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A review by junglezee
Ragged Company by Richard Wagamese
5.0
As I went down in the river to pray, studyin' about that good ol' way! And who shall wear that starry crown? Lord, show me the way...
This is a song that's sung in O Brother, Where Art Thou? and it came to mind a few times while reading this book. I like the song and find it beautiful, and beautiful is, in every measure, the way to describe Ragged Company. It's an absolutely majestic undertaking that's executed perfectly. The book relies on the use of film and movies to accentuate the inner journeys of the characters, and the movies are used in ways that I loved.
A quick way to describe this is, "I really, REALLY loved this book." It is one of my favourites that I've ever read. It's beautiful, jarring, sad, uplifting, unique, unusual, special, mythical, and, did I mention, beautiful? I'd highlight entire sections of the text on my eReader and write a little note that said, "Beautiful." This happened multiple times. There are chapters that ... it's like a peacock. When you see the whole peacock with its tail wide, you're like, "Damn, that's a beautiful peacock" – that's what the whole book is like. However, if you find a single feather from the tail of that peacock, you might also say, "Damn, that's beautiful." Individual chapters of this book could read so beautifully and strikingly that the natural reaction was to put the book down.
One thing I truly adored about this book was the chapter length. The chapters are fairly quick and that makes for a very accessible reading pace that doesn't demand so much of the reader's time. Nonetheless, I feel that I developed a deep connection to this book and I will hopefully read it again someday. It's a special read from a now-late author, I'm keen to check out more of his work.
This is a song that's sung in O Brother, Where Art Thou? and it came to mind a few times while reading this book. I like the song and find it beautiful, and beautiful is, in every measure, the way to describe Ragged Company. It's an absolutely majestic undertaking that's executed perfectly. The book relies on the use of film and movies to accentuate the inner journeys of the characters, and the movies are used in ways that I loved.
A quick way to describe this is, "I really, REALLY loved this book." It is one of my favourites that I've ever read. It's beautiful, jarring, sad, uplifting, unique, unusual, special, mythical, and, did I mention, beautiful? I'd highlight entire sections of the text on my eReader and write a little note that said, "Beautiful." This happened multiple times. There are chapters that ... it's like a peacock. When you see the whole peacock with its tail wide, you're like, "Damn, that's a beautiful peacock" – that's what the whole book is like. However, if you find a single feather from the tail of that peacock, you might also say, "Damn, that's beautiful." Individual chapters of this book could read so beautifully and strikingly that the natural reaction was to put the book down.
One thing I truly adored about this book was the chapter length. The chapters are fairly quick and that makes for a very accessible reading pace that doesn't demand so much of the reader's time. Nonetheless, I feel that I developed a deep connection to this book and I will hopefully read it again someday. It's a special read from a now-late author, I'm keen to check out more of his work.