Reading about the madness of a fictional character is one thing, but author Douglas Richardson takes us right into the whirlpool of insanity in this strange and squirmy novel, The Corruption of Zachary R. The evolution of madness can often be traced to genetics, but then there are many cases of just dumb luck. Zachary R.‘s mother suffered through horrible nightmares, while his father was so enraptured by the game of chess that he virtually checked out of any part of his life that didn’t include a bishop or a pawn. Emerging from this sad union is Zachary R., whose life seems destined to tumble down its own stairs.
Zachary meets a woman in his apartment building and eventually fathers a daughter with her. But it’s safe to assume he won’t be appearing on the cover of Parenting Magazine any time soon. Zachary is doomed by so many outside forces that even he is sane enough to see that he is on an inexorable path to madness.
There is a certain yin and yang to Richardson’s work that moves us to quickly invest ourselves in his characters. The novel sails along in short bursts of revelations. At times we are treated to some of Zachary R.‘s stream of consciousness, but Richardson is too good a writer to make this a daunting task to read. He writes with a poet’s heart and a suspense novelist’s eye. The reader will soon realize that Zachary R. is on a fast track to disaster, but willingly goes along with him, wishing to help at every turn.
Oddly enough, The Corruption of Zachary R. is a breezy read; this is almost like taking the scrapbook of an unknown family and quickly fanning through the pictures on the pages. Also surprising is that this potentially morbid story is buoyed by much humor. Richardson manages to ratchet up the laughs even though both ends of the bridge to sanity are collapsing. Most readers won’t forget this novel any time soon.
Review Date: February 2010.
March 8, 2010
A jumpy, bare-bones plunge into the vortex of one man’s madness.
In staccato chapters dealt out like a deck of cards–snappy, latent, repeating–Richardson tracks Zachary R.’s descent into psychosis. It is not a combustible event, but rather quotidian, and its very everydayness makes it especially creepy and troubling. Richardson explores the faults and folds of Zachary’s life–his father’s obsession with chess, his mother’s comic-but-for-its-ramifications death, the concussive darkness of his marriage, his daughter’s colorful waywardness–in writing that has the elemental quality and dreamy, out-of-body remoteness of black-and-white photography. The author frequently makes forays into an experimental tone, as if tasting the words–“She returned home like scurvy over anemia” or “the private nature of file clerks.” Though Richardson keeps a tight rein on his metaphors, an occasional hackneyed “reverent as stained glass at dawn” also crops up. Repetition is a powerful leitmotif in the author’s arsenal–“He considered the definition of insanity: ‘to do the same thing over and over and expect different results.’ ”–and he deploys it with a Hitchcockian fatality. He introduces Zachary’s madness and then circles back to introduce it again. Diverting customers appear and reappear to usher Zachary toward his rewards, talismanic elements hit the reader like doomful claps of thunder–brass knuckles, chess pieces, rivers and women. Richardson tenders characters that, due to the story’s brevity and swiftness, are quickly sympathetic and pack a compressed punch. It is not much of a stretch to identify with Zachary’s helpless gibbering, and his masochistic wife (“she received her beating, which made her whirl and pop”) is plain unnerving. Episodes of bleak humor lighten Zachary’s passage–a snail crawling the grounds of the asylum speaks to the patients, “but would do so selectively so as not to worsen their already fragile psyches.” Still, this Mobius strip of misery will inevitably take a detour to Zachary’s oblivion.
An artful, beguiling voyage to a place no one wants to go.
A fascinating tale of a young man’s downward spiral into depression.
Richardson (The Corruption of Zachary R., 2009) follows his debut novel with this fast-paced, harrowing sequel that begins with H. James “Jimmy” Branhoover’s suicide, then backtracks through his unique childhood. Jimmy, born to the “well-to-do and good-for-nothing” banker H. Charles Branhoover and Chloe, a former prostitute, is the heir apparent of his father’s fortunes. His childhood is simple enough: He has a best friend, the beautiful Kay Sunday—whose parents are “spiritual consultants and amateur astronomers, selling God and telescopes”—and he soon befriends Clayton Mulder, who winds up with the nickname Innocent #2. The three form a bond of sorts, until Jimmy begins to feel threatened by Innocent #2, whom he suspects is capturing all of Kay’s attention. As Jimmy struggles with his shifting dynamic with Kay, his life takes a tragic turn when his father suddenly passes, leaving Jimmy an inheritance of millions of dollars. He turns to religion to help sort through his emotions and soon finds himself embroiled in a bitter battle between the corrupt Rev. Vander Stevenson (aka Patchouli Goldwatch) and Kay’s family. Goldwatch goes so far as to paint swastikas on the side of the church, then blames the Sundays. Eager to correct the wrongs, and hopeful that he can win back Kay, Jimmy endeavors to buy the church from Goldwatch and hand it over to the Sundays. Just as it seems that Jimmy’s life is falling into place, a late-night phone call includes a surprising proposition that threatens to send Jimmy to new depths of unhappiness. Equal parts comedic and tragic, this coming-of-age tale explores compelling themes such as faith, wealth, deception and betrayal. The story’s opening, detailing Jimmy’s tragic end, leads to a series of compelling scenes as the reader pieces together the events that triggered his suicide. Filled with memorable characters and thoughtful moments, this well-paced story provides lessons as well as entertainment.
An impressive story of corruption, religion and friendship, and the lengths people go to for love.
