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The Scar Letters, by Richard Alther
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THE SCAR LETTERS The victim of a brutal hate crime, never resolved, confronts his assailants eighteen years later, courting both violence and romance...
"Beautifully written...a valuable player in the social battles today."
-Elise Wallace, The Editorial Freelancers Association
"There is certainly no question that Richard Alther's new novel, The Scar Letters, transcends the genre of gay fiction, but to label it 'literary fiction' could too easily dissuade a sensible reader from picking it up, reading a few pages, and then sitting back with a sigh of satisfaction, knowing that here is a really good book.
"The Scar Letters is narrated by Rudy Dallmann, a gay man in his forties, who was brutally attacked and raped some twenty years earlier, and has lived in semi-isolation ever since. Forced by his longtime and closest friend, Tex, to confront the issue, Rudy sets about in his own quietly determined fashion to reconcile his past with his present and hopes for the future. Rudy is not the sort to 'assert himself into everything dead-center,' but he is an honest man, with himself and others-not a small accomplishment in a gay or any other world.
"This is a very compelling story-a universal story-difficult to believe anyone could have told it better. Alther handles narrative and characters like a truly gifted film director or cinematographer. We are in Rudy's head, but the camera sweeps, darts, settles, focusing on one aspect and then another of the well-developed supporting cast. Location and action merge effortlessly into memorable scenes, and the often troubling past is filtered through the emerging present leaving narrator and reader (as Rudy says after hearing Mahler) "hushed, drained, somehow elevated." There is never an awkward sentence or a sentiment that disappoints.
"Alther intersperses his story with accounts-often just a few sentences, a full chapter in one instance-of the horrifying treatment homosexuals have encountered throughout recorded history. There is nothing heavy handed about this; it is simply there to remind the reader that it has always been there and for a variety of reasons. At this particular time, as the country grapples with the issue of same-sex marriage, Alther's calm recitation of this horrendous heritage should certainly give pause to those of us who have never lived with this kind of fear.
-Bookreview.com considers The Scar Letters a must-read."
RICHARD ALTHER'S first two novels are THE DECADE OF BLIND DATES and SIEGFRIED FOLLIES. He is also a Master's Swimmer and exhibiting painter, living in Vermont and Southern California with his husband Ray Repp.
- Sales Rank: #2762472 in Books
- Published on: 2013-09-05
- Released on: 2013-09-05
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.00" h x .59" w x 6.00" l, .77 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 236 pages
About the Author
RICHARD ALTHER’S first two novels are THE DECADE OF BLIND DATES and SIEGFRIED FOLLIES. He is also a Master’s Swimmer and exhibiting painter, living in Vermont and Southern California with his husband Ray Repp.
Most helpful customer reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful.
'There is no map for the human heart.' `Flaws define perfection.'
By Grady Harp
Now and then a novel comes along that is so rich and so satisfying that after reading it once for the mesmerizing story, the natural order of things is to immediately read it again to luxuriate in the splendid prose, the sensitive insights, the perfect craftsmanship of construction that bears memorizing in spots. Such is Richard Alther's THE SCAR LETTERS. Perhaps part of the degree of impact this novel creates is due to the times - the significant changes that are happening in Equal Rights especially evident in the country's reversal of rules, if not altered opinion, about same sex relationships. But no, this novel can stand alone in any literary company and still be dazzling. It is without a doubt the finest novel of the year for this reader.
One aspect of the theme is that it addresses love and the search for same in middle aged protagonists, instead of yet another coming of age first love story, or a marriage on the rocks with attendant devastation and the journey either down or hopefully up for the two people involved. Another theme is the scars of abuse from peers, scars that may physically fade a bit but impact the psyche in such a manner that growing beyond them can be permanent - or not. And even another fresh aspect is the telling of passionate encounters without ever slipping into the trough of R rated now too popular sensuality or beyond.
Rudy Dallman was raised by his grandparents, unwanted by his birth parents, was slightly portly as a kid, came to recognize his gay self around age twelve but couldn't act on that directly - only with normal `guys acting out' sessions. At age 20 he seeks company in a gay bar, notices a couple of young lads, leaves the bar and is attacked in the park where he has gone to cruise. The two boys beat him, cut two Fs on the skin of his chest (for F***y and F****t) and sexually assault him with a toilet plunger handle. This is noted by the police who do nothing to the boys - nor do they come to his aid. Life just proceeds. Rudy becomes a flower tender and lives alone with only a good friend, the buff and sexually promiscuous Tex, and a therapist named Jack who has issues of his own, as friends. Rudy, at Tex's encouraging, attempts dating through internet, meets the sexy Blake who is available only for temporary encounters, and finally decides at both Jack's and Tex's bidding to look back into his always submerged sexual assault of the past, discovers the locations of the two lads who are now men, and how Rudy meets the adult versions of his assailants and relates to them is far too well sculpted and considered to say more. That is the bare bones of this intricately complex and immensely satisfying drama - the bones being housed in the flesh of a master writer whose skill bears watching and deserves applause.
Every chapter of the book is introduced by some stated facts of how gay men have been punished through history - terrifying to read, difficult to ignore. It is a catalytic agent that drives the book forward. Yet for all the negative history of both these unfortunates and the psyches of almost all the characters of this story, a consistent philosophy rises. `So either-or is a falsehood. Perception like life is a cornucopia of options, as in circling a traffic rotary and exiting here and there, always a tentative new turn.' `You can lighten dark.' Jack sighs, not with impatience now but the reverse, a calming exhale that embraces. `That's why you're here. And as you said once before, Rudy, some bad with the good is essential for and defines the other. Makes us whole.' THE SCAR LETTERS is a profound autopsy of bruised lives from the past and an offering of a reassuring hug that life can indeed go on. Grady Harp, September 13
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful.
This in an inspiring human story!
By Eileen Fitzpatrick
If I had the ability to write as well and with as much insight as Grady Harp, I would have expressed my appreciation of this book in those exact words. The Scar Letters has a beginning brimming with incomprehensible pain and although difficult to read at first, Mr. Alther draws us in deeply and we become fully engaged in Rudy's beautiful soul. I think the Scar Letters is a great book which I will read again soon to absorb even more fully the beautiful way the book flowed, the beautiful sentences and the most mesmerizing and haunting tale (told within the book itself) of Pieter and Willem. The prose was smooth and intelligent and the characters were so real to me. I fell madly in love with Rudy first and foremost but loved both Tex and Jack even knowing their oh-so-human flaws. Mr. Alther should be very very proud of this literary achievement. I wish him all the success in the world.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful.
An Incredible Journey
By Sara B
Richard Alther chronicles the amazingly touching journey of his main character, Rudy Dallman, in The Scar Letters. Rudy has an experience that forces him into a place of deep despair and terror in the beginning of this book. Subsequent chapters examine his search to heal and come to a place of peace with himself and the world around him. With the help of his best friend and a therapist, he is eventually able to thrive and relish in the pleasures life has to offer. All of these stages are portrayed by an incredibly talented storyteller who engages the reader as Rudy faces both highs and lows. Important social topics are woven throughout that will help to bring about much needed conversation. The Scar Letters is a relevant and important addition to the genre of gay hate crimes as well as being an enthralling read. Highly recommended!
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