lyzadanger’s review: “What started as an uplifting and stirring north plains epic–I loved the highly-educated characters and the sweetness of the family of boys–kind of devolved into an insipid "Little House on the Prairie"-ness in tone that never redeemed itself before the slapdash, jolting ending.

Plus marks for the interesting scenes of one-room-schoolhouse madness and the descriptions of the people (mishmash) and beauty (bleak/flat) of the prairie.

But certain elements of the plot were dead obvious for later twists. Lies leaking from characters were thinly veiled. Repetition of country themes became tiring.

I really think I could like Doig. His style is very much like "what I read." Something about this book rubbed me slightly the wrong way. Perhaps it was too saccharine, too insipid. The alter-character of the protagonist was weak and never fleshed out. Something.

I’ll try another of his novels and see if it fares better.
“
Harvest Books (2007), Edition: Reprint, Paperback, 352 pages
tags: fiction, 2008readinglist, montana, american west, united states, 20th century, early 20th century, historical fiction, dryland, farming, education, read, readin2008

lyzadanger’s review: “This is the stuff of nightmares. And a hell of a ride.

I can barely tolerate driving through the blasted high plains–here’s a book detailing those who staked their entire lives there, edging on starvation as deadly dust spears through their houses. It’s really a bad dream, a land gone hostile, giving nothing but taking revenge on the hubris of the poorly-informed homesteaders.

This is a read. Rollicking. Narrative. My favorite kind of history: history (real) in a novelistic, embellished format that makes it compelling, enveloping. Ardent on its core points of how Americans ravaged history and environment, but never strident or blundering. Sensitive. Individualistic. A wonderful overview (with in-depth chunks) for those, like me, ignorant of this dismal slice of the 20th century.

Highly recommended even for those who sometimes have trouble getting through history.”
Mariner Books (2006), Paperback, 352 pages
tags: depression, american history, history, 1930s, dust bowl, nonfiction, read, readin2008

lyzadanger’s review: “I finished this nigh a week ago but I’m still challenged to say exactly how I feel about it.Reading this book is like getting off a bus and finding yourself in a third-world country where you not only don’t speak the language, but you don’t even understand the brand of humanity exercised around you. It’s a whirling confusion of sweetness paired with inhuman destructiveness. From my admittedly sheltered perspective, the leap of understanding required to conceive of how anyone could behave this way, playing fast and loose with human life in such an elementally evil way, is difficult to grasp. But I suppose that is the point.

All that said, I find that I like Beah. Anyone who can start sensitive, devolve into the Heart of Darkness and somehow come back again is a deep character in my book.

Watch out reading this if you, like me, are sensitive to graphic imagery. There were times when I had to force myself to keep reading, assuring myself that I *needed* to know about this, to understand this chaos. I found it difficult to read at night or when I was feeing tense.”

Farrar, Straus and Giroux (2007), Hardcover, 240 pages

**** (of 5)
, Read for Book Club

Tags: 50 book challenge, africa, autobiography, bookclub, memoir, nonfiction, read, readin2007, sierra leone, war

lyzadanger’s review: “Sensitive, evocative, sad and hopeful at the same moment. A brilliant novel about coming of age in early-80s England. Poor Jason Taylor, he’s 13, saddled with a boring name, and growing up in the west Midlands in Thatcherite 1982. Introspection is not a strong value in his family or acquaintances.

Still, Jason has sensual and sometimes magical adventures. He manages to write passable poetry (albeit under a pseudonym) and stay alive despite beatings and humiliation by his dreadful classmates. He weaves between a mature subtlety of thought and its opposite: slang-ridden, simplified boy-speak that belies his actual depth. It’s great.

Relationships around him crumple and fold and hurt. Families drink and fight. In his village, bigotry marauds as political concern and blind nationalism is the current trend. But it’s surrounded by mystical, beautiful green and hills.

The chapter entitled “Bridle Path” is especially brilliant, detailing a day’s trek on said path by Jason. It’s an Odyssey-like set of occurrences that makes you feel like you might well end up in Middle Earth.

One of the better reads of this year.”

Random House Trade Paperbacks (2007), Paperback, 304 pages
tags: fiction, novel, england, 1980s, bildungsroman, read, readin2007, 50 book challenge

Completed: 11/13/2007
***** (of 5)

Tags: england