The "So Many Books, So Little Time Book Discussion Group" here at our library recently discussed the 2002 Pulitzer Prize winning novel Empire Falls by Richard Russo.
“Makes you wish you never left the small town you grew up in....” is what one reviewer said about Empire Falls. I'm just not entirely sure they read or finished the same book that I did.
The novel tells the story of Miles Roby, the middle-aged manager of a small town grill in the crumbling mill town of Empire Falls, Maine. Also important are Miles’s ex-wife Janine, his teenage daughter, his father Max, and his regular customers, which is to say most of the townspeople. Mrs. Whiting, the wealthy woman who owns most of the town including the grill, is rarely present but never absent from thoughts and conversations.
The first two thirds of the book build characters and background and town history and multiple stories slowly and deliberately. I thoroughly enjoyed the pacing and depth of description. Suddenly, in the last third of the book, a gentle meandering story becomes a page-turner, with new facts uncovered about characters as actions and reactions build toward an unexpected climax.
I was confused by this change in pacing, until during book club, someone explained small towns to me. She said “small towns are slow and boring except when they aren't.” When something big happens in a small town, since everyone's lives are intertwined, things can get very exciting, very quickly.
The HBO miniseries adaptation sticks to the book directly, but a 500 page book can't be squished onto a television screen, even if it spans multiple DVDs. The casting is great, but the character introspection is missing. While the book dwells on each person’s worries and musings and dreams and reflections, the movie tries to convey this depth only through meaningful glances and silences. My advice is to treat yourself to the miniseries after you read the book. And try to get a friend to read the book with you, so that you have someone with whom to share your thoughts about the ending!
