A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire)

Book Description

Few books have captivated the imagination and won the devotion and praise of readers and critics everywhere as has George R. R. Martin’s monumental epic cycle of high fantasy. Now, in A Feast for Crows, Martin delivers the long-awaited fourth book of his landmark series, as a kingdom torn asunder finds itself at last on the brink of peace...only to be launched on an even more terrifying course of destruction.

A Feast for Crows

It seems too good to be true. After centuries of bitter strife and fatal treachery, the seven powers dividing the land have decimated one another into an uneasy truce. Or so it appears....With the death of the monstrous King Joffrey, Cersei is ruling as regent in King’s Landing. Robb Stark’s demise has broken the back of the Northern rebels, and his siblings are scattered throughout the kingdom like seeds on barren soil. Few legitimate claims to the once desperately sought Iron Throne still exist—or they are held in hands too weak or too distant to wield them effectively. The war, which raged out of control for so long, has burned itself out.

But as in the aftermath of any climactic struggle, it is not long before the survivors, outlaws, renegades, and carrion eaters start to gather, picking over the bones of the dead and fighting for the spoils of the soon-to-be dead. Now in the Seven Kingdoms, as the human crows assemble over a banquet of ashes, daring new plots and dangerous new alliances are formed, while surprising faces—some familiar, others only just appearing—are seen emerging from an ominous twilight of past struggles and chaos to take up the challenges ahead.

It is a time when the wise and the ambitious, the deceitful and the strong will acquire the skills, the power, and the magic to survive the stark and terrible times that lie before them. It is a time for nobles and commoners, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and sages to come together and stake their fortunes...and their lives. For at a feast for crows, many are the guests—but only a few are the survivors.

From the Hardcover edition.

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George R.R. Martin sold his first story in 1971 and has been writing professionally ever since. He has written fantasy, horror, and science fiction, and for his sins spent ten years in Hollywood as a writer/producer, working on Twilight Zone, Beauty and the Beast, and various feature films and television pilots that were never made. In the mid 90s he returned to prose, his first love, and began work on his epic fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire. He has been in the Seven Kingdoms ever since. Whenever he's allowed to leave, he returns to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he lives with the lovely Parris, a big white dog called Mischa, and two cats named Augustus and Caligula who think they run the place.

From the Paperback edition.

Customer Reviews:

Great Book.......2007-10-11

Minimum Maturity Level - Adult
Strong violence. Strong language. Sexual situations.

Previous Reading Required - Major
You must read the previous three books, starting with "A Game of Thrones".

Reading Level - Average
Very easy to follow.

Rate of Development - Extremely Fast
Picks up where "A Storm of Swords" left off.

The Story - Anything said will be a spoiler. Mainly for those who haven't read the previous books.

My Suggestion - Highly Recommended
This book pretty much winds down when it comes to the action. There is still action, but not at such a grand scale as the battle of King's Landing. There is some shocking moments again, just like how GRRM likes doing it. I have heard many people gripe about this book but it is still an essential read to keep up with what is going on with all the characters. Part of the reason of gripes, I would think, is because GRRM had to split this book in two, which is why "A Dance of Dragons" will feature the other characters that everyone likes so much. Still, it's a great book to read.

Arrgh.......2007-10-10

I think he could have made this a five book series rather than a seven. While I have enjoyed the format and the character development, and the plot twists, its started to get hackneyed. Every time you start to take an interest in a character they are cruelly maimed or killed. We get it, life is tough, and if you are in any way involved with anyone in power, you are going to die a horrible death. If you are a nobody, you still die horribly, but with less ink. If you are cute and spunky, you die slower. And if we start to run out of the hundreds of cannon fodder characters, we just introduce new ones.

I don't know if I'm going to buy the next book.

Great novel but..........2007-09-30

I write this review with mixed feelings. Let me begin by saying that I think this book is great. Mr. Martin shows the same quality here as in the first three books. It is true that there is less action here, but every story has different stages with different requirements. It is obvious that the aftermath of a great war cannot be as tumultous as the war itself. Many people complain about their favorite characters not being here and I understand them. One reads this saga because of the characters. So, no matter how well written is something, if you don't care about the characters, you will not enjoy the book. I was fortunate, because my favorite character is Arya. Eventhough there were only a few chapters about her, I turned every page with the hope that there would be another Arya story. In short, I think this book is worthy of the same praise the other three received, but...

Let me now explain why I have mixed feelings. It is true that the pace of this book is slow. Not much happens in more than six hundred pages. At first sight this is not a problem. When one is reading quality literature, the more the better. But when one considers some implications, this point of view changes. At this pace, I think it is impossible that the series will end in three more books. A Dance with Dragons will not go in time beyond A Feast for Crows. This means the whole Cersei thing won't be resolved until book six. But not only that, we have to consider all the loose ends remaining in Feast added with those of Dance. Even assuming that some plots resolve quickly in book six, this means that there remains only one book and a half of story, and still the Starks are children, Jon and Daenerys are still teenagers. Despite all the talk that the series doesn't depict clearly good or evil characters, the truth of the matter is that the Starks and Daenerys are "the good guys", at least the leading characters. Not for nothing the saga is named A Song of Ice and Fire. I have been waiting to see them grow and become the characters they potentially are. For me the greatest strength of this series is that we have witnessed all the struggles and trials these characters endured in order to become the people they are. But the thing is that moment doesn't arrive, they continue to be children. This could mean that Bran, Sansa and Arya will not play a major role in the climax of the story, and that Jon and Daenerys will defeat rivals which surpass them in experience. If this is going to happen I will be dissaponted. On the other hand, this could mean that we will read only a book and a half with the grown protagonists. But then this would be a let down. If reading about children and teenagers has been a profound experience, can you imagine reading about them as mature and experienced people. I can't wait to read that. I have been waiting more than five years and I am ready to wait whatever it takes. I would like to read at least as many books of them as adults as have been published.

This takes me to the final point. If George Martin enjoys writing about Brienne in such detail, I think he will enjoy more writing about an adult Arya or Bran. This makes me think that the series will have more books than seven, which is a good thing for me due to what I have said. At the same time is a terrible thing, because that means that the most probable thing to happen is that the series will never be completed. Let me say the truth. Mr. Martin is a first class writer. In my opinion he is at the same level of Borges or Joyce, but most of his life he was just a little known writer with no fans. Then he began writing what could be one of the best works of literature of all time, and with it came fame and success. And he is enjoying that, because he waited his whole life for this, and he deserved it. The problem, I think, is that he lost his way in the process. He spends so much time with the fans, traveling, editing other books and many other innumerable projects, that he hardly has any time or energy to write his magnus opus. He took five years to publish what he calls half a book, and he will take probably three years to write a book which he said he had more than half already written. This means he will take at least seven years to complete the sixth book (or four if the publishers force him to split it too). Mr. Martin isn't young and if he dies before finishing his saga, all will be lost. What could have been one of the greatest stories of all time will be nothing. Cervantes wouldn't be what he is if he hasn't finished "El Quijote". Eventhough the Tuft stories are good, eventhough Fevre Dream is the best vampire story I've ever read, Mr. martin will be rembered by A SoIF.

I hope he realizes that he is an artist and that his legacy is at risk, I hope he finds again happiness in writing instead of being a torture that keeps him from going to conventions. I hope he finishes this series in a way that fulfills all expectations. I hope to see him occupy his rightful place in literature history. I hope and I wait.

Twice as long as necessary -- but I still loved reading it..........2007-09-20

Not since the Lord of the Rings has an author written a series that has such amazing SCOPE as GRRM has pulled together with these books. While arguments will be made for YEARS about the contributions of Terry Brooks, Terry Goodkind and others, it seems hard to place them in the same league simply because I consider those books good and entirely worth reading, but Martin has created one of the few Fantasy series that can also be considered true Literature. Again, some may disagree, but that is essentially how I consider it.

I finished this book quite a long time ago and while I normally post my reviews within a day or so of closing the last page, I kept putting this one off as I attempted to just figure out exactly what I thought of it. I believe the bulk of us Song of Ice & Fire readers have all heard that this book originally began as a single novel, and due to several unforseen circumstances, ended up being divided into two separate-but-equal parts of basically the same book. You can REALLY tell, too. The obvious omitting of several MAJOR POV's is the first and biggest obstacle against giving this a full 5 Stars. As MANY have also noted, even though there ARE some incredibly important issues brought up which help the plot move forward here, again it is nearly impossible NOT to notice how LITTLE forward the book takes us overall. Several reviewers have noted the possible absence of an editor with the stones to actually trim the fat, which this novel really needed. I would have rather waited an extra year and had what was cut out to make 'A Dance With Dragons' ADDED and then properly edited in order to seriously move the overall storyline AHEAD. There is little doubt that GRRM is likely the most talented Fantasy Author writing today (although the debate continues...), but if this series is expected to finish up before the end of the next century, I sincerely hope that GRRM steps up the pace--even if by just a little. Robert Jordan recently passed away, and so far (at least as I write this) the end of the Wheel of Time Series remains unfinished...now he may have finished writing the last novel before he passed away (gosh I hope so...) we can see what happens by doing this and dragging things out longer than necessary. While I honestly believe GRRM really DOES have a handle on where the story is going and he honestly does know the end from the beginning, I also hope that the end is in sight. Making us all wait what seems like decades in between these books is nothing short of torture and possibly against the Geneva Convention if I am not mistaken...

With that said, I STILL had a great time reading AFFC. Yes it dragged and lost momentum and I felt that my journey was basically 'Hurry Up And Wait', I have invested so much into these characters, (although through sad experience I have also discovered not to become TOO attached to any one character in particular) that even a SMALL glimpse into their world is better than none at all. I anxiously await the arrival of the 2nd half of this tale begun in 'A Feast For Crows', I also bite my nails wondering if part 2 isn't just more of the same here. I have learned to give the benefit of the doubt in a lot of instances, and because GRRM is so dang good at writing, I feel compelled to extend it here as well. But hopefully my patience won't have to be tested quite to this degree much longer...

Fading Fast.......2007-09-19

Where have all the editors gone?

With Feast, the 4th installment of the Song of Ice and Fire series, Martin has begun to get carried away with himself. Much like what readers experienced with Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series, Feast represents a serious departure from the tight narrative drive that powered the first three books.

Very little time is spent on the characters we came to care about in past installments and, even worse, the "splitting" of this volume leaves several major characters out of the mix altogether. The vast bulk of this book is dedicated to two characters who are either dead or marginalized by the end of the book and I found myself wondering how much of their plot impact could have been accomplished with several hundred less pages?

After all, if you spend 200 pages having someone wander about the countryside only to die at the end, the hope is they accomplished something that will have future plot implications. If they didn't, you wasted our time. If they did, then the importance of their accomplishment(s) must be weighed against the time taken to tell the story. Without seeing the impact in book 6, it's impossible to say how much of book 4 was unnecessary drivel, but I suspect that much of it should have hit the editing room floor.

Eric-

Average customer rating:

Great story. Well written.
Good except for the ending...
A "must read"
Begins well.
A wonderful experience

Crow Lake (Today Show Book Club #7)
Mary Lawson
Manufacturer: Dial Press Trade Paperback
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0385337639
Release Date: 2002-01-13

Amazon.com

Canadian writer Mary Lawson's debut novel is a beautifully crafted and shimmering tale of love, death, and redemption. The story, narrated by 26-year-old Kate Morrison, is set in the eponymous Crow Lake, an isolated rural community where time has stood still. The reader dives in and out of a year's worth of Kate's childhood memories--when she was 7 and her parents were killed in an automobile accident that left Kate, her younger sister Bo, and two older brothers, Matt and Luke, orphaned. When Kate, the successful zoologist and professor who is accustomed to dissecting everything through a microscope, receives an invitation to Matt's son's 18th birthday party, she must suddenly analyze her own relationship and come to terms with her past before she forsakes a future with the man she loves. Kate is still in turmoil over the events of that fateful summer and winter 20 years ago when the tragedy of another local family, the Pyes, spilled over into their lives with earth-shattering consequences. But does the tragedy really lie in the past or the present? Lawson's narrative flows effortlessly in ever-increasing circles, swirling impressions in the reader's mind until form takes shape and the reader is left to reflect on the whole. Crow Lake is a wonderful achievement that will ripple in and out of the reader's consciousness long after the last page is turned. --Nicola Perry, Amazon.co.uk

Book Description

Crow Lake is that rare find, a first novel so quietly assured, so emotionally pitch perfect, you know from the opening page that this is the real thing—a literary experience in which to lose yourself, by an author of immense talent.

Here is a gorgeous, slow-burning story set in the rural “badlands” of northern Ontario, where heartbreak and hardship are mirrored in the landscape. For the farming Pye family, life is a Greek tragedy where the sins of the fathers are visited on the sons, and terrible events occur—offstage.

Centerstage are the Morrisons, whose tragedy looks more immediate if less brutal, but is, in reality, insidious and divisive. Orphaned young, Kate Morrison was her older brother Matt’s protegee, her fascination for pond life fed by his passionate interest in the natural world. Now a zoologist, she can identify organisms under a microscope but seems blind to the state of her own emotional life. And she thinks she’s outgrown her siblings—Luke, Matt, and Bo—who were once her entire world.

In this universal drama of family love and misunderstandings, of resentments harbored and driven underground, Lawson ratchets up the tension with heartbreaking humor and consummate control, continually overturning one’s expectations right to the very end. Tragic, funny, unforgettable, Crow Lake is a quiet tour de force that will catapult Mary Lawson to the forefront of fiction writers today.

Customer Reviews:

Great story. Well written........2007-10-15

It has been a few months since I read this one and like many of the people who comment here, I read a lot. This is one book that has stuck with me and has made me think many times about the plot. I fell in love with the characters and then disliked them in the next chapter. The author has a way of making you see many points of view at one time. I found the story to be believable and well written.
There is a lot to this book and many sub-plots going on at once. (A great reason to read it again!) I stayed up really late unable to put it down.
This book will definitely be a keeper on my bookshelf.

Good except for the ending..........2007-10-12

The book was overall good...with a well-established story. I didn't really care for the way the author ended the book. It seemed to be missing more "closure". I found it a quick and easy read, quick to get into, and hard to put down.

A "must read".......2007-09-16

Crow Lake (Today Show Book Club #7)

Clearly a gifted author who speaks from the heart and personal experience. This book contains all of the elements of a classic: unforgetable characters, a logical and charming plot and clean, enthrawling prose.

Begins well........2007-09-11

Crow Lake begins with a fine account of 4 siblings, during the year following their parents' deaths in an auto accident. Especially meaningful to two of the siblings is the observation of pond life, as good an evocation as I have read of what nature can mean to the close observer. The rest of the novel is quite readable, but suffers both in its concept and its execution. The seven year old feels betrayed when her older brother marries and turns his back on further education (but not on her); she eventually becomes a loveless college professor, until everything works out in the end. If you haven't read Mary Lawson, begin with "The Other Side of the Bridge", as I did.

A wonderful experience.......2007-09-01

I am one of those people who reads Book Reviews and keeps lists of books that sound interesting. Because of an ancestor or two, I have a particular fondness for books written by Canadian writers. Maybe genetics plays a role somehow. But I had had this book in my "to-be-read' pile at home for sometime. But it was not until I took a cycling trip through Banff National Park this summer that I took time to begin it. I was browsing through a section of books by "Canadian Writers" at a Lodge where I was spending a few nights and chanced to read the opening paragraph. I guess I would defy anyone to read these beginning sentences and not want to continue on. The book is now solidly linked with all of the good times of that week and I am happy that it is. It is simply the best novel that I have read this year. Every character in it rings true for me and I was drawn into their lives and into this place--this Crow Lake--as I have rarely been drawn into any similar collection of people and places before. It is a simply wonderful story of a family--of several families--dealing with tragedies and successes as best as they know how. Try the first paragraph--if it grabs you, the rest will not disappoint.

Average customer rating:

Freaky, freaky bad guy
Entertaining book... but not Preston & Child's best
Great premise....
Pretty good
A little different Pendergast novel

Still Life with Crows
Douglas Preston , and Lincoln Child
Manufacturer: Grand Central Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0446612766

Book Description

A small Kansas town has turned into a killing ground.Is it a serial killer, a man with the need to destroy?Or is it a darker force, a curse upon the land?Amid golden cornfields, FBI Special Agent Pendergast discovers evil in the blood of America's heartland.

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Agent Pendergast returns to investigate a serial killer in a small town. Heavy with midwest gothic flavor, Medicine Creek, Kansas, has been dying for the last century: the primary occupation is still farming; Main Street is a two-block stretch of bleak and dusty businesses; the nearest mall is 200 miles away. Then, a series of grisly murders with the bodies displayed in peculiar tableaus shocks the tiny town. Believing they'd know if a stranger had passed through, the locals lock their doors and look more carefully at their neighbors. Pendergast arrives with his refined New Orleans accent, big city ways, and meals shipped in from Zabar's and Balducci's. Taking on a local teenage misfit as his research assistant, Pendergast's investigation takes him into the heart of this town-from its bowling alley to its corn fields to its touristy spelunking caves. From uncovering the geological mysteries of the local caves, to the remnants of a Prohibition-era moonshine operation, to the secret of one of western Kansas' greatest enigmas: the Medicine Creek Massacre of 1865, Pendergast's journey leads him to encounter a decayed and twisted evil in the soul of a four-generation Kansas family.

Customer Reviews:

Freaky, freaky bad guy.......2007-09-24

Ahh, so this is Pendergast's idea of a vacation. Scary and impossible to predict, Still Life with Crows will keep you far, far away from the corn fields of the midwest for life. The vivid imagery will haunt you for days afterward.

Definately worth the read.

Entertaining book... but not Preston & Child's best.......2007-09-19

If you are already a fan of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, then you will like this book, which is another one featuring the popular character of Agent Pendergast.

I personally did not prefer it as much as others because no other recurring characters (Laura Hayward, Constance, Nora Kelly, Smithback, Nora Green, etc) appear, and it is a standalone book. The character of Corrie acts as a pretty entertaining sidekick and interesting character, though I would be surprised to see her reappear in another novel of theirs.

This book also one of their most gruesome in my opinion.

If you are just starting to read Preston & Child, I would not start here. Maybe try Cabinet of Curiosities, which I think is one of their best books.

Great premise...........2007-09-03

...some great characters (too bad Corrie seems to have vanished from the series), but a disappointing resolution. In some ways this now seems like a typically uneven Preston-Child book. I think most of their subsequent books focusing on their brilliantly original and fun character Agent Pendergast have similiar problems, including very prominently disappointing, ridiculous plot twists and conclusion. Also, Pendergast's eccentricities are often just too broad and over-the-top. The scene in this book where he insists on painstakingly making steak tartare at a local diner while the local yokels look on, shocked and awed, is grossly affected and insulting. The guy is supposed to be a g-- d----- FBI agent and he is acting like a cross between Hercule Poirot and Julia Child. His supposedly innovative meditation/ visualization technique is also a bit on the ridiculous and pretentious side, and unfortunately becomes more prominent in later books in the series. I could do without his encyclopedic knowledge of everything related to art, science, and literature, for that matter, as well. At least they dropped his public addiction to steak tartare, though.

Pretty good.......2007-08-31

The beginning is a little slow but it gets going towards the end. I really like the hints it gives to some of the other books.

A little different Pendergast novel.......2007-07-19

I have now read all of Preston and Child's Aloysius Pendergast novels. I read them in order except for "Still Life With Crows." In hindsight, I would highly recommend reading them in order, since the characters from earlier books keep popping up in later ones. "Still Life with Crows," however, is an exception. None of the previous characters are in this book, with the exception of Wren, a librarian who sometimes helps Pendergast, and his role is very minor.

Supposedly, Pendergast is "on vacation" in rural Kansas, but readers know that he follows gruesome murders, especially serial killers. As usual, Pendergast is almost done in by the killer before he saves the day (actually, another character saves the day, but that would be spoiling it to say any more). Some pretty good characters, especially the teenage girl Corrie who helps Pendergast despite her being the town's outcast rebellious kid.

So if you've loved other Pendergast novels in the series, you'll like this one. It wasn't my favorite of the series, but it was almost as good as my favorites.

The correct order of the series:

Relic
Reliquary
Still Life With Crows
Cabinet of Curiosities
Brimstone
Dance of Death
Book of the Dead

The last three are a trilogy, so buy them all at once, because you won't sleep until you've finished them all!

Average customer rating:

Nancy Crow
Nancy Crow
loads of colorful pictures!
new avenues in the craft and art of quilting
Nancy Crow

Nancy Crow
Nancy Crow
Manufacturer: Breckling Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1933308036

Book Description

World-renowned quilter Nancy Crow's work is presented for a general audience for the first time in this volume. Divided into nine major quilt series, the book shows not only the diversity and dynamism of Crow's work, but also many of the artifacts and places that inspired her. With excerpts from her journals and sketch books combined with side panels that track important events in her life, this book also gives insight into how Crow's thinking and art evolved after major events in her life. Many of the featured quilts have never before been photographed.

Customer Reviews:

Nancy Crow.......2007-08-23

For anyone in art quilting or wanting to be, this book gives an in depth look into the thoughts and creations of Nancy Crow. The color in the book is excellent and there is an abundance of pictures. This is a "Must have" for anyone who loves color and fabric and original art.

Nancy Crow.......2007-07-14

Nancy Crow is the ultimate quilter's quilter. Her advice, thoughts and pictures of her work and projects are more than any quilter could hope for. This book will enhance any quilter's library.
It was one of the best b-day presents I've ever received.
Diane

loads of colorful pictures!.......2007-03-09

Amazing book. great information, stories. Lots of pictures of striking quilts show-casing the progress of this wonderful artist. Also shows pictures of Nancy Crow's studio and timber frame barn - must be an amazing place to create. This book is a wonderful value and very inspiring to any artist regardless of preferred media.

new avenues in the craft and art of quilting.......2007-03-06

Since the 1970s, Crow has been an unquestioned "catalyst and prime mover of the art quilt movement" for her belief that the medium of quilts contained "the potential for intense experimentation and a place in the centers of art exhibition and discussion." Anyone who sees quilts Crow has done will not deny this. By 1990 Crow's art quilts displaying "technical innovations [and] complex compositions [involving] inventive deconstructions and reconfigurations of historic quilt patterns melded with pattern and color relationships of Crow's own inventions" were attracting wider notice among quilters and in art circles for convincingly demonstrating the artist's belief about the potential of the medium. In recognition of this, this high-quality art book follows Crow's work from about 1990 to the present in bountifully-illustrated chapters covering a few years at a time. This format allows for the laying out of numerous of the art quilts while focusing on specific innovations and her creativity and growth in these most productive and creative years. This also gives space for Crow to regularly make comments on sources, techniques, and aims of particular quilts and ideas surrounding her art. A good, published poet--as an introductory poem by her evidences--Crow has much to say about self-knowledge and creativity. Crow's quilts with their dramatically-arranged, vivid geometric shapes have the presence of a work of art. Practically single-handed with the interest and encouragement of quilting enthusiasts, she has modernized quilt-making by changing it from a tradition-bound craft with limited artistic aspects to an art with reminiscences of its origins in American crafts.

Nancy Crow.......2007-02-05

This book is beautifully produced with narrative and images on each page, showing the inspiration and creation of work spanning several decades . A wonderful insight into the art of a noted quilter.

Crow Killer: The Saga of Liver-Eating Johnson (Midland Book)

Average customer rating:

Excellent historical novel
Definitely not the movie...but still a good read.
Mountain man
It ain't the movie
Jeremiah Johnson was a wimp!

Crow Killer: The Saga of Liver-Eating Johnson (Midland Book)
Raymond W. Thorp , and Robert Bunker
Manufacturer: Indiana University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0253203120

Customer Reviews:

Excellent historical novel.......2007-07-23

The author has put together from varying pieces of history the story of a true mountain man whose legend is grown to larger than life. The early west was a brutal and harsh environment, not the romantic scenes that are painted in most novels. This is a good glimpse into the reality of the time and the people who shaped the country as we know it today.

Definitely not the movie...but still a good read........2006-10-27

If you've watched "Jeremiah Johnson" and enjoyed it, then you should take some time and read the book that spawned the movie. But be forewarned, the movie takes a few liberties here and there and if (that's a big if) the book is generally true, then the chronology of many things in the movie aren't correct. You could say that the movie is like a radio-friendly death metal song...a little missing here and there but you get the overall picture. I loved the movie and I admit the authors of the book seem to stretch the truth a little, but it's still a good read. I can only laugh at the politically incorrect accusations made in other reviews. Things were a lot different back then on both sides of the fence and I really don't think many mountain men nor American Indians went around feeling warm and fuzzy about their fair and balanced treatment of all of mankind. In fact, if you read other historical accounts of this period, you will find that the relationship between trapper and most American Indian tribes was most likely more honorable than the realtionship that the tribes would have with Indian agents, missionaries, and other traders (look up germ warfare). In fact, Christian missionaries were more deadly to the tribes and their culture than many of the so-called politically incorrect mountain men. The big-screen version of Johnson would most likely cower if he met the book version of Johnson. Overall, a good read.

Mountain man.......2006-03-19

I was amazed with the story of this man. Thorp was careful to research the book, but this resulted in a dry read. The book "Mountain Man" was a much more interesting read but did not reveal the true nature of Johnson. Thorp did. I have lived in these mountains and plains for 40 years and that made the book very interesting. I have been to many of the places in the book. Worth reading.

It ain't the movie.......2005-08-09

This is an unusual book with lots of interesting stories but probably requires a specialty audience. The writing style is very different from your standard novel. It is a collection of stories taken down from people who were with John Johnson and then arranged basically in as cronological an order as possible or arranged by topic. For someone who is mountainman buff or is otherwise familiar with the historic time period, it is a great insight into the life and hardships of these men and women. One of the characteristics of many westerners was the art of understatement and that shows up in the retelling of these stories and so reading between the lines is helpful. As a history teacher, I enjoyed the book. If you are looking for a romantic extention of the movie "Jeramiah Johnson," this ain't it.

Jeremiah Johnson was a wimp!.......2005-08-02

The movie "Jeremiah Johnson" found some of its inspiration and history in the true life adventures of John "Liver-Eatin'" Johnston. As tough as Jeremiah was, he can barely hold a candle to the tough mountain man who ate the livers of his vanquished foes.

The feats of survival, tracking, and hunting boggle the mind. While the authors draw from oral history (and perhaps have been taken in with some broad embellishments), the remarkable vengeance Johnston extracts from the Crow tribe for the death of his wife and unborn child is staggering. The Crows, troubled by Johnston's relentless vengeance, dispatch 20 warriors on a mission to find and kill the tribe's nemesis. Over a period that spanned over a decade the solitary Crows fall to Johnston. He killed them all.

This is not a book for the politically correct...the book originally appeared in the 1940s. Don't expect to confront descriptions of other races that include hyphens.

For those who have read the Dan O'Brien books, THE CONTRACT SURGEON and THE INDIAN AGENT, there is a reference to Valentine T. McGillycuddy. For fans of the HBO Original Series DEADWOOD, "Colorado" Charlie Utter warrants several mentions.

An interesting read for those who harbor any admiration for the real pioneers.

Average customer rating:

Lakota Woman
Non Fiction
Lakota Woman
Excellent
Powerful and compelling account of a woman on the reservation

Lakota Woman
Mary Crow Dog
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

African-American & Black | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0060973897

Book Description

A unique autobiography unparalleled in American Indian literature, and a deeply moving account of a woman's triumphant struggle to survive in a hostile world.

Customer Reviews:

Lakota Woman.......2007-10-02

I learnt so much from this book, and felt myself getting angry because of her experiences. good on her for telling her story. L'Ohanna

Non Fiction.......2007-09-03

An autobiographical account of Mary Crow Dog's life, this includes experiencing the events that happened at Wounded Knee, and her relationship with her husband, as well as the politics and experiences associated with the AIM political movement.

A look at the disturbing state and problems these people were facing at the time, very interesting.

Lakota Woman.......2007-08-23

An interesting look at the American Indian's struggles in the latter half of the 20th century. The perspective of Mary Crow Dog is helpful for those who have no similar life experiences to compare to it. Very good insight.

Excellent.......2006-11-10

The book came in perfect time and is in excellent condition. I have added it to my collection of Native American History

Powerful and compelling account of a woman on the reservation.......2006-07-28

This is a very powerful book about Mary Crow Dog's experiences growing up as a Lakota (Sioux) woman on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. It should be required reading for anyone who feigns ignorance of the ways that Native Americans continue to be treated in the US today. Local whites, the state of South Dakota, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the rest of the power establishment have their inhumanity exposed.

Crow Dog writes in a very sparse style, and writes of brutal incidents in a matter-of-fact way. While this style makes the book compelling, it is also responsible for a major weakness of the book. Throughout the book, Crow Dog is never introspective. Things happen (she uses drugs, starts shoplifting, chooses men poorly) or happen to her (she is raped, among other things), but she doesn't think about why these things happen. She conveys neither a sense of her own agency in these events, or a sense of her own lack of agency.

Oddly for an autobiography, Mary Crow Dog is the object, not the subject, of this story. Even at Wounded Knee, she doesn't really understand why she is there, other than the fact that she has followed the male authority figures of the movement into the siege. She made her choice and put her body on the line but can't really explain why. How life on the reservation produces people like this is certainly worth reflection.

This siege at Wounded Knee provides the centerpiece of the book, and its natural climax. Crow Dog has a very different view of these events than the accounts provided by the leadership, who knew their history and knew what they were trying to do. Crow Dog also talks about the aftermath of the siege, and the period when her husband was in jail. At this time, she also followed him into the practice of Native American religion, and - - more implicitly than explicitly - - explains why this religion is attractive to many.

Finally, this book also provides a valuable insiders' perspective of the dysfunctional communities on Pine Ridge. It's interesting that the politically correct crowd condemns Ian Frazier's "On the Rez" while praising "Lakota Woman"- - both paint similar pictures of the same reservation. It's true than a Lakota insider brings perspectives not available to outsiders, but a white outsider also bring perspectives not available to insiders. Read them both and make up your own mind.

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Great Read! Couldn't put it down!
Possitively Engaging...
Wonderful surprise of a book
A Talisman for the Journey
Priceless Reading

Jayber Crow
Wendell Berry
Manufacturer: Counterpoint
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1582431604
Release Date: 2001-09-18

Amazon.com

The questions who and what and how and why are no doubt useful and occasionally even noble in their place. But for Wendell Berry, whose spare and elegant prose has long testified to the rural American values of thrift and frugality, four interrogatives must seem a waste, when one will do. Where is the ultimate qualifier, the sine qua non, for both the author and his characters. Place shapes them and defines them; the winding Kentucky River and the gentle curves of the Kentucky hills find an echo in their lilting speech and brusque affections.

Jayber Crow is another story of the Port William membership, the community whose life--and lives--Berry has unfurled over the course of a half dozen novels. Jayber himself is an orphan, lately returned to the town. And his status as barber and bachelor places him simultaneously at its center and on its margins. A born observer, he hears much, watches carefully, and spends 50 years learning its citizens by heart.

They were rememberers, carrying in their living thoughts all the history that such places as Port William ever have. I listened to them with all my ears, and have tried to remember what they said, though from remembering what I remember I know that much is lost. Things went to the grave with them that will never be known again.

Jayber tells the town's stories tenderly. Gently elegiac, the novel charts the tension between an urge to isolation and an impulse to connectivity, writ both small and large. As the 20th century moves inexorably forward, swallowing in great mechanized gulps rural towns governed by agricultural rhythms, Port William turns in upon itself. And as Jayber admits quietly, "Once a fabric is torn, it is apt to keep tearing. It was coming apart. The old integrity had been broken." Integrity, both whole and shattered, is key to the stories of Burley Coulter, Cecelia Overhold, Troy Chatham, and above all, Athey Keith and his daughter Mattie, to whom Jayber pledges his undying and unrequited love.

Berry's prose, so carefully tuned that you never know it is there, carries us into the very heart of the land itself; his exquisitely constructed sentences suggesting the cyclic rhythms of his agrarian world. Jayber Crow resonates with variations played on themes of change, looping transitions from war into peace, winter into spring, browning flood destruction into greening fields, absence into presence, lost into found. --Kelly Flynn

Book Description

Returning once again to the Port William membership, Berry has written his best novel yet, a book certain to confirm his reputation as one of America's finest novelists.

From the simple setting of his own barber shop, Jayber Crow, orphan, seminarian, and native of Port William, recalls his life and the life of his community as it spends itself in the middle of the twentieth century. Surrounded by his friends and neighbors, he is both participant and witness as the community attempts to transcend its own decline. And meanwhile Jayber learns the art of devotion and that a faithful love is its own reward.

Customer Reviews:

Great Read! Couldn't put it down!.......2007-02-07

I'm 45 years old, from Indiana, and a barber's daughter. I'm pretty sure I know some of the people that Jayber talks about. The stories weren't only about what the people were experiencing, but what they were thinking and feeling. My favorite quotes: "I don't get paid to cut hair. I get paid to know when to stop." "He didn't yet know all that he was going to know." AMEN to that!

Possitively Engaging..........2006-06-29

Across the pages of this novel wanders an assortment of remarkably unremarkable people who are somhow winsomely memorable. This is just a beautiful read with a timelessness quality and some simple clues as to how one person made lemonade when life gave him lemons. This is a story of Jayber Crow and a community of people who, together, unceremoniously, weave a life of love and support for each other, just because they are of each other. Wonderful!

Wonderful surprise of a book.......2006-02-19

This is a quiet yet very interesting book. What do I mean by quiet? The stories unfold at a slower pace than a lot of contemporary fiction. But don't misunderstand me -- this is not a boring book. It's really interesting and is filled with suspense and passion. Maybe it's the rural setting that makes me say "quiet." Because several scenes are in the rural outdoors and for me this brings a quietness inside.

The characters are very interesting ... very well defined.

And I like the main character's ongoing commentary about War and Business and their need for each other.

I found it also to be a profoundly sad book -- at least that's how I was affected. My grandparents were farmers and lost their land so I felt very deeply the changes that the Port William farmers went through over the years of this book.

This book has stayed with me. I've thought about it quite a bit since I finished it.

It's the first time I've read anything by Wendell Berry ... just finished it last week. I enjoyed this book so much that I went to the library and got a couple of other Port William novels by him.

A Talisman for the Journey.......2005-12-21

"Jayber Crow" is one of the most unusual and profound novels of this last century. On one level, it is a tale of the unfolding life of Jonah Crow, from his youth into his time of looking back upon the span of his life: it is the story of survival, bravery, acceptance. On this level, Jonah, who becomes Jayber, the barber of his beloved Port William, tells of the people of this town with great tenderness: their strengths and their foolishness (along with his own), and we come to know these townspeople and care for them.

Yet on another level, Jayber Crow is a philosophical reflection on the nature of love, God, time, and eternity. As a religious reflection, Wendell Berry, through Jayber, reaches to the core of our faith when he realizes that the only true prayer is "Thy will be done", a prayer that makes him tremble, but also makes him more of a whole person. Indeed, his reflections on the love of God, and the love that comes forth on this planet, is visionary and has the capacity to enlarge and fortify the heart of the reader. Chapter 23, "The Way of Love," is one of the greatest passages I have read. We see a man aching for love and for God, who some nights "in the midst of this loneliness" swings among "the scattered stars at the end of the thin thread of faith alone." We feel for his struggle and his faith gives us faith.

Concurrent with his longing for God, and his faith, is his love for Mattie. It is the most beautiful and truest portrayl of love I have seen: it is a love that personifies First Corinthians 13. It is a love that wishes only good and finds hope in knowing it has loved: nothing more. It is a love that does not seek for a payback. Again in Chapter 23, Jayber reflects on a true love that breaks the barriers of time, reminiscent of jani johe webster's poem "loving" from "a spider on the wall": "when the skin / on this body / i now call mine / shall become bone / the very bone / shall cry unto your bone / i love you." So it is with Jayber, who writes, "That is why, in marrying one another, we mortals say 'till death.' We must take love to the limit of time, because time cannot limit it. A life cannot limit it. Maybe to have it in your heart all your life in this world, even while it fails here, is to succeed. Maybe that is enough."

Another meaningful comparison between Berry and webster is brought to mind after reading Berry's metaphor of the "the Man in the Well." What happens to a man who, alone for the day in the deep woods, falls into a well? Will he survive? Who is this man in our own lives, and into what wells have we or our loved ones fallen? In webster's prose poem "the weariest river," the narrator's grandmother is locked out of her farm house on a winter's night: again, will she survive, and how? Both metaphors speak to our existential situation, to isolation and to hope.

"Jayber Crow" probes the meaning of life and our relationship to ourseves, to one another, and to God. An amazing comparison is to "Mr. Smith" by Louis Bromfield: the tale of another man, also written in the first person, who struggles with the meaning of life, but with completely different results. Both men recognize the beauty of life and its suffering, and yet the course of each life goes in almost opposite directions.

The image Jayber gives of "the rooms" made by the woods, through sunlight and shadow, is an image that is also a talisman for readers who also seek peace in the midst of life.

Priceless Reading.......2005-12-05

This is a rich and wonderful book about life. This is one book that was so good that I bought multiple copies and gave them to all my children. I have read it again and still have great pleasure in it. Read it and you will see. It made me proud to be a human being.

Average customer rating:

Overlong, yet still interesting. . .
Deserves Nobel Prize in Literature
Gripping
Could not put it down
Children of the Despot

Wizard of the Crow: A novel
Ngugi Wa'Thiong'O
Manufacturer: Pantheon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 037542248X
Release Date: 2006-08-08

Book Description

From the exiled Kenyan novelist, playwright, poet, and literary critic--a magisterial comic novel that is certain to take its place as a landmark of postcolonial African literature.

In exile now for more than twenty years, Ngugl wa Thiong’o has become one of the most widely read African writers of our time, the power and scope of his work garnering him international attention and praise. His aim in Wizard of the Crow is, in his own words,nothing less than “to sum up Africa of the twentieth century in the context of two thousand years of world history.”

Commencing in “our times” and set in the “Free Republic of Aburlria,” the novel dramatizes with corrosive humor and keenness of observation a battle for control of the souls of the Aburlrian people. Among the contenders: His High Mighty Excellency; the eponymous Wizard, an avatar of folklore and wisdom; the corrupt Christian Ministry; and the nefarious Global Bank. Fashioning the stories of the powerful and the ordinary into a dazzling mosaic, Wizard of the Crow reveals humanity in all its endlessly surprising complexity.

Informed by richly enigmatic traditional African storytelling, Wizard of the Crow is a masterpiece, the crowning achievement in Ngugl wa Thiong’o’s career thus far.

Customer Reviews:

Overlong, yet still interesting. . ........2007-09-08

I was really looking forward to reading this novel. Ngugi wa Thiong'o's aim with this sprawling satire was "to sum up Africa of the twentieth century in the context of two thousand years of world history." Though good, I felt that the execution fell a little flat throughout the book.

Set in the fictional African republic of Aburiria, in Wizard of the Crow the author "set out to explore human relationships against the backdrop of a rapidly globalizing world." Thiong'o, naturally, as an exiled Kenyan, has a long history of political activism.

Although a fictional nation, Aburiria is a satirical depiction of African despotism. A grandiose and grotesque Ruler dominates a corrupt and sycophantic cabinet of ministers, surrounded by venal officials and opportunistic businessmen, all jockeying for position. Part fable, part allegory, Wizard of the Crow is a magical realism parody of the political and social corruption rampant in many African countries. As such, the book represents Thiong'o's reflections on both Africa's numerous dysfunctions and, one can only hope, its myriad possibilities.

Weighin in at 766 pages, Wizard of the Crow is a work of titanic proportions. And its principal shortcoming is that the pace is at times atrociously slow. Which, in the end, killed this novel for me. Too many unnecessary POV characters make for an unbearably sluggish rhythm in several portions of this book. Indeed, I came very close to stop reading on more than one occasions. . . Even though some parts are quite interesting, others bored me out of my mind.

Sections of Wizard of the Crow appear to be undisguised attacks aimed at the dictatorship of Kenya's Daniel arap Moi. Which is not surprising, given the fact that the dictator's regime imprisoned the author in the 70s, banned some of his books, and then forced him into exile, first in Europe and then in the USA. I believe that, in order to fully appreciate/understand Wizard of the Crow, one needs to be familiar with world politics. Leftists will doubtless enjoy it more than their Right-wing counterparts, methinks.

Though Thiong'o is on the money more often than not, I did find some of his political "comments" to be a bit narrow on the ideological side. While I agree that international financial forces can be disruptive with their efforts to engender development (something this continent desperately needs), following decades of economic stagnation in so many African countries I found that the way he depicted market forces more than a little overdone. Given the author's past, tyranny and egomania are themes that Thiong'o explores through the Ruler and his entourage of sycophants.

Wizard of the Crow is an ambitious literary endeavor filled with great ideas. The humor, however, is more intellectual than funny. The political commentary is quite heavy-handed at times, yet that doesn't take too much away from the reading experience. It's the snail-slow pace which makes what could have been an excellent read merely a good one.

Deserves Nobel Prize in Literature.......2007-07-31

Wizard of the Crow is a magical book. Not only magic in the sense of magic realism but also in the sense of the sheer wonder of the story itself. Much has been written about the book's satire almost as if it were only a satire. In many ways it is a profoundly serious book and it is because of the magic of narration(s) in this book that one might lose sight of its profound message. This is a tale of improbable magicians, folk medicine, justice, neocolonial domination and pompous westernism, feminism and these are only part of an extraordinary tale(s). It is also a story of love...a love story enveloped in magic, narrow-escapes, transformations. It will make you laugh and the beauty of the prose will make you shiver. Instead of giving a Cliff Notes recap of the book I would only say this: I was a sceptic and now I believe in magic. This is a truly beautiful and wonderful book and it is full of magic. Not Harry Potter magic but rather a true, simple magic. Enjoy ever word! It is as if a magician himself wrote this incredible book and what better compliment could you pay to the author, certainly this particular author.

Gripping.......2007-06-06

This novel combines the travails of a fictional African dictator with the romance between two witch doctors. Around them are several exercises of greed, deceit, vindictiveness, and loss of faith. The witch doctors, though they know they are only making it up as they go, try to find spiritual peace and cure the country of its oppressive politics. Issues of corporate colonialism abound as well, represented by the horrid and corrupt Global Bank. It's an exciting read: a forbidden romance combined with a political thriller, all through an African lens.

Could not put it down.......2007-02-10

A wonderful modern day adventure that explains the woes of African countries with honest humor.

Children of the Despot.......2006-10-05

Usually I read pretty fast, especially with a novel I enjoy, but sometimes a book compels you to put it down from time to time as you read to think about the story and the realities which the author is exploring. This was that kind of book, a tale to savour and think about. The style is african storytelling, full of fabulous events and characters and laugh out loud language and happenings including an explosive fart to end all farts, but it is also carefully plotted as a complicated political narrative. Ngugi Wa Thiongo is writing a satirical history of Kenya and similar African nations subjected for too long to corrupt "strong men" leaders, but on a larger scale he captures the Zeitgeist of our own time and the surrealistic language and machinations of those corrupted by power and violence. The Ruler of the imaginary country of Aburiria in the story is afflicted with a malaise which a bombastic Harvard doctor calls SIE, Self induced Expansion, he is physically expanding in sync with his seemingly bottomless megalomania. The hero is a character called the Wizard of the Crow who stumbles into awareness of his own powerful gifts when he needs to save his skin in a tight spot; he takes up the role of a modern day wizard and uses common sense spirituality and an ability to see hidden truths via mirrors to heal the sick. But while he seeks only to heal even the most vicious of men, his ministry has the side effect of disrupting the complacency of the greedy Ruler and his ministers, and bringing all the muddled forces of the state against him and his friends. The Wizard, his politically motivated lover and the women of Aburiria respond with imagiative pranks and the relentless demand to be heard. While some aspects of the story are handled with a comical magic realism, this fabulism is rooted in and constrained by a profound inner realism, and it allows for insight into the choices of characters and the resulting effects on society . The plot never relies on magic but shows the role of imagination in a community. His atunement to the distortions of political language and the excesses of global capitalism cut to the quick of current American and neo-colonial politics and are nothing less than brilliant. At times Thiongo may give the reader more of the mechanics of the plot than are needed but I think the writer's purpose was to make the choices of the characters more credible and to show the cumulative effect of those choices. All in all I found the Wizard of the Crow a really rich and engaging story from a writer with a unique perspective because of his confrontations with Kenyan despotism. Anyone who can be funny and hopeful after what he has been through is a remarkable person. ( I thought John Updike's review was off the mark, but don't care for Updike's recent work anyway)

Average customer rating:

Memories
Excellent
The Way...
Long & Shifty
Harrowing

The Way the Crow Flies: A Novel (P.S.)
Ann-marie Macdonald
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0060586370
Release Date: 2004-08-31

Amazon.com

The Way the Crow Flies, Ann-Marie MacDonald's follow-up novel to her bestselling debut (and Oprah Book Club pick), Fall on Your Knees, opens in 1962 when the McCarthy family moves from Germany to their new home on a Canadian air force base near London, Ontario. Madeleine, eight and already a blossoming comic, is particularly close with her father, Jack, an air force officer. Her loving Acadian mother, Mimi, and older brother Mike round out this family, whose simple goodness reflects the glow of an era that seemed like paradise. But all that is about to change. The Cuban Missile Crisis is looming, and Jack, loyal and gullible, suddenly has an important task to carry out that involves a scientist--a former Nazi--in Canada.

While Jack scrambles to keep his activities hidden from his wife, Madeleine too is learning to keep secrets (about a teacher at school). The Way the Crow Flies is all about the fertility of lies, how one breeds another and another. Although the writing flows with a strong current, the profusion of pop references, especially ad slogans, grows tiresome. The author can, however, capture a lovely image in few words: "The afternoon intensifies. August is the true light of summer" and "yes, the earth is a woman, and her favorite food is corn." At times the story is marvelously compelling, as the mystery of a horrific murder in the fields near the base is unravelled. When events lead to a trial and its outcome, the story peaks, in a conclusion with no easy answers. The last third of the book takes place, for the most part, 20 years later. Here the novel meanders somewhat, losing its ability to captivate with the same intensity. The reader longs to return to the earlier world, which MacDonald has captured in vital detail. --Mark Frutkin, Amazon.ca

Book Description

The optimism of the early sixties, infused with the excitement of the space race and the menace of the Cold War, is filtered through the rich imagination of high-spirited, eight-year-old Madeleine, who welcomes her family's posting to a quiet Air Force base near the Canadian border. Secure in the love of her beautiful mother, she is unaware that her father, Jack, is caught up in a web of secrets. When a very local murder intersects with global forces, Jack must decide where his loyalties lie, and Madeleine will be forced to learn a lesson about the ambiguity ofhuman morality -- one she will only begin to understand when she carries herquest for the truth, and the killer, into adulthood twenty years later.

Customer Reviews:

Memories.......2007-09-14

This book resonated with me on a very personal level so it is hard to review it objectively. There were a lot of parallels between my young life and that of young Madeline. I was also in grade school in the 60s, an Army brat, lived in Germany, and my parents were a lot like Jack and Mimi - wholesome and in love. The authors description of Army lifestyle was "spot on" and brought back a lot of memories that I had long ago forgotten. Driving into your new base and looking for the children who might be potential new friends. Your mom setting up your new house into a home within days. The friends you are leaving behind with the knowledge that you will never forget them - and forgetting them fairly quickly. I relived and enjoyed part of my childhood again through the book. It also made me more aware of what my own children are thinking at this point in time and how they keep secrets.
I've seen comparisons to Lovely Bones and My Friend, which are both excellent reads, but I loved this more.

Excellent.......2007-08-31

MacDonald's book is a terrific look at the ripple effects of secrets big and small. What is the understanding of truth, as seen by a young girl, Madeleine, and her father, Jack. Each are trying to do the best they can and their decisions create multiple complications in a grey world. MacDonald paints a convincing picture of life on a Canadian air force base at the height of the Cold War. There is a depth and richness to this novel that will resonate with the reader for weeks after finishing it. As a reader, the question becomes, is the story worthy of the time required to read 800 pages? Maybe not, but MacDonald's writing is so solid that you can look at it as one more bite of rich chocolate -- perhaps not necessary, but also not regretted.

The Way..........2007-08-07

Totally wish I would have never read this book. There were so many parts that could have been left out and it would have been a GREAT book. I liked a lot of it, but the parts that were bad were SO bad I had to skip over them. It's kind of like a soap opera...you could skip a few parts and still know what is going on!

Long & Shifty.......2007-07-11

I really liked the story and the characters. However, I did not enjoy the passages, phrases, quotes and somewhat "randomness" scattered throughout. I also did not enjoy the characters speaking in French, It added to Mimi's character and I understand that but there where times when I just wanted to know what they were saying. I liked the unique mix of a coming of age novel and a war mystery- it certainly made me want to finish it to know what happened even though I was frustrated with the writing/story telling style at times.
I would have given this book 5 stars if it was about 200 pages shorter, the beginning picked up faster, overall it read smoother, and the "extras" (little quotes and stories, etc) were removed. Often when I read the extras I said to myself, "ummm what??" They didn't really add to the book to me at all. I loved the story, I just wish it had all come together more, and I hate to say it... polished?

Harrowing.......2007-03-24

Ann-Marie MacDonald's "The Way the Crow Flies," can be a difficult and unpleasant read at times. The reader is first taken down the primrose path as we're introduced to the seemingly perfect military family -- handsome, good-humored Jack McCarthy; his beautiful adoring wife Mimi; and two bright-eyed adorable children Michael and Madeline. As the novel opens in the early 1960's, the McCarthy family has just moved to Centralia - a Canadian fighter pilot training base, where the men concern themselves with the potential of nuclear war (the Cuban Missile Crisis), and the women concern themselves with preparing dinner for their families. But, as one might expect, the picture perfect paradise is only skin deep.

The main character of the book, Madeline, who's a fourth grader in the first two-thirds of the book (and an adult in the last third) attends a class taught by Mr. March, a loathsome pedophile, who each day keeps certain girls behind after class for "exercises," which, tragically, Madeline and the others keep secret. When Claire, one of Madeline's classmates, is strangled to death, a popular teenager (whose father is a holocaust survivor) is accused, and Madeline's father, Jack, must withhold exculpable information to hide the identity of a nazi war criminal smuggled into the West to assist with the space race against the Soviet Union (in a real program designated "Project Paperclip"). There are agonizing moments in this book where I wanted to transport myself through the pages and shake sense into Jack and Madeline to reveal what they knew.

In the last third of the book, a grown-up Madeline grapples with her personal life, but especially with her past. As other reviewers noted, perhaps the author could have tightened up this part of the story, as it often goes off into tangents unnecessary to the major plot. Also, I really couldn't accept the major twist (what really happened Claire), because I don't think what is described is physically possible. But "The Way The Crow Flies," is powerful and unforgettable, and Ann-Marie MacDonald stands out as an extremely talented author with alot on her mind.

Highly recommended, but expect to spend a few restless nights as the frustrating and disturbing events are slowly divulged.

Average customer rating:

Crow linguistics! What are those birds talking about?
Not so great for reference
a must read for the Corvidae fanciers of the world
Those noisy neighbours
Beautiful ink drawings

In the Company of Crows and Ravens
John M. Marzluff , John M. Marzluff , Tony Angell , and Paul Ehrlich
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0300100760

Book Description

“Crows and people share similar traits and social strategies. To a surprising extent, to know the crow is to know ourselves.”—from the Preface

From the cave walls at Lascaux to the last painting by Van Gogh, from the works of Shakespeare to those of Mark Twain, there is clear evidence that crows and ravens influence human culture. Yet this influence is not unidirectional, say the authors of this fascinating book: people profoundly influence crow culture, ecology, and evolution as well.

John Marzluff and Tony Angell examine the often surprising ways that crows and humans interact. The authors contend that those interactions reflect a process of “cultural coevolution.” They offer a challenging new view of the human-crow dynamic—a view that may change our thinking not only about crows but also about ourselves.

Featuring more than 100 original drawings, the book takes a close look at the influences people have had on the lives of crows throughout history and at the significant ways crows have altered human lives. In the Company of Crows and Ravens illuminates the entwined histories of crows and people and concludes with an intriguing discussion of the crow-human relationship and how our attitudes toward crows may affect our cultural trajectory.

Customer Reviews:

Crow linguistics! What are those birds talking about?.......2007-08-29

I enjoyed each chapter in this book. Findings from the authors' field observations and original research with crows--by attaching transmitters to the birds, rather than relying on banding and a possible future sighting--provide a fascinating and unique insight into the lives of these smart and sensitive creatures. Did you know that crows usually mate for life or until "death do us part"? That there are actually scientists who specialize in crow linguistics? What are those crows in my yard saying? After reading this book I've started listening more carefully and have decided their whisper songs might be in Italian! I've given this book as gifts to friends. The illustrations are beautiful and don't miss a word of the text!

Not so great for reference.......2007-04-10

I bought this book hoping for a lot of good reference art. Although there are a number of good illustrations, its mostly text, which i haven't bothered to read, since i was only interested in the art. I'd look for another book if you want good reference.

a must read for the Corvidae fanciers of the world.......2007-03-29

This is a wonderful book, the authors have discovered so many interesting insights & amusing observations of the Corvidae family with the most fabulous crow art!

Those noisy neighbours .......2007-02-16

They lack the colour glories of parrots and lorikeets. They're not like the little tweetie birds of our childhood books. Probably the best known of them is Poe's bleak image - perched atop a skull croaking its dismal litany. Long before Poe, however, the corvids had gained a shady reputation in Western European legends and myths. Crows and ravens were messengers of dark fortunes sent by agents of evil intent. As is so often the case with relying on literature to depict Nature, the legends misled us. The reality is far more interesting and explains more than fiction ever has. Marzluff and Angell, are dedicated scholars in the history and legends of the corvids. This book reflects well that background, and their combined skills present what they've gleaned with style and wit.

Perhaps no other species has shown how Darwinian adaptability can work as have crows, the authors suggest. Once wild and scattered, the crow has become habitated to human settlement. They were certainly scavengers at human feeding sites, whether people were hunters or scavengers themselves. Agriculture clearly brought them from the forests to the fields we planted. Grain crops - "the staff of life" - enticed them to our neighbourhoods quickly. The rise of cities only intensified the contact and offered the crow fresh opportunity. The "fast-food" restaurant, with its Dumpsters and scattered, food bearing trash, brings them hovering over what they clearly find a delicacy. They may even become selective, choosing the more brightly-coloured fries container over an equally laden drab one. It's even possible that the newly inhabited urban existence may be enhancing their numbers. The hunting activities in farmland is lacking in the city, but there are many nesting sites. We may complain about their noisy presence, but we brought them into our neighbourhood.

Nobody has ever questioned the intelligence of the Corvus genus. Crows, ravens, rooks and their relations are considered grand tricksters at best, and opportunist thieves at least. Their intelligence is stated by the authors as being the equivalent of "flying monkeys". Marzluff and Angell relate how crows in Japan took up residence near a driving school. They learned to drop nuts under the tires of stopped autos, returning to retrieve the meat after the wheel passed over and crushed the nut. The talent spread out over time and crows many kilometres away now practice the feat. Antics of this sort have been observed over the centuries, with our culture adopting Corvid elements into stories and descriptions. What are the wrinkles alongside the eyes of the elderly, but "crow's feet". We'll pass over the origins of "eating crow".

Corvid intellect goes beyond tricks and chance. The authors have witnessed both a murder of a crow by its fellows. They've also observed "funerals" in which a mob of crows silently surrounds a departed member [not the "murdered" one] for a long period, only to depart without a sound beyond the flutter of wings. Quiet crows are unusual. They also, it has been learned, developed the ability to count. Tests conducted with crows indicate they can count to five. They also "play". According to the authors, crows will slide down snowbanks or another smooth surface much as otters do, and with as little discernible purpose. Perhaps it's indicative that the Norse god Odin had two ravens, Thought and Memory as companions.

There's much more to be said about this book. As a resource, it's without peer, covering all aspects of Corvid life from mating rituals to nesting practices and territorial claims. As a narrative of observations, it reads much as an adventure story. You needn't be a fan of crows or ravens to enjoy this book. Angell's artwork greatly enhances the text, and is both informative and a treat in itself. The Corvids are your close neighbours and it's both pleasurable and profitable to read about who and what they are. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

Beautiful ink drawings.......2007-01-19

In the Company of Crows and Ravens provides interesting information about species, habitat, range of the many many varieties of crows. However, it is the drawings that steals one's attention.

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