History Repeats Itself
Heart of a Hobo" is part of Robertson's "The Great Depression Trilogy". I was not surprised to find myself completely engrossed in the novel. Once again, Mr. Robertson shows his gift for painting vivid word pictures with an intimacy that plants the reader firmly in the story.
Briefly, a young 15 year old boy who connected with transients most likely in the first novel, decides to illegally take a freight train 9 miles from his suburban home of Murray to Salt Lake City. Bo the main character, is discovered before he departs on his dangerous course by his younger siblings: Egg, Cat and a tumultuous 3 year old, Casey. Their adventure lands them several hundred miles North in Pocatello, Idaho. To avoid tags and spoilers for other readers, what follows is a harrowing trip home riddled with murder, hunger and an unknown predator out for revenge. The children are safely delivered to their beloved "Gram" and their much older brother, Rance. But the "ride" is far from over.
The suspense is well-timed in building momentum, and begins to move rapidly after their return. The predator, Comfort Jackson is one of the most evil and perfectly drawn characters in fiction.
Robertson has written another powerful social commentary that succeeds on every level. His well-defined characters coupled with the deliciously sarcastic dialog utilizing the slang of the era, buoys the story from becoming mired in humdrum melodrama. Seen through the eyes of the children, the narrative shifts during traumatic periods, taking on an almost ethereal yet nightmarish quality. Robertson then weaves complex ideas into long, poetic sentences during these surrealistic passages, reaffirming the children's lack of understanding adult situations. The last few chapters build to an explosive and completely unexpected and ironic climax...the writer's stock in trade. The author cuts his narrative off at crucial points then shifts it to another before returning, thus building classic suspense and fear.
Mr. Robertson is a devoted Steinbeck fan from Salt Lake City, but the amount of time he has lived in the South has greatly influenced his style of writing. He is indeed a regional writer, focusing his works on his hometown. Yet his sometimes darkly woven style is reminiscent of our Southern Gothic writers, by combining his "Steinbeckian" mentality and style coupled with the likes of a Carson McCullers and a Faulkner.
A wonderful, intensely dark, funny and deeply tender look at bygone days, I anxiously await the next installment of this trilogy by this gifted writer of mores and values. Terry Robertson expounds an era that has come back to haunt us in the worst possible way imaginable. History does indeed have a way of repeating itself, and the author unflinchingly rubs our noses in it with "Heart of a Hobo".
--Carl U.R. Scout
