The pleasure of Jaimy's prose is plumped by bringing in characters who speak in dialect, like Medicine Ed, which adds a richness and different flavor to the writing in those chapters he focalizes-- another way to look at it is that this adds an additional difficulty: this is a book of very dense writing.
I did really like it; I feel like the ending is a bit cursory, though maybe less so than usual. I do think the big final showdown is surprisingly composed for a work of literary fiction, esp.
But I'm less convinced that the thematic elements are really adequately worked out by that confrontation, or what follows. Could I be any more vague? I mean, I'm not sure I really understand what brought Maggie to the track or why at the end she's left it. I don't really think that where Medicine Ed and the female trainer whose name I can't recall are left does justice to their particular storylines; I think the final treatment of Maggie's boyfriend is quite right, either, though he comes close to having a redemptive moment at the end.
I feel a little like the design was lost, but knowing Jaimy, it's probably more accurate to say it was abandoned. Nov 20, Mark rated it really liked it. What an unusual novel! I found Lord of Misrule a difficult read. It is not a "page turner that you can not wait to get back to".
Gordon uses a staccato cadence and pacing which never settles into a comfortable flow. There are several deep dialects that never become familiar. You are not always sure who is speaking to whom, even occasionally whether human is speaking to human or to an animal. This is not a book about horse racing. It is a book about hardscrabble people in a hardscrabble place What an unusual novel!
It is a book about hardscrabble people in a hardscrabble place trying to get from one day to the next. Yes, the race track is the setting and framework, but the story is one of survival, hope and despair. Luck is always around the next corner, but never really at hand.
I never felt that the characters were vivid, they were always a bit hazy and distant. I felt that I was looking into a shadow or a through a layer of film. The narrative is also sketchy and jumpy throughout, almost more lyrical poetry than prose at times. This is all certainly intentional and not necessarily a bad thing, just disconcerting at times. Lord of Misrule simply requires a good deal from the reader and will not resonate with everyone. Finally, there are several passages where the imagery suddenly devolves into vulgarity which many readers may find extreme.
View all 6 comments. Shelves: fiction. In the judgment of Medicine Ed, walking a horse himself on the shedrow of Barn Z, the going-nowhere contraption must be the lost soul of this cheap racetrack where he been ended up at. Gordon's National Book Award winner is all about the world of the cheap race, down-on-their-luck trainers, jockeys and owners, and the horses that are literally on their last legs.
Tracks like this are where racing folk go when they have nowhere else to go. Into this world comes horseman Tommy Hansel. He has a plan to change his luck and get him and his horses back into racing as a money-maker. His idea is to bring four unknown horses into Indian Mound Downs, have them run in the cheap claiming races at long odds, cash his bets, and "get out fast" before anyone notices what he's done. However, in a world that also includes loan sharks, small-time gangsters, and savvy former trainers, things don't always go as planned.
Part of Hansel's luck depends on his girlfriend, Maggie--but even he doesn't foresee the way her luck will run. This is an interesting book. I noticed several blog reviews which mentioned the dialect and how difficult it was to get into the book because of it. The dialect didn't really give me trouble--although I do find it a bit inconsistent at times. What I found most difficult was getting used to the rhythm of the writing itself. It took a while before I got the feel of it.
There would be long almost-lyrical passages of gorgeous writing and then, all of sudden, nothing. It reminded me of the first races of two of the horses, Mahdi and Little Spinoza. Each horse had a beautiful run at the start of their race.
Mahdi running like no one knew he could and then all of a sudden getting distracted, slowing up, and getting beaten at the finish. Little Spinoza taking off like a shot, running himself out, and just quitting.
The break in the continuity of the writing mirrored those races--which made me wonder if this was deliberate. Was Gordon trying to give us the feel of a failed race in her very writing style? It certainly seemed so. One portion of the book that disturbed me--the idea that the key to pleasure is pain. The relationship between Maggie and Tommy is built on this concept and Tommy absolutely believes that this is the key that "unlocks" all women. And there is a carry-over to the horses.
Many of the horses running in these races are in pain somewhere--in their feet, in their legs, sometimes in their apparent fear of the racing itself. But they are represented as breaking through the pain or using the pain to reach the pleasure of the run--particularly Lord of Misrule in the final race. Gordon's use of imagery and metaphor is a bit uneven--at times she's dead-on with description "his dapples came up like god's golden fingerprints" but then she can turn around and use one like this: "Natalie, the New Rochelle chainstore divorcee, with her big pink open mouth like a toilet seat.
But overall, a captivating book--particularly once I found the rhythm in the writing. The story is compelling and I found myself rooting for the horses and even more for Maggie. Nov 23, Jill rated it really liked it. Most of us, when we think of horse racing, conjure up a mint-juleps-and-roses vision of the Kentucky Derby or perhaps, Churchill Downs, attended by jewel-studded rich folk dressed up in their finery with cash to burn.
But at the rock-bottom end of the sport, horse racing is a whole other world — a world inhabited by down-on-their-luck trainers and jockeys, loan sharks and crooks, gyps and hotwalkers.
This is the world Jaimy Gordon takes on — Indian Mound Downs, where the horses are mostly aging, Most of us, when we think of horse racing, conjure up a mint-juleps-and-roses vision of the Kentucky Derby or perhaps, Churchill Downs, attended by jewel-studded rich folk dressed up in their finery with cash to burn.
This is the world Jaimy Gordon takes on — Indian Mound Downs, where the horses are mostly aging, drugged, or lame and the trainers are as crooked and cynical as they come. Jaimy Gordon knows her way around this world and she certainly knows her horses. Each of the four parts of the book is centered on an individual horse — Mr. These are horses filled with personality, treading their way into the flying mud with chopping legs and nostrils cavernous and flaring, neurotic as all hell, almost but not quite ready to live up to their potential.
Some of them shine: Medicine Ed, for example, who dispenses drugs to the horses is beautifully depicted and Maggie — and her cruel awakening — is also detailed with fine strokes. Others — including Tommy -- are less so. These lowlifes speak in their own racetrack patois and it helps to know at least be open to learning this patois ; they are limited and restricted, unable to survive without the dust and the road of the racetrack.
The characters become secondary to the world they live in, bit players who strut and fret their hour on stage when ultimately, they are mostly doomed. Before, you thought you knew, and felt your way along blindly. View all 7 comments. May 29, Joan Colby rated it it was amazing. One is inclined to think Gordon must have spent years on the backside, but the probability is that, as an English professor, she relied on research.
She gets away with striking and poetic phrases without disturbing the narrative, itself quite a feat. A caveat: the plot premise: an out-of-towner arrives with a stable of unknown horses to enter in claiming races with the notion of picking up a gambling score, is not only hackneyed but implausible as such a scheme is well-known to horsemen worldwide. I like that Gordon who is older than I would have thought does not condescend to the reader by altering racing lingo or explaining it.
Yet, this may however, limit her readership. She deserves the National Book Award that this volume garnered for her.
Jan 26, Jim rated it did not like it Shelves: animals , 1paper , did-not-finish , 2fiction. This is all mixed up with some sentences being thoughts while others are apparently supposed to be dialog. Jun 11, Tom rated it liked it Shelves: amer-contemp-novel. This book was a victim of inflated expectations and anticipation. I wanted to like it; I wanted to love it. Wanted to love it so much that I put off reading it for months, which stretched into years. I wanted Secretariat winning the Belmont by 30 lengths and got a raw, gutsy 'mudder' wi This book was a victim of inflated expectations and anticipation.
I wanted Secretariat winning the Belmont by 30 lengths and got a raw, gutsy 'mudder' winning a no-name race by a half length on a sloppy track.
Lots of splashy style that smelled and tasted like the real thing but splattered the goggles so much I had trouble seeing the horse's rump right in front of me, much less the finish line.
I got frustrated, impatient -- I'm a lazy jock, I admit, overweight, stone hands, no feel for a stubborn, cranky, proud horse when I'm not in the mood -- and wanted to pull up, pretend he had a cracked hoof or something, but the horse wanted to run, so I stayed on for the ride. He wore me out, almost threw me coming down the stretch. Though I admired his heart, he was no immortal.
Unlike Achilles' divine steeds weeping over Patroclus' corpse, neither of us shed a tear, either celebratory or funereal afterwards. He pranced himself back to his stall without so much as a knicker or tail-switch in my direction, and that was fine. I respected his independence, his conviction, his commitment to his style, but I would not ride him again if given the chance. Hemingway's "My Old Man" will probably kick a few grooms and nip an exercise rider or two when he finds out he came in second, but I'll make it up to him later with a feedbag spiked with sour mash.
Jan 15, Diane rated it liked it. Winner of the National Book Award but for the life of me I can't figure out why.
There are good things about it and Gordon writes some very vivid images, but the book was uneven at best. It is the early 70's at a seedy horse track in West Virginia. There are mafia types fixing races and beating up the locals. The characters are sketchy in both senses of the word. Sometimes dramatic things are happening to them without enough explanation. The style is odd. There are multiple narrators and it's ha Winner of the National Book Award but for the life of me I can't figure out why.
There are multiple narrators and it's hard to follow the rather loose plot. Most characters have chapters written in 3rd person but one is written in 2nd. I found it disconcerting although maybe there was some literary reason for it. The horses as characters worked pretty well. There was a dark Vs light, good Vs. Gordon knows her subject and writes some great albeit sometimes overworked images. It can easily slip into pulp fiction territory. The book did grab me a bit about halfway through and I loved the character of Maggie who seemed used up and lovely at the same time.
Much like her horse National Velvet it ain't! These characters are hard core and rough. What really got old for me? Nov 15, Joe Drape rated it it was amazing. This is the best book I've read in a long time, finished it in one sitting. It also is quite rightfully a finalist for the National Book Award. It's true literature. Anyone who knows anything about horse racing will be captivated as Gordon perfectly evokes the beauty and grit as well as the desperation and hope of racetrackers who inhabit a down and out track in West Virginia.
There's a gentlemanly loan shark, a broken down groom, a crazy trainer, a crooked one and a head strong girl. Some Wow. Some of them love their broken down horses, others could care less about them. All of them live for the thrill of the betting coup and a cashed ticket. You breath the red dust and hear the leaky roofs of horse racing's grits-and-hard-toast-circuit as it is beautifully written. Ultimately, Gordon said in an interview, Lord of Misrule is about "trying to figure out what the shape of your luck on Earth is and, one way or another, come to terms with that.
Oct 03, Sara Warner rated it it was amazing Shelves: literary , greatest , horses. This is a wildly great novel. Jaimy Gordon creates the seedy and dangerous life of the dregs of the horse racing world Gordon is a magician with language.
She envelopes this weird and grittily exotic world in a fog of desire, cruelty, love and nobility, never letting up on her breakneck race to save what matters--if only we can figure out what that is. She is a story-teller extraordinaire, a This is a wildly great novel. She is a story-teller extraordinaire, approaching her narrative with a fearlessness rare in contemporary authors. You might love this novel as much as anything you've ever read, but it ain't for the cozy crowd.
Dec 08, Amber Scaife rated it it was ok. While I recognize that there are things to admire about this book the writing shines in a few places, and the characters are well-crafted , I can't say that I enjoyed it. Or even particularly liked it. Because there are also things here that I demonstrably didn't enjoy: the sex scenes were icky thankfully there were only a couple , and the racetrack details were beyond my ken.
I admit that this last fault is my own, since I know very close to nothing about horse racing, although I suppose a ca While I recognize that there are things to admire about this book the writing shines in a few places, and the characters are well-crafted , I can't say that I enjoyed it.
I admit that this last fault is my own, since I know very close to nothing about horse racing, although I suppose a case could be made that the book should be readable to those outside track life.
So, a mixed bag this one, for me, at least. Apr 03, Rachel Ludwig rated it really liked it. There are four main characters: Tommy Hansel and Maggie Koderer who hope of winning big and moving on to the next track; Medicine Ed, the old groom who dreams of winning enough to retire to Florida; and the loan shark and loner, Two-Tie, who is growing increasingly tired of the racetrack game.
Gordon constructs these characters as well as a myriad of other characters skillfully. I drew many similarities between the main characters and the four primary horses. They seemed to be reflections of one another. I liked that she used the horses as a means for character development.
The POV is an alternating close third person on the main characters except for the chapters which focus on Tommy which are in second person perspective. The alternating POV gives the reader a three dimensional look at the characters by showing what they think as well as how others see them. Gordon really captures life on the racetrack and immerses the reader in this world. The language, superstitions, gambling, gangsters, and desperation were very believable.
It is clear she is knowledgeable on this subject. Description is prevalent throughout this book which is a blessing to readers who are not familiar with the racetrack or West Virginia. I must warn, however, since it is written primarily in the vernacular of a West Virginian racetrack and since Gordon does not define some of the slang and racing terms, the wording may throw the reader for a loop at first.
However, I found that after I became familiar with the different narrative voices and characters, it was easy to understand the language. Lord of Misrule is about four people trying to make it big at a second rate racetrack, but there seems to be several deeper themes throughout this book: finding a home, forging relationships, breaking ties, and coming to terms with death.
The subject and setting lent themselves to these themes marvelously. Horseracing could tie people together or tear them apart depending simply on what side of a bet one found oneself. The racetrack could become a home or a stop on the long road to finding one.
The racetrack also can symbolize life and death. The people in this story are dependent on it to survive but it is also the place of death for unlucky horses and people alike. I really liked how Gordon tied the plot, setting, and character development so closely together. Everything seemed to fit perfectly. Though Lord of Misrule is full of tragedy, it seemed humorous and somehow uplifting at the same time.
Jaimy Gordon did such an excellent job creating her characters horses included that it seems fitting to rejoice for their successes and mourn their deaths. I really liked this book and would recommend it to anyone who is interested in the subject of horseracing as well as to those who are not. Feb 15, Joseph rated it it was amazing. Gordon expertly employees four separate third-person narrators well, one is actually second-person throughout the entire book. Each chapter dives into a different characters head and never once does the reader feel at a loss for who is the focus.
Every character in this book is trying to stack the odds in their favor to either simply survive in or walk away very rich from the horse racing world. The truth is that they are all susceptible to what feels like a perpetual cycle of many losses with an occasional win so long as they remain within the confines of the racing world—which can be seen as a metaphor for human existence in the world at large.
This book is also about the fallacy of the Cinderella story. Each person who makes any kind of gain, legitimate or otherwise, does so through hard work or very dirty dealings, which often lead to unpleasant consequences. There is nothing pretty about the workings of this horse race world, even some of the horses themselves have been run ragged. Yet, everyone loves a Cinderella story, even if they have to ignore a few shady details to believe it.
In the end, Maggie discovers that she is stronger and more capable of handling life than she ever knew herself to be before coming to Indian Mound Downs. She no longer feels she was there simply to take care of Tommy Hansel and his horses; she was there for herself as much as for any man or any animal. The language in this book is divine. Even in the early stages of the book when I was trying to orient myself and when the action was slow, the language kept me reading. The first two chapters are great, but it was as if Gordon was purposefully keeping us in the gate when all we wanted to do was burst out and get on with the race.
While the whole book is superb, Chapter 27 is some of the best reading I have ever had the privilege of experiencing. I went over it at least twice and plan on reading it again. In that chapter, specifically, Gordon carries the reader on her back as if she were a seasoned thoroughbred; the reader is never distracted or thrown off by a single word. For me as a writer, the greatest strength of all, regarding Lord of Misrule, is that every time I put it down, I wanted to write.
May 09, David Granger rated it it was amazing. First, I have to confess to a bias: I love horse racing! I love the lore and I love watching those beautiful animals run for the roses, the black-eyed susans, whatever.
And I know a little about the sport. I know what a "claimer" is and I also knew, coming into this book, that horse-racing particularly at the smaller, lesser-known tracks has its ugly underbelly. I have to admit to being thrown a bit at the b First, I have to confess to a bias: I love horse racing! I have to admit to being thrown a bit at the beginning by Gordon's use of dialect especially with the character Medicine Ed , but once I grew used to it, understanding it became natural. In the end, I think the dialect added much to the reader's understanding of the character and was essential to the book's success.
Lord of Misrule offers a glimpse at the aforementioned underbelly of horse racing at a fictional race track in West Virginia Or is it fictional? One wonders if it's based on Mountaineer Downs. It's the story of those characters that depend on that underbelly for their livelihoods. And it is the story of the desperate greed that manifests itself in the struggle among those at the sport's bottom to "succeed" whatever that means in the squalid world that Gordon creates.
This book really hit the mark for me, but, again, maybe it's due to the biases I had coming in. Still, Gordon's talent is undeniable. I just hope that her unblinking look at the ugly side of this industry helps bring about improvements and not the end of a proud sport through which many of the most honest and, yes, I am certain that a lot of shenanigans, like those portrayed in the book, actually occur in the industry , hard-working Americans make their living.
Oct 15, Sara rated it really liked it. I read it more out of a sense of hometown pride—Hey, someone who teaches in Kalamazoo, Michigan won the National Book Award!
And at first I was stumped: Gordon takes us into a world that seems so foreign and gritty—the world of horse racing—and leaves us there to fend for ourselves. I had to keep going back to reread it to make sure I understand the plot elements that hinged on this particular bit of horse-racing.
Reading the book at first really felt like work. Instead the story is unpredictable while still being believable. Sep 18, Kat Hagedorn rated it really liked it Shelves: fiction , reviewed. Or at least the best horse name in this book.
Strangely, though, this book isn't really about horses. It's about how we've transformed horses into a substrata of American culture, and all the wonderful and scuzzy things that come from having done that.
I'm sure the book has deeper meanings than that, but the way it reads allows you to simply go with the flow and enjoy the power that Ms. Gordon has -- how she plays with sentence structure, how she develops sympathy for characters lacking in social skills or moral bases, how she can so easily describe various horse personalities Because it's a strange kind of power, and it makes it a bit of a loopy read.
The first 50 pages are going to throw you a bit: who's talking to who? Don't let it dissuade you from keeping on. That kind of power means that you don't have to pay attention to every little detail on the page.
As one of my book club members said in response to books like this: it's like Shakespeare, you just let it wash over you.
This book is perhaps not quite that I really loved my time at a real horse track. Feb 24, Zach rated it it was amazing. I have to be honest, the only reason I picked this book up was because the author, Jaimy Gordon, was going to be giving a lecture in town.
I didn't care about small-stakes horse racing, and I'm always wary of award winners. As soon as I finished the second chapter, though, I was hooked, and the novel kept getting better from there. Gordon crafts a collection of excellent characters, from the young and naive Maggie, to the veteran Medicine Ed whose dialect is pitch perfect and never difficult to I have to be honest, the only reason I picked this book up was because the author, Jaimy Gordon, was going to be giving a lecture in town.
Gordon crafts a collection of excellent characters, from the young and naive Maggie, to the veteran Medicine Ed whose dialect is pitch perfect and never difficult to read. The world of this particular horse track is well crafted, and the reader understands the poor racers and petty mobsters who run the place, almost like they'd always known them. The prose is beautiful and natural.
Even descriptions of the most mundane actions read like poetry. Most importantly, though, by the end of the book I cared about the people, about the horses, and about an old dog named Elizabeth. While it's not uncommon for me to like people, and while I have a weak spot for dogs, I don't have any special affinity for horses, except the one created here in Gordon's novel. Nov 02, Rebecca Renner rated it it was amazing Shelves: horse-books. The first time I read this book, I totally hated it.
I'm glad I gave it another chance. It is completely voice-driven. So if that isn't your thing, or if you know zilch about horse racing, this might not be the book for you.
Readers also enjoyed. Literary Fiction. About Jaimy Gordon. Jaimy Gordon. She is also the author of a novella, Circumspections from an Equestrian Statue, and the fantasy classic novel Shamp of the City-Solo.
Books by Jaimy Gordon. Related Articles. Are You Ready for Some Football Here in the United States, it's football season. It's time of great rivalry, wearing of team colors, and obsessing over the Read more Trivia About Lord of Misrule.
Quotes from Lord of Misrule. She rolled her bony knuckles all along the fallen tree of scar tissue at the crest of the back, prying up its branches, loosening its teeth.
And it must be having some effect: when she walked Pelter these days he wasn't the sour fellow he used to be, he was sportive, even funny. She had walked him this morning until the rising sun snagged in the hackberry thicket.
Hand the abstracts out in class as a study guide, or use them as a 'key' for a class discussion. They are relatively brief, but can serve to be an excellent refresher of Lord of Misrule for either a student or teacher. Character and Object Descriptions provide descriptions of the significant characters as well as objects and places in Lord of Misrule.
These can be printed out and used as an individual study guide for students, a 'key' for leading a class discussion, a summary review prior to exams, or a refresher for an educator. The character and object descriptions are also used in some of the quizzes and tests in this lesson plan. The longest descriptions run about words. They become shorter as the importance of the character or object declines. This section of the lesson plan contains 30 Daily Lessons. Daily Lessons each have a specific objective and offer at least three often more ways to teach that objective.
Lessons include classroom discussions, group and partner activities, in-class handouts, individual writing assignments, at least one homework assignment, class participation exercises and other ways to teach students about Lord of Misrule in a classroom setting.
You can combine daily lessons or use the ideas within them to create your own unique curriculum. They vary greatly from day to day and offer an array of creative ideas that provide many options for an educator. Fun Classroom Activities differ from Daily Lessons because they make 'fun' a priority. The 20 enjoyable, interactive classroom activities that are included will help students understand Lord of Misrule in fun and entertaining ways.
Fun Classroom Activities include group projects, games, critical thinking activities, brainstorming sessions, writing poems, drawing or sketching, and countless other creative exercises. Many of the activities encourage students to interact with each other, be creative and think 'outside of the box,' and ultimately grasp key concepts from the text by 'doing' rather than simply studying. Fun activities are a great way to keep students interested and engaged while still providing a deeper understanding of Lord of Misrule and its themes.
Students should have a full understanding of the unit material in order to answer these questions. They often include multiple parts of the work and ask for a thorough analysis of the overall text. They nearly always require a substantial response.
Essay responses are typically expected to be one or more page s and consist of multiple paragraphs, although it is possible to write answers more briefly. These essays are designed to challenge a student's understanding of the broad points in a work, interactions among the characters, and main points and themes of the text.
But, they also cover many of the other issues specific to the work and to the world today. The 60 Short Essay Questions listed in this section require a one to two sentence answer. They ask students to demonstrate a deeper understanding of Lord of Misrule by describing what they've read, rather than just recalling it. The short essay questions evaluate not only whether students have read the material, but also how well they understand and can apply it.
They require more thought than multiple choice questions, but are shorter than the essay questions. The Multiple Choice Questions in this lesson plan will test a student's recall and understanding of Lord of Misrule.
Use these questions for quizzes, homework assignments or tests. The questions are broken out into sections, so they focus on specific chapters within Lord of Misrule.
This allows you to test and review the book as you proceed through the unit. Typically, there are questions per chapter, act or section. Use the Oral Reading Evaluation Form when students are reading aloud in class. Pass the forms out before you assign reading, so students will know what to expect.
You can use the forms to provide general feedback on audibility, pronunciation, articulation, expression and rate of speech. You can use this form to grade students, or simply comment on their progress. Use the Writing Evaluation Form when you're grading student essays. This will help you establish uniform criteria for grading essays even though students may be writing about different aspects of the material.
By following this form you will be able to evaluate the thesis, organization, supporting arguments, paragraph transitions, grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc. They pull questions from the multiple choice and short essay sections, the character and object descriptions, and the chapter abstracts to create worksheets that can be used for pop quizzes, in-class assignments and homework. Periodic homework assignments and quizzes are a great way to encourage students to stay on top of their assigned reading.
They can also help you determine which concepts and ideas your class grasps and which they need more guidance on. By pulling from the different sections of the lesson plan, quizzes and homework assignments offer a comprehensive review of Lord of Misrule in manageable increments that are less substantial than a full blown test.
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