I don't know about anyone else but going into it knowing what happened to Earl made everything in Part I so poignant.
Part II felt like that irreversible fall that Ennis went into on the last day on the mountain. All paths leading to the inevitable conclusion. And the aftermath of Earl's death was extremely well told.
In Part II I found the character of Elvon (Ennis's father) fascinating. His development from a small boy to the man who dragged his sons to see the body of Earl in the ditch was so realistic, and so sad.
Tied up with the whole story of Earl and Rich was the bigger picture of the decline of the West. And the story of both just came together like an elaborate tapestry.
And how different Earl and Rich were to Ennis and Jack. It seemed so simple when the former decided to make a life together. If only the latter had had more self belief and less self hatred.
Friends, i read it. === Spoilers ahead ====
....... I'm at a loss for words. One word - HUNTING!
First, as a non-native English speaker "Roots" was a bit hard for me to read. Lots of unfamiliar words, too *blush*.
Second, i get the whole idea of the story - seeds, roots, branches. But at times the number of roots and the number of branches is a bit overwhelming. I wished there was some kind of chart depicting ALL those characters and their relationships. The person who wrote this must have had one for sure!!
Third, again, i get the idea of roots, but i felt that maybe the story went too far back. Why do we need to know the story of Rich's grandfather? So we know that his father was a halfbreed, too? I think the story actually starts in 1799, 100 years before Earl and Rich meet.
Fourth (now comes the positive stuff ha), the plot after Earl and Rich meet is GREAT. When i think about BBM it does really seem odd that Ennis' parents missed the only curve in a familiar road. "Roots" implies that this was the works of a curse for what Ennis' daddy had done to Earl. And it is so sad and ironic that Ennis' cursed fate leads him to fall in love with a man, with whom he will not be able to be together, constantly being apart, to be tortured by longing and in the end to have the love of his life being taken from him by tire irons.
[Note 1: Milomorris questioned whether the curse affected Ennis' and Jacks fates. It did - it's clearly stated by Rich that he curses all Elvon's children.]
[Note 2: I still believe Jack was killed by an accident, but for the sake of argument and continuity in view of "Roots" lets say he was killed by tire irons.]Also, regarding the plot. I agree with the author that Rich would not have called the sheriff. That he also would not have just gone ahead on a revenge mission killing off everybody with a gun. The author gives the story a bit of mystery and superstitiousness by making Rich a half-Indian who speaks a mysterious language and sometimes executes mysterious rituals (the funeral) and then by introducing all those animals who seemingly carry out the curse. But the actual actions Rich takes after Earl's death are very believable. I agree that Rich would not want to live on without Earl. I agree that he would make sure any of their property would be gone together with them. (But maybe this is based on Rich's character in "Roots".) Therefore, the story after Earl's death is extremely well done.
And fifth,
You can feel the author's fury.
Yes. First part after Earl meets Rich is just beautiful. Second part is all burning in fury like that fire at Lazy Y. Great story!
There were some things that i did not understand, though:
Why did Elvon shift from being friends with E&R to hating them? Was it just the influence of his friends? Peer pressure? As far as i can see E&R had done him nothing wrong.
What happened between Rich and his father? I was not sure about their last time together, why they parted and why Rich was having some hard time with something that happened before that.
I will go have a look at DC forum.
