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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
“The real timber’s gone,” Lark said. “What’s left, ten percent, including the parks? Two thousand years to grow a forest, a hundred years to fall it. No plague like man.” - Ash Davidson, Damnation Spring
Rich is a fourth-generation lumberjack, or tree-topper as he's called. Felling Redwoods on the North California coast in the late '70s is tough work that's getting harder to come by. His wife, Colleen, is an amateur midwife. Their son, Chub, is five and acts a lot like a five-year-old will do. Rich tries to provide for their family by secretly buying thousands of acres of forest to secure future work and gains. Colleen is fighting to stop the timber industry and the spraying of pesticides over their community.
As is common with systematic poisoning, the town of Klamath, California is plagued by dead small animals, miscarriages, birth defects, and polluted resources. It almost needs a sign saying "Don't Drink The Water" over every spigot and fountain.
I feel like this book got mismarketed. I don't think the conflict between Rich and Colleen was the central part of the story. It turned into much more than that. Commenting on how pesticides and other groundwater pollution sources can ruin the life of a community and the lives within it. Rich and Colleen come to terms with their situation quickly and resolve the conflict too soon for it to be the focus of the story. Things come to a head later at Damnation Spring, how aptly named. I liked the story a lot, I think it needed better representation instead of marketing it as a common-all-garden contemporary fiction with a relationship-specific plot.
Rich is a fourth-generation lumberjack, or tree-topper as he's called. Felling Redwoods on the North California coast in the late '70s is tough work that's getting harder to come by. His wife, Colleen, is an amateur midwife. Their son, Chub, is five and acts a lot like a five-year-old will do. Rich tries to provide for their family by secretly buying thousands of acres of forest to secure future work and gains. Colleen is fighting to stop the timber industry and the spraying of pesticides over their community.
As is common with systematic poisoning, the town of Klamath, California is plagued by dead small animals, miscarriages, birth defects, and polluted resources. It almost needs a sign saying "Don't Drink The Water" over every spigot and fountain.
I feel like this book got mismarketed. I don't think the conflict between Rich and Colleen was the central part of the story. It turned into much more than that. Commenting on how pesticides and other groundwater pollution sources can ruin the life of a community and the lives within it. Rich and Colleen come to terms with their situation quickly and resolve the conflict too soon for it to be the focus of the story. Things come to a head later at Damnation Spring, how aptly named. I liked the story a lot, I think it needed better representation instead of marketing it as a common-all-garden contemporary fiction with a relationship-specific plot.
emotional
sad
slow-paced
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Heartbreaking, deeply human, engrossing; one of the best books I have read this year. Set in a logging town in northern California in the late 1970s, it explores the tensions between the loggers and environmentalists and the consequences of logging through a married couple, a logger and an amateur midwife, and their fellow townspeople.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
I really enjoyed reading this book. I brought me to that old growth forest where I could smell the earth after the rain. This book brings up many valid ecological arguments, but then again it also brings up the other sides argument as their way of life. This book was touching and heart warming. I would definitely suggest this book to friends and others who love a good novel to snuggle up with on a cold autumn day.
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
funny
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The first 40% or so of the book, I was not sold. It was moving so slowly that many times, I wondered if the plot was moving at all. Then somewhere along the line, I really fell for the main characters. I love the relationship of all the Gundersons; you knew that they all truly deeply loved each other and it was so so beautiful to read. I cheered Colleen on as she found the courage to do something she thought was right, same with Rich, as he learns that family is more important than work. I really felt connected to these people, in a way I don't usually with other books. AND THE ENDING. Why you gotta do me like that????? I have never been actually upset at an author ever for killing off a character before. Like!?!? When things were finally going right for the Gundersons, you had to kill Rich?!?!?! Right as he found out that his loan had been paid off and his wife was pregnant and his son was finally going to get his dream goldfish!?!??! Man that broke me a bit.
I also really like the environmental aspect, too. Really something we have to think about, even now in the 21st century. What are we putting out there?
I also really like the environmental aspect, too. Really something we have to think about, even now in the 21st century. What are we putting out there?
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Way too much technical logging lingo, which made this incredibly difficult to read. It overwhelmed the story, so it felt like I was just reading a textbook for logging school. The story line itself seemed interesting, but I just could not get over the language.