A Very Quick Review of Winter Birds by Jim Grimsley

Book #2 in the 50 Book Challenge

Winter Birds by Jim Grimsley

 

 

This is the second book by Grimsley that I’ve had the pleasure to read, and I’m rapidly developing an impression of him as a master of language. The element I most love about his style is the artfulness he puts into phrasing. He combines words in ways I’ve never read before, without sacrificing imagery or meaning. Characterization never escapes him, either, and every person he writes about seems to leap off the page into life. The unusual format of plot/timeline and point of view gave me the feeling that what I was reading was cyclical rather than linear;  this could have been a disaster for an unskilled wordsmith, but in Grimsley’s hands was refreshing and original.  

 

I couldn’t say I enjoyed Winter Birds the way I did dream boy, because going so deep inside the experience of hemophilia and physical/emotional abuse was incredibly disturbing and I sometimes found it hard to continue. The parts that were most pleasurable for  me to read were the main character’s fantasies of escapism (and, imho, homoerotic awakening). But  Grimsley’s narrative was so compelling that I was drawn back into his world, disturbed or not, and found out a good deal about myself as well as the people he described with such empathy.

 

Overall, I am very glad that I picked up Winter Birds, and I will definitely be reading as much of Grimsley’s oeuvre as I can find.

 

Next up: Stay by Nicola Griffith