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The thing that keeps me reading would have to be the characters. I have to come clean and say I'm only a fourth of the way in, but I'll go ahead and leave my impressions anyway.The first few paragraphs were tremendous. I find it fairly interesting that Hank has hidden layers (of malevolence), and that his wife is rather stoic. With such a beginning, I wondered how the author could sustain the tension for a few hundred pages. But soon the novel turned into a tale of the two brothers (interesting) and then into something else.I can see the structure of the novel and think it is graphically simple (Bad things will ensue, etc etc). The one part where I *almost* did not continue was the part where Hank confesses something particularly heinous to his wife over a spaghetti dinner (Honestly, this has got to be the coolest 8-month-pregnant woman since Frances McDormand's character in "Fargo") and I just thought her reaction was way too accepting.The parts that I like the best (so far) have to do with the crows. I love that the crows are aggressive and that they inhabit the interior of the plane, and I love that little hole that a crow makes right in the center of Hank's forehead, the one that bleeds and then forms a scab rather quickly (Holy Significant Metaphor).I'll keep reading.
Well, be careful what you wish for. I can't imagine a more powerful warning regarding the destructive power of greed. Given the innate greed and grabbiness of the human heart, sudden riches often has a less than satisfactory result in human lives. Many of us have probably dreamed of finding a large amount of money that leaves no clue of who it might have belonged to. We fantasize about suddenly becoming financially independent and what we could do with all that money. You will become increasingly tense as you read this book and try not to get your heart set on a happily ever after ending. You will find it hard to set the book down so try to read it over a weekend when you have lots of spare time.
How could his wife - a mother and seemingly kind and thoughtful person, time after time, condone his actions. This book reveals the most incredulous storyline I have ever read and believe me that says I lot becuase over the years I've read thousands of books. How could a mild-mannered, ordinary accountant be transformed into a thoughlessly cruel serial killer. It is a page turner because we want to see who he is going to kill next and what bizarre actions will follow-not because it is a well-written, positively thought-provoking read. Thumbs down x 5 for this one.
In the capable hands of Smith, the bad karma that drops upon the couple in the end doesn't feel contrived. "A Simple Plan" is a riveting tale about three ordinary but different men who find a boatload of cash in a wrecked plane and the chaos that ensues following their discovery. From there, numerous other "fateful" events pile up, justifying certain actions in the minds of a few of the characters. Capable of bludgeoning another human being, Hank inexplicably gets queasy feeling his unborn child kick in his wife's stomach; he can't stand watching her nurse the baby; and he feels like he's "eavesdropping" on her when she's on the phone and they're in the same room. Though none of these characteristics are necessarily indicative of a murderer, as time goes on it's evident that Hank and Sarah are selfish, evil people despite their tendency to rationalize all their actions in the name of a fortune that will provide an easy life ahead. Smith's novel are anything but straightforward and easy. Though called "A Simple Plan," the ugly occurrences in Scott B.
As in real life, the twists of fate and what-ifs splattered throughout this story make even the smallest events substantial. At the most basic level, the wrecked plane wouldn't have even been discovered by the three men had a fox not darted out in front of the truck they were traveling in on a wintry Ohio road. An innocent question by one of the main characters, "Is that a plane." gets this book off and running. Perhaps because he's the narrator, Hank may be the most interesting study in personality. Though "normal" by society's standards, Hank's subtle quirks, rampant deceit, shyness and aloofness may slightly help explain some of his dastardly deeds. Halfway through the story, Hank realizes that he and his wife live an insular, solitary existence with hardly any friends. Human interaction is acutely captured by the author, as the cold, bleak barrenness of Ohio suburbia stands in marked contrast to the anxiety-filled emotions and actions of all the characters involved. Smith's unembellished dialogue and writing style, in fact, give "A Simple Plan" an authentic feel to match the snowy Midwestern setting that always seems to be filled with foreboding crows and a deadened sense of misery.
It's a story about tested morals, fate, risks, taking sides, paranoia and, most scary of all, the raging greed that money can produce in even the most ordinary of people. Ironically, amid all the backstabbing that goes on, brothers Hank and Jacob, previously distant from one another, become much closer. But as things progress, fate takes a backseat to avarice, bloodshed and all-out suspicions. Though the plot is stellar, what keeps me coming back to this book are the characters: The narrator, Hank, an educated accountant and family man whose life spirals downward with every choice he decides upon; his take-charge wife, Sarah, whose conniving, sometimes foolish, suggestions often make matters much more harrowing; Hank's brother, Jacob, a high school dropout and loner who comes across as the sympathetic one in the book; and Lou, the only friend of Jacob, whose rough-around-the-edges personality causes nothing but worry to Hank and Sarah. Their reflective conversations and eventual reconnecting are one touching aspect to the book. If nothing else, "A Simple Plan" teaches two cliched but valuable lessons: Money isn't everything, and crime doesn't pay.
I liked this movie, so I decided to buy the book. The darkness just couldn't be stopped due to the greed of the people involved. It was even better. The novel felt like a modern Shakespeare tale. The wife, coldly changing and directing from the back reminded me of Lady Macbeth, but in some ways worse. It's a simple story, but that doesn't mean boring, it's one of the best novels I've read in quite awhile.
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