Mercy Among the Children

Critics

• So you thought Hardy was full of misery...

  Mercy Among the Children David Adams Richards Jonathan Cape £10, pp384 While the titans of contemporary Canadian fiction - the late Robertson Davies, Margaret Atwood, Timothy Findley, Michael Ondaatje - have consistently looked beyond their own natio ... (read full critics)

  guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

• Mercy Among the Children

  by David Adams Richards While David Adams Richards has long been admired, having won the Governor General’s Award in both fiction and non-fiction, he has remained something of a cult figure in Canadian writing – beloved by aficionados, but hardly a h ... (read full critics)

  quillandquire published on Tue, 14 Sep 2010

3 Reviews

• *** This comment contains spoilers! ***

  Mercy among the children

  The ending part of this novel is quite flat. Not as marvellous as the rest. Actually since when the whole story line starts to go downward? Maybe around Sydney's absent and the whole Redemption chapter I think. Because you could probraly guess what's going on next. Seems like the authur tried his b ... (continue)

  The ending part of this novel is quite flat. Not as marvellous as the rest. Actually since when the whole story line starts to go downward? Maybe around Sydney's absent and the whole Redemption chapter I think. Because you could probraly guess what's going on next. Seems like the authur tried his best on put his charater in worst situtations as much as he could. And it really makes the ending seems to be nothing but old cliche.

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  Lino said on May 4, 2009 | Add your feedback

• My review of Mercy Among The Children

  Mercy Among The Children, is a very personal look into the lives of a family struggling to live. Their life is a hard one, and their obstacles seem almost unbearable. Set in a small, rural town in the Canadian province of New Brunswick, the Henderson’s have been dealt a hand that most would fold imm ... (continue)

  Mercy Among The Children, is a very personal look into the lives of a family struggling to live. Their life is a hard one, and their obstacles seem almost unbearable. Set in a small, rural town in the Canadian province of New Brunswick, the Henderson’s have been dealt a hand that most would fold immediately. In a town filled with people who all possess defects and an imperfect way of living, the Henderson’s have become the ones who are targeted for persecution, deserved or not. As though by pointing out their apparent deficiencies the other townsfolk can feel better about their own issues.

  This story is told from the point of view of Lyle, the eldest son of Sydney Henderson. Through his words, we learn much of the towns history and how his family came to be viewed so harshly. Lyle describes how his own life has been affected by both his father and his grand-father’s actions. However, the event that overshadows much of Lyle’s life happened before he was even born. His father Sydney, at the age of twelve made a promise to God that he would live a life of gentle, passivity. It is because of this, that Lyle comes to believe the family’s problems have evolved. At first, he agrees with his father and shares his faith, but as he matures and experiences firsthand the cruelty of mankind, Lyle begins to suspect that fighting back is the only way to survive. But does this make you just as bad as your attackers, or does it even matter, when all is said and done?

  It would be all too easy to label this as a classic tale of good versus evil, but the depth of this story cannot allow that. There is no good or bad guy present here, all the characters, and all their actions, contain so many different shades of gray, that while reading you will find yourself at a loss as to just who is in the right. I think that this is exactly what makes Mercy Among The Children, such a powerful novel. The circumstances make you think, force you to consider how you would feel, and then change it up just enough to provoke you to view it from another perspective altogether.

  Mercy Among The Children was not a book I found particularly easy to read. It shows an ugly side of people and life, but this is one of it’s strong points. The struggles of life are not pretty, and this book shows that in brutal honesty. I liked that the characters all had certain disagreeable characteristics, because it relates well to the real world. We all know that behind most seemingly perfect people, there is bound to be at least one not so nice thing about them. For me, a story is made by the characters it contains, and this novel contains a large cast of original and believable personalities, that pull this story together into something amazing. Character study, family saga and community overview are collectively joined by David Adams Richards smooth writing and provide an extremely stimulating read.

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  Book Zombie said on Feb 2, 2009 | Add your feedback

• 

  Reading this I experienced every pain and joy and ultimately acceptance if not forgiveness. First class author -

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  ACaughlan said on Dec 18, 2008 | Add your feedback

Book Details

• Rating:
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• English Books
• Paperback 384 Pages
• ISBN-10: 0224062034
• ISBN-13: 9780224062039
• Publisher: Jonathan Cape
• Pub date: Aug 02, 2001
• Also available as: Hardcover, Others and eBook

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