Eli the Good: A Book Review

Review by Jonathan Hinebaugh

About the Author

Silas House is a writer of novels, shorts stories, plays, and essays that clearly bear the marks of Appalachian themes and culture.  Silas was born and spent his entire childhood in the rural mountains of Eastern Kentucky. 

            Authors tend to write about what they know, so it is not surprising that Silas’s first three novels were set in the Kentucky hills.  Clay’s Quilt (2001) is a story about “living in the present while also holding on to the past.”  This novel experienced a brief stay on the New York Times best seller list. 

            Two years later, A Parchment of Leaves (2003) was released, which is described on House’s website as “a mesmerizing look at marriage and forgiveness, and the story of an extraordinary woman.”  The following year Silas produced his third novel, The Coal Tattoo (2004), which tells the story of two orphans growing up in Appalachian but heading in very different directions.  Collectively, these three books serve as “an epic trilogy … that represents all the best and worst of 20th century America.”

    In addition to these novels, Silas, along with Jason Howard, published a compilation of essays by several Appalachian artists (including Denise Giardina) on the subject of mountaintop removal entitled Something’s Rising (2009).  Then, along with Neela Vaswani, Silas co-authored Same Sun Here (2012), a novel, well-suited for middle school students, about two adolescent pen-pals—one from New York City and the other from Eastern Kentucky—who “find common ground in their everyday lives.”

Exploring the Novel

Eli the Good is unique among his previous novel in that it is not specifically set in Appalachia.  The title character and his family live in the country a few miles outside of a small town named Refuge, presumable somewhere in rural America between Atlanta, Georgia and Washington, D.C.  The events of the novel take place during the summer of 1976.

            The book is a gloomy yet optimistic portrayal of a rural American family splintering apart.  The story is told from two distinct yet often merged viewpoints—a mid-aged man looking back on his childhood and the child, Eli, living in the present.  This merged perspective allows the reader to view this fictional world simultaneously through the eyes of a ten-year-old boy and a forty-year-old man, which adds to the richness of the text.  

            The novel’s quasi-dual perspective may account for its occasional and seemingly contradictory statements.  For instance, Eli claims to be “sad … because there was too much goodness in the world” and reality is described as “far worse and far better than anything that either adult of child can ever dream” (67,79).  

            These apparent contradictions produce a style that is vividly gray.  There is an ambiguity that hovers over many of the book’s scenes. The author repeatedly uses the word “gloaming” to describe settings which are neither dark nor light.  The frequency of this word increases noticeably towards the book’s end.  In the closing pages Eli says, “When I was a child, I had thought that life was as simple as black and white.  But all at once … I knew that we are a people forever caught up in grayness” (286).  

            In contrast to the book’s tone, the characters are quite colorful—their emotions pure and realistic.  But there is an unsettling feeling the surrounds the plot of the story, and although the reader is aware of the problems from the very first page, the unraveling of this story is nonetheless powerfully suspenseful.    

           War is at the heart of this book—the Vietnam war in particular.  The father, Stanton, is increasingly haunted by horrific memories from Vietnam, and the tentacles of war stretch out and wrap themselves around every member of the family.  Although the war has scared Stanton in every possible way, he remains loyal to his country and it proud of his service.  The rest of the family, however, are not sure how they feel, and as the effects of the war continue to ravage them long after its official end, they begin to hate it as much as Eli’s Vietnam-protesting Aunt Nell who has come to spend this Bicentennial summer with them.  It’s a book with many different kinds of battles and few decisive victories.   

Possibilities for the Classroom

Eli the Good has the potential to be an excellent classroom text, and it is appropriate for any secondary grade level.  Although Eli is identified as a ten-year-old boy, the stories unique point of view creates a more precocious feel.  The book also addresses many themes that are relevant to teens of all ages.  For example, Eli’s sister, Josie, represents the stereotypical teenager who rebels against parental authority, struggles with dating and sex, and wrestles with personal identity.

To add to the relevancy aspect of the novel, Eli the Good addresses the universal themes of friendship and nature.  Friendship and betrayal are probably some of the most important issues in the lives of adolescents, so this book would fit well for any unit that addresses these themes.  Given the fact the trees play such an important role in the novel, it is interesting that many poems that speak about friendship and betrayal also have trees in them.  Poems like William Blake’s “A Poison Tree,” and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s “The Arrow and the Song” would serve as excellent text pairings.  Although it is a children’s book, Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree could be a great way to introduce a unit that features Eli the Good.

Music is another focal point in the novel, particularly the rock and roll music of the 60’s and 70’s.  Including the music of the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, and others into specific lessons will provide a unique dimension and perspective on this book.  Playing “Brown-Eyed Girl” after reading the scene were Eli dances with his mother or “Mother Nature’s Son” where Stanton smashes the family guitar would really bring this story to life for young readers. 

The disastrous effects of the Vietnam War are another prominent theme in Eli the Good, so it would fit perfectly with any unit focused on that conflict.  However, as the inside cover relates, this book is “also about right now.”  The United States has many veterans who currently suffer from post-traumatic stress as a result of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, so Eli the Good would also be an excellent fit for any unit with a war theme. 

Although it would take some coordination with the social studies department, English teachers could plan to use this text to mirror the students’ experiences in their history classes.  Text pairings for this unit are plentiful. Poetry options include “The Nightmare Never Ends,” by Chris Woolnough, Tennyson’s “The Charge of the Light Brigade,” and Lewis Watt’s “Zuni Flight.” 

If this text could not be taught opposite a related history unit, then teachers should plan for students to spend some time researching the historical context of the Vietnam War.  This research could easily be incorporated into a variety of formative assessments or in the unit’s final summative project. 

And finally, although there are certainly issues of language and content, there are a variety of feature films focusing exclusively on the Vietnam conflict that could be paired with Eli the Good: Apocalypse Now (1979), Platoon (1986), Good Morning Vietnam (1987), and Born of the Fourth of July (1989).  

*quotes describing Silas’s works were taken from his website (www.silashouse.org)

Works Cited

House, Silas. Eli the Good. Somerville, Mass.: Candlewick, 2009. Print.

Marshall, Jim. Country Joe McDonald. Digital image. Mr. Bonzai.com. 7 Oct. 2012. Web.

Tater, Lee. Reflections From Both Sides. Digital image. Practice Blog. 17 Apr. 2007. Web.

Williams, Cindy. Digital image. Berea College: A Community Writers Workshop on Fiction with Silas House. 1 Jan. 2014. Web.