Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #386313 in Books
• Published on: 1990-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 368 pages

Synopsis
A gentle man, the victim of a violent father, is made violent himself by a fellow cop whom he suspects of murdering a local labor official, and an ex-wife who limits contact with their daughter.

Customer Reviews

So glad it made it
Read Affliction when it first came out--so glad it's been made into a movie! Just a great, great book with a wonderful strong main character and Nolte is perfect as Wade Whitehouse. Wonderful use of words and strong character development. Anyways, most of the reviewers' comments indicated they felt somehow above or removed from the poor blue collar worker; in fact, one "critic" went so far as to say..."Wade Whitehouse, obviously since he couldn't manage a bad toothache, could never know about the world of lessening the pain of bipolar disease." Boy, howdy! That's a mouthful!

A devastating portrait of psychological resignation.
Russel Bank's Affliction is a devastating portrait of the psychological resignation of a man who simply isn't strong enough to overcome the burdens of a damaging chilhood. The self destruction of Wade Whitehouse includes enough elements that are familiar to any of us experientially that it never fails to touch home in its resonance. The difference between the tragic protagonist and the reader is simply one of degree.

One can't help but think as they read this sorrowful portrayal, "could this happen to me?". What would it take for the simple burdens of everyday living to cause a fatal crack in a man's firmament and how important are things like a person's upbringing in arming an individual to face these obstacles?

Bank's writing cuts directly to the inner workings of Whitehouse's mental environment which, as the novel progresses, becomes increasingly bleak. Our landscape is equal parts real and fabricated by our delicate neural machinery; Banks, better than any author in my experience, makes this alarmingly clear. Each time he describes a mindset or a mental picture it is absolutely accurate.

small town made large
I'm still hesitant to go out and rent the video as I don't know if I'm ready to put myself through it all again so soon. Banks takes the two issues of small town America and abuse and writes them into a narrative that premeates our souls. The dark shadows that linger in the lives of Wade and the gang reach over into the bright lights and big city of his brother, ex-wife and lawyer. Tragedy abounds, just look around. After the first few chapters I realized I didn't have to try the great small town novel, it had just been done.