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    Big Machine: A Novel
    Big Machine: A Novel
    Big Machine: A Novel
    Audiobook12 hours

    Big Machine: A Novel

    Written by Victor LaValle

    Narrated by Sean Crisden

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Ricky Rice is a middling hustler with a lingering junk habit, a bum knee, and a haunted mind. A survivor of a suicide cult, he scrapes by as a porter at a bus depot in Utica, New York, until one day a mysterious letter arrives, summoning him to enlist in a band of paranormal investigators comprised of former addicts and petty criminals, all of whom had at some point in their wasted lives heard what may have been the voice of God.

    Infused with the wonder of a disquieting dream and laced with Victor LaValle's fiendish comic sensibility, Big Machine is a mind-rattling mystery about doubt, faith, and the monsters we carry within us.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateDec 5, 2017
    ISBN9781541485211
    Big Machine: A Novel
    Author

    Victor LaValle

    Victor LaValle is the author of more than ten works of fiction and graphic novels, including the multi-award-winning novel, The Changeling. His books have won the World Fantasy Award, British Fantasy Award, Bram Stoker Award, Dragon Award, and the Shirley Jackson Award, among many others. He has been a finalist for the Hugo and Nebula Awards. He has been the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, Whiting Writers Award, and the Key to Southeast Queens. He teaches writing at Columbia University and lives with his wife and kids in the Bronx.

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    Reviews for Big Machine

    3.5/5

    192 ratings20 reviews

    What did you think?

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    • 3/5
      It started out strong, kept my interest until the halfway mark and then it just kinda fell apart. Unclear character motives, and unexplained random occurrences. I had to make myself pay attention and struggled to finish it.
    • 5/5
      I truly enjoy reading Victor LaValle. He writes so well he easily makes you believe in the unbelievable….and let’s not talk about the lessons !! Looking forward to whatever comes out next.
      Oh the one thing I didn’t like about the audio book is Adele sounds like she’s 70 years old?
    • 4/5
      When Ricky receives a bus ticket to Burlington, Vermont and a letter telling him it’s time to honour a promise he made several years earlier, he walks out of his latest in a line of dead-end jobs to do just that. At journey’s end he finds other misfits and they are put to work looking for clues to the existence of the paranormal. Just what a cult-surviving junkie needs. After some time finding his feet Ricky is selected for a field mission and that’s where things really start to get weird.This novel fits somewhere in the bracket of if Murakami wrote noir or Chandler wrote magical realism. Even though the reader doesn’t really know what’s going on until late into the story it’s still a fascinating read. The narrator of the tale has an interesting turn of phrase and is more than likeable enough. The writer mixes things up quite well, playing with your emotions throughout where one minute you’re on a downer but a few paragraphs later you’re laughing again. There are some big themes examined along the way with race, religion and cults at the forefront but the story is never compromised and even with a slowish start it’s never less than entertaining.
    • 4/5
      Throughout most of this novel, I kept asking myself, what the hell am I reading? I couldn't get a handle on if it was just a fiction novel, a horror novel, a suspense novel, hell, maybe even a bit of a science fiction novel.

      In the end, I didn't care, because it was a damn good novel. I haven't read a lot of LaValle's work, but I'm trying to remedy that, based on the bit that I have read. I enjoy the man's writing, I enjoy his characters, and I especially enjoy the fact that I have no farking clue where he's going to take me.

      This novel's a bit of a mindfuck, but I mean that in the most complimentary of ways. Really enjoyed it.
    • 2/5
      Mostly just boring. I started out being intrigued by the plot line, but it all kind of spiraled downhill. The characters seemed to become less likable and less developed as the book went on. Then I realized that the book has some kind of strange urban United States magical realism elements to it, and it caught me off guard and confused me. I liked the last two pages the best.
    • 3/5
      I decided to read this book because it was mentioned in "The End of Life Book Club" so I thought I would give it a try. The author is very talented but overall the story which was full of the super natural was not the genre that I like very much. That being said, I would recommend it to those who are interested in a deeply inventive book about seeking "The Voice". A group of black petty criminals come together in Vermont to explore the mystery of "The Voice". It eventually leads to the east bay and a city that I think is really Richmond California. You can check more about this book on Amazon but if something wild and inventive is your cup of tea that you might want to give this one a shot. I am glad I read it but probably would not go for another book by this author.
    • 4/5
      I lucked out and won a copy of this book via the Goodreads giveaway program. I read it months ago and still haven't figured out how to write a half-way decent review. This has turned out to be one of my favorite reads of 2010 and it seems nothing I could say would do it justice. The characters are believable. The situations they find themselves in are beyond strange. All I can say is...

      Go. Read. Now.

    • 4/5
      Doubt is the big machine. It grinds up the delusions of men and women. "I'm not here to spread bad news, Ricky. Listen to my words. The Voice called Judah. Of all the folks it might've picked, it picked a runaway slave Do you understand what that means?" The Dean tapped the wooden match against the stone fireplace. "Means it's ours, Ricky. The Voice chose us. Despised by many, but not the Voice. The American Negro finally got its god."This wacky and highly entertaining rollercoaster ride of a novel begins in Union Station in Utica, New York. Ricky Rice is a 40 year old black janitor in the station, a survivor of a suicide cult that his parents belonged to in Queens, NY during his childhood, years spent in foster care, and a series of menial jobs and failed love affairs. He is a former junkie who has been clean for several years, but he still keeps a stash of heroin handy in case the urge to shoot up becomes too strong. He receives a envelope at work on a winter day in 2005, which contains a one way bus ticket to Burlington, Vermont, and a mysterious note that informs him that it's time to honor the promise he made in Cedar Rapids, Iowa three years before.Ricky decides to take a chance, since there is little for him in Utica, and embarks on the trip. He is taken to a compound and meets six other African Americans, all former substance abusers or petty criminals who received similar requests. They are met by the Dean, an older man who tells them they have been called because each of them once heard the Voice, a powerful supernatural being who originally spoke to and enriched a former 18th century slave. Those who have heard the Voice are all poor African Americans, dispossessed and despised by the larger society and by traditional Christian religions. The seven are titled the Unlikely Scholars, and are charged with deciphering hidden external and internal clues to locate the Voice, in exchange for free room & board at the compound. Several months later, Ricky is called by the Dean, and he is sent to California on a mission that promises to be as dangerous as it is mysterious, in the company of an attractive woman at the compound who he has seen but knows nothing about.The novel includes flashbacks to Ricky's childhood, the crisis that led him to hear the Voice, and the story of the mysterious woman, which is intertwined with the events of the increasingly bizarre mission, which is much better read than described in a review. LaValle expertly mixes a rich stew filled with elements of the supernatural and science fiction, along with a unique literary style filled with humor and pathos, which will appeal to a wide variety of readers. I'd highly encourage everyone to read this book, but please make sure that your seat belt is tightly fastened before take off.
    • 4/5
      This book was a lot of fun to read, but in the end it was disappointing in several areas. I should probably only give it three stars, but, as I say, it was a gripping read. Saying that (gripping), makes me realize that the book is really straddling the line between "literary" and genre (thriller/mystery/horror). I don't read horror, have never read Stephen King and never plan to. About three-quarters of the way in, "Big Machine" turns into a thriller/horror novel, on the light side, but still. This has a lot of reviewers scratching their heads, from what I've read here and elsewhere. And rightly so: the book starts out by gathering, through unexplained means, former black addicts and criminals, and we expect (as the jacket copy even promises) that we will find out what each of these people have experienced, paranormally, to earn them a place as an "Unlikely Scholar." This baker's half-dozen are all mysteriously given a one-way bus ticket to a huge, monolithic building in the far upper right corner of Vermont, given cabins to live in, an office to work in, and no brief, no working instructions, just a pile of newspapers. Seems to me the first thing they would do is gather together and try to see what they all have in common. Why were they chosen? This would be the author's opportunity to narrate the paranormal experience each of them has had. But this doesn't happen, and that made no sense to me. Instead, being poor and black, they all seem to be starstruck with the place, and willing to simply revel in their new-found comfort, proud at having been singled out, even if they have no clue what they've been singled out for. The narrator, Ricky, has survived growing up in a small cult which turned suicidal at the end. Yet, here he is at a place looking very cult-like, but he just dives in, wanting to be a recognized star just as much as the rest of the Scholars. Later, as he is sent out into the world on a mission, he claims to be distrustful and skeptical, but that's only when the facade of the cult begins to sag and tear. So, this, too, seemed unlikely. Maybe I'm too white to see it otherwise? The jacket copy calls the book a mystery. It does start out as one, but by the end it's a horror story, and the mysteries remain unsolved. Too much backstory is left out. You're never even sure who the good or bad guys are. Big Machine is a fun read, but it's frustrating. It doesn't seem to know what it wants to say, or even what genre it is. But for all that, it's fresh and exciting, and for that, I give it four stars. I'll take original-with-flaws over formulaic any time.
    • 5/5
      Synopsis:A brokedown junkie, ex-cultist and mass murder survivor gets a mysterious invitation to become an Unlikely Scholar investigating odd phenomena across America.Review:Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow. Big Machine rocked my world. Stylistically, it’s a mash-up of Haruki Murakami and Stephen King, with a bit of Ralph Ellison for good measure.When junkie Ricky Rice becomes an Unlikely Scholar under way mysterious circumstances, he finds himself scouring newspapers for stories that give evidence to The Voice. His journey grows ever more wild, and as he travels across the country from Vermont to northern California on the trail of the Voice and something more human and more ominous, he reflects back on the journey that got him to this point. His childhood in a cult, his years as a junkie and petty criminal, and his efforts to stay on the straight and narrow become more than just a life story. It’s a Pilgrim’s Progress founded on doubt–but a doubt that might be stronger than the faith of some.LaValle has a lot to say about American fanaticism of all stripes. The social commentary here is fascinating, specific, and outrageously funny. Ricky Rice will become one of my favorite characters for the unique voice LaValle gives him, at once guileless and sneaky, wise and foolish, a street smart risk taker who has survived way too much.The story is wild beyond imagining, with horror elements that don’t hold back. LaValle is not genre-slumming here. He genuinely wants to freak us out.I was fortunate enough to hear LaValle read a large chunk of the opening of this book, and I was hooked. Definitely planning to read more of his work.
    • 4/5
      Readable, enjoyable! The American novel of redemption and second chances, and defining our truth in a world of beliefs. GK Chesterton-like.
    • 4/5
      Ricky Rice is just over forty and has a room of his own and a steady job as a bus toilet janitor. It’s not much of a life, but as an ex-heroinist and ex-con with a crappy leg it’s perhaps all he can hope for. Until he receives a letter, containing a bus ticket to Vermont and a note saying: “You made a promise in Cedar Rapids in 2002. Time to honor it”. And after just a little hesitation, Ricky drops everything and goes. And steps into the world of the Washburn library, a huge hidden estate in the forest, where a group of dropouts, drunks and ex-junkies are trying to reconnect with an almost 200 years old prophecy. A work which is now being threatened from within.Any book that comes with a strong recommendation from Claire and/or Pete raises my interest, as I tend to like their taste for the slightly odd, distorted and peculiar. And there is really a lot to like in this engrossing and original book. If you like Gaiman’s urban fantasy, but can stand a little bit more strangeness, this could well be for you. Me, I loved the image of a secret society with big, but clearly limited resources – how you travel to your important mission on a Greyhound bus with a second hand, ancient laptop and a handful of phone cards in your bag. And the chapters about Ricky’s upbringing in the Washerwomen cult, formed by three sisters who’ve escaped murder charges in the south and rewritten the Bible to be set in the US, are the best in the whole book, creating a nailbiting tension. LaValle also handles a storytelling device that’s often annoying to me as a reader – a main character who withholds information from the reader, and gives it out on a need-to-know basis – pretty well.But I find myself strangely unable to relate to Ricky and Adele, the leading characters. It’s like I get to know both too much and too little about them at once, and neither of them really comes alive to me. The same goes for the world. I actually like the puzzling and unexplained, but once you have been starting explaining and creating logic, like LaValle does here, any gaps become that more evident for it. Which means that the book in a way is too clear to pull off being mysterious, in a way. Threads left hanging or just being half-assedly explained don’t come across as enigmatic, but instead as weaknessess. To this particular reader, at this particular time, there are a few too many of them.So, I end up liking this book, even though I wanted to, and suspect I could have, loved it. But it’s really an original, quick and fresh read, and I’m happy to look out for more books by LaValle.
    • 5/5
      Algorithm: If you like Ralph Ellison, Thomas Pynchon, Russell Greenan, Wm. Vollmann and Colson Whitehead, you will like Big Machine.
    • 4/5
      This is a novel that is difficult to categorize. Not that that is a bad thing. The main character is likable and just flows with the action. A wild mix of mysticism and the paranormal, blended with stark reality and the wilds of northern Vermont. I had just finished "Wind-up Bird Chronicles" when I started this and found many parallels.
    • 5/5
      (Adding this to my library now though I read it some time ago--this title just now showed up as a recommendation and I want to confirm that yes, it's a good recommendation. ;-)
    • 4/5
      I don't think I have read many books like this, I certainly haven't read enough. Mixing mysticism with harsh reality and a heavy dose of redemption, this is a funny, dark, honest and beautiful book and an ambitious one.Really that's all need you know.oh well if you must..all I am saying about the plot is this: It starts with Ricky, a mysterious invitation and the utterly cool line "Don't look for dignity in public bathrooms" and then a master class in mystery writing unfolds.I knew next to nothing about the plot and I found it fascinating, memorable and truly odd. From the beginning you are kept on your toes and in dark yet I never once felt frustrated, Lavalles timing is just too perfect. The characters are vivid, interesting, deeply flawed and always terribly human (even the peripheral characters seem to shine) and whilst there are so many obvious monsters the book rarely takes the easy black and white way out serving to make events even more startling.Ok it's not a manic whirlwind of a thriller but it's a steady, fair paced tale which hooks you in and is terribly hard to stop thinking about. I highly recommend this book to err.. to well everyone: the deft blending of so many genres, the darkness and ugliness is elevated by the light, everyday reality is spiced with the bizarre, faith and passion mixed with doubt. To be honest what's not to like?
    • 5/5
      Ricky Ray is a bus-station janitor in upstate New York when he receives an envelope that moves his life in a new direction. He's been a junkie, a thief, even part of a cult, but none of these have prepared him for the strangeness he's about to encounter when he's invited to a place called The Washburn Library. The details of this book are so lovely and strange I don't want to spoil them. This is a surprising book that includes elements of horror, spirituality, mystery, even a kind of coming-of-age. The central characters are all black, and the story's blend of mystical realism reminded me, in a good way, of Colson Whitehead's 'The Intuitionist'. It is by turns funny, tragic, horrifying, and wondrous. Throughout, though, it made me want to turn its pages. When I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it, or wanting to get back to reading it.
    • 5/5
      " Don't look for dignity i public bathrooms. The most you'll find is privacy and sticky floors" That's Ricky Rice a 40 year old heroin addict. He's currently working in Utica as a cleaner in the bus station. One day an envelope arrives for him-it contains a bus ticket to Burlington, Vermont and a cryptic note that says"You made a promise in Cedar Rapids in 202. Time to honor it." He's not sure why he's been called. He's not sure he'll go, but he ends up on that bus during a snow storm. He finds himself on a journey both physical and spiritual. Big Machine is a great book about faith, and what it means to be human in an inhumane time. This is a book that will grab you and not let you go. It's a wild ride at times, and you'll also have to have faith in LaValle because he does take you places that you'd never expect, but pick it up and fall in love with some wonderful writing.
    • 5/5
      To preface this review, I'll just say that I'm not good with the supernatural. I don't read fantasy, sci-fi or horror novels. Generally speaking, they either bore me, annoy me, and or at worst, insult my intelligence. Also, I'm an atheist. However, the fact that I still wanted to pick up this book after reading the description, and the fact that I still gave this book 5 stars after finishing it says a lot in my book. LaValle is doing a lot of different things here, from urban realism to allegory, from philosophical novel to mystical fantasy, and I would say that LaValle is about 95% successful. And those parts he's successful at?--he's 200% successful. I've mostly broken my college habit of marking up my books, but it was very hard to resist the urge with this one. There's so much to chew on, to look back on, to ponder for a very long time to come. If I were a college English professor, I would go out of my way to build a course around this book. I particularly love the way the book looks at faith and doubt, not as opposites, but as a system of checks and balances to keep religious fanaticism at bay.
    • 3/5
      A recommendation for those in weird fiction! A group of ex-criminals on the path to rehabilitation are sent to the Northeast Kingdom in Vermont and become paranormal investigators for what is termed the Washburn Library. Ricky Rice, the Dean, the Grey Lady, the Unlikely Scholars and a host of other characters share their stories and journeys, highs and lows. A truly strange book, I still am not sure what to even think.