Croton-On-Hudson

T.C. Boyle and I share a few things:  we both attended SUNY Potsdam, and we both lived for some time in northwest Westchester County, NY in the area around Croton-On-Hudson. I lived there from 1982 until 2010.  As I write this I look up at my wall to the right where I’ve hung a satellite image of the very that very section of the Hudson. Boyle grew up there.  His 1987 novel World’s End takes place there in modern times and in earlier historical periods, including the Dutch/English colonial periods and the post-WWII era.  Because Boyle is true to geography (though a few place names are inexplicably slight altered), I often know exactly the place he refers to.  I have a feeling for the land there, for the river (I’ve spent a decent amount of time on boats and kayaks in that part of the Hudson), for the forest and the rock, for the weather. 

The novel is an historical tour de force, jumping back and forth in time, making obvious (sometimes all too obvious) connections among eras and characters.  Most of it is believable though some stretched my credulity beyond the breaking point.  But no matter, that’s not really the point.  The area is a product of its past, and I know enough of the area’s present to see and appreciate the historical roots that Boyle so painstakingly illustrates.

 

Looking south on the Hudson towards World's End

I’m not sure how I could have lived there for so long and remained ignorant of the area’s post-war past. I knew nothing, absolutely nothing of the Peekskill riots of 1949.  I’m proud that the place had socialist elements, but not so proud of the violent backlash.  And the telling details of the hardships of colonial life are striking indeed.  The Native American thread is also fascinating.  Boyle is rarely noted for his subtlety after all, and he is a little heavy handed in his bold implied assertion that nothing much changes, the same strands continue to interweave over and over, pretty much without resolution or reconciliation.  Despite all the technical and economic progress over the centuries, people are just about the same: capable of empathy and good behavior but more often than not repeatedly falling short and letting each other down.

The language is a little exaggerated, but not as much as in some of his other novels. The plot is contrived.  Some of the themes (eating disorders, racism, rampant out-of-control capitalism) get tiresome.  It’s a long book and I did lose interest here and there.  If you like Stegner on California history, you should give this a try. Different place and a different literary approach, but there are some similarities. I’m not sure how it would come across to someone unfamiliar with the area.  It might seem like science fiction instead of the ultimate historical realism that Boyle was (I’m pretty sure) trying for.  That’s the price to be paid for exaggeration and caricature.  Never stopped Dickens.