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kelleemoye's review against another edition
3.0
Reviewed at:
http://www.teachmentortexts.com/2012/02/all-earth-thrown-to-sky.html
Summary: Jack is an orphan- his mother died of dust pneumonia and his father hanged himself- and he cannot take it in Oklahoma any more. The dust bowl has officially taken over and is sucking the life out of everything it can. While determining his plan, Jane, a neighbor girl, and her brother, Tony, trudge into his front yard looking for help because they too have lost everything in their lives. The three decide to steal a dead neighbor's car and make their way to Texas where Jane and Tony have relatives. This decision starts an adventure that none of them could have bargained for including mobsters, guns, alligators, slavery, train hopping and a carnival.
What I Think: When you begin this book, you think you are going to read a normal historical fiction book about the dust bowl. The beginning is so depressing- filled with death and dust- expressing the emotion of the era. I felt that it captured the dust bowl so well. Our characters were dealing with tragedies in their life that we can't even imagine happening to us, but the children just breezed over it like it was a normal day occurrence. But then the book changed. I still don't really know how I feel about the book because it was so far from what I was expecting. When the kids meet mobsters on the side of the road, I couldn't believe that the author made that choice for this story, but then everything kind of snowballed from there and I was sucked into this crazy movie-esque adventure where just when everything seemed okay, something else horrible would happen.
Although I question the plot, I did really enjoy the characters. Jack was a simple good-ole-boy and all throughout his narration I could hear his voice in my head. Jane, on the other hand, was anything but your normal girl from this era. She was well read, always comparing their journeys to the quests of Sir Galahad, Odysseus, Jason or another story, and she had a mind of her own. I love that she stood up for herself often and wouldn't waver from what she believed in. Although she was a big liar, she often used it for good, not evil and overall was a fantastic story teller. Tony, her brother, was the side kick and bit of humor in the story. He was a sweet boy who had to make some tough choices. The characters are really what made this story.
*secret* I really dislike the cover. I think it looks way too modern and also doesn't capture the essence of the story. *sh*
http://www.teachmentortexts.com/2012/02/all-earth-thrown-to-sky.html
Summary: Jack is an orphan- his mother died of dust pneumonia and his father hanged himself- and he cannot take it in Oklahoma any more. The dust bowl has officially taken over and is sucking the life out of everything it can. While determining his plan, Jane, a neighbor girl, and her brother, Tony, trudge into his front yard looking for help because they too have lost everything in their lives. The three decide to steal a dead neighbor's car and make their way to Texas where Jane and Tony have relatives. This decision starts an adventure that none of them could have bargained for including mobsters, guns, alligators, slavery, train hopping and a carnival.
What I Think: When you begin this book, you think you are going to read a normal historical fiction book about the dust bowl. The beginning is so depressing- filled with death and dust- expressing the emotion of the era. I felt that it captured the dust bowl so well. Our characters were dealing with tragedies in their life that we can't even imagine happening to us, but the children just breezed over it like it was a normal day occurrence. But then the book changed. I still don't really know how I feel about the book because it was so far from what I was expecting. When the kids meet mobsters on the side of the road, I couldn't believe that the author made that choice for this story, but then everything kind of snowballed from there and I was sucked into this crazy movie-esque adventure where just when everything seemed okay, something else horrible would happen.
Although I question the plot, I did really enjoy the characters. Jack was a simple good-ole-boy and all throughout his narration I could hear his voice in my head. Jane, on the other hand, was anything but your normal girl from this era. She was well read, always comparing their journeys to the quests of Sir Galahad, Odysseus, Jason or another story, and she had a mind of her own. I love that she stood up for herself often and wouldn't waver from what she believed in. Although she was a big liar, she often used it for good, not evil and overall was a fantastic story teller. Tony, her brother, was the side kick and bit of humor in the story. He was a sweet boy who had to make some tough choices. The characters are really what made this story.
*secret* I really dislike the cover. I think it looks way too modern and also doesn't capture the essence of the story. *sh*
merrysociopath's review against another edition
4.0
Ora mi piacerebbe sapere perché le migliori storie che ho letto e che hanno protagonisti dei ragazzi sono scritte da autori famosi per i loro romanzi pieni di sangue e budella sparpagliate sul pavimento. Una è "Il corpo", scritta da Stephen King poco meno di trent'anni fa, che ancora considero una delle migliori novelle di sempre. E ora c'è Joe R. Lansdale con questo "Cielo di sabbia".
Un romanzo di passaggio e maturazione, tra l'altro del genere che preferisco, quell'on the road in cui non è tanto importante la destinazione, ma quello che succede durante il viaggio. Così Jack, Jane e Tony, la cui età non è mai precisata, ma suppongo siano più grandi di Harry Potter in "La pietra filosofale" e più piccoli di Harry Potter in "I doni della morte" si imbattono in un vasto campionario di esseri umani, e c'è chi offrirà loro una mano amica, e chi invece li ingannerà o anche peggio. Il bello è che tu lettore non sai mai cosa aspettarti.
Il tutto nella grande cornice dell'America della Grande Depressione, che ha colpito la popolazione non solo finanziariamente ma anche nel morale.
Ultima nota sulla traduzione. Spesso le versioni italiane dei romanzi di Lansdale curati da Einaudi fanno davvero pena. La traduzione di Luca Conti non è disastrosa come quelle di Stefano Curton, Costanza Prinetti e, soprattutto, Vittorio Curtoni, ma mi sono ritrovato in due punti a non sapere se ridere o piangere. Intanto dubito che un ragazzino dell'Oklahoma sappia cosa sia la polenta, e che pentanto usi l'intercalare "Santa polenta!". E poi "Pisquano". Perchè usare la parola pisquano? Perché allora non pirletta? Ogni romanzo è più esasperante del precedente, sotto questo punto di vista.
A parte questo, Cielo di sabbia è un buon libro, forse non il migliore di Lansdale, ma comunque è dotato di una bella storia vivida, fresca e divertente. Sì, Lansdale poteva usare un po' meno il deus ex machina, ma posso passarci sopra perché, alla fin fine, si tratta di una favola.
Un romanzo di passaggio e maturazione, tra l'altro del genere che preferisco, quell'on the road in cui non è tanto importante la destinazione, ma quello che succede durante il viaggio. Così Jack, Jane e Tony, la cui età non è mai precisata, ma suppongo siano più grandi di Harry Potter in "La pietra filosofale" e più piccoli di Harry Potter in "I doni della morte" si imbattono in un vasto campionario di esseri umani, e c'è chi offrirà loro una mano amica, e chi invece li ingannerà o anche peggio. Il bello è che tu lettore non sai mai cosa aspettarti.
Il tutto nella grande cornice dell'America della Grande Depressione, che ha colpito la popolazione non solo finanziariamente ma anche nel morale.
Ultima nota sulla traduzione. Spesso le versioni italiane dei romanzi di Lansdale curati da Einaudi fanno davvero pena. La traduzione di Luca Conti non è disastrosa come quelle di Stefano Curton, Costanza Prinetti e, soprattutto, Vittorio Curtoni, ma mi sono ritrovato in due punti a non sapere se ridere o piangere. Intanto dubito che un ragazzino dell'Oklahoma sappia cosa sia la polenta, e che pentanto usi l'intercalare "Santa polenta!". E poi "Pisquano". Perchè usare la parola pisquano? Perché allora non pirletta? Ogni romanzo è più esasperante del precedente, sotto questo punto di vista.
A parte questo, Cielo di sabbia è un buon libro, forse non il migliore di Lansdale, ma comunque è dotato di una bella storia vivida, fresca e divertente. Sì, Lansdale poteva usare un po' meno il deus ex machina, ma posso passarci sopra perché, alla fin fine, si tratta di una favola.
trudilibrarian's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
All the Earth, Thrown to the Sky (great title) doesn't have anything so wild and wacky as all that. In fact, it's a quiet little novel, short and sweet, a coming-of-age tale set during the Dust Bowl of the 1930's. Hardest hit is Oklahoma, resulting in such a huge migration of desperate people from that state they became known as "Okies" (a derogatory term, not one of affection). But this isn't [b:The Grapes of Wrath|4395|The Grapes of Wrath|John Steinbeck|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1309212810s/4395.jpg|2931549] -- it's much closer to O Brother, Where art Thou?
Three young people (Jack, compulsive liar Jane and her little brother Tony) find themselves in dire, tragic circumstances -- with no family left, no home, but a stolen car, they hit the road to seek out something better. Along the way, they become entangled in some dangerous circumstances, but also make friends in unexpected places. All the while, their journey is laced with adventure and humor. I had already started thinking about "O Brother" and then Jane explains to Jack: "We're like Odysseus" and I laughed, because the whole premise of "O Brother" is that it's Homer's epic poem "The Odyssey", set in the deep south during the 1930's.
Like the Coen brothers movie, All the Earth, Thrown to the Sky is having fun, but at the same time there are moments of poignancy and underneath all the shenanigans, there is a sobering portrait of hardship and desperation.
It was hard to remember when all the earth hadn't been thrown to the sky.This is my first Lansdale but I've known about him for quite some time. He's one of those authors who mixes up genres in crazy, imaginative ways and writes equally strong across the spectrum of storytelling styles (including gobs of graphic novels). I know him as a horror writer because his name always shows up for the Bram Stoker Awards and he just received the Horror Writer's Association Lifetime Achievement Award. I also know him to be the author of the novella "Bubba Ho-Tep" (available from Amazon for 0.99 cents!) If you haven't seen the film this inspired, don't wait! It has Elvis and JFK in a nursing home ... and an ancient Egyptian mummy!
All the Earth, Thrown to the Sky (great title) doesn't have anything so wild and wacky as all that. In fact, it's a quiet little novel, short and sweet, a coming-of-age tale set during the Dust Bowl of the 1930's. Hardest hit is Oklahoma, resulting in such a huge migration of desperate people from that state they became known as "Okies" (a derogatory term, not one of affection). But this isn't [b:The Grapes of Wrath|4395|The Grapes of Wrath|John Steinbeck|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1309212810s/4395.jpg|2931549] -- it's much closer to O Brother, Where art Thou?
Three young people (Jack, compulsive liar Jane and her little brother Tony) find themselves in dire, tragic circumstances -- with no family left, no home, but a stolen car, they hit the road to seek out something better. Along the way, they become entangled in some dangerous circumstances, but also make friends in unexpected places. All the while, their journey is laced with adventure and humor. I had already started thinking about "O Brother" and then Jane explains to Jack: "We're like Odysseus" and I laughed, because the whole premise of "O Brother" is that it's Homer's epic poem "The Odyssey", set in the deep south during the 1930's.
Like the Coen brothers movie, All the Earth, Thrown to the Sky is having fun, but at the same time there are moments of poignancy and underneath all the shenanigans, there is a sobering portrait of hardship and desperation.
When the wind wasn't blowing, the starving grasshoppers was coming at us in a wave so dark it blacked out the sun. And the rabbits. So many rabbits. Everything became a big mess of whirling sand, starving rabbits, and buzzing grasshoppers.I think Steinbeck would have enjoyed this story very much.
cupcakegirly's review against another edition
4.0
"The wind could blow down a full-grown man, but it was the dust that was the worst."
This was a pleasantly surprising story of adventure and camaraderie found in the midst of heartbreaking loss during The Great Depression.
Jack Catcher has recently lost both parents, the money's gone, the dog's gone, the food's gone and soon enough the family farm will be gone too thanks in part to the Oklahoma dust storms that have killed anything and everything edible. (Sounds like a bad country music song, doesn't it?) There's nothing left for him in the only place he's ever called home except memories and those aren't even worth sticking around for.
All he wants to do now is get out of Oklahoma but he has no idea how to accomplish that. Enter Jane Lewis and her younger brother Tony. Jane and Jack used to go to school together, until the Depression hit and Jack had to stay home and help his parents out around the farm. Jane and Tony are orphans now too with their father having had his unfortunate tractor accident and their mother running off with the Bible salesman, but they've managed to survive the storm somehow.
Jane has big plans to get to Texas and won't let anything stand in her way. She and Tony have already planned to steal a car from a dead neighbor (he won't mind since he's dead and all) and the fact that neither can drive doesn't seem to faze Jane. She's a pro at telling tall tales so she knows she'll be able to convince someone to drive them. Jane ends up enlisting Jack's help, assuring him it will be a way for all three of them to start fresh and he just expects to find a way out of his desolate life but what he gains is an adventure that he, Jane and Tony won't soon forget.
They'll encounter people they've only heard stories about, do things the never imagined (when's the last time you jumped a moving train?) and maybe even find love along the way. Jack especially will be forced to learn some hard lessons about honesty, integrity and plain 'ole common sense but the most important lesson he learns is how to hope again.
(This story definitely gives the reader a new appreciation for all things "clean" and meals that contain beans.)
This was a pleasantly surprising story of adventure and camaraderie found in the midst of heartbreaking loss during The Great Depression.
Jack Catcher has recently lost both parents, the money's gone, the dog's gone, the food's gone and soon enough the family farm will be gone too thanks in part to the Oklahoma dust storms that have killed anything and everything edible. (Sounds like a bad country music song, doesn't it?) There's nothing left for him in the only place he's ever called home except memories and those aren't even worth sticking around for.
All he wants to do now is get out of Oklahoma but he has no idea how to accomplish that. Enter Jane Lewis and her younger brother Tony. Jane and Jack used to go to school together, until the Depression hit and Jack had to stay home and help his parents out around the farm. Jane and Tony are orphans now too with their father having had his unfortunate tractor accident and their mother running off with the Bible salesman, but they've managed to survive the storm somehow.
Jane has big plans to get to Texas and won't let anything stand in her way. She and Tony have already planned to steal a car from a dead neighbor (he won't mind since he's dead and all) and the fact that neither can drive doesn't seem to faze Jane. She's a pro at telling tall tales so she knows she'll be able to convince someone to drive them. Jane ends up enlisting Jack's help, assuring him it will be a way for all three of them to start fresh and he just expects to find a way out of his desolate life but what he gains is an adventure that he, Jane and Tony won't soon forget.
They'll encounter people they've only heard stories about, do things the never imagined (when's the last time you jumped a moving train?) and maybe even find love along the way. Jack especially will be forced to learn some hard lessons about honesty, integrity and plain 'ole common sense but the most important lesson he learns is how to hope again.
(This story definitely gives the reader a new appreciation for all things "clean" and meals that contain beans.)
heykellyjensen's review against another edition
3.0
I really liked this historical novel set in the great depression about a group of kids who had to survive and thrive on their own. The loss is palpable. Jack was a strong main character and well developed, but it was Jane who really captured my attention. A whip-strong girl, especially in this era.
Full review here: http://www.stackedbooks.org/2011/11/all-earth-thrown-to-sky-by-joe-lansdale.html
Full review here: http://www.stackedbooks.org/2011/11/all-earth-thrown-to-sky-by-joe-lansdale.html
verkisto's review against another edition
3.0
I've been reading Joe Lansdale for a long time. I haven't been there since the beginning, but I discovered him around 1994 and found a lot of reasons to come back to him. He has a very natural storytelling style, he tells stories with great theme and atmosphere, and his voice doesn't disappoint. Not all of his stories are big hits (Lost Echoes and Leather Maiden weren't as good as Sunset and Sawdust), but even when they're a miss, they're still enjoyable reads.
All the Earth, Thrown to the Sky has all of those characteristics, but it's not his best work. I think part of it is because it's a YA book, and I expect that it's unfair to judge this book for what it isn't, but when I know how a Lansdale story reads when he's running all cylinders on nitroglycerine, it's hard not to wish that this story could have been so much more.
A lot of the appeal of reading Lansdale is the way he unflinchingly looks at injustice and intolerance. It's not always a comfortable read, but it's usually an enlightening one, and it's more effective when he's writing with adults in mind. He doesn't have to be careful with his language, he doesn't have to worry about the violence being too graphic, and he doesn't need to ask himself if he's going too far. With this book, though, he did, and I feel like it suffers for it. It's as if he's trying to get that same point across without offending anyone in the process, and as it is, the antagonists come across as being far too gentle for some of the atrocities they commit.
The story is about three young kids in the 1930s who have lost their parents to the dust storms in Oklahoma, and how they wind up making their way to Texas. The reasons for their departure are pretty clear -- there's nothing left for them there with their parents dead, their houses in foreclosure, and their farms decimated -- but how they get from Oklahoma to Texas is the real story. I wouldn't want to give too much away, but rest assured, there's enough Southern Gothic weirdness here keeping the story moving. The events in the story feel a little random, but the structure follows that of the Odyssey, where the main characters are on a journey that takes them through many trials, so I doubt that this was Lansdale flailing away at the plot. I think he was making a conscious decision to bounce the kids around from one event to the next.
Overall, the story was good, and I can see it being a good book for YAs (the themes will generate discussion, and the lessons to be learned from the story, though a little too obvious, are important), but it's hard to recommend it to adult readers. If you have a hankering to try out Lansdale's style, I'd recommend starting with Sunset and Sawdust; it will make everything else of his you read pale by comparison, but it's a damn fine story that should engage all readers of fiction.
All the Earth, Thrown to the Sky has all of those characteristics, but it's not his best work. I think part of it is because it's a YA book, and I expect that it's unfair to judge this book for what it isn't, but when I know how a Lansdale story reads when he's running all cylinders on nitroglycerine, it's hard not to wish that this story could have been so much more.
A lot of the appeal of reading Lansdale is the way he unflinchingly looks at injustice and intolerance. It's not always a comfortable read, but it's usually an enlightening one, and it's more effective when he's writing with adults in mind. He doesn't have to be careful with his language, he doesn't have to worry about the violence being too graphic, and he doesn't need to ask himself if he's going too far. With this book, though, he did, and I feel like it suffers for it. It's as if he's trying to get that same point across without offending anyone in the process, and as it is, the antagonists come across as being far too gentle for some of the atrocities they commit.
The story is about three young kids in the 1930s who have lost their parents to the dust storms in Oklahoma, and how they wind up making their way to Texas. The reasons for their departure are pretty clear -- there's nothing left for them there with their parents dead, their houses in foreclosure, and their farms decimated -- but how they get from Oklahoma to Texas is the real story. I wouldn't want to give too much away, but rest assured, there's enough Southern Gothic weirdness here keeping the story moving. The events in the story feel a little random, but the structure follows that of the Odyssey, where the main characters are on a journey that takes them through many trials, so I doubt that this was Lansdale flailing away at the plot. I think he was making a conscious decision to bounce the kids around from one event to the next.
Overall, the story was good, and I can see it being a good book for YAs (the themes will generate discussion, and the lessons to be learned from the story, though a little too obvious, are important), but it's hard to recommend it to adult readers. If you have a hankering to try out Lansdale's style, I'd recommend starting with Sunset and Sawdust; it will make everything else of his you read pale by comparison, but it's a damn fine story that should engage all readers of fiction.
jimbob_luke's review against another edition
5.0
Lansdale smashes it out of the park again. Is he actually capable of writing a bad book? This is another coming of age novel from Lansdale, and it's a little more tame than the zBottoms, but the pace, dialogue and emotional depth make it worth the journey.
- Danny
- Danny
srousseau's review against another edition
3.0
Jack's mother dies and his father kills himself and leaves Jack by himself on a failing farm in Oklahoma in the 30's. The dust storms are horrendous and have been going on so long that Jack doesn't remember what the farm looked like with greenery. Jane and Tony's father has been killed in a tractor accident. The three kids decide to leave Oklahoma to find a better life. On the way they meet a collection of odd and dangerous people.
This book reminded me a lot of "In the Path of Falling Objects"by Andrew Smith -kids on the road looking for a better life. In the Path... is set in the 70's. While the characters aren't all that sympathetic all the time, you want good things to happen to them. The imagery and description of the times puts you in the story. A good book, but one that may not find a wide YA audience.
This book reminded me a lot of "In the Path of Falling Objects"by Andrew Smith -kids on the road looking for a better life. In the Path... is set in the 70's. While the characters aren't all that sympathetic all the time, you want good things to happen to them. The imagery and description of the times puts you in the story. A good book, but one that may not find a wide YA audience.
thegruester's review against another edition
2.0
Who was the protagonist? What was his conflict? This story was just a series of highly unbelievable events. Some help reveal the history if the time period, most of it was just wordy, and preachy. There were maybe 3 good moments in the whole book. The rest just went on and on. Not a strong writer or plot.