You Shore Do Got a Purdy Mouth

Reading Challenge 2017: Book with one of the four seasons in the title. Winter Bone, by Daniel Woodrell, was not as exciting as I thought it would be.  I grew angry and sad at the conditions of Ree Dolly, although she surprised me and showed she had "sand" in order to stand up to the other Ozarkians who wanted her to keep quiet.  They were hiding a secret that involved her father, and she wanted to know where he was, or else she and her family would lose their house and land.  Most characters seemed rough and tried to hard to be rough.  I knew either her father was dead or run off trying to avoid the law.  I did not expect that the Milton clan had killed him and sunk him in a shallow lake, tied to an engine block.

I imagine it is that way in the Ozarks, giving me flashbacks of Deliverance, and the hillbillies that come together seeking vengeance.  I almost expected Patrick Swayze and the Next of Kin to come out of the woods.  Not people I would want to hang out with.

It reminded me of a bar that reeks of stale cigarette smoke and warm beer, that hasn't seen a cleaning in years.  I felt cold, hungry, and dirty while I read it, which is partly due to the writing style.  I just wanted to shower after finishing it.

I decided to watch the movie, which was a much tamer version.  Gail and Ree did not have any sexual encounters, nor did Little Arthur giving her special mushrooms and raping her appear in the movie.  Jennifer Lawrence's performance was stunning though.