Pumpkin Farmer by Michael Hughes.
Pumpkin Farmer by
Michael Hughes.
This
is presented as a satirical view of American society, two formidable characters,
one weak and suicidal, the other, a dangerous man who likes to live on the edge
of danger, suffering constant itches or bouts of boredom, high on drugs to get
his kicks, with sadistic tendencies. Selfishness pervades the book and there is
a superficiality about the attitude of the characters presented. The peripheral
characters exude wealth and liberation but in selfish terms, a total disregard
for humanity.
It
is a dark story and it's difficult to engage with any of them or warm to them.
It seems to be a modern trend to introduce characters into a story who are
flawed throughout without any redeeming qualities. Take Paula Hawkins, for
instance: The Girl on the Train.
"Another victim of reality, of predator and
prey, that was how the world worked. It ate its weak, that was the truth."
The
story is set in 1979 and we meet John Nix a business manager who works for a
firm that appears to be thriving. He picks up a ne'er- do- well heir of a wealthy Canadian family, Horace Fullworth
described as a sociopathic drifter who has returned to San Francisco after
surviving the Jonestown Massacre. This bit is based on a chilling period of
mass-suicides. Jim Jones was best known as the cult leader of the People's Temple
who led more than 900 followers in a mass suicide via cyanide-laced punch which
was flavoured with purple Kool-Aid. Gunmen killed the visiting U.S. Congressman
and four others. Tragically, one third of the victims were children.
Horace
is scruffily attired having slummed it in Guyana. His face was sun-scorched and
gaunt and his blonde locks were scraggly and flecked with dirt. He has been
away for more than a year. His parents died in a car wreck in 1975 but he has a
rich uncle who he visits because he wants to sponge off him. He had a privileged
upbringing attending the best schools
and as an only child he was spoiled. He has been heavily into substances since a schoolchild. He
seemed to have donated his funds to
the People's Temple and it was his uncle Nelson who bailed him out, enabling
Horace to return to his old home which Nelson had inherited.
Nelson
had terminal cancer but would not offer his nephew any further financial
assistance other than a further 200$. Instead he tells him straight: "You're on your own, get on it."
When Horace picked up the dollars he pricked himself on Nelson's syringes and
we are told: "it all came rushing
back." The massacre. Guyana, the babies, the Kool-Aid needles and he
started to shake. "He just wanted it
to stop." Bad memories of Jonestown flashed through his mind, the
chaos, the shooting, the corpse of Congressman Leo Ryan and a couple of dead
cameramen. A lot of people had drunk the cups voluntarily although for some,
such as the babies, it had been forced onto them. Horace suffocated his uncle
without a thought of doing wrong.
"Horace
knew then and there what he was and always had been. To any person within the
most broadly construed borders of normalcy, the sight would have been heinous.
Horace, though, felt a calm tinged with exhilaration."
One
wonders if he is capable of killing his uncle what next? As a contrast, John is
more of a workaholic. He had a decent salary and owned a Spitfire. When he called
round to visit girlfriend Laura for some afternoon
delight, an euphemism of course he was shocked and horrified to find her
having passionate sex with a fit hunk of a guy. He felt defeated and deflated and his
self-confidence was shattered. For most of the book he pines over her, angry at
his own stupidity in thinking that a pretty girl like Laura would care about an
average guy like him.
Their
paths cross again when Horace decides to buy a ranch with his inheritance and
farm pumpkins but there's a little more to it than that of course. This is
where Ellie comes into it having first met John in a bar in Le Honda before
being whisked off her feet by Horace. It's a boy fancies girl scenario without
the happy ending. Perhaps Ellie isn't quite as innocent as she seems either?
Murders, abduction and a suicide. How about that? That'll keep you interested.
REVIEW
it by Carol Naylor.
Copyright 2017. Permission must be obtained from the author before any of this article review is reproduced.
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