John Cheever's Falconer is one of those books you wonder what the author's intent was in writing it. Its protagonist, Ezekiel Farragut, is an inmate in the eponymous prison, incarcerated for the murder of his brother, Eben. In prison, he is mostly just his surname, occasionally his convict number. Only when he interacts with his family is he referred to by his Christian name.

Very little about Farragut is relatable or likeable. He is an opium addict. His marriage, even before his crime, is troubled, mostly as the result of his own behavior. Despite a lifetime of heterosexuality, he easily slides into homosexual acts with other prisoners, going so far as to fall in love with one. The overabundance of Farragut's homosexual behavior dominates much of the book, reminding me of the repetitive non-sequiturs in Breakfast of Champions about various characters' dick sizes.

Near the end of the book, we learn the circumstances of Farragut's crime; interestingly, this is when Cheever most comes across as an unreliable third-person narrator. Farragut verbally claims to have struck his brother but once; at trial, his brother is shown to have suffered repeated blows. Cheever never reconciles the two accounts, nor does he clarify or contradict other significant details pertaining to the murder as told by Farragut.

Falconer ends rather than concludes, and when it does, I'm unclear what I'm supposed to think of Farragut and his uncertain future. Given the Biblical origin of his name, the novel might be interpreted as a modern recreation of prophecies of Ezekiel. Farragut's imprisonment represents the Jewish exile to Babylon; the riot at another prison, Amana, the destruction of Jerusalem; Farragut's ultimate escape and rejoicing, the Jews' restoration to the land of Israel. Cheever's allegory—if that's what Falconer is—portrays them as the actions of criminals and degenerates, leaving the book's meaning difficult to comprehend. ( )

Nothing in particular happens in this book, but it kept me interested enough to keep turning pages until the end. ( )

Áspera. Muy buen final. ( )

UN ASESINO DROGADICTO, EX-PROFESOR. Y SU ASOMBROSO CAMINO DE SALVACION ENTRE LOS TORMENTOS DEL AMOR, LA NOSTALGIA I LA FURIA. UNA EXTRAORDINARIA OBRA DE ARTE. ( )

This was a good Wyndham novel. It was a character study, through and through, of the inhabitants of the history and the life behind the principal protagonist and what led him to his fate, describes his living, and transposes a series of events in the microcosm of the prison that is the setting.

Good, but not great. 3 stars. ( )