes this book deliciously bleak. As many noir fans know, the dark and unforgiving landscape mixed with the bleakness of the plot can only strengthen a novel like this. For such a simple story line, I was presently surprised just how well Daniel Woodrell executed this novel; blurring the lines of morality and motivating the protagonist to protect her two unruly brothers and her catatonic mother from the bail bondsman and the sins of her father.
The rest of the world seems to have a negative opinion of Ree and her family, some often hostile and violent. While I understand why people hate the Dolly’s because of the meth they are selling to their community, I found it interesting to experience this from Ree’s perspective. I use to live across the road from a meth lab and while I didn’t know about it, the reactions of the people when they hear this story is really interesting, my experience was the increase in police patrols seemed to be a positive. So while we don’t know just how innocent Ree is and how involved she was in her father’s entrepreneurial ventures, I was more interested in the stigma that came with her name.
I’m not sure if we can call Ree the hero of this novel, most of the time she is just walking around and getting assaulted but she isn’t a villain or anti-hero either. So I have to wonder what role does she play in this novel. She was strong, stubborn and takes a lot of physical punishment without complaining, so this is more of a survival story.
I’m sure this book might be considered as controversial in the Ozarks; I don’t think Daniel Woodrell is suggesting these people are all like the people in his book but I have to wonder if maybe he was a little too harsh. I accept this harshness as part of the country noir style and not a true representation of the people of Missouri so I hope they do as well.
I was really surprised how well this simple little story worked with all the dark and noirish themes. Granted it wasn’t as dark or as enjoyable as The Devil All the Time but it was still worth reading. If people have recommendations of novels that are like The Devil All the Time I would love to hear them (or I could just reread that novel). I was impressed with Daniel Woodrell and will venture to read some more of his novels. Country Noir is a great style and I am fast becoming a fan of the style.
I really enjoyed this one. A great read and the movie was quite good as well
I guess I’ll need to see this movie
Yes
I’ve wanted to watch the film, but I haven’t gotten around to it just yet. I didn’t realize it was adapted from a book, though in general I should just assume that’s the case. I’m glad to know this one worked well, and I may try to give it a go the next time I’m in the mood for some grit.
I hope you enjoy it
I have this on my TBR but haven’t got round to it yet, and I’m holding off seeing the film until I’ve read it. It sounds great, really dark. Country Noir is a new one on me! Maybe one to add to next year’s Literary Exploration challenge!
They like to create new genres.
The Bayou Trilogy looks good
I’ve been wanting to read this book ever since a few of my friends raved about the movie. I haven’t done either yet. I may have to break down and watch the movie first.
I was in the same boat, but I’m glad I finally read the book first
This is the one the movie is based on, right?
it is
I haven’t read any Joanne Harris yet, just because I have this sickly sweet image of her books, but this one I could read.
Sounds extremely interesting, and I love the chess idea
I think you’re talking about my Gentleman and Player’s review, but yes; well worth reading
Winter Bone
Daniel Woodrell’s seventh novel, Winter’s Bone, is set in the Ozarks. The Ozarks is a place in the American mountains where they decide to live in the past. The Ozarks are full of drunks, rednecks, and meth heads or how Daniel likes to describe meth as crank. This book has tended to be the best of all Woodrell’s books. The book is very descriptive and describes everything so well, so that’s probably why it does tend to be one of the best books.
The main character in the book is a girl named Ree Dolly. Ree is sixteen year old girl, and is a member of the Dolly family. She has green eyes and has a body to do anything she wants such as cutting wood. Ree long term goal was she always wanted to join the army. Ree just wants to get out of Ozarks culture. She does not want to deal with not having any money, clueless in life, or even end up like her uncle Tear Drop. Her uncle was also a really big part in this book. He uses to run the most successful crank business with Ree dad Jessup. So Ree just wants to get out of this environment where she can start her life.
Ree lives in a house with her with her two younger brothers and her lost minded mother. Her father Jessup is a crank chef and is known all over town to make the best crank around and never mess up. Jessup has gone missing after putting his house up for a bond, from a previous arrest. Unless if Ree can track her dad down and make him come to the court date they will not lose their house. If Jessup is dead, which Ree began to think it is true, and then she will need to bring the court some kind of evidence that he is dead. So Ree starts on her journey. Sometimes she gets helped by her friend Gail. Gail and Ree have been best friends since elementary school. They were both always there for each other. Another person that helped Ree out through the whole story was her uncle Teardrop. Teardrop got his name because he has a tattoo of four blue tears on the melted side of his face. Teardrop got them tattoos for doing deeds while he was in prison. Across the Ozarks where it is run by the meth heads, alcoholics, and crank cooks and brutal women live is where Ree meets her enemy named Thump Milton. The Milton had been rivals with the Dolly through the whole book and Ree had many complications throughout the book with the whole Milton family.
This book is filled with drama and many different issues. Daniel Woodrell makes a bold move by forcing readers to take on a perspective that can be uncomfortable to even think about. The lives of the Dolly family is completely different than most are used to and while they share some similar culture values as the rest of us; the way they maintain those values is what differentiates them. For the most part, society has a mentality that family becomes before anything else. If somebody attacks your brother or sister, then you are going to defend them. In the Ozarks, that trait is still there, except you are more likely to be killed rather than hurt. It can be argued that the drugs that everybody is on is what causes such drastic actions, but the setting Woodrell creates is a dog eat dog world. You help your family out, you keep your mouth shut and do not say anything to the police, and you do not mess with your higher ups. It is a harsh reality to think that such places really do exist and that if you defy the wrong person, you or your family will end up dead. This forced perspective is one issue that helps Winter’s Bone be an outstanding book and make for an interesting read.
Another major difference in this book that makes it stand out is how it immerses the reader. The setting in the book is always described with such accuracy that an image of it just pops into my head. It allows you to see what Ree sees and with the constant dialect distinction that is kept throughout the whole book, the images of what Ree is going through becomes increasingly vivid. The change in language might make it a little difficult for readers starting off, but it is a major part in identifying with the culture they are placed in. What Woodrell does is a good thing for any book to have, it helps the reader connect with the characters and become more involved with the book. What makes that such a big deal in this book is that it becomes easy to identify with all the pain Ree goes through. Readers typically do not like for their character to endure such painful experiences, but the sheer determination of her is one of most admirable traits. This trait is shown time and time again as Ree overcomes a new challenge every time one is thrown at her.
The third factor of this book that makes for a great read is the emphasis in the importance of family. In this society, you do not mess with somebody else’s family without cause, you do not place anybody over your family, and you do absolutely everything you can to help your family. Ree’s father is missing and with his trial coming up soon she needs to find him. A person not making it to their trial might not be as concerning to them under normal circumstances, but this particular time the stakes are a little bit higher if he does not show up. In order to keep her two young brothers and mentally-ill mother in a livable state, she has to go locate her father. She knows this will not be an easy task; attempting to find her dad while still taking care of her family back home. Just one of those tasks alone would be difficult for a sixteen year old girl. Even though she does not fully know the path she is about to take though, Ree knows that it will not be easy and it will probably even be dangerous. None of that matters though because she also knows if she does not take the risk than her and the rest of her family will be shit out of luck. So with this knowledge, she sits out on her adventure never looking back.
Daniel Woodrell’s Winter’s Bone is an exciting, emotion-filled adventure of a teenage girl who has to save her family in an environment most people dare not even think about. The drugs, alcohol, profanity, language, and thoroughly detailed violence narrows the audience that might enjoy it. If you can keep an open mind and can handle the thoughts of such a disastrous community then this book is a must read. It creates a different perspective on how some people have to live and continually creates vivid images for the reader to imagine what is going on and feel connected with the story in the book. It keeps you guessing what might happen next and what happens to Ree and all of her family making this book something to consider reading.