Heart Men (A Novel)

The Hearts of Men

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This novel has reduced me to rant status. View all 10 comments. Apr 11, Laura rated it it was amazing. There's a lot of themes to this book and it was somewhat of an emotional roller coaster. It's one of the more masculine books I've ever read. But I think for me I was hit with how influential we are as parents to our children. Things that were important and influential when I was a child are not even part of my child's life today. In a way how the author takes you through so many stages of lif There's a lot of themes to this book and it was somewhat of an emotional roller coaster.

In a way how the author takes you through so many stages of life in this book, it kind of just broke my heart in places of things lost over time. The title of this book could not be more perfect.

What's Inside 'The Hearts Of Men'? A New Novel Forages For Answers

View all 30 comments. Nov 29, Sam rated it did not like it. Yeah yeah, I know it's supposed to be critical of uber-masculinity and all that, but honestly I found it incredibly misogynistic and offputting. View all 4 comments. Jan 23, Drew Perry rated it it was amazing. It's a full-on character-driven opera with a superstar indie rocker and his old-school high-school buddies at its core, and it doubles down and Full disclosure: It's a full-on character-driven opera with a superstar indie rocker and his old-school high-school buddies at its core, and it doubles down and doubles again on this idea: What if we always looked for the humanity in always fallible characters?

It's the Great American Boy Scout novel, and if you ever either earned a merit badge or know someone who did, then yes, this will drop you fully back into the days of reveille and mile swims and orienteering. Butler uses Scouting, and Scout camp, and men and boys and the upper midwest and bars and supper clubs and backyard birthday parties and strip clubs and baseball and fire and adolescence and failed marriages and -- and hope and dogs and rain and rivers and Wisconsin -- he uses all these things the way anybody at the height of his or her craft might.

He uses them as the stage against which to play gigantic questions of morality and mortality, consequence and consent. I've been the boys and men in this novel, and I've feared the boys and men in this novel. I could go on forever here, but it comes to this: The language is crisp and musical and arresting; my copy is so dog-eared it's laughable. Here is a huge-hearted writer with another huge-hearted book -- this time big and brawling and historical and once again so, so good. View all 3 comments. Mar 13, Megan Edwards rated it liked it.

I'm torn about this book. He's a talented writer, and I enjoyed the premise. But there was only one likable character. Are men really that terrible? Is the entire gender totally lacking in morals or self-discipline? Oh, and the worst father of the year award goes to Jonathan Quick, who corrupts his son just so he will no longer be able to judge him. The parents in this were all terrible. According to Butler, the hearts of men are conniving and craven and greedy. Too depressing for me. And the en I'm torn about this book.

And the ending was ridiculous and unbelievable. Tja, welche Figur war mir in diesem Roman sympathisch? Nickolas Butler ist hier hart an das Thema herangegangen und hat dies hervorragend, fast perfekt umgesetzt. Apr 03, Kirk Smith rated it it was amazing Shelves: I can very much relate to anyone who achieved a few years of frozen adolescence. My perspective is of course not the same as the protagonist whose structure was that of an Eagle Scout working with a more absolute moral code.

The book proved over and over the kind of self sufficiency that comes from training for any situation and for having a vast range of survival skills. This book has so many human elements, lots of heart, and makes one nostalgic I can very much relate to anyone who achieved a few years of frozen adolescence. This book has so many human elements, lots of heart, and makes one nostalgic for a simpler time.

This is a fantastic book for understanding people that choose service to others, that believe in an honor code, that practice what they believe. I think of Owen Meany as a book that pleased a number of people. That one missed the mark for me, but this one truly relays to me what is meant by honor, service, duty. At its heart it is a coming of age story. So much more than that, it addresses subjects such as bullying, rape, service to country, failed love, new love, and abiding love. A great book to suggest for Men's book clubs, but also a book anyone would appreciate. It is adult and not for a younger crowd.

This book is full of life and valuable lessons, a wonderful book!

KIRKUS REVIEW

View all 16 comments. Apr 19, Kim Deutschman rated it really liked it. This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

As a former member of the Scouting family and the mother of an Eagle Scout, I really enjoyed this book. Having gone to several summer camps, much like the one depicted in the book, it brought back a lot of good memories aside from encountering some misogynistic Scout leaderss, much as those depicted in the last part of the book.

My complaint with the book was in the last 35 pages. First appeared at http: Nickolas Butler writes with more empathy and feeling for his characters — even those who act like jerks — than just about any novelist I've ever read. That was definitely true in Shotgun Lovesongs — one of my favorite books of the last five years. It's true in his terrific story collection, Beneath the Bonfire. And it's perhaps most true in his new novel, The Hearts of Men.

This is readily apparent in one of the opening scenes of this fant First appeared at http: This is readily apparent in one of the opening scenes of this fantastic, heart-wrenching novel: Thirteen-year-old Nelson's parents throw him a birthday party, and he waits patiently for the boys in his Boy Scouts troop to arrive. But they never do.

It's a long, excruciating day for poor Nelson. But finally, an older boy named Jonathan arrives, shoots some arrows with Nelson, and then having completed his obligation, takes his leave.

It's a near-perfect way to open a novel: We immediately feel just gutted for poor, nerdy, friendless Nelson. And then it gets worse: We follow Nelson to his beloved Boy Scout camp in northern Wisconsin. There, he's constantly picked on — the other boys taking perverse pleasure in pulling particularly mean pranks on him. And even more sadly, he doesn't get much support from his father, a typical emotionless s fellow, who doesn't exactly wear his emotions on his sleeve.

His father seems more embarrassed by his son than protective of him.

Jonathan, the older popular boy, who seems to be a good kid, is Nelson's only agent. So we follow Nelson through various misadventures at scouting camp, and then we jump forward 30 years. In the second part, it's the mids, and we follow middle-aged Jonathan, who now has a teenage son of his own named Trevor. Jonathan is preparing to take Trevor to the Boy Scout camp, per tradition, even though Scouting isn't really en vogue anymore.

Nelson is now the camp's director after a stint in Vietnam, and he and Jonathan have remained acquaintances through the years. Jonathan has kind of morphed from a good kid to a bad father and husband.

What's Inside 'The Hearts Of Men'? A New Novel Forages For Answers : NPR

But he's an affable fellow, so it's hard to dislike him. Throughout this part, we learn a new, more modern definition of manhood in a sort of "what not to do" way. Jonathan pesters his son, has an affair, and just generally does everything a good father and husband probably shouldn't. Finally, the third part, takes place in This may be the best, and most harrowing, part. It's about yet another trip to the camp — this time with Trevor's son, Thomas. Only this time, Trevor's wife Rachel goes on the trip, which creates some consternation among the other fathers there. Nelson is still there, and he and Rachel become good friends.

In this part, we find out what it means to be a truly despicable man. It's a hard section to read at times, but again, probably the best. So on the whole, this three-part novel is about not just want it means to be a good man, but simply what it means to be a good person. Are you a good parent?

Are you a faithful spouse? Can you be a good person if you're not any one of those things? Butler seems to be wrestling with these questions as much as he asks his reader to. And that's why it's so apparent how much he cares about his characters — which of course, we do too, then. I loved this book. Butler is a must-read writer for me now. And this novel is a sure sign that he's only getting better. Mar 25, Adrian White rated it liked it.

I think this book suffered from my too high an expectation - a little like George Saunders' Lincoln in the Bardo. But while Lincoln in the Bardo is original and ambitious, The Hearts of Men is disappointingly pedestrian. I had good reason to expect better: Shotgun Lovesongs was my favourite book of - by far - and Nickolas Butler's collection of short stories, Beneath the Bonfire, showed him to be a masterful writer with a firm grip on both human frailty and inner strength.

The Heart Oh dear! The Hearts of Men would make a good long story in a similar collection because it has a single thing to say: As it is, this is bloated out into a good-sized novel, with the three parts effectively telling the same story across three generations. There are so many stock characters; there's one key character, Jonathan, who just doesn't register as a real, live, credible person who might actually do the things he does.

There's the token 'fucked up by Vietnam' section. There's the ending I saw coming, even without the tell-tale blurb on the back of the book. It's formulaic; it's written to order; it's more Nicholas Sparks then Nickolas Butler. On one level, there's nothing wrong with all this; it's just so disappointing when you know what the author is capable of. I see all those glowing reviews from the States, from people keen to be seen to be on the Nickolas Butler train. They should all know better, as should his publishers and editor.

In a few years time, he'll recognise this as his difficult second album - his Radio Ethiopia coming after his Horses - and I'm sure he'll come back the stronger for all that. Mar 20, Andy Weston rated it really liked it. This is a strange book, and looking back it, surprisingly readable as it first I had thought it would be predictable, and it certainly wasn't that. Set in the Wisconsin backcountry, where the author lived for many years, the book tells of 3 generations of scouts at Camp Chippewa.

Though the book starts in , few books are set in the very near future, is the last of the generations.

Throughout the three generations of adolescent boys in the summer break earning their badges and 'being pre This is a strange book, and looking back it, surprisingly readable as it first I had thought it would be predictable, and it certainly wasn't that. Throughout the three generations of adolescent boys in the summer break earning their badges and 'being prepared' there is a sense of foreboding, a sniff that something bad is about to happen.

Amidst the summer fun, is the backdrop of the Vietnam and Afghanistan wars. The two renowned and dedicated lifelong scout leaders have played important roles in those wars, and their lives have changed because of them, but they have returned to the innocence of scout camp. A very different type of story therefore, and one that defies a genre tag.

Ultimately rewarding, though at times I did wonder where it was going. It's my first Butler, and I am intrigued, and will read more from him. May 22, Rana rated it it was ok. Normally I enjoy a book where most of the characters are unpleasant but I just plain didn't enjoy this. Only veered from unpleasant for short detours into boring. Would totally have preferred one main character, one main story than the successive, generational stories.

Mar 21, M. Goodreads, I really need half-stars because this is a pretty firm 3. Butler has a tender and compelling voice, which is the reason this book works. The narrative is loose enough that it feels more like a collection of short stories about people who happen to know each other than a novel, but the consistency of the tone, tenor, and quality of prose holds it all together. Butler also has an excellent sense of time and place. Though I, obviously, was never a boy scout, I did attend the sa Goodreads, I really need half-stars because this is a pretty firm 3.

Though I, obviously, was never a boy scout, I did attend the same summer camp for ten straight years and Camp Chippewa--Butler's woodland wonderland slightly gone to seed--is more than a little familiar and delightfully immersive. Only in the later chapters, set in , does the sense of Great American Disenchantment begin to falter, because Butler falls back on the tiresome lamentation that technology is ruining everyone's appreciation of the simpler things in life.

They're convenient, not evil. However, he is also one of very few authors who manages to write a teenager's text messages without them feeling entirely contrived, so that does make all the hemming and hawing about "When-I-was-your-age" a little easier to swallow. Lastly, though it doesn't particularly bother me here because it's sort of implied by the title, it's worth noting that women are unapologetically sidelined. The ones who populate the story do so in the limited capacity of mothers or romantic partners to the titular men and don't seem to have their own lives or motivations beyond those roles.

And, this is a spoiler alert, but Butler's treatment of sexual assault perpetrated against one of the women in the book is perfunctory at best and seems, somehow, to still be about the men. The worst kind of irony. All that being said, it is a good read with lovely prose that kept me consistently interested from start to finish.

Apr 11, Peg rated it it was amazing Shelves: Didn't want it to end. Took me back to Wisconsin and I could smell the crisp air, pine trees, camp fires. A story to explain what makes a man a "good" man. I loved Shotgun Love Songs and didn't splurge on buying this one as afraid of the second effort not measuring up. It measured up and surpassed. Butler is now on my to buy list without questions asked.

Nelson is a boy scout who wants to become and Eagle scout and has more badges than anyone else in his troop. This should make him the envy of others, but he is made fun of, distrusted and bullied. He also becomes the "snitch" or the "good boy", depending on whose perspective you are hearing.

Nelson's father is a difficult man but his mother loves him very much. The first part of the story follows Nelson and his boy scout and home life as well as some of the other boys. This part reveals the hear Nelson is a boy scout who wants to become and Eagle scout and has more badges than anyone else in his troop.

This part reveals the hearts of these boys and men, all very different from one another. Part 2 is many years later opening up with Nelsons one and only "friend", Jonathon. Jonathon is taking his son to boy scout camp and examines his marriage and son. His heart is examined as is his son's, Trevor. Jonathon, who seemed to have a heart in his teens, has had a change of heart and this change is examined. Two other parts follow and it is more of the same but with successive generations.

Nelson, who stole our hearts in the beginning pages makes appearances in all of these sections and his life changes in many ways, but does his heart change? There is a strange occurrence at the end which I wish would have been left out, it is ugly and simply not necessary to show us the hearts of men. I enjoyed the writing and the characters and the way the author explored the hearts of men without telling us too much. I only wish that Nelson had remained the main character throughout and that his life would have been explored more.

I sense that an editor took out the parts that delved deeper into Nelson, if so, I want those pages back. Nickolas Butler is in a field all his own. He's the meticulous, caring writer who all us grown men wish we knew when we were younger; someone guiding us on an ever-changing path into a more modern, evolved masculinity. The characters in this novel are our childhood friends, our best buddies, and the fol Nickolas Butler is in a field all his own. The characters in this novel are our childhood friends, our best buddies, and the folks that we grew up side-by-side with who helped to shape us into the individuals we are as adults.

With tender detail and a warmth that is unmatched, Butler shows his readers that though tragedy may break our hearts and our will at times, it can also reinforce our foundations and steel our resolve. We may not have been to scout camp to learn these values firsthand as youngsters, but thank goodness Nickolas Butler takes us there and beyond with his unforgettable tale of summers at Camp Chippewa.

This is a must-read in our modern American society. Sep 15, Andrienne rated it it was amazing. Great coming-of-age book centered on boys. Men growing up, emulating their fathers or not ; men shaped by their experiences. It talks a lot about what men truly desire in their hearts. In its core is goodness, selfishness, forgiveness, carelesssness and many more. I liked this story very much with a few reservations that are more of a personal choice, than any criticism of the writing or story.

It is an interesting coming-of-age tale and I did not feel any impatience or boredom for even one page.

The first third or more of the story concentrates on a teenager, Nelson Daughty. Nelson is kind- hearted and an overachiever, but very, very naive. For whatever reasons, he cannot overcome although he knows what makes him unappealing what makes others bully him. Adversity in youth usually does one of two thing, toughens one up or damages someone to the point of suicide or a life haunted by the past. But, Nelson does make one friend, Jonathan, who eventually betrays him too. Nelson has a tough childhoodny ways and the author does not flinch from revealing the darkness in men's boy's hearts.

I admit some of it was so brutal it made me squirm and feel uncomfortable. Butler for this in these politically correct times with snowflakes who don't want to hear anything that upsets them. Nickolas Butler does not soften to make more palatable; get ready for reality. The next third of the book reveals that Nelson his joined the military and has done several tours of duty. He has seen and done things that no one should ever have to do, but I think it has wised him up more even as he holds tight to his personal codes.

Oddly enough, he has remained friends with an adult Jonathan. Jonathan has had a very different life. He is the heir to a successful company, has married and now a son of his own, Trevor. For Jonathan's many faults, he does love Trevor. He tries to make Trevor more jaded and cynical for his own good.

This does not make for a good father-son relationship. And, they all continue to go to summer camp. The last third, we learn that Trevor has hung on to his values in contrast to his father and has married his childhood sweetheart and they have had a son. Trevor also joined the military and learned the brutality of the world. The son, also named Jonathan, and his mother are close.

Everyone is still going to this same summer camp, which Nelson now runs 2 weeks of the year. It really is an excellent story and well written. It does not flinch from being a 'looking through the glass darkly' type of novel. All people are both good and bad in different ways, it depends on degrees and the ability to control one's darker impulses.

Trying to make the right choices, hold on to your values despite what others may think and act like a civilized person instead of a barbarian. We get to know Nelson well as a character study. Later, as the years go by, we hear less about Nelson as other characters step up into the spotlight. It feels herky-jerky in this respect. I would have preferred the story stay either focused on Nelson or getting to know the other characters as well as we know Nelson.

But, these are personal, not professional, preferences. The story stands out as a coming-of-age novel and a refreshing bit of reality as to how people act and think, both good and bad. People that make the right moral choices because they know they are the right ones despite the consequences.

People that make the choices with the best intentions but are wrong and can only succeed if they fail. The book is a homage to thinking for yourself and making a choice based on what you have personality experienced and what you hope to achieve. I would recommend this to anyone who likes the type of story that has a trajectory over many decades and doesn't expect people or characters to be all white or black; but shades of gray that we all are.

May 22, Wendy Bunnell rated it really liked it. This book has an incredible mix of small scale and grand scale, as we're focusing largely on members of two families living mainly in rural Wisconsin, but over the course of 70 years, and some of these family members had some remote travel which changed their narratives. It's about a boy scout camp, and two boys who became friends in It's about bullying and following rules. It's about war and what it does to people to survive one. It's about marriage and raising kids. Its about how men tre This book has an incredible mix of small scale and grand scale, as we're focusing largely on members of two families living mainly in rural Wisconsin, but over the course of 70 years, and some of these family members had some remote travel which changed their narratives.

Its about how men treat women. It's big and it's small, and pretty darn amazing. Ok, moment of true honesty, I probably am more likely to like this book than most of you because: I grew up in rural Wisconsin. I've been to scout camp, both as a scout and as a parent. I was the official bugler for my small town's VFW Post for my entire high school career, and played Taps at many funerals and Memorial Day events.

Nickolas Butler, seriously, stop stalking me and mining my life for book ideas already, geez man. Ok, I'm kidding, there is a lot more going on here than just those three things, but I loved Shotgun Lovesongs and this novel was also right up my alley. And I also thought that the audiobook was quite well done, even better than Shotgun Lovesongs as they stuck with one reader who didn't noticeably botch the Midwest accent.

She lives in Virginia. About The Hearts of Men From the bestselling author of Nickel and Dimed, an explanation of recent sexual culture and the loosening of marriage bonds in recent history. Also by Barbara Ehrenreich. See all books by Barbara Ehrenreich. About Barbara Ehrenreich Barbara Ehrenreich is an American feminist, democratic socialist, sociologist, and political activist.

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