Put the pieces together
Stocks. Bonds. Financial markets at the turn of the 20th century
I wasn't sure the subject matter of Hernan Diaz's novel, Trust, sounded like compelling reading. I am not attuned to the mechanisms of high finance, and I know almost nothing about the world of investing and wealth-building. but I took a chance. It was, after all, a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel for 2023, (tied with Barbara Kingsolver's Demon Copperhead.) and my goal is to read all the fiction winners each year, so I know what is considered "distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life."
The novel Trust by Hernan Diaz is not necessarily an easy book to absorb. Still, the vision and artistry of writing a book with an overriding structure that surprises the reader at the end is well worth the time and effort.
Full disclosure: It may have been easier to listen to it in the audio version than it would have been to read it. Hearing the different voices of the four narrators helped me understand their tone and motivation. (And listening to audio books while I'm cleaning, cooking, and exercising triples my "reading" time!)
The intricate structure of Trust
Hernan Diaz's novel is a depiction of the 1920s-era stock market, the wealth it garnered for certain individuals, and its dramatic crashes.
Each section is told by a different narrator in varying formats.
Section One
Section One is a novel entitled, "Bonds" about Benjamin Rusk, a manipulator of the market who cares nothing about the losses he inflicts on others while making enormous wealth for himself. "Bonds" includes the story of Rusk's wife, Helen. Helen, with vast amounts of money, became a prominent supporter of the arts. She eventually goes mad.
The fictional novel, "Bonds," which is the first section of Diaz's book Trust, is written by a character named Harold Vanner.
The "novel within a novel" mirrors the Shakespearian technique of writing a "play within a play."
Section Two
After digesting the novel about Benjamen Rusk, we meet Andrew Bevel, a well-known financier. Bevel believes that Rusk's novel is based on his life, and he is livid, intent on setting the record straight.
Bevel has pages of disjointed and unconnected notes about his life that he wants to put into a book, but he doesn't have the time or talent to get it done. Instead, he hires someone to do it for him.
One of Bevels' main reasons to write a book is because he wants to about the goodness of his wife, Mildred, who has died.
Section Three
The next section of Trust introduces us to Ida Partenza, an Italian woman writer desperate for a job during the hard economic times for common people. This part of the novel is more like Ida's memoir. It's her backstory and memories of working with Bevels on presenting his "truth."
Ida is hired by Andrew Bevels to research and write about Bevel's dead wife. With his seemingly limitless money, he is quick to provide her with an apartment close to his home so she can be there at his beck and call, often taking late-night dinners with him. Ida is, however, hampered by Bevels desire to present himself and his wife in a certain way. He doesn't really know his wife or give her credit for her intellect and sophistication. Instead, he sees Mildred as demure and subservient to him, but he wants to glorify her in his book.
When Bevels dies suddenly, Ida Partenza can't publish the book she's been working on for several years.
Section Four
Ida Partenza is now an old woman, called upon to write an article about the Bevels. When she begins to research her subject again, she uncovers a diary by Mildred Bevels, once again totally changing the reader's perceptions of events.
Trust no one!
Each section of the book sounds feasible.
Each succeeding section of the book makes you question what went before.
By the end of the book, you trust no one and yet have an understanding of the influence the stock market wielded in the early 1900s!
Trust in its many forms...
The title of Diaz's novel is brilliant.
Trust can, of course, refer to a financial investment for the future.
It can also mean placing faith in someone's character.
Believing in someone is a form of trust.
Both those definitions come into play when four narrators present their story, each in a unique format.
When you are finished reading, you no longer know who to trust - or even if you can trust - any of the characters' perspectives. At the same time, you've been presented with an overall picture of an era that feels trustworthy precisely BECAUSE of the varying perspectives you've been shown.
If you are a writer - or teach writing...
The Pulitzer Prize-Winning novel, Trust, is a fantastic vehicle for teaching point of view, perspective, and the concept of "unreliable narrators."
It's a literary puzzle that interlocks when you put the final piece into place.
Trust yourself
When I began to write my notes on the novel, I did a little research and was surprised to find that a lot of people didn't like the novel, Trust, didn't think it was worth the hype, and were disappointed it won the Pulitzer.
I was NOT disappointed in any way.
Even though I know nothing about the stock market, I got immersed in the drama of upswings and downswings. I got a glimpse of how the movers and shakers of the financial can influence - if not manipulate - the market. There was truth - and falsehood - in each of the narrator's stories that made me realize no one's story is 100% reliable.
Fundamental human conflicts are embedded in each section of the book. Struggles between husband and wife, wealth and poverty, employer and employee, the powerful and the powerless run through Trust, adding tension to the novel.
You be the judge. Don't trust the people who tell you to avoid this book because it was confusing or disappointing. Instead, "trust" your ability to decipher the meaning of the book when you get to the end.
Literary critics loved Trust by Hernan Diaz
One of the New York Times’s100 Best Books of the 21st Century
The Washington Post 10 Best Books of the Year
Trust has been called "an enthralling tour de force," The American Literary Review says,
Trust me - or not!
This book is out of the ordinary. It's not a fast, light read, but it's worth the effort. Insightful. Intricate. Imaginative.
And worthy of a Pulitzer Prize!
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