Legend of a Suicide

by David Vann

Book Overview

"The reportorial relentlessness of David] Vann's imagination often makes his fiction seem less written than chiseled. A small, lovely book has been written out of his large and evident pain."--New York Times Book Review

In Legend of a Suicide, his heartbreaking semi-autobiographical debut story-collection, David Vann relates the story of a young man trying to come to terms with the guilt and pain of his father's suicide. The wild outback...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061875848
• ISBN13: 9780061875847
• Release Date: March 2010
• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

powerful and moving

Roy Fenn is the autobiographical version of David Vann as he explores his father's suicide. Legend of a Suicide is made up of five short stories and one novella. Most of the stories take place in Alaska, except one with Roy as an angry teen in California, watching his mother date a myriad of men. The novella, Sukkwan Island, is in two parts and takes place on a remote island off Alaska, reachable only by small plane, where Roy, age thirteen, and his father are to live for one year. my review: I thought these stories and the writing was very powerful. I was moved by Roy and felt his pain. Sukkawan Island was a fascinating look at time spent in a remote wilderness. Roy's dad, Jim, dumps his emotional baggage on Roy and I felt him crushed by the weight of it. Just two people unequipped to deal with their surroundings, one man unequipped to deal with himself, and a thirteen year old boy unequipped to deal with his father's issues. The novella didn't seem to go with the other stories, so I don't think they were meant to tell just one story but several different ones. This did not detract from the experience of this book though. These are not sentimental stories, but stark, truthful words to make a powerful reading experience that I highly recommend. my rating 5/5

A family of characters and some possibilities of their destiny

David Vann's "Legend of a Suicide" is a collections of short stories - a very peculiar one, by the way. The five - or 4 stories and a novella - features more or less the same characters, but the stories aren't really linked or related. The author writes about possible lives for these people - all the time focusing of loss, suffering and the attempt the recover, or, at least, survival. The best and longest one is "Sukkwan Island". It is about a twice divorced father and his son, spending a time in a remote and isolated island in Alaska. These two people could be the same ones in a previous story named "Rhoda" - the name of a woman to whom a divorced father gets married. The second wife of the father in the novella is also named Rhoda, but who can be sure the story is about the same people. They could be, but, also, they could not. That's one of the beauties of this poignant book, in which Vann seems to think how the destiny of a group of people could unfold. Another beauty of "Legend of a Suicide" comes from the language. In the back of the book, the author acknowledges some other writers who have influenced him. Among them are Comarc McCarthy and Marilynne Robinson - two of the best American writers working nowadays. From McCarthy comes a clear sense of language, and the narrative voice. The third person narrator of "Sukkwan Island" (all the other stories are told in the first person) has a voice likely the one in McCarthy's "The border trilogy", especially in "All the pretty horses". "In the morning, Roy remembered the crying, and it seemed to him that this was exactly what he was not supposed to do. By some agreement he had never been witness to, he was supposed to hear at night and then by day, not only forget but somehow make it not have happened." From Robinson, Vann has acquired the pace and some of the depth - especially in the father-son dynamics. "The thing is", the father says once, "something about me is not right. I can't just do the right thing and be who I supposed to be. Something about me won't let me do that". But while Vann is inspired by elements from these two - and maybe some other - writers, he is not copycatting anything. In "Legend of a Suicide" we find a writer who can make his own style, his own prose and build characters with depth and humanity. It is known that Vann's father committed suicide himself. This is a fact that somehow is present through "Legend of a Suicide", but with sometimes subverted. If writing the book was a personal catharsis for the writer, for the reader it is a touching experience. Like an iceberg at first we are able to see only the tip, but the more you dig in the book, the deeper the stories are, we realize.

Powerful fiction - Highly recommended

David Vann's novella Sukkwan Island is a powerful piece of fiction that will leave the reader reeling. The story of a father and son, the writing is terse and unforgiving, and the story is unsparing in peeling back the layers of pain that enfold the characters. Vann has turned his own personal tragedy - the suicide of his own father - into a story that is truthful, wrenching and powerful. Sukkwan Island will stay with the reader long after he has put the book down, and will bear many future rereadings. This is one of the best pieces of contemporary fiction I have read in a long time because it speaks to the condition that men find themselves in - of trying to be good in a world that allows them to be bad and not answer for it. I highly recommend this book.

Legend of a Suicide

Very well written. Some very graphic descriptions. Would not recommend for survivors of suicide loss unless sufficient healing has taken place.

Legend Of A Suicide

David Vann has become my favorite author. I enjoyed his books(A Mile Down) so much i couldn't stop reading. my only complaint is that i wish it was longer, i didn't want it to end. Excellent. i definiatly reccomend