Monday, June 10, 2019

Wolf Willow - Wallace Stegner


This was a wonderful read.  Someone I was working with had recommended the author and had been given the book by his mother.  I read it to see if there was any meaning implied in the gift.
Possibly, the message was to be as the pioneers coming to the desolate prairies of central Canada; stoic, keeping on, bouncing back from crushing hardships. 

Stegner's writing is lyrical, savored for it's imagery.  It's the story of his growing up in the small town of Eastend, Saskatchewan, Canada just as the last of the frontier was conquered and the natives vanquished.  It's a lesson in Canadian history.

Surnames in "Whitemud" aka, Huffman, Sickerton, Fetter, Orullian, Stenhouse, Young, Harold Jones, William Christenson, Nels Sieby
term - metis - mulatto in U.S. someone who is half-French, half native of Canada

Grain Growers Association - people who remained after bad winter.

Published: 1955  Read: May 2019  Genre: Memoir

Sunday, June 9, 2019

Listening for the Crack of Dawn - Donald Davis

Mike found this for me last summer and I finally got to it this year.  It's a group of childhood memories written as short stories by the author.  He tells about growing up in Appalachia in a small town with all his friends.  Delightful read.


Published: 1990 Read: May 2019  Genre: Short Story