English Creek
In this prizewinning portrait of a time and place -- Montana in the 1930s -- that at once inspires and fulfills a longing for an explicable past, Ivan Doig has created one of the most captivating families in American fiction, the McCaskills. The witty and haunting narration, a masterpiece of...
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In this prizewinning portrait of a time and place -- Montana in the 1930s -- that at once inspires and fulfills a longing for an explicable past, Ivan Doig has created one of the most captivating families in American fiction, the McCaskills. The witty and haunting narration, a masterpiece of vernacular in the tradition of Twain, follows the events of the Two Medicine country's summer: the tide of sheep moving into the high country, the capering Fourth of July rodeo and community dance, and an end-of-August forest fire high in the Rockies that brings the book, as well as the McCaskill family's struggle within itself, to a stunning climax. It is a season of escapade as well as drama, during which fourteen-year-old Jick comes of age. Through his eyes we see those nearest and dearest to him at a turning point -- "where all four of our lives made their bend" -- and discover along with him his own connection to the land, to history, and to the deep-fathomed mysteries of one's kin and one's self.
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Format: paperback
ISBN:
9780743271271 (0743271270)
Publish date: June 1st 2005
Publisher: Scribner
Pages no: 352
Edition language: English
Series: Two Medicine Trilogy (#1)
I found English Creek captures the essential both in physical descriptions of the land, the dialog between people and what is essentially important in life. Some compare him to [a:Wallace Stegner, but I think he is MUCH better. There is marvelous humor in Doig's writing.
Started my love and exploration of the west.
From forest fires to sheep counts, haying season to a whizbang Fourth of July celebration, Jick McCaskill moves through the summer of 1939 in Montana's Two Medicine country. For Jick it's "The Summer When..." He begins noticing a lot of things, including the fact that "time is the trickiest damn com...