Max Brand
1940
298 pages for a middle-schooler?
Overview:
A family is spoiled by money, the dam breaks and ruins the town, and The Dude goes from bad guy to kind of good guy.
Disclaimer: I read only the first forty pages, the last forty pages and a few lines in between, more or less, amounting to about a quarter of the book. However, I'm still confident in this review.
Summary:
Joseph Naylor became a wealthy man by building a dam next to a small rural town, making it prosperous. However, it took him twenty years of living an extremely frugal life, instilling some bitterness in his wife. While their new house was being built, his wife and two children spent a year and a half in the city, spending a lot of money on clothes, furnishings and some gambling by his son. Upon their return, Mr. Naylor is disappointed to find his wife with an air of superiority and his children, in particular his son, arrogant and spoiled.
Not long afterwards, someone sabotages the dam by blowing a hole in it and flooding the valley. Mr. Naylor is ruined financially, as are many of the townspeople. His son, Alfred, who lost much of his father's money to a cheating gambler, steps up and vows to help his father rebuild the dam, though his father claims to be too old and weary to start over. Nevertheless, Alfred is determined. He realizes the only way he can get enough money in time to save the town is to steal it. He meets The Dude, who is an escaped convict on the run. Together they rob a gambling hall (I think), and though Alfred gets shot, he manages to leave his share of the money with his father and flee.
Medium story short, Mr. Naylor planned the sabotage of the dam himself because he felt that money had ruined his family. The Dude basically turns himself in to save Alfred who has impressed him with his sacrifice and toughness. Since all the money was returned, charges were dropped against Alfred and the sheriff looked the other way and let The Dude go free.
The dam was rebuilt with money Mr. Naylor had hidden away, and they constructed an irrigation system to create new farmlands (I think).
Review
The problem that Max Brand lays out in the opening pages, fairly directly, is what to do when having too much money is ruining your family. The wife is bitchy and complaining, the son is arrogant and spoiled, the daughter, along with her mother, is concerned about appearances because she is being courted by a wealthy suitor. The author lays it on so thick in the beginning of the story that it really turned me off to reading further. The members of his family felt more like stick-figure characters than real people. The father then discusses this problem with his friend, saying that if he cuts them off financially, they may hate and resent him. That's the set-up.
I don't think the author set this story in any specific date or place, other than the town named 'Cumshaw'. Granted, I didn't read every word, but those details are usually laid out early. There are no cars, so that sets it back to the 1800's. The wealthy suitor of the daughter was English, but I don't think this was set in England. He is an American author and it felt very American. Is it a 'western'? No. I would call it a 'horse-and-buggy town' story.
This book is like a cheap direct-to-streaming movie: There is a gaping plot hole, character development is non existent or very sudden, and everyone gets a happy ending. And that's why you watch the movie or read the book - for entertainment, not for meaning and contemplation. However, if you are a non-professional book reviewer, you cannot let those things slide.
Serious Plot Hole
By destroying the dam, Mr. Naylor destroyed much farmland and farms, and ranchland and ranches, and also much forested area was wiped clean of trees. Though the town itself was on higher ground and didn't flood, many of these people were tied into the farming and ranching. The banker in particular states his case that his bank is the holder of all the loans that are now not able to be repaid. It's common sense that the destruction caused by a dam break would be very high in financial terms and also in environmental terms, and certainly not limited to the cost of the dam itself or one man's fortune. Trust me, Mr. Naylor would go to prison if they didn't kill him first.
There is a love triangle, but it's hardly worth mentioning. In the end, the young lady goes for Alfred Naylor over the convict-on-the-run, The Dude. But The Dude is okay with it, apparently he's grown and matured since his escape from jail.
To the Author's Credit:
I like the idea of this issue with 'money and the negative effects it can have on a family' as the driving force of the story, because in real life it is a real issue. Parents generally want 'a better life' for their children, and money seems to be the answer, but we all know the dangers of giving everything that is asked for. And it's a great plot twist in the end to discover that Mr. Naylor is responsible for the dam sabotage. I don't think most readers will see that coming.
To the Author's Discredit:
However, in this story, 'money' is seemingly the only force doing harm. No responsibility is taken by the father. In the first chapters, Mr. Naylor is chiding his family for spending so much money in the big city, but who sent the money to them? Of course, sabotaging one's own livelihood is a ridiculous solution and not an option anyone would choose.
The Title of the Book
I bought the book online solely based on the title. It's from 1940 and I didn't know the word 'dude' existed back then. I thought it was modern slang. I have since learned that, according to Merriam-Webster, the first known use of the word 'dude' was in 1877 to mean "a man extremely fastidious in dress and manner". That makes sense because the dude in The Dude was a fancy dresser, that was his hallmark style. 'The Dude' from The Big Lebowski was not a fancy dresser, in fact, the opposite, if I recall correctly. But he was a very interesting and cool character, which is what I thought I was going to get with a book titled 'The Dude'. But I didn't. Not even close.
About the Author
His name is Frederick Schiller Faust. 'Max Brand' was just one of more than fifteen pseudonyms I counted on his Wikipedia page. He was the most prolific writer I have come across as yet, publishing two or three or even four titles every year for twenty-five years. Some may have been just 'stories' for magazines, but I'm not sure. Why did he need to change his name so often? Were his novels not selling well? Was it a game to him? Was he trying to hide from himself? I'd love to know.
During WWII, Mr. Faust thought it would be a good idea to sign on as a war correspondent to get experience so he could write a war novel. Unfortunately, he got killed out there during combat, the poor fellow.
Best Line:
Commenting on how Mr. Naylor was dressed to pick up his family from the train station:
Joseph Naylor was (dressed) half Sunday and half Monday. He had on a white shirt with a black jacket, but he wore it over his overalls, haha. Jed Clampett-style, I guess.
Read the last sentence of the first paragraph. I read it four times trying to visualize what was going on. Is it a reference to corsets?
I love the little drawing here.
It would make a good logo for a dude ranch.
For some reason, this book has a copyright date of 1934 and 1940. By all internet accounts, it was published in 1940. Perhaps the title was copyrighted earlier?
Also, I saw this book going for $150 and $70. I guess because they were first editions and had a jacket cover. Mine is also a first edition, and I would be happy to have my $10 plus shipping back. (Not really. I have to keep it in my library now that I have officially reviewed it, even though it is the sloppiest review I've ever done. But if someone waved cash in front of my face, I could let it go.)
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