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A review by meghan111
Mink River by Brian Doyle
5.0
If you're going to visit the Oregon Coast, you must read this novel. So good - like, Sherman Alexie good.
I was hooked by page 16, by the sly humor and the descriptions of the natural world and the residents of the fictional town. The two employees of Neawanaka's Public Works Department discuss their jobs:
"Billy, he says quietly. Billy. We heal things. That's what we do. That's why we're here. We've always agreed on that. Right from the start. We do as well as we can. We fail a lot but we keep after it. What else can we do? We have brains that still work so we have to apply them to pain. Brains against pain. That's the motto. That's the work. That's what we do. Soon enough we will not have brains that work, so therefore."
The appeal of this is the writing and setting. There's a talking crow and some digressions into stuff like the language of bears. It's wonderful. It meanders.
I was hooked by page 16, by the sly humor and the descriptions of the natural world and the residents of the fictional town. The two employees of Neawanaka's Public Works Department discuss their jobs:
"Billy, he says quietly. Billy. We heal things. That's what we do. That's why we're here. We've always agreed on that. Right from the start. We do as well as we can. We fail a lot but we keep after it. What else can we do? We have brains that still work so we have to apply them to pain. Brains against pain. That's the motto. That's the work. That's what we do. Soon enough we will not have brains that work, so therefore."
The appeal of this is the writing and setting. There's a talking crow and some digressions into stuff like the language of bears. It's wonderful. It meanders.