Rating: 
Summary: Surprising
Review: I was lent this book by a friend, since this is not the type of thing I normally read. I have to say I thought it got off to a slow start. However, I was hooked about 1\4 of the way through. The story was quite engrossing and I felt I was really learning something about the history of the west. the characters were wonderful, particularly Lucas. I fully enjoyed it and have reccomended it since. Very Good.
Rating: 
Summary: One of my favorite Doig books
Review: I've read most of Doig's works; this is among my favorite. Would also recommend his tale of canoeing along the coast of the Pacific NW.
Rating:
Summary: One of my all-time favorite books!
Review: Mr. Doig has a magical way with words that paints wonderful pictures. The characters are 3-dimensional, and the story of friendship and love is told with extraordinary feeling that brings the story alive. Each time I read it I discover nuances previously missed. Truly a delight to read - I'm always sorry to come to the end!
Rating:
Summary: Dancing at the Rascal Fair
Review: Once one gets into this book, you cannot put it down. The author manages to capture the dialect of the people and the hardships they endured to settle this wild,cold country. Mr. Doig is indeed a poet!
Rating:
Summary: Dancing at the Rascal Fair
Review: The best novel I have read in a long, long time. It wasn't enough to fall in love with the characters--I lived every day with them. Dancing at the Rascal Fair exemplifies the power of great writing.
Rating:
Summary: Dancing at the Rascal Fair
Review: The best novel I have read in a long, long time. It wasn't enough to fall in love with the characters--I lived every day with them. Dancing at the Rascal Fair exemplifies the power of great writing.
Rating: 
Summary: A narrow story set in the big sky country?
Review: The love story of Angus and Anna, moving from Scotland to Montana, during the age of the west! Sound big, broad, with a sort of epic quality? Too bad! This book was surprisingly crabbed, about an unfulfilled love. The characters never embrace or enjoy their lives; nor does the author. Instead, people are mooning about lost chances, regretting being at sea, lost in the West. I do not want to give away any plot points, but I have to say, this book left me mildly bored. Doig is no Wallace Stegner. Skip this one and pick up the next boot wearing western writer de jour.
Rating:
Summary: A narrow story set in the big sky country?
Review: The love story of Angus and Anna, moving from Scotland to Montana, during the age of the west! Sound big, broad, with a sort of epic quality? Too bad! This book was surprisingly crabbed, about an unfulfilled love. The characters never embrace or enjoy their lives; nor does the author. Instead, people are mooning about lost chances, regretting being at sea, lost in the West. I do not want to give away any plot points, but I have to say, this book left me mildly bored. Doig is no Wallace Stegner. Skip this one and pick up the next boot wearing western writer de jour.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best reads in a great while.
Review: The voices of these strong people were nearly audible. Who ever thought that Scotsmen ventured to Montana as homesteaders? Who ever thought of their need to bind themselves, literally, together in order to stand a chance against the elements? Who ever thought they had a sense of humor and a gift for delivering shakespearean quips of such depth and of such wit? Ivan Doig lets you take this out of his richly detailed diarama. I am ready for the rest of the Montana series.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful story and a wonderful lesson
Review: This is a story of two best friends, Angus and Rob, from Scotland immigrating to Montana in the 1880's to become sheep ranchers, teachers, husbands, and fathers. It begins with them as young men with noble dreams and ideals, and follows them as they mature and build lives on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. The descriptions of the land draw the reader to imagine the surreal beauty of Montana in all its seasons and moods, whether forbidding, forgiving, or formidable. "Where the bevels of the valleys met, the creek ran in ripples and rested in Beaver ponds. A curlew made deft evasive flight across the slope below us as if revealing curlicues in the air." (p. 80) This book entices the reader with paragraph after paragraph of poetic prose. "I could feel the halt of all she had been setting forth until now, the stop of her thought as this new proposal opened, enormous as the future, before her." (p.156) I could turn to any page, and find exquisite sentences, long and languorous, or reverberating with insight and meaning. "I reached her to me, but there was too much in me to speak straight to what she had just said. Adair herself, myself, Anna, past, future, now." (p. 264) The plot doesn't go the way I wanted or expected it to, almost to the point of frustration at times, but good stories never go just where you want or expect them to. You build expectations of characters you like and who love each other. You want their love to be fulfilled, but sometimes, just as in real life, it simply doesn't happen. Sometimes friendships go bad. Sometimes in life people disappoint or betray you. Doig presents characters who surprise you. You want to reach into the story and shake some sense into them. That's good stuff.
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