I ordered a copy from the library, in an attempt to get one last “dog related” read in before the lunar year shifts our focus to the pig. How silly I was, adding this, ever so casually, to my year of the dog shelf. Life is mean and tough for his poor players, and each character is drawn with such understanding and depth, you can't help but feel compassion, even for the one who deserves it the least.Īs you can tell, I loved this book. This, his fifth novel, is a modern reworking of the biblical story of Cain and Abel, with darkness to spare. He carries with him the dream shattered soul of John Steinbeck, the quiet foreboding reminiscent of Wharton's Ethan Frome, and the elegance and simplicity of John Williams’ Stoner. I'm disappointed in 'us', in a people who could let Thomas Savage's works collect dust and dwindle from the collective consciousness. Satisfying endings are just so last-mid-century.

Psychological tension that just about strangles you with its looming dread and doom just doesn't do it for us anymore. Nor do we need to read the father of Brokeback Mountain. We're not into writers who are ahead of their time. Maybe it's because we decided that it was no longer fashionable to read slow burning, ruthless stories. I pondered this the whole time I was reading this 1967 novel, and asked myself a few pertinent questions such as: Why isn't Thomas Savage a name that easily rolls off the tongue of many a book lover? Why isn't his name the answer to a Jeopardy question? Why isn't 'Thomas-Savage-ian' an adjective? I wonder how extraordinary writers fade into obscurity. But he reckons without an unlikely protector.įrom its visceral first paragraph to its devastating twist of an ending, The Power of the Dog will hold you in its grip. When George unexpectedly marries a young widow and brings her to live at the ranch, Phil begins a relentless campaign to destroy his brother's new wife. They sleep in the room they shared as boys, and so it has been for forty years.

Phil is a vicious sadist, with a seething contempt for weakness to match his thirst for dominance George has a gentle, loving soul. Phil is a brilliant chess player, a voracious reader, an eloquent storyteller George learns slowly, and devotes himself to the business. Phil is tall and angular George is stocky and silent. Phil is the bright one, George the plodder. Phil and George are brothers, more than partners, joint owners of the biggest ranch in their Montana valley. First published in 1967, Thomas Savage's western novel about two brothers now includes an afterword by Annie Proulx.

Download the power of dig