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3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
reflective
tense
fast-paced
adventurous
challenging
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Usually love his books. This one just didn't grab me for some reason.
Four men battle the swollen Mississippi River to save a family trapped in their ancestral home by a flood, the likes of which have never been seen before. It’s 1927 and three of the men in the rowboat are convicts, one a trustee, loaned from the local prison for this mission. However, once they reach Ballymore, the four remaining residents of the home don’t want to leave because the owner believes the levee he built will hold. The others are staying out of loyalty to him or his daughter. It becomes a struggle between man and nature, in more ways than one, when they work to strengthen the compromised levee against the power of the river. I listened to this on audio, and I kept getting distracted.
3.5 stars
What I liked:
The setting--the flooding Mississippi River in 1927
The theme--man vs. nature
My favorite characters were two of the convicts (you'll know who)
The ending--it worked for me
What didn't quite work:
This is usually what happens with novellas for me. They are too short for me to become fully invested in the characters. While I was able to recognize Krueger's signature style of bringing to life the setting, I just didn't relate to these characters the way I did with Ordinary Grace, This Tender Land, and his Cork O'Connor books.
The narrator was decent, but I've become used to David Chandler's voice for his books that it wasn't quite the same. One of my favorite books by Krueger, This Tender Land, is narrated by Scott Brick, also one of my favorite narrators, so it would be hard to beat that. While I did listen to Ordinary Grace by Rich Orlow, I don't remember that as much re: the narrator.
Overall, I'd say this was a solid 3-3.5 stars for me.
What I liked:
The setting--the flooding Mississippi River in 1927
The theme--man vs. nature
My favorite characters were two of the convicts (you'll know who)
The ending--it worked for me
What didn't quite work:
This is usually what happens with novellas for me. They are too short for me to become fully invested in the characters. While I was able to recognize Krueger's signature style of bringing to life the setting, I just didn't relate to these characters the way I did with Ordinary Grace, This Tender Land, and his Cork O'Connor books.
The narrator was decent, but I've become used to David Chandler's voice for his books that it wasn't quite the same. One of my favorite books by Krueger, This Tender Land, is narrated by Scott Brick, also one of my favorite narrators, so it would be hard to beat that. While I did listen to Ordinary Grace by Rich Orlow, I don't remember that as much re: the narrator.
Overall, I'd say this was a solid 3-3.5 stars for me.
Thank you to Libro.fm and the publisher for the audio ARC of this title!
Much like This Tender Land, in The Levee William Kent Krueger does an amazing job creating characters with depth, and that the reader wants to know more about. Unlike his other books, Krueger accomplishes this in a 3 1/2 hour audiobook, no small feat! A crew of convicts help to ensure the safety of a levee. It didn’t sound terribly exciting to me, however I quickly became invested in the story. Recommended for readers who enjoy a tale of Americana, tough times, and family.
Much like This Tender Land, in The Levee William Kent Krueger does an amazing job creating characters with depth, and that the reader wants to know more about. Unlike his other books, Krueger accomplishes this in a 3 1/2 hour audiobook, no small feat! A crew of convicts help to ensure the safety of a levee. It didn’t sound terribly exciting to me, however I quickly became invested in the story. Recommended for readers who enjoy a tale of Americana, tough times, and family.
As I read "The Levee" I kept thinking, "This is mediocre Faulkner." In an author's note, Krueger explains the genesis of his novella: initially, this was his attempt to retell Faulkner's "The Old Man," a story of The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, that Krueger found difficult and inaccessible. While he succeeded in making the story more accessible, he did not improve the work of William Faulkner.