Indiana, Indiana

by Laird Hunt

"In the center of the county in the center of Indiana in the heart of the country, and down a long, dark hallway," Noah Summers, a simple man who has led a far from simple life, sits before a roaring fire, drifting in and out of sleep. On this dark and lovely winter night, he will sift through the shards of his memories, trying to make sense of a lifetime of psychic visions and his family’s tumultuous history on an Indiana farmstead.

As a young man, Noah, a true innocent, fell deeply in love with Opal, a young woman with a penchant for flames. Once married, the couple move into their own house on his family’s farm. After forty-two idyllic days, Opal is overcome by her fascination with fire and institutionalized. Though Noah embarks on a journey to save her, he cannot, and must instead rely on her letters, his memories, and the strength of his family to sustain him.

Written in a masterful elegiac style that echoes Faulkner and Steinbeck, Indiana, Indiana is a compellingly beautiful and surreal Midwestern saga firmly grounded in an Indiana landscape populated by farmers, drifters, sheriffs, and ministers, and overflowing with musical saws, family bibles stuffed with flowers, and appliances rusting in the fields.

Genres: Fiction, Novels, Literary Fiction, Contemporary

204 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Laird Hunt is an American writer, translator and academic.

Hunt grew up in Singapore, San Francisco, The Hague, and London before moving to his grandmother's farm in rural Indiana, where he attended Clinton Central High School. He earned a B.A. from Indiana University and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa University. He also studied French literature at the Sorbonne. Hunt worked in the press office at the United Nations while writing his first novel. He is currently a professor in the Creative Writing program at University of Denver. Hunt lives with his wife, the poet Eleni Sikelianos, in Boulder, Colorado.

Reviews

[Angela M · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
My introduction to Laird Hunt was his powerful and moving story Neverhome. I loved Zorrie Underwood in his novel Zorrie. Those books made me want to read this one . But I’m sorry to say that the disjointed structure, a mix of dreams , letters, memories kept me from fully engaging. I did still find some of the wonderful writing I was expecting and I recognize there’s a beautifully sad love story to be found here, and there’s a connection to Zorrie . Life happens and maybe my concentration was impacted so I’ll blame it on that because Laird Hunt is an amazing writer and I will continue to follow his work.

I received a copy of this Coffee House Press through Edelweiss. Apologies to the author and publisher for taking so long to get to this.

[Bridget S.]

I DNF and here’s some reasons why if you care!

1) The biggest reason is that I really loved Zorrie, and all of the characters in Zorrie and could feel building resentment towards Hunt the more I read of Indiana Indiana. I didn’t want that to spoil my experience of Zorrie. Will consider reading some more works of his but didn’t want to continue with this one.

2) The introduction irked me. It was too long and summarized the entire book. Why? This isn’t an old classical work of fiction, why did they have to include that?

3) The chapter separations and their summaries. Why does everything have to be summarized before we read the actual book? Like just let us read the book?!

4) The disjointed-ness and rambling was just too much. A way to do this without it having to be an insufferable read and still convey what you need to convey with disjointed and rambling characters.

5) Picky and a personal problem, but the font was hard for me to read! Fonts matter!?

[Brent Legault · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am normally an ardent booster of Laird Hunt's work, but this one mostly irked me. I suppose it was due to its style, which has been aped by so many others. And also its dreamy, half-witted tone that reeked of MFA. There's good to be got from it -- I've never read a Laird that didn't have something brilliant about it. Perhaps it's just my own inner curmedgeon that won't let me fully enjoy what is probably a contemporary masterpiece.

[LindaJ^ · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading, and loving, Zorrie by Laird Hunt when it appeared on the 2021 National Book Award long list, I proceeded to buy all his books. I had planned to make January a Laird Hunt reading extravaganza, but like almost all reading plans, that did not happen. But the itch was there, so a couple of days ago I grabbed Indiana, Indiana off the shelf. It was short -- 204 pages, many with lots of white space -- and I wanted to find the tie to Zorrie.

I found the tie but even better, I loved the book. Noah Summer lives on the farm next to Zorrie Underwood's, just as he did in Zorrie. He is the star of this book. Noah is old and reflecting on his life. While this may sound pretty mundane, I promise that little about Noah's life is or was mundane. And neither is the structure of this book. There are seven chapters or parts to the book. Each is proceeded with a page on which the contents of each chapter are found, with the upcoming chapter in bold. The contents reminded me of the chapter titles in old mystery novels. Each chapter has a mixture of styles - letters, dialogue (including Noah's conversations with himself, the cat and his dead father), uninterrupted prose - and jumps back and forth in time. Noah never left Indiana, as Zorrie did, but his life was certainly not boring. Having read Zorrie, I knew Noah had a wife named Opal who was in an institution for people with mental health issues, put there after she burned their house down and who he loved but was not allowed to see. But there's so much more to Noah's story.

This book will go on the keeper shelf next to Zorrie and not too far from Marilynne Robinson's Gilead series.

[Kierstyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a fan of Indiana and not a fan of this book

[Eugene · Rating 3 out of 5]

more straightforward than i expected. a familiar but not unaccomplished lyrical style and a comfortably-puzzling and fully-resolved plot... his afterward namechecks wg sebald, yourcenar, and ponge--but there's little of those folks' openness or difficulty or poetry. but there are some deliciously voiced sweet-sad characters. virgil and the saw musician two favorites.


reminded often of the lovers of The Time Traveler's Wife, just in that the couple here has a similar melancholy (but not, unfortunately, an equal sizzle). also that in both one bounces back and forth in the timeline with facts slowly revealed...

one other oddity i was surprised by: this, seemingly personal material, is told (as was the exquisite) in a voice that's strangely impersonal, distanced. maybe that's just because, despite it seems otherwise, we're not really in the characters' heads very much... i wonder if that was a conscious goal... the result is, for me, a certain staginess. i bet it could be easily converted into--in fact often felt like--a fairly traditional play.

[Kira Henehan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved The Impossibly and The Exquisite by Laird Hunt, but was sort of disappointed with this one. I may have read it too distractedly; I'll probably try it again at some point because Mr. Hunt is usually worth it.

[Tammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Indiana is not farm Indiana, except to the extent that all Indiana is farm Indiana, but this peaceful, yet painful, portrait of farm Indiana resonated with me. I know these people. These people are my people, beautiful and sorrowful and broken. A lovely work.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Naropa dude. 'Nuff said.

[Marvin · Rating 1 out of 5]

This novel was originally published in 2003; after the critical if not commercial success of the same author’s wonderful Zorrie, someone thought to republish this one in 2023. It’s set in the same place and time, with some of the same characters (Zorrie makes a cameo appearance near the end). But it could hardly be more different stylistically. Where Zorrie was simply but elegantly told, this is an obscure, confusing jumble (admittedly befitting the mental state of its main characters), jumping around in time, seemingly randomly, sometimes in third person, sometimes in first, though it’s not always clear who’s narrating, with frequent relating of dreams (almost always a problem for me), little one-paragraph nonsense stories told by one or another of the characters (which are like dreams, I guess), jumbled recollections, letters from an institutionalized character, and occasional stream of consciousness narration. It appears to me that this is the work of a young author trying to prove what a brilliant, creative writer he is; by the time he writes Zorrie two decades later, he no longer has to prove it so he can just tell a beautiful story.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Laird Hunt continues to be one of the most gifted writers I’ve ever read. His ability to create an environment and steep his readers in the sights, smells and sounds of it is beyond belief. If this tale left me a bit at loose ends, it was likely my limits as a reader rather than his as an author. This short book is written in a non traditional style that didn’t display well in the advanced readers copy that I used. The published version should be much more enticing. I received my copy from the publisher through edelweiss.

[Pauline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite this being so short and having an interesting structure, I really struggled to get through this. It's not because it was *bad* per se, I just think that I don't have the patience for the writing style. Like I mentioned, the structure was interesting and I enjoyed the McCarthy-esque chapter breakdowns, but it took me far too long to get to the end of this novella. Perhaps reading Zorrie first would have made it a more interesting read for me - and I will *still* be checking that title out of the library next.

[A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I...loved this book. It is essentially a prequel to ZORRIE (or, perhaps more accurately, ZORRIE is a companion to INDIANA, INDIANA (a name so nice he used it twice)), and it was wonderful to fall back into the world (the world, in fact, of my growing up). I loved the twist and how it was done, I loved how the narrative blended in and out of poetry, and I loved the story it told. There were lines that made me put the book down for a moment, just so I could absorb them. So, so good.

[Julieann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading about my home state and have been to most of the towns referenced in the book. Having grown up on a farm, I could relate to culture - neighbors looking out for each other, taking pleasure in the simple things. However, I found the rambling style difficult to follow at times. I enjoyed the author's book Zorrie much more than this one but was interested in the connection between the two.

[Jim Richardson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a bazaar book about a bazaar person and his relationship with others, mostly family members. I did not enjoy this book, but I read it to the end just to see how it ended. I believe that my wife probably bought this book because of it’s title. She was from Indiana and didn’t ever want to leave there.

[E · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've read a few of Hunt's later works and enjoyed them. This one (despite the excellent title) just didn't do it for me. Too disjointed, ephemeral. He pushes the extremes of "nothing happens in this novel" (a genre I actually like) so far that it feels like a caricature. The good thing is that I know he improved as an author, so I'm not giving up on him.

[Bill Shultz · Rating 5 out of 5]

A masterfully revealed and lyrical narrative set in the American Midwest, with its furrowed fields and old hickory.

[Anita · Rating 1 out of 5]

It would have made a better play than a book.

[Susan Beecher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautifully written novel mostly about an unusual man and his family written from his point of view, his visions and strange rural life. Highly recommend.

[Andrew Dobbs · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

[★ sam ★ · Rating 2 out of 5]

i could not finish this, found it too difficult to connect to any of the characters. 2 stars because there were some beautiful moments of prose and visual imagery.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

i’m confused

[dana brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could have easily have meant more to me - the writing is beautiful. But it feels purposely obscure. The author clearly didn’t have me as a reader as a priority.

[IndianaBeauty · Rating 2 out of 5]

I truly struggled finishing this book. I could not get in to the book no matter how hard I tried.

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would probably have never come across this book but Buntport Theater has adapted it for their next production so I was curious. I have been trying to write a good review but, forgive me, I'm going to give up and blatantly steal from the book jacket: ""In the center of the county in the center of Indiana in the heart of the country, and down a long, dark hallway," Noah Summers, a simple man who has lead a far from simple life, sits before a flickering fire, drifting in and out of sleep. On this dark and lovely winter night, he sifts through the shards of his memories trying to make sense of a lifetime of psychic visions and his family's tumultuous history on an Indiana farmstead."

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 1/2 stars. Faulkneresque. But less abstruse and more readable. A very simple, haunting and haunted story. A beautiful story of love and loss, the unfairness of life, the everyday simple joys in the everyday simple things, the tragedy. I loved this book, born and raised in Indiana... Knew people who ended up in Logansport.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Lairdo. For more reasons than just this novel, which is great. It had the curious effect of causing me to involuntarily remember dreams that I had many, many years ago.

I felt like the time mimicked very closely the time

[Marisela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poetic. The narrative structure is only revealed after reading several chapters since the story not presented in a linear timeline. I loved it. The lyricism of the writing really shone through.

[Amanda Armstrong · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing book which I'd highly recommend to readers who enjoy writers' tricks, word play, plot twists heightened by structure, etc.

[Poupeh · Rating 5 out of 5]

The beauty and pain of this book goes so deep inside, touching one with such soft intensity that not many books do.