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4.26 AVERAGE
4.26 AVERAGE
adventurous
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Wow. Stellar read, maybe my favorite book of the year.
I nearly gave up before getting past the first chapter or two but I'm so glad I kept reading. It started off as something that looked like historical fiction, and it was, but it is a genre-defying book and I've never read anything like it. It's more like the story of the history of a piece of land (a patch of forest in the north woods of Massachusetts) told through vignettes about its inhabitants. But the vignettes come in journal entries, in song lyrics, in real estate listings, in true crime articles, in a story about two spinster sisters more compelling than the spinsters of The Gilded Age, in VHS tapes from a schizophrenic and in his doctor's notes, and an epistolary love story more haunting than Brokeback Mountain, all infused with observations about the changing forest in the kind of depth you'd expect from Thoreau.
I think maybe, above all, it is a ghost story about the land *and* the ways people change it. Maybe. It's hard to pin this one down, but it's brilliant and if you don't get sucked in immediately, give it until you get to Osgood's Wonder 🍏
I don't recall who I got the recommendation from, but thank you!!! What a stellar book!
I nearly gave up before getting past the first chapter or two but I'm so glad I kept reading. It started off as something that looked like historical fiction, and it was, but it is a genre-defying book and I've never read anything like it. It's more like the story of the history of a piece of land (a patch of forest in the north woods of Massachusetts) told through vignettes about its inhabitants. But the vignettes come in journal entries, in song lyrics, in real estate listings, in true crime articles, in a story about two spinster sisters more compelling than the spinsters of The Gilded Age, in VHS tapes from a schizophrenic and in his doctor's notes, and an epistolary love story more haunting than Brokeback Mountain, all infused with observations about the changing forest in the kind of depth you'd expect from Thoreau.
I think maybe, above all, it is a ghost story about the land *and* the ways people change it. Maybe. It's hard to pin this one down, but it's brilliant and if you don't get sucked in immediately, give it until you get to Osgood's Wonder 🍏
I don't recall who I got the recommendation from, but thank you!!! What a stellar book!
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Wow. I almost missed this book because of the cover! Very clever, odd and haunting story. Great writing. I see what the fuss is about.
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
One of the most interesting and unique novels I’ve read.
The writing defies description. Prose, poetry, epistolary blended together.
The land is the only true constant in this story that spans centuries and includes characters ranging from spinster sisters to lonely widows to dung beetles to ghosts.
Yet the land is not constant, shaped and reshaped by landowners, disease and devastating storms. Still its pull is powerful, and its secrets, eternal.
The writing defies description. Prose, poetry, epistolary blended together.
The land is the only true constant in this story that spans centuries and includes characters ranging from spinster sisters to lonely widows to dung beetles to ghosts.
Yet the land is not constant, shaped and reshaped by landowners, disease and devastating storms. Still its pull is powerful, and its secrets, eternal.