I am catching up on a bit of a blogging backlog that I allowed to accrue this winter during the first trimester of my pregnancy. I read The Sisters Brothers in February, as was honestly astounded and had no idea how to respond at the time. What a truly strange novel!
Charlie and Eli Sisters are brothers (duh) who make a living as hitmen for a powerful and wealthy man. Eli, a sensitive soul, narrates the story while Charlie supplies the commitment and ruthlessness necessary to continue in their trade. In a fast-paced plot built on short choppy sententes, Eli takes us first through a string of mishaps that seem to target him, south through Oregon and deeper into the unpopulated wilds of Northern California. The brothers are hunting for Hermann Kermit Warm, who has in the process of inventing a mighty tool for the Gold Rush era, alienated the Sisters brothers' employer. The last parts of the novel devolve into something akin to magical realism, as the brothers encounter stranger and stranger circumstances along their way.
Eli's personality, his self-doubt, his misfortunes, his love for women and compassion towards his one-eyed horse, and his ability to still perform his job in a detached and cold way were the reason to stay hooked.
But was it "Booker material"? I honestly do not know. Yes, I enjoyed the read very much - the plot was quirky, the characters interesting and dynamic - but the plot was surprising and the tone was humorous! Maybe it is because it was so funny that I have a hard time taking it seriously. Must a Booker book be serious? Well, no, and I'm thinking here of How Late It Was How Late among others. But a funny, Western, with magical elements? I'm still not convinced.
Either way I'm glad I read it!
I found this book to have lived up to the hype, at least as much as I had heard before I purchased it. It is dark, and gritty, and has moments of gallows humor, and seems chock full of symbolism which I might understand more on the second read through. The whole thing is written as though in the memoirs of Eli, which apparently some people did not understand, and so seems at first stilted, but quickly becomes endearing.
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