Whalemen of the Josephine

Book excerpt: The early phase of industrialization in America devestated many lives by what the author calls 'The Fiery Furnace Effect.' Not only were the initial participants affected, but much of the effect, through them, was carried over into the subsequent generation, and beyond in some cases. This novel focuses upon the intergenerational impact for two decades in the life of young Adam Vasilyevich, born out of wedlock in 1926 in the 'Loch Jean' coal camp of 'Paine County,' West Virginia. His early personal development, in what Borges would call his 'green Garden,' is detailed, as is the subsequent series of events that strip him of his human connections and even his identity. Then he is uprooted from his native soil, like a hickory sapling, and is banished into, for Adam, the urban wilderness of Detroit. There, he is abandoned by his mother, who was his last bond to his previous existence. For six years thereafter, Adam is increasingly demoralized and estranged from his life and from his own self. At that point, he is surely on a path toward a life of crime and self destruction, but a fortunate stroke of fate provides new opportunities for a meaningful and gratifying life. However, Adam has been beaten into a feckless, alienated condition for so long that it is highly problematic whether or not he can marshall any inner resources to take advantage of the new circumstances in Melville Township.