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Summary: Ivan Doig-Zen Master-Mountains Won't Remember Us
Review: A painted silk scroll from China shows a zen poet and calligrapher trying to capture the satori, the spontaneous enlightenment sometimes attained by the immensity of the landscape. The tree-lined mountains, and the winding creeks and brooks overshadow the artist who sits at his bench as incense plumes rise into the landscape.Ivan Doig has written what could be a zen contemplation with the power of a volcano in his newest work. It's not so much the wonderful characterization of the main characters and their innocence and fragility in terms of one another, but it is the way their bodies and minds, abused like much of the landscape, try desperately to connect. Generations must come to terms: a dying one that had survived the depression and had fought through two world wars and an aging one, "the baby boomers" who rebelled against older ideals but feel what it's like to age, and wonder, in a cloud of nostalgia; Are there resolutions? Between Father and Son? Wife and Husband? Daughter and Father? Man vs. Nature? All relationships are represented maginificently in Mountain Time. Nature casts a shadow on all the characters. The forests, the mountains, and the streams age with humanity, but they won't remember us. In short, an apt metaphor is Mt. St. Helens, which figures in the novel and which Doig brings alive as a character. No one can forget the force of power, the gray blast of hot ash, the blanket of destruction marking itself in the mind. And one can see, today, the renenwal and rebirth of the landscape even after such destruction.
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Summary: mountain time
Review: another good book by ivan doig. Although it isnt his best it will keep your attention. not as descriptive as others or colorful. However the great story telling is there of how a family copes with the loss of a loved one. It's a keeper steve
Rating:
Summary: mountain time
Review: another good book by ivan doig. Although it isnt his best it will keep your attention. not as descriptive as others or colorful. However the great story telling is there of how a family copes with the loss of a loved one. It's a keeper steve
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Summary: Not vintage Doig
Review: As a huge fan of Doig's work, it physically pains me to say this, but I was disappointed with "Mountain Time." The first section is particularly difficult to get through - the unlikely dialogue mentioned in another review is part of it, but another aspect that bothered me as a native of western Washington state is the cliche after cliche assessment of the region. There isn't a stereotypical stone left unturned - coffee, grunge, cyberia, rain, etc. etc. Certainly these are aspects of the region, but they seemed too overt in Doig's writing; more a caricature than the perhaps intended satire. The novel picks up with "The Springs" section. As I settled into this section it was like coming over Snoqualmie Pass, out of the crowded, cluttered, and caricatured western part of the state and into more rewarding territory. Here I encountered more of what I have come to expect from Doig. My purpose for writing these comments is two-fold: First, I would encourage any reader of this novel to stick with it - tough it through the way-too-ultra-hip banter and the somewhat trite characterization of western Washington. Once the characters are back in Montana, things get better. Perhaps the most engaging character, Lyle, is introduced here, and Doig seems to find his prosaic voice in the latter setting. Also, if this is your first taste of Doig's work, please know that it is not indicative of the writing Doig's fans have come to know and love. For vintage Doig, check out the McCaskill trilogy (beginning with "English Creek") or one of the memoirs (ie: Heart Earth).
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Summary: Dissapointing Doig
Review: Having read Dancing at the Rascal Fair, I was very dissapointed with this work. Like the comments posted, I found it trite, cliched, and hard to get into at first. The problem with setting anything in a particular place in present time is getting the details right. Doig failed at this. I found the dialogues between Lexa and her sister painful to read, they were so focused on a comedy routine. Nothing about this book made it any more special than any other tenth grade fiction class work. I urge others to give Doig's other works a read; they are worth the time. Mountain Time definitely is not.
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Summary: A Disappointment
Review: I wait for Mr. Doig's books and have never been dissapointed until now. Unfortunately I got stuck on someone driving from Seattle to White Sulpher Springs going through Choteau. Didn't make much sense and I kinda of lost it after that. But I will not give up as I re-read many of his books every year.
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Summary: Highly enjoyable read as with all Doig books
Review: If you have never read a book by Ivan Doig, you're missing a wonderful collection of stories. As with earlier books, Mountain Time is largely set in Montana and Seattle and Doig makes it highly visual with his writing style. The terrain, the climate, the family generations and local customs are all described so well and so subtly that you will not immediately realize that he has transported you there. You will feel the story more than you read it. You will NOT be able to put this book down because you will be so committed to the characters and their search for meaning in life.
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Summary: Still one of the West's best
Review: In Montana, not far from where Ivan Doig grew up beneath a big sky that still haunts him, three rivers flow together to form the deep and wide Missouri, lacing through both time and landscape, the old West and the new. And like the brawny Missouri, Doig has channeled three deep literary tributaries into "Mountain Time," a coda to his McCaskill family trilogy. Three people, three intense relationships, three rivers. "Mountain Time" is the confluence: The very real familial clash between Lyle and Mitch echoes the clash between the historic and contemporary West, where exploitation has always been at odds with environmental anxiety. "Mountain Time" will not dissuade those who rank Doig among the best living American writers, and one might even begin making comparisons to some of the best *dead* ones, too. Faulkner comes most readily to mind: The Snopeses of Yoknapatawpha County are no more troubled and no more human than the McCaskills of the Two Medicine country in Montana. Two great rivers in different landscapes.
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Summary: Top notch storytelling
Review: It's true this is not Ivan Doig's best work. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to top my favorite, Dancing at the Rascal Fair. Mr. Doig's storytelling is honest and straightforward; his wordsmithing in high form. Some of the reviews indicate trite characterization of western Washington, and an uninvolving story with unsurprising revelations. Not true if you come to this story with different expectations. Life in Washington isn't the point of this story (and what may seem trite seemed all to real to what I've seen here in Seattle. Mr. Doig writes issues many Baby Boomers may be facing or have confronted: a dying parent; coming to gripes with a parent's choices; life changes, in this case, the impact of divorce on self; loss of job. Having experienced aspects of what this story covered, I found the novel a good depiction of these issues and relationships. Yes, it takes a while to get into the story, but once in I found it quite satisfying.
Rating:
Summary: Top notch storytelling
Review: It's true this is not Ivan Doig's best work. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to top my favorite, Dancing at the Rascal Fair. Mr. Doig's storytelling is honest and straightforward; his wordsmithing in high form. Some of the reviews indicate trite characterization of western Washington, and an uninvolving story with unsurprising revelations. Not true if you come to this story with different expectations. Life in Washington isn't the point of this story (and what may seem trite seemed all to real to what I've seen here in Seattle. Mr. Doig writes issues many Baby Boomers may be facing or have confronted: a dying parent; coming to gripes with a parent's choices; life changes, in this case, the impact of divorce on self; loss of job. Having experienced aspects of what this story covered, I found the novel a good depiction of these issues and relationships. Yes, it takes a while to get into the story, but once in I found it quite satisfying.
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