Reviewed by Ian Lipke
Giants do live in our world. A quick search of any encyclopedia will reveal the existence of people nine feet tall. If you consider a nearly 9-foot-tall human a giant, then yes, they certainly do. Robert Wadlow, the tallest person on record, grew to 8 feet, 11 inches (2.72 meters) before he died at the age of 22 in 1940, according to Guinness World Records.
“The majority of [giant] patients have a growth hormone problem,” leading scientists tell us. They report that the leading cause of gigantism is elevated levels of a growth hormone produced by the pituitary gland in the brain. Most of the time, these high levels are caused by a benign tumour. One reason it’s unlikely we’ll see another person as tall as Wadlow again is that doctors can now remove the tumour and use medications to halt growth, as gigantism and the tumour endanger a person’s health.
Gabriel Fisher is no exception. That he was a giant who excelled at sporting activities makes him stand out from his fellows perhaps. Ron Rindo’s treatment of the young man is to present him as different only because he is so big but in no other way. In fact, the local community see him as no different from themselves, at least until he begins to perform on the sports field.
Rindo could be drawing a lesson for his readers through his presentation of Gabriel Fisher were it not for the period after which his star player is badly injured. Once we accept that there is an educational component in the book, we need to examine other aspects that lend themselves to similar treatment. The large part that religion plays in the daily lives of the characters is a prime example. The book is a primer into the Amish way of life.
The writing style deserves a comment. No matter whether Amish or Christian the writer provides a warm and loving text, reflecting the way of life proposed. Dr Thomas Kennedy, Hannah Fisher, and Bily Walton to name but a few of many characters are honest, God-fearing citizens who, within the confines of their faith lived worthwhile lives.
The community in which Gabriel was raised was largely Amish with strict rules of religion and tenets of acceptable behaviour, but within the rules lived a community that was supportive of one another. The worst example of punishment was to exile the offender, treating him/her with non-recognition. The family so shunned could admit fault at any time and be immediately forgiven.
This novel lacks passages of high drama. It remains profoundly moving nevertheless, and one feels that highly emotive passages would offer little that would make the book any better. It is a fabulous piece of writing.
Life, and Death, and Giants
(2025)
by Ron Rindo
Picador (Pan Macmillan)
ISBN: 978-1-76177-146-0
$34.99; 336 pp