THE FALLS
Joyce Carol Oates

Epilogue

I finished the last disk tonight - that was a helluva good story! I really enjoyed it.

I'll come back into these threads when more readers are ready to discuss.

Enjoy the book, folks!

Yes, folks, please do come back. I'm going to divide the Topics up into smaller sections for discussion and would love to hear your thoughts.

She did a good job of describing the wonder and awe of the falls. I imagine anyone reading this novel, would want to plan a trip there. Either US side or Cdn ... I've seen both sides. One is as impressive as the other. I've been many times - when I was a kid, as a teen, as a young adult.

Jeff and I started going out there in 1988. We go back at least twice a year. My brother resides in a nursing home in Fort Erie. We always visit the falls on the way in or on the way out.

The whole area on the Canadian side of the falls is interesting. There are other waterfalls - Balls Falls (I know, I laughed the first time I heard it too). A much smaller waterfall, of course, but impressive.

Hamilton Mountain has many of them.

An interesting place to go before heading back to Toronto is the Welland Canal. I'd also recommend stopping at Jordan's Landing where an old ship is rotting in the water there. It's a pretty place to be.

I wish I could plan a trip there. I only went to the American side once, at about 13 yrs. old. I do remember the heart-pounding affect of the falls on me as I stood there.

I'm sorry to say it, but for me this book was a chore. I've never ready Oates before, but I find her to be old-fashioned and overwrought. The only character who had any real depth was Chandler, and that's a stretch to me. I didn't find a single conflict satisfactorily resolved, except Love Canal and Dirk Bernaby's death. Otherwise, I really disliked Araiah and felt there were a bunch of loose ends and the book was no fun. Am I the only one to be disapponted by this book?

I read it recently, and loved it. The way the actions of Ariah and her first husband impacted on the whole family. I really could not put it down. I especially enjoyed the mysterious Bud, and the secret he had kept. I expected something sinister but certainly not that! Book is back in the library now, unfortunately, and I took no notes

This book did not disappoint me, although I did not really have any huge expectations when starting out. I found it unusual and intriguing and the characters interesting. This might not have been a 'fun' feel-good novel where loose ends are all tied up, conflicts are resolved, and everyone lives happily-ever-after, but those really don't give you much to walk away with. I like books that surprise me.

I enjoyed the book but I felt a bit let down by the Epilogue. I found the 'rehabilitation' of Dirk Burnaby, from bum to hero almost, and the reconciliation of the famly to be unrealistic in real life context. Perhaps this was a necessary part of the story, but I would have preferred an ending without the tidy-up epilogue.

I didn't find this. I didn't really think that he went from bum to hero, but rather it was recognized that he really had been fighting for a truth, the truth of the Love Canal and that he lost all credibility doing so, which in hindsight, does make him a bit of a hero. This is not really unrealistic, it happens all the time. As for the reconciliation of the family, I enjoyed the irony in the whole thing, and families really do behave in unexpected ways under some circumstances. Things that should bring them together, sometimes break them apart, and then when you least expect it, they are there for each other.

Did Dirk Burnaby exist? Seriously, there are many accurate historical facts in the novel such as Hooker Chemical selling the polluted land to the Niagara Falls Board of Education complete with liability disclaimers, etc.... But if you read any histories of Love Canal, the lawsuits start in 1978, the year of the memorial service. So was there an earlier lawsuit in 1962? Is Joyce Carol Oates onto something?

I'm kinda glad Dirk's image was rehabilitated and Stonecrop admitted to how he was murdered. Yes in real life these loose ends are rarely tied up, but that's why we enjoy the omniscience of the novelist, AY?

I just finished the book and must agree with some others that it was a bit of a chore. I remember stopping at page 150 and wondering if I wanted to continue for 300+ more pages, then again at 300 and wondering about the remaining 180... I think this could have been shortened - to pick one example, is Royall banging the mysterious "lady in black" really necessary, etc. etc....

We had an interesting discussion on this Joyce Carol Oates book and I noticed this news item that will ring some bells for those who read "The Falls" ...

ca.news.yahoo.com/maid-mist-future-unce ... 53687.html