The Violent Land by Wayne D. Overholser

 

I did not like my father Bartram Nathan. I had never disliked him more than the first day we saw Howard Valley.

Those two short sentences begin this 1954 Spur Winner by Mr. Overholser. The fatherly distaste grows from there—the disdain for a poor provider, a vain man, a lazy man is palpable—almost uncomfortably so.

The lack of respect is warranted but complicated by making the father not wholly a bad man, more simply an ineffectual man who drags a family through the consequences of his continual “It’s not my fault” lifestyle.

This is more the story of the disdainful son than that of the father, a son who wants to set himself apart as the polar opposite of the man he disrespects.

In most ways the novel is somewhat standard for the 1950s course, but the father-son dynamics and the depth of the disdain give it an added interest.

While I may not have awarded it the Spur Award myself had I been on the advisory board of the year, I did not find the reading of the tale unrewarding.

I might also mention the novel is listed among Jon Lewis’ 100 Best Western Novels, so please consider my B-ish opinion likely in the minority.