Emily Gallo is back with another beautiful portrayal of attributes that make us human. And this time we follow Luther across the East to the West Coast – from New York back to Garberville.
Luther, who was not long ago exonerated from a murder charge, once again seems to be the primary suspect for an anonymous dead body found near Dutch’s farm. Tired and scared, Luther decides to leave the farm for the time being and that is when Jed introduces him to Finn. We meet ‘a real curmudgeon’ – ‘a mean old fart’.
As soon as Luther gets off his first ever flight, he realizes how perfect Jed’s description of Finn is, but soon enough he also realizes how mischievous that perfection is.
Finn, as has been introduced by Gallo in one of her previous novels, ‘Venice Beach’, is a best selling author, educates the homeless and is almost religious about his alcohol.
So when Finn and Luther decided to go back to Garberville in an ’83 Chrysler LeBaron Town and Country Convertible, all their pit stops go around locally famous alcohol and an urge to be away from the city traffic. From Jewish cookies to New York style pizza, bourbon, Budweiser, Irish whiskey and a whole Mexican dinner, the journey does indeed seem eventful.
However, at times, each of the days did feel very repetitive- waking up slightly hungover, deciding on a route, juvenile banter and driving till a restaurant seems promising enough to deliver onto it’s fried green tomatoes.
Finn, at times, feels like a character too artificial, very completely made up. Sure we cannot expect much of a character growth from an eighty year old, but neither can we expect him to be so athletic that Luther, a forty year old man working at a farm, is unable to catch up to his strides. The banter between the two also feels very repetitive and very simply, cringey.
Even though ‘Bardo’ is a part of an ongoing series, it reads just as well as a standalone novel. And just like any other novel by Gallo, the pace of ‘Bardo’ too, was surprisingly quick and fluent.
What is novel and what bounds this story together with its depiction of uncertainty and unfairness of life, and what makes it worth reading, is the very interesting concept of Bardo, “a Buddhist term…for those times like what you’re dealing with, when the normal sense of continuity of your life is interrupted”.
Also, there’s a little kitten accompanying Finn and Luther, all wrapped up in his own fluffy blanket.
Thanks to Emily Gallo for sending me an e-copy of ‘Bardo’ in exchange of an honest review.
Ample Amalgams 