Should I Read Meh
Length 336
Quick Review Traditions refuse to change in Homeward Hound even when a snow storm threatens the Christmas hunt. Everyone makes it home safe except one.
Homeward Hound by Rita Mae Brown is comprised of elements, which should make me like it. Unfortunately, they are just that. Elements failing to come together to create a memorable book. What I thought would be a huge cast of dynamic characters was a bland smoothie.
The basic gist: A whole bunch of characters are gathering in the Virginia countryside for the traditional run days before Christmas. The run is steeped in 400 years of tradition and hierarchy. The hierarchy is further bolstered by the social structure of the area they all live. Toss in a pipeline and a wealthy gentleman, who goes missing.
Brown begins Homeward Hound with a list of characters including the humans and the animals. Each character was accompanied by their traits and role within the group. I like the concept when there are so many characters involved because the story doesn’t have to explain it in the story. Unfortunately, the story still felt the need to, so it was basically a waste of time reading those pages. Brown has one family and their “African American”ness was emphasized. Instead of feeling inclusive, it felt racist for needing to point out this otherness in rural Virginia. I got it, they’re black in a sea of white folk in a literal blizzard.
Having a pipeline and a missing person were the main driving forces behind the plot in Homeward Hound, but neither did a great job of making me want to read more.
My favorite part of the entire novel was the way Brown decided to deal with dialogue. The animals had conversations among themselves in the midst of human interactions. The human dialogue was noted in the traditional way with quotes. When the animals spoke, their conversations were italicized, so the reader would know an animal was speaking instead of a two legged character.
I do really like the cover art and the concept of Homeward Hound. The elements just did not come together in a cohesive and compelling enough way to make me enjoy reading the book. I like the cover more than the content.
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Memorable Quotes
“nonagenarian”
“Because those people on the hunt field measured up to sartorial tradition close to four hundred years in practice.”
Title: Homeward Hound
Author: Rita Mae Brown
Publisher: Ballantine Books (Penguin Random House)
Copyright: 2018
ISBN: 9780399178375