A Small and Remarkable Life | |||||
Nick DiChario | |||||
Robert J. Sawyer Books, 208 pages | |||||
A review by Steven H Silver
Set in rural New York in the 1860s (with flashbacks), the novel tells the story of Tink Puddah's life and death. Mirroring Tink's
life is the character of Jacob Piersol, the preacher in Skanoh Valley. Following in his father's footsteps, Jacob is constantly
trying to prove himself his father's equal and sees Tink's failure to accept Christianity as one of his major failings.
What Jacob doesn't know is that Tink, whom everyone in town refers to as a foreigner, is, in fact an alien. His blue-tinted
skin doesn't give the fact away to anyone who simply accepts it as a sign of his foreignness in a society on the brink of
a Civil War fought, in part, over issues of race. Nevertheless, this aspect of the story works well and doesn't intrude.
The novel really tells two inter-related stories. One is the story of the coming of age of Tink Puddah. It is told
mostly in flashbacks showing Tink's birth as his parents were killed by a bear hunter who then raised Tink. The other tale
is the story of Jacob Piersol's coming to terms with his own abilities and failures. The portion of the book dealing with
Piersol is more interesting, with its themes of repentance and redemption. Part of the strength of Piersol's story is his
lack of success in so many different ways. Piersol's story, however, wouldn't be nearly as effective without having Tink's
tale as comparison.
Piersol's main concern throughout the novel is how people will view him and how his actions might be able to sway their
opinions in seeing him as a pious and holy man. Tink, on the other hand, simply acts out of concern for the people
around him, and thereby reaches those whom Piersol always sees as standoffish. Piersol's eventual realization that his
flock is strange to him is a sad, but not surprising revelation to the reader. As the preacher has a relatively negative
portrayal, it would be easy to extrapolate that negativity to religion as a whole, but DiChario doesn't fall into that
trap, remaining respectful of religion throughout, and Piersol's weaknesses adhere only to him.
DiChario has been publishing short fiction for more than a decade, but A Small and Remarkable Life is his first
novel. The novel demonstrates the same care and intelligence evident in his shorter fiction. It also shows strong influences
of Karen Joy Fowler's Sarah Canary, a similar first contact novel set in the nineteenth century, as well as
Orson Scott Card's Alvin Maker series and Robert A. Heinlein's A Stranger in a Strange Land. Even
when his book calls these stories to mind, however, DiChario's novel is unique in its portrayal of its characters, first
contact, and religion.
With any luck, DiChario won't wait another thirteen years before unleashing another novel on the world. If it takes him
that long to write as thoughtful, interesting, and well written a novel as A Small and Remarkable Life, he may be
forgiven, but I'd rather he demonstrate the ability to write novels like this with more rapidity.
Steven H Silver is a five-time Hugo Nominee for Best Fan Writer and the editor of the anthologies Wondrous Beginnings, Magical Beginnings, and Horrible Beginnings. He is the publisher of ISFiC Press. In addition to maintaining several bibliographies and the Harry Turtledove website, Steven is heavily involved in convention running and publishes the fanzine Argentus. |
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