I very much enjoyed Mr. Walter’s Beautiful Ruins, so I was pleased to get his newest novel on my library holds. So Far Gone is a very different type of book, but it shares his wonderful writing.
Rhys Kinnick is a laid-off journalist and divorced father who retreated to live in an inherited cinder block cabin on a vast isolated property. Alone, like his beloved Thoreau, he attempted to process and make sense of the messy state of the world — accompanied by only some cheeky raccoons and stacks of great books. All this, after abandoning his daughter and her two children during a Thanksgiving fist fight with her husband — (get this character) a religious extremist, conspiracy kook, who argued that the NFL was yet an arm of the capitalistic wealthy who are controlling the world.
But Rhys is forced out of this off-grid life in the Pacific Northwest to rescue his grandchildren from a right-wing Christian nationalist militia led by, you guessed it — the husband/father.
Thus begins what the New York Times called a “buoyant, witty caper”. We follow Rhys on a chaotic road trip with an ex-girlfriend and a retired detective, as he tries to save his family and confront his past. A mash-up of older-guy buddies road trip with mystery, suspense and social commentary.
I was drawn into each new chapter — from the first “What Happened to Kinnick” until the last “What Happened After” — just to see how it all turns out, in some cases, better than others.
So Far Gone is both humorous, yet serious, as it explores themes of political polarization, family, and the search for connection in modern America.
I was immediately drawn into Rhy’s journey and the characters along the way who just jump off the page. I giggled out loud as we experience the vicarious thrills of things we might only have dreamed of; Punching an annoying relative, tossing our phone out the window, pulling into a bar in the middle of the day, and running away from civilization for a while
I’ll end by sharing what Lauren Groff, (a much better writer than myself) said about this novel:
So Far Gone “speaks directly into the profoundly troubled soul of our fractured, embittered country; miraculously, it does so with gentle wryness and angry love. What a rollicking good time!”
And I’ll leave you with a favorite quote from Rhys
But I’m starting to think Thoreau might have been full of shit. If we aren’t living for others, maybe we aren’t really living.
Just for fun, here’s the wonderful artwork that went with the front page review from the New York Times.
