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Perfume River
Perfume River | Robert Olen Butler
18 posts | 7 read | 8 to read
From one of America s most important writers, Perfume River is an exquisite novel that examines family ties and the legacy of the Vietnam War through the portrait of a single North Florida family. Robert Quinlan is a seventy-year-old historian, teaching at Florida State University, where his wife Darla is also tenured. Their marriage, forged in the fervor of anti-Vietnam-war protests, now bears the fractures of time, both personal and historical, with the couple trapped in an existence of morning coffee and solitary jogging and separate offices. For Robert and Darla, the cracks remain under the surface, whereas the divisions in Robert s own family are more apparent: he has almost no relationship with his brother Jimmy, who became estranged from the family as the Vietnam War intensified. Robert and Jimmy s father, a veteran of WWII, is coming to the end of his life, and aftershocks of war ripple across their lives once again, when Jimmy refuses to appear at his father s bedside. And an unstable homeless man whom Robert at first takes to be a fellow Vietnam veteran turns out to have a deep impact not just on Robert, but on his entire family."
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review
emmaturi
Perfume River | Robert Olen Butler
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Bailedbailed

I tried very hard to get into this book, but it wasn't to be! #books #bookcover #dnf

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Reecaspieces
Perfume River | Robert Olen Butler
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#booksandbooze #tiredpharmacist #litsyatoz #p. #signedcopy. Enjoying the prose of this read. Story is a little disjointed. But the phrasing is very well done!

101 likes1 stack add1 comment
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diovival
Perfume River | Robert Olen Butler
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I won a raffle prize! 😄

LeahBergen 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 7y
33 likes1 comment
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DeborahSmall
Perfume River | Robert Olen Butler
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Cinfhen Gorgeous cover 7y
RealLifeReading Lovely covers! 7y
tpixie The cover!!! 😮💛💛💛 7y
76 likes3 comments
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AceOnRoam
Perfume River | Robert Olen Butler
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Some days it's hard work to pick up a book when you could just be staring at how beautiful St Lucia is..

#ReadingOnRoam
#LiveOnABoat

Jhullie Fabulous view. My sister is in the process of moving on to her boat. They plan to sail around Australia and then off to see the world. 7y
Bette Wow, that wouldn't ever get old. 7y
EllieDottie Did you read this book?? I am thinking about picking it up... 7y
See All 6 Comments
AceOnRoam @EllieDottie I'm a quarter of the way through. It's quite short and was on overdrive so I'm on a whim read. 7y
AceOnRoam @Bette it doesn't, but this region is particularly nice🍹especially the Rum Punch! 7y
AceOnRoam @Jhullie all the best for your sister, its hard to cram everything in. I had to give away all my books! We will be in Australia in about 2 years, we are eager to visit some old haunts like whitsundays on this boat and do at least one lap around. 7y
36 likes6 comments
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StephanieY
Perfume River | Robert Olen Butler
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Pickpick

A story that is both simple and profound. Reading Butler is a treat - no superfluous words, characters or storylines. A look at the devastating effects of war on so many successive generations in the U.S.

BB1958 I wholeheartedly agree. Well said 7y
3 likes1 comment
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StephanieY
Perfume River | Robert Olen Butler
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These books are making me homesick. #sjbookclub #louisiana

2 likes2 stack adds
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8little_paws
Perfume River | Robert Olen Butler
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hey look at that! Perfume River tipped me over my annual goal! And still almost three months to go 😜

BookishFeminist Awesome! 8y
Merethebookgal Amazing! Great job! 8y
Lola 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🌟📚😻Awesome!!!! 8y
See All 14 Comments
BekahB Wow! Fantastic!! 😃 8y
Kazen Congrats! 🎉 8y
read_diverse_books Woah, you're a super reader! I need to check up on my progress as well. 8y
Carol Woohoo!! Two and a half bonus months of reading! 8y
Yamich49 Wow! Impressive! 👍🏽👍🏽 8y
specificity WOW!! Congrats!! I'm only on my 101st.... 8y
8little_paws Having a solid 90 minutes minimum each workday on public transportation sure helps! Plus, I listen to a lot of audio books while I cook, clean, and knit! 8y
HardcoverHearts Congrats!! 🎉👏🏻 8y
Eyelit Fantastic! 👏📚👍 8y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa Good for you! congratulations! 🎉🎉 8y
GlitteryOtters Yay!!!!! 🎉📚🎉 8y
43 likes14 comments
review
8little_paws
Perfume River | Robert Olen Butler
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Pickpick

This is a mostly very good book about two brothers whose paths intersect (after a nearly 50 year separation) upon an injury to their elderly father. One of the brothers is a Vietnam vet and the other defected to Canada. I thought the family stuff was well done, and there's a lot of reflecting on how war changes men, but the stuff about their relationships wasn't necessary and at times was distracting. But all in all, pretty well written. 4/5

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SharonGoforth
Perfume River | Robert Olen Butler
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Some tough questions, especially about family.

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SharonGoforth
Perfume River | Robert Olen Butler

Some tough questions, especially about family.

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SharonGoforth
Perfume River | Robert Olen Butler

"With your kin, that compatibility may never even have existed. The same is true of a country. You didn't choose your land of birth. If you and they have nothing in common, if they have nothing to do with who you are now, if you are always, irrevocably at odds with each other, is it betrayal simply to leave family and country behind?"
Butler asks questions no one ever wants to talk about, especially when it comes to family.

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SharonGoforth
Perfume River | Robert Olen Butler

"With your kin, that compatibility may never even have existed. The same is true of a country. You didn't choose your land of birth. If you and they have nothing in common, if they have nothing to do with who you are now, if you are always, irrevocably at odds with each other, is it betrayal simply to leave family and country behind?"
Butler asks questions no one ever wants to talk about, especially when it comes to family.

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SharonGoforth
Perfume River | Robert Olen Butler

"With your kin, that compatibility may never even have existed. The same is true of a country. You didn't choose your land of birth. If you and they have nothing in common, if they have nothing to do with who you are now, if you are always, irrevocably at odds with each other, is it betrayal simply to leave family and country behind?"
Butler asks questions no one ever wants to talk about, especially when it comes to family.

quote
SharonGoforth
Perfume River | Robert Olen Butler

"With your kin, that compatibility may never even have existed. The same is true of a country. You didn't choose your land of birth. If you and they have nothing in common, if they have nothing to do with who you are now, if you are always, irrevocably at odds with each other, is it betrayal simply to leave family and country behind?"
Butler asks questions no one ever wants to talk about, especially about family.

quote
SharonGoforth
Perfume River | Robert Olen Butler

"With your kin, that compatibility may never even have existed. The same is true of a country. You didn't choose your land of birth. If you and they have nothing in common, if they have nothing to do with who you are now, if you are always, irrevocably at odds with each other, is it betrayal simply to leave family and country behind?"
Butler asks questions no one ever wants to talk about, especially about family.

quote
SharonGoforth
Perfume River | Robert Olen Butler

"With your kin, that compatibility may never even have existed. The same is true of a country. You didn't choose your land of birth. If you and they have nothing in common, if they have nothing to do with who you are now, if you are always, irrevocably at odds with each other, is it betrayal simply to leave family and country behind?"
Butler asks questions no one ever wants to talk about, especially about family.

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SharonGoforth
Perfume River | Robert Olen Butler
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SharonGoforth I'm not even finished with the first chapter, and this book is taking my breath away. 8y
28 likes1 comment