The Dig

Welsh writer Jones's brutal, lyrical, slim novel centers on two men%E2%80%94widowed sheep farmer Daniel and an illicit badger baiter known only as %E2%80%9Cthe big man"%E2%80%94living in present-day rural Wales. Spare in its plotting, the story follows both men as their paths gradually converge. While Daniel navigates the ordeals of %E2%80%9Clambing season" as the reality of his wife's death (by an accidental horse kick) settles in, the big man attempts to stave off the police while searching for the location of his next dig (badgers are captured from underground tunnels). He eventually lands on a section of Daniel's property. While the action of the story is compelling, the real pleasures lie in Jones's language and meditations on grief. In prose that calls to mind both the severity of Cormac McCarthy and the psychological lucidity of John Updike, Jones explores the intricacies of Daniel's mourning (%E2%80%9CHe seemed to know the offer of sympathy would be like a gate he'd go crashing through"), as well as the strangeness of time%E2%80%94not %E2%80%9Ca thing you live within, but... an element you grow alien to when you become aware of it." The focus on the criminal underbelly of agrarian culture poses a refreshing counterpoint to back-to-the-land idealism. (Apr.)