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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
Doig is such a great story teller, I think he's got to be my favorite! I find myself totally immersed when I read his books. This book kept changing up on me and wasn't what I thought it would be from the title (a memior), but a pleasant surprise nonetheless. I really enjoyed so much about this book.
Read reviews in FB book club so decided to give it a try, slow start but it was well worth the wait. It is a coming of age story combined with that of finding family, blood and otherwise. Heartwarming and well written, a good balance to my work day life. Idealistic but with sufficient realism that it doesn’t become maudlin.
adventurous
funny
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
Very well written book that was such a lovely distraction from current life events. Amusing boy, wonderful relationships, amazingly crafted characters and plot. The dog bus, hoboes, a man with one eye, moccasins and rodeo royalty.
Ivan Doig’s final novel puts you right in the heart of family problems facing ranch hands and itinerant workers in 1951. Gram has told her grandson Donal that she needs surgery that will require her to be laid up in recovery for a couple months. As a result, she is losing her job as a ranch cook and sending eleven year-old Donal by bus to live in Milwaukee with her sister.
As always, the descriptions are well-crafted. The sights and sounds of the busses and terminals in Butte and Minneapolis were so accurate that I almost felt like I was on the dog bus with Donal revisiting those old haunts.
The emotions take you on a rollercoaster. Grams surgery frightens Donal as he is dispatched to his aunt, Kate. She does nothing to support him while he tries to find out how Gram’s surgery and recovery progressed. He is confined to an attic bedroom, a card table with 1000 piece puzzles, and a greenhouse where his uncle Herman hides all day tending plants.
Aunt Kate has no idea about dealing with children. She eventually tosses him on the return bus, where he imagines an orphanage is his next stop. Herman happens to abandon Kate at the same time and they join up on a bus to discover what Herman has read of the West. The friendship that develops helps them both get through bad times and good over the next months.
This is a satisfying ending to an author’s wonderful career.
As always, the descriptions are well-crafted. The sights and sounds of the busses and terminals in Butte and Minneapolis were so accurate that I almost felt like I was on the dog bus with Donal revisiting those old haunts.
The emotions take you on a rollercoaster. Grams surgery frightens Donal as he is dispatched to his aunt, Kate. She does nothing to support him while he tries to find out how Gram’s surgery and recovery progressed. He is confined to an attic bedroom, a card table with 1000 piece puzzles, and a greenhouse where his uncle Herman hides all day tending plants.
Aunt Kate has no idea about dealing with children. She eventually tosses him on the return bus, where he imagines an orphanage is his next stop. Herman happens to abandon Kate at the same time and they join up on a bus to discover what Herman has read of the West. The friendship that develops helps them both get through bad times and good over the next months.
This is a satisfying ending to an author’s wonderful career.
adventurous
funny
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Incredibly engaging story of The West in post WWII times. The audiobook reader is amazing with the different voices. I developed a strong bond with the characters Donal and Herman and loved their adventures, especially on the “dog bus”.
This was a fun read that the ladies in my book club all really loved. It's got that 1950s innocence, Western scenery, and a sort of "suspend your disbelief" series of hijinks. It was a little long, and some of the parts were a little eye roll-y (to me), but overall, it was enjoyable- and one of the most well-liked books to date for my book club of older women, so there's that.