Riven Rock
Encyclopedia
Riven Rock is a 1998 novel by American author T. Coraghessan Boyle
. It concerns the life of Stanley McCormick, a son of Cyrus McCormick
, inventor of the reaper, and Stanley's devoted wife, Katherine McCormick, daughter of Wirt Dexter, a prominent Chicago lawyer.
The locale of most of the story is Riven Rock, an estate located near Montecito
, Santa Barbara County, California, and owned by the McCormick family. Stanley, having developed severe mental problems, is confined to the estate for the rest of his life, during which repeated attempts to cure him by various medical experts are to no avail.
Stanley and Katharine live largely separate lives. The reader comes to know Katharine slightly better than her husband, if only because she is a functioning member of society (albeit sexually deprived) whereas he is either catatonic or in a violent rage for much of the time. (He has been diagnosed as suffering from dementia praecox
, among other conditions, his deepest fears—and hatreds—reserved for women.)
A third protagonist, Eddie O’Kane, is Stanley’s chief nurse throughout his stay at Riven Rock. O’Kane and his tumultuous relationships with women are described in numerous sections in the novel, forming a third storyline interwoven with those of Katharine and Stanley. Boyle thus ranges between accounts of high society (and its madnesses) and the alcoholism and romantic desperation of O’Kane, the Irish-American stiff.
The three parts of the novel parallel those times during which three different psychiatrists preside over Stanley’s care, a unique though essentially arbitrary division (because the main story continues virtually unchanged throughout). The first caretaker is Dr. Hamilton, someone more interested in studying the apes and monkeys he has brought to the estate than in helping Stanley to improve. The second is Dr. Brush, something of a nonentity who quickly gives up on any prospect of saving the patient. The third is Dr. Kempf, a psychoanalyst who achieves some success in bringing Stanley around to being able to interact with women, including, after nearly twenty years, his wife Katharine. In the end, though, the patient reverts to abnormal behavior, and Katharine sues (unsuccessfully) in court to obtain full control over Stanley’s care (where for the duration she has shared it with the McCormicks).
Riven Rock probes male-female relationships, the nature of psychiatric care (as it existed in the early twentieth century), and the crazy mix of classes and ethnicities that is modern America. It also shows, above all, how much is to be gained by giving literary treatment to historical characters and events—an exercise that Boyle repeats in The Women
and other of his works.
T. Coraghessan Boyle
Tom Coraghessan Boyle is a U.S. novelist and short story writer. Since the mid 1970s, he has published twelve novels and more than 100 short stories...
. It concerns the life of Stanley McCormick, a son of Cyrus McCormick
Cyrus McCormick
Cyrus Hall McCormick, Sr. was an American inventor and founder of the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company, which became part of International Harvester Company in 1902.He and many members of the McCormick family became prominent Chicagoans....
, inventor of the reaper, and Stanley's devoted wife, Katherine McCormick, daughter of Wirt Dexter, a prominent Chicago lawyer.
The locale of most of the story is Riven Rock, an estate located near Montecito
Montecito, California
Montecito is an unincorporated community in Santa Barbara County, California. As a census-designated place, it had a population of 8,965 in 2010. This does not include areas such as Coast Village Road, that, while usually considered part of Montecito, are actually within the city limits of Santa...
, Santa Barbara County, California, and owned by the McCormick family. Stanley, having developed severe mental problems, is confined to the estate for the rest of his life, during which repeated attempts to cure him by various medical experts are to no avail.
Stanley and Katharine live largely separate lives. The reader comes to know Katharine slightly better than her husband, if only because she is a functioning member of society (albeit sexually deprived) whereas he is either catatonic or in a violent rage for much of the time. (He has been diagnosed as suffering from dementia praecox
Dementia praecox
Dementia praecox refers to a chronic, deteriorating psychotic disorder characterized by rapid cognitive disintegration, usually beginning in the late teens or early adulthood. It is a term first used in 1891 in this Latin form by Arnold Pick , a professor of psychiatry at the German branch of...
, among other conditions, his deepest fears—and hatreds—reserved for women.)
A third protagonist, Eddie O’Kane, is Stanley’s chief nurse throughout his stay at Riven Rock. O’Kane and his tumultuous relationships with women are described in numerous sections in the novel, forming a third storyline interwoven with those of Katharine and Stanley. Boyle thus ranges between accounts of high society (and its madnesses) and the alcoholism and romantic desperation of O’Kane, the Irish-American stiff.
The three parts of the novel parallel those times during which three different psychiatrists preside over Stanley’s care, a unique though essentially arbitrary division (because the main story continues virtually unchanged throughout). The first caretaker is Dr. Hamilton, someone more interested in studying the apes and monkeys he has brought to the estate than in helping Stanley to improve. The second is Dr. Brush, something of a nonentity who quickly gives up on any prospect of saving the patient. The third is Dr. Kempf, a psychoanalyst who achieves some success in bringing Stanley around to being able to interact with women, including, after nearly twenty years, his wife Katharine. In the end, though, the patient reverts to abnormal behavior, and Katharine sues (unsuccessfully) in court to obtain full control over Stanley’s care (where for the duration she has shared it with the McCormicks).
Riven Rock probes male-female relationships, the nature of psychiatric care (as it existed in the early twentieth century), and the crazy mix of classes and ethnicities that is modern America. It also shows, above all, how much is to be gained by giving literary treatment to historical characters and events—an exercise that Boyle repeats in The Women
The Women
The Women is a comedy of manners by Clare Boothe Luce.The play is an acidic commentary on the pampered lives and power struggles of various wealthy Manhattan socialites and up-and-comers and the gossip that propels and damages their relationships...
and other of his works.
Book information
Riven Rock by T. C. Boyle- Hardcover - ISBN 0-670-87881-2 (First edition, February 1, 1998) published by Viking PressViking PressViking Press is an American publishing company owned by the Penguin Group, which has owned the company since 1975. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheim...
- Paperback - ISBN 0-140-27166-X (January 1, 1999) published by Penguin BooksPenguin BooksPenguin Books is a publisher founded in 1935 by Sir Allen Lane and V.K. Krishna Menon. Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its high quality, inexpensive paperbacks, sold through Woolworths and other high street stores for sixpence. Penguin's success demonstrated that large...