The Tin Can Tree

This was only ths second of Anne Tyler's so far seventeen novels (1965), and, though I don't think it is one of her best, it is still one that carried me along. It is set in an unnamed tobacco-growing state, perhaps North Carolina. The most dramatic event happened before the novel opened and is not described - the death in an accident of a little girl called Janie Rose Pike; and nothing much - let alone anything dramatic - happens until very near the end of the book. Janey's mother is almost catatonic with grief and hardly speaks to anyone. Not that the other characters (except Ansell - see below) are ever very articulate. They communicate with each other in a laconic, often monosyllabic way, leave short sentences unfinished, and sometimes scarcely listen to each other, following their own trains of thought. Janey's little brother Simon - his age is never given, but I guess he is about eight - must be affected both by his sister's death and by his mother being totally withdrawn and paying no attention to him; but really this is our interpretation: there are lots of little boys who behave the way he does without being bereft. He is fond of his 26 year old cousin Joan who has been living with the family for some years and has helped looking after him and Janey Rose. Joan, too, must be affected by Janey Rose's death, but again this is something we must assume, since what seems to upset her most is having to cope with her aunt's withdrawal. Joan also has another problem: she is in love with James, a close neighbour and friend of the Pike family; but James feels he has to look after his weird brother Ansell, who may actually have something wrong with his health but is certainly a demanding hypochondriac with a torrent of talk - which Joan and the other members of that laconic community find hard to cope with. No wonder that Ansell feels aggrieved that nobody is listening to him. This is an understated book and we have to get below its surface, and it is understandable that some readers will have found the surface too humdrum to hold their attention.

James Green is a photographer of pictures for the local newspaper in Larksville and weddings, for the most part. He lives with his brother Ansel who suffers from anemia, untreated largely because he has an unreasonable fear of needles. At the start James is attending the funeral of the young daughter, Janie Rose, of his neighbors, the Pikes. He brings Janie Rose's brother Simon home with him while other family members remain at the cemetery to spare the youngster's feelings. Ansel and Simon make ice box pizza, using the many ingredients scheduled for termination when an ice box is cleaned. (The ice box pizza is, of course, a hallmark of the style of Anne Tyler, one of the many amusing touches in this novel of family and community issues.) The child is in wonder over the use of peanut butter for their confection. James is interested in a live-in cousin of the Pikes, Joan. He develops an idea that he should photograph everyone in the way they have lodged in his memory. Ansel asserts he is being contained to do his dying, first in the state, than in the town, and finally in a room. Joan is twenty six. She lives in her bedroom, the way a guest does. Nine months of the year she works as a secretary to the principal. She doesn't like Ansel. She blames him for the fact her romance with James isn't progressing to greater intimacy. In time Mr. Pike resumes working to avoid just sitting around and Mrs. Pike is persuaded to pick up her dress-making. Joan thinks she needs to return to live with her own family and then has a change of mind.

My expectations for this book were very low, which might be why I found it so good. I had heard that this was her worst novel. but having read 12 of the other 13, I had to read this one. It lacks the complexities of plot and character of her later novels, but the simplicity is not a weakness. It is a gentle story of unexceptional people in a sleepy little town where nothing ever happens - apart from the odd accidental death - but Tyler pulls the reader in through the front doors and makes us care. Joan and James are probably too similar to several other early Tyler characters, but the author keeps our interest up. These people might be dull to the outside world, but Tyler shows us the spark of rebellion flickering deep inside - hinting at the one big decisive act of their lives (this usually involves running away from a big famlily - it happens in almost all of Tyler's books!). If you are not a big Tyler fan you won't like this book, but if you are, ignore the critics and treat yourself!

While a smaller, almost novella sized novel about characters familiar to those in Tyler's audience, it is simply amazing how this book, written in her early 20's, still manages to captivate and amuse. The prone, home-bound brother is a truly original creation. I came to this after finishing most of this author's earlier work and was worried I would find her early novels reflecting what one would expect to hear from a first time, very young novelist in the sixties. But the book is timeless and her style already cemented. Slower paced, but a fine read.