Ecco The Sisters Brothers

The Sisters Brothers is a truly original novel. While it’s a Western, it doesn’t completely feel like it. The writing style is so lyrical and the dialogue flows so effortlessly that it feels more of a satire, an interweaving of humour, brotherhood, intrigue and murder. The two Sisters brothers, Charlie and Eli are hitmen for the Commodore, who has contracted them to assassinate Hermann Kermit Warm. They are both remorseless in killing but Eli wants to try new things and dreams of a different life, perhaps opening a store, settle down with a female, any female - such a sweet guy. His volatile and less sensitive elder brother doesn’t have the same outlook. They are both psychopaths, with a lack of empathy or emotional attachment, and this makes for some witty and entertaining exchanges.There is nothing predictable about the storyline. While we know the main plot from the outset, it’s an interesting undulating route they navigate through the narration, either planned or unplanned.It was a joy to just lift this book and let the words flow off. The chapters are short and punchy, underpinning a good solid pace to the story. I actually enjoyed the experience of reading this book.

What I particularly loved about this book (I had to read it after seeing the excellent film) was how sympathetic the two murderous brothers are to the reader. They are travelling to California to carry out yet another murder at the behest of the mysterious and powerful Commodore, leaving a Shakespearean body count in their wake, bickering and blundering and casually reaching for their ever-ready guns.Their tale is told by Eli, the older brother, who is tortured by memories and his own self-reflection, and looking for love and a way out of his savage life. Charlie, the leader and more forceful personality, has his own demons, drink and the shadow of their ghastly childhood with a violent father.The madness of the Californian goldrush in 1851, the greed, filth, desperation, saloons, Indians, guns and horses aplenty, is all there, with astonishing tales of hardship, luck and reversals of fortune.The men the brothers are hunting to kill turn out to be something very unexpected, and the story twists shockingly and the brothers are left changed for ever.I'm unsurprised the book was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, this is both a book you won't want to put down, and a deep, many layered work of literature with layers of symbolism, thoughtful and significant pronouncements on life, man's relation to man and animals, morals, the nature of love and family.It's sad, funny, profound, wickedly irreverent, and always surprising.After seeing the film and reading the book I can't decide which is better. They are very very different, but both equally good in their own way.

Sorry found this a very hard read. Am not a fan of westerns, and the violence I am afraid put me off. Despite the interesting twist in the story, it would not be a book I would personally recommend. But seems I may be in the minority.

A Review of The Sisters Brothers, by Patrick deWittAs a fan of westerns and dry humour, I was pointed firmly in the direction of Patrick deWitt and his tale of the infamous (fictitious) Sisters Brothers. I was not disappointed. The Sisters Brothers and deWitt blast the reader with both barrels, delivering a lethal salvo of humour, pathos and originality that I wasn't prepared for. The story starts by introducing us to two men in black hats, brothers, who have been paid to ride from Oregon City to California to kill a man for their boss the Commodore. However, as conventional a premise for a Wild West story as this may be, don't be fooled, deWitt is serving far more than your standard spaghetti western.We are taken on a journey via Eli Sisters, the younger, but much larger, more sensitive brother (sensitive being a relative term, as remember they are both hitmen after all). Charlie is the eldest and, whilst in size Eli is no longer the little brother, in practice and pecking order he remains very much the baby brother in terms of pecking order between the two. Hardened by life and tragedy, Charlie we learn has been forced to grow up and grow hard fast or else die. He chose the former of the two options and in doing so he’s also grown cruel and cold toward most of his fellow man outside, with his brother Eli being one of the few people on God’s green Earth that can elicit any sympathy or caring from him. Whilst initially this hardness may have been borne of necessity and love for his brother, these days though Eli notices that Charlie seems to at times actually relish the cruel acts his line of work demands of them both. In bearing witness to this growing callousness in his older brother over time, Eli’s concern for his brother and also for his own wellbeing and future grows. As Eli and Charlie embarking upon their latest journey along the Oregon trail to hunt down their latest bounty, Eli does so with reluctance, as he begins to question the morality of their line of work and also his appetite for it, especially in seeing its effects on his brother.Indeed this story is a much more complex and multifaceted one than is apparent on the face of its initial premise. The Sisters Brothers is much more than a tale of gunslingers in white hats and black hats. It’s the story of two very different brothers, finding their way in the world together. Patrick deWitt weaves the thread of the two brothers’ lives through a rich tapestry of men and women from all walks of life that they encounter along the way. The depth of some of the issues that arise and the extraordinary circumstances the brothers find themselves in is offset to hilarious effect by the ordinary delivery and matter of fact manner in which Eli recounts the tale to the reader. For as shocking as some of the scenarios are to the reader, to him in many respects it is just another day at the office. This in part is where most of the comedy is derived, which is dark and dry as nightfall in the Oregon High desert.As Eli recounts to us The Sisters Brothers odyssey along the Oregon trail to San Francisco, we bear witness to a poignant but darkly funny testimony filled with successes and failures, joy and sadness, love and anger, intelligence and ignorance. The Sisters Brothers’ tale is an epic one and one I enjoyed every page of. I look forward to reading more from Mr deWitt in the future.5*

I loved this book. It was recommended and both friends said once they started it they had to keep reading it to the end, and that's exactly what I did too.The charismatic characters of the Sisters Brothers is what carries this book along, especially Eli, the narrator, and the dichotomy of his moral and sensitive soul living alongside a volcanic temper and murder as an occupation, and . . . a weight problem. The Sisters Brothers' characters are psychologically quite modern in their outlook, which is why the adventures they encounter along the way - and the violence and degradation - seem so surreal and often comic. It is like reading a Cohen Brothers movie! Through the dry wit, sensitivity and intelligence of his narrator, de Witt tells a strange tale, it unravels almost like a quest or a pilgrimage, for the holy grail of the Wild West, gold. Or a meaning to life in such harsh climes where survival is still a fight. Or the mysterious Hermann Kermit Warm?Although it is a riveting read, and highly recommended, I'm surprised by the critical praise for this book, because it hasn't the depth or profound insights of an Annie Proulx or Cormac McCarthy, to give it literary merit. Which is what in the end disappoints about this book, because it promises much - from the writing, which is beautifully concise, from the creation of the Sisters Brothers and the relationship between the two, to the evocation of the turmoil of the beginnings of a new country and its people. But the denouement, if it can be said to have one, is too contrived, and where the book's focus pulls away from the Sisters Brothers, is where it is weakest. It's almost like de Witt, having created these two brilliant characters, didn't in the end, know what to do with them, and they are greater than the story he tells.So, I want to re-read it immediately but may give the last third of the book a miss. Actually, maybe I'll change my mind and discover it's merits. Watch this space: