The Tin Can Tree (by Anne Tyler)

(Amazon UK link)

I’m glad I decided to reread some of my novels by the American novelist Anne Tyler, but I think I’ve probably had my fill, at least for a while. I’ve just finished ‘The Tin Can Tree’, which I last read in September 2007.  Unsurprisingly, I didn’t remember any of it. But I’m not sure that I’ll recall much of it even a year from now, let alone another fifteen or sixteen years.

James is the main protagonist of the book; at least, I think he is. It’s hard to tell. It’s essentially about a mini community of quirky individuals who live next door to each other in a small American town. James lives at one end of a block of three attached houses with his hypochondriac brother Ansel. At the other end are the Pike family, and the book opens with the funeral of their young daughter Janie Rose. Mr and Mrs Pike are, of course, devastated, grieving and feeling lost. Their son, ten-year-old Simon, who is quite mature for his years, is feeling as if he’s lost his parents as they barely notice him. 

In the middle house of the three are two elderly and rather twittery ladies, who like to bake cakes and cookies, and always know all the local gossip. But they don’t actually play much of a part in this novel. 

Then there’s Joan, Simon’s young adult cousin, who lives with the Pike family. She felt like a visitor growing up in her own family, and she mostly lives in her bedroom in the Pikes’ home. She is trying to hold the family together after their tragedy, but feels unsure what she should be doing. 

Joan and James are - somewhat - romantically attached, but James doesn’t feel as if he can leave Ansel, and Joan knows she can’t live with Ansel. So they’re rather stuck at the start of the book… and nothing much changes. 

I know not to expect a lot of plot with Anne Tyler’s novels. They’re essentially character studies, sometimes with quite amusing dialogue. But this one is all about the aftermath of a terrible loss - there’s no humour in it, or, at any rate, nothing that I found even mildly humorous. I wasn’t all that attached to any of the people, either. Joan is a bit clueless, James panders far too much to his brother. Ansel is frankly irritating. The only person I thought likeable is Simon, and he doesn’t feel like a typical ten-year-old.

As a piece of social/cultural history, or character study, it’s an interesting read. It was originally published in 1965, so is naturally dated; but people's behaviours and motivations are recognisable. The writing, as I expect with Anne Tyler, is excellent. But I prefer novels with a bit of plot, and with some conclusion where changes have happened, or where there’s at least some hope for the future. 

The theme of this book seems to be that people might temporarily alter when tragedy strikes, but on the whole they don’t change at all.  Or, as the saying is, 'plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.'

I prefer other books by this author, but if you love her style it’s worth reading. 

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