Rating: 
Summary: Excellent!!! A story you want to share with everyone...
Review: This book was excellent for the reasons that it deals with life and how it really was. It may be titled as fiction, but the events that take place could and did happen. It's about a young boy, Davy, who has to look reality in the face. All his life, he's been sheltered from the "outside world", particularly because he lives in a small, farming town and because his family is the law. But then things begin to unfold. Being the young boy that he is, and knowing how all young kids are, Davy learns, by eavesdropping, that his uncle, whom he's always idolized, is a molester. His uncle Frank is the doctor of this little town and Davy learns that his uncle molests Indian girls while they are in his care. And that's just the beginning. Davy is just a boy, and while reading this book, you see how this boy looks at life and how he interprets things. To him, he can't understand why his uncle would do such a thing when he has a beautiful wife. He doesn't see things in an ordinary perspective. He digs deeper and looks at things through innocence; something we all lose as we get older. And Davy is on the verge of losing his innocence. Part of him wants to hide and forget everything, while the other part of him wants to know the whole truth, why people do what they do. I would recommend this book to anyone. It's the kind of book you want to read after you've had a long day; a book you just want to relax with. It's also a good book to read so you can understand what life was like back in the late 40s. Remember the name Larry Watson, and you'll remember Montana.
Rating: 
Summary: Well writen, but predictable.
Review: The quality of writing is the most redeeming factor of "Montana 1948". It is written in a way that demonstrates well developed thoughts and an orginal, clear voice. Larry Watson manages to tell the story through his eyes as a young boy and through the eyes of the adult he has become. The narrator, Davy, is motivated by such child-like impulses as a craving for chocolate cake, a desire to ride his horse and the urge to play with his grandfather's guns. He demonstrates Davy's coming of age by showing an understanding of how people react to the taboo charges Davy's Father, the county Sheriff, makes against Uncle Frank. While writing, Watson (as an adult) seems to have sudden insights into the personalities of his characters. Was Len, the Deputy, in love with Davy's mother? Did Uncle Frank ever realize that he had destroyed the Hayden family? This book is a chilling, colorful explanation of events and also the coming of age story of one Montana boy. In the spirit of books like "To Kill A Mockingbird", "Montana 1948" isn't only a tale about scandal, but also about a man, who is forced to do what is right, regardless of the cost. Davy watches as his father stuggles with morality and loyalty, as he is torn between family and the law. Davy is also witness to the horrors which occur when his father neglects his ethics and allows Uncle Frank to remain free. The only flaws in the book come from perdictabilty. The reader is fairly certian, from the beginning of the book, which characters will die and which ones will only wish they did. Everybodys'fates are known to the reader, before they are known to the characters. Yet, this flaw, perdictability, is also a testament to the book's quality. Although the reader is aware that certian characters will perish, it is still a suprise when it happens. The perdictable style in which the book is writen does nothing to take away from the overall enjoyment of the story.
Rating:
Summary: developed characters, nice read
Review: Montana 1948 is a great book that flows exceptionally well. To start, this book has well rounded characters that accentuate the story. Davy, the main character and the voice of the book, is well developed and brings out many subtleties in the story. Because Davy is only a child he sees things happening yet does not always understand. In many ways this allows the reader to be able to read between the lines. The honesty that comes from a twelve-year old is also a strong part of the book. Davy has no trouble saying or thinking things that adults would only dream of thinking somewhere in their sub conscious. The story in Montana 1948 also deals with issues that were controversial then and still are. The ideas of family loyalty, morality, prejudices, and loss of innocence, all cause this book to flow strongly and purposely throughout the story line. While the story is well written it also contains a hint of a message. All the characters show different sides of themselves and a complexity that a true character must have. The conflicts of the book are also well done. You don't have the simple Dick and Jane fighting over a lollypop routine. There are many sub-plots that the reader sees throughout the book. These sub-plots add to the story and allow the reader to grasp the "big picture." The book also does justice to real life. Watson didn't give the book a nice happy ending. Instead he gave the reader reality, something lacking in many books today. I really enjoyed the truth expressed in the book. The issues of family loyalty and love are well expressed. The story develops in a way that moves the reader as well as allows the reader to see how hard the choice can be between family and doing what's right. All in all this book is a great read and I strongly suggest it!
Rating:
Summary: This book was hard to put down!
Review: I loved this book! It was very easy to read, and it pulls you in; literally making you want to keep turning the pages to find out what is going to happen next. Montana 1948 is the type of book that makes you think...a lot. It sets up a story line that lets you know something is going to happen. Larry Watson peices together childhood memories of Mercer County, Montana in the post World War II years. The memories reveal how a family's status in society can be, and often is, broken up by a morally wrong abuse of power. The book centers on a teenager's first realizations that things are not always what they seem. When David Hayden, the child narrator, and his family learn of the accusations of sexual abuse by his uncle Frank, they are forced to make a choice between loyalty to the family and total justice. Interweaved with his story line, Watson also sets a scene in the west on flat, harsh land with an open endless sky. These surroundings account for the town's relative tranquility. It's use of landscape is excellent in the way it reveals character for the small town and it's inhabitants. There isn't much energy spent on raising hell or making trouble. David's father is the county sheriff, as his father was before him. Life seems to be so simple, but Watson shows that hidden beneath the simplest of western towns can be complex layers of secrets and power. I would definitely recommend this book for its easy reading, simple truths, and its moral issues that need to be addressed.
Rating:
Summary: A Terse, Gripping Tale
Review: Watson uses complex, multi-layered prose and a knack for revealing just enough of his characters' emotions to describe the division of a family in a small Northwestern town. While some novels about a young boy forced to come of age after discovering his hero's unforgivable faults have been treated in an overly sentimental manner, Watson displays a gift for revealing inner thoughts through stolen glimpses and understated commentary. He refrains from intruding upon his characters' emotions directly, choosing instead to merely suggest what they are feeling, or indicate their state of mind through a laconic, yet detailed, description. "Was Len in love with my mother?...I remember all the small chores and favors he did for her around the house--planing a sticking door or fixing a leaky faucet." These casual and poignant glimpses into the Hayden family life and the lives of their close friends both advance the plot and indicate character development, especially as regards the boy, Davy. "My first question wasn't, could I pull the trigger; it was, could I, from that distance, with that weapon...hit my target. I wondered what might happen if I killed my uncle..." A sensitive topic that could easily be handled either too roughly or too gently is treated with the perfect balance of event and emotion, action and reflection. Watson uses imagery and detail to draw us into the world of Mercer County, Montana in 1948. His treatment of the setting is both symbolic and prosaic; the land reflects its inhabitants, affects their lives directly: "Had I any sensitivity at all I might have recognized that all this talk about wind and dirt and mountains and childhood was my mother's way of saying she wanted a few moments of purity, a temporary escape from the sordid drama that was playing itself out in her own house." The relationships between environment and character are not overly obvious, yet they provide an essential link, an anchor to the tragedy that would have been lacking otherwise. Watson's deft handling of both character and dialogue combine to provide us with a unique novel, able to stand in its own right when compared with other Northwestern fiction.
Rating:
Summary: A very good book that I could not put down.
Review: I read both Justice and Montana 1948 in about 1.5 days, I just could not put it down. The author does a very different type of writing that makes me want to grab anything written by him that I can get my hands on.
Rating:
Summary: Phenomenal-I loved it!
Review: This is far and away the best book I've ever read!! It's somewhat like Ethan Frome (which I also loved) in that it's a frame story, so you know something's going to happen and you have predictions as to what it is from what was said in the frame, but you just have to know what it is! I had so many ideas, and I couldn't put it down. Something interesting was always happening. It's also short, like Ethan Frome, so it has to keep moving to get everything in. Never a dull moment! I loved it! It was just incredible! I loved it!
Rating:
Summary: This book was excellent and well written!
Review: In a small town in Montana, the summer of 1948 is a turning point in the lives of David Hayden and his family. When his uncle is accused of sexual abuse, his family is forced to make a choice between loyalty to the family and pure justice. Watson sends the powerful message of morality and praises the man who answers to himself and his god rather than his father, brother, neighbors, or friends. Having power and prestige in a community is a responsibility and it should never be abused. I feel that this book was well-written and it brings up many moral issues that need to be addressed in our society.
Rating:
Summary: Watson is to Montana 1948 as Lee is To Kill A Mockingbird
Review: 12-year-old David Hayden learns what kind of man his father is. Like his father before him, David's
father is the local sheriff. Overshadowed by his former-war-hero-doctor brother, David's father must
come to terms with some startling family news. Summer events and the Hayden family begin to unravel
and David learns who the real hero is. Larry Watson's "David Hayden" is reminiscent of Harper Lee's "Scout Finch" -- To Kill A Mockingbird with a Western flavor -- and much more dramatic family consequences.
Rating:
Summary: Watson is to Montana 1948 as Lee is To Kill A Mockingbird
Review: 12-year-old David Hayden learns what kind of man his father is. Like his father before him, David's
father is the local sheriff. Overshadowed by his brother,a glib local doctor and former war hero, David's father must come to terms with some startling family news. Summer events and the Hayden family begin to unravel and David
learns who the real hero is.
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