Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of Affliction

Affliction
Affliction
Author: Russell Banks
Genre: Literature & Fiction
Book Type: Paperback
Leigh avatar reviewed on + 378 more book reviews


Banks did a tremendous job of showing Wade Whitehouse's slow mental erosion. Initially I found him unsympathetic and somewhat of a sad sack, but by the end I understood. A person can take only so much. I found a lot of myself in him - feeling that justifying fairness and righting wrongs was more important than humanity. And again, I saw myself in him when he got ideas in his head that weren't there. Neuroticism. Painful.

Well-written prose and a great atmospheric detail of late Autumn in New Hampshire make this book worth the read. But be prepared that it's as bleak as the landscape and there is very little redeeming in it that will boost your faith in humanity.