Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful, I loved it!
Review: It is obvious that McCrumb has put in a lot of time researching Scotland and the customs of the town Malcom McCurry came from.
An example is the stone charm. The imagery she uses is absolutely marvelous. She uses casual everyday conversations to bring her character to life.
Rating: 
Summary: Good read, but not the best intro to McCrumb
Review: McCrumb's newest paperback is a ramblin' book. Its chapters form a mountain switchback. The odd chapters tell an episodic story set in the present, about rising country singer Lark McCourry , her difficult father, and her attempt to track down an old ballad about a graveyard and a rowan stave, of which she can remember only the one-line chorus: "And when she comes back, she will be changed-oh." The even chapters trace the progress of the song from Scotland in the mid-1700s to the present, through a long line of Lark's ancestors (each of whom, as it happens, is one of Sharyn McCrumb's real ancestors.)"The Songcatcher" affords many small pleasures and no sweeping ones. There's the local southern Appalachian color, and McCrumb's evident pride in it, particularly the constant sprinkling of unexpected hill country expressions (I liked "poor as Job's turkey", and I am not likely soon to forget the significance of Matthew 23:25). There are numerous interesting characters, though I felt only Malcolm McCourry, the founder of the line, was fully drawn and rounded. The ballad itself, which McCrumb wrote for the book, is as haunting and authentically folkwise as anything in Childe, and I wish the music came with it. What seemed to be missing was any deep passion, or any strong narrative drive. I was always happy to be reading along, but never dying to know what would happen next. For members of McCrumb's extended family, this volume is bound to seem a treasure trove. The same may be true for those who have ever been bitten (as I never have) by the genealogy bug; and for those who have read enough of her previous novels to feel, as one might easily come to feel, that the author is an old friend. For the rest of us, this is a pleasant enough read, but probably the wrong place to start in on her works. Several of her previous Appalachian sagas have all the strengths of this one, and none of its weaknesses, and stand better on their own. The earlier books will also introduce you to a number of the local constabulary and eccentrics, with whose lives and habits this volume seems to assume you are already familiar.
Rating:
Summary: The Word Catcher: Is it a book or a ballad?
Review: Sharon McCrumb brings Celtic/Gaelic magic and mysticism to the pages of this book, a story very difficult to explain. Ghosts and genealogy and the mountain folks of the Carolina mountains, merge together in a melodious collage of vignettes, each chapter not flowing into the next, but eventually all merging together for a huge picture. McCrumb knows her craft and executes it beautifully in this Cosmic Possum of a tale, where I am visualizing Emmy Lou Harris melding into Enya, and somehow it just works. An unusually diverse and rather delicious mixture of characters, Nora Bridgewater, Sheriff Arrowood, a boy kidnapped from a Scottish Isle, a Country & Western Singer, a cantankerous old man, a Vietnam vet on a mission, a housekeeper/pseudo-daughter and lots and lots of dead folks. The missing main character/protagonist might right be the music? This is one of those books that should have come with a CD inside the front cover. Historical fiction? A mystery? Highly original, occasionally downright antisocial, still .... is it a ballad or a book? Read it and see.
Rating: 
Summary: Storycatcher
Review: Sharyn McCrumb does for Appalachian history what a songcatcher does for ancient Scottish ballads. She is surely one of the great storytellers of the century and one of the most diverse. She writes intricate mysteries, comic scenarios of Science Fiction buffs, and her lovely, haunting Ballad series. "Songcatcher" is anchored by Malcolm McCourry, the forefather, who is shanghaied from Islay, Scotland at age nine to become a seaman, lawyer, and early Appalachian mountaineer. His legacy is an obscure Scottish ballad, "The Rowan Stave." His story, continued by his descendents, is interwoven with the modern day protagonists. The early McCourrys are so vivid; the modern folks frequently seem pale in comparison. The "curse" Malcolm passes down is his first born child and succeeding generation's first born children will be unloved and unappreciated. The subsequent narrators are all first-born children, each baffled and hurt by the McCourry parent; yet they in turn unconsciously carry on this harsh legacy. The tale is full of ghosts, faeries, and things that go bump in the night. The reader can believe or not believe; but they are there in a most matter-of-fact way. There were a few too many storylines in the present-day world. Joe LaDonne being trapped in the forest under old plane wreckage did not forward the story, and was a needless distraction. There was no "mystery" per se, yet everything was a mystery. Like the expert she is, Ms. McCrumb entices us with every new revelation and delivers a fast paced and gripping story. "Songcatcher" is a worthy addition to the superb Ballad series.
Rating:
Summary: Another Spellbinding Tale
Review: Sharyn McCrumb has done it again. She has transported me to another place and another time. Actually, the book switches back and forth from the 1700s to the present day, and times in between; following the story of a song handed down through the generations of a family. Some of my roots are Scottish, so I always have a soft spot in my heart for Ms. McCrumb's stories, so familiar are her characters and themes. This book is skillfully crafted, keeps you guessing, and keeps you interested all the way through. A wonderful reading experience!
Rating:
Summary: Fictionalized family tree story is a treat
Review: Sharyn McCrumb has given us a fictionalized version of her family tree, and it's a treat.
John Walker is dying and his housekeeper summons his estranged daughter home. His daughter, Linda, now a famous folksinger known as Lark, suffers an accident on the way home, however, and is stranded on a mountainside with faint chance of rescue. To see her through her ordeal, the 911 officer she managed to reach on her cell phone before the battery died promises to track down a folk song she heard when she was a child.
Interspersed with the events taking place in the present day is the story of Malcolm McCourry, a young Scots lad kidnapped by sailors in 1759, when he was nine years old. Although I was a bit confused the first time the story jumped back two hundred years, it didn't take me long to make the connection between Malcolm McCourry and John Walker, and I followed the subsequent years and generations with interest.
A quick read, and enjoyable.
Rating:
Summary: An Appalachian Treasure
Review: Sharyn McCrumb is the preeminent ballad weaver of the history, people and lifeblood of the Appalachian (prounounced appa-LATCH-un)culture. A predominantly Scots-Irish culture rich in song, language, legend and hardship. She likens her stories to a patchwork quilt, and it is a fine comparison. To read a Sharyn McCrumb novel is to behold a way of life quickly disappearing in the face of urbanization and development.
To one who shares the Celtic heritage, whose family goes back into these mountains many generations, the tales are as real as cherished memories; the dialect is respectfully conveyed; and the concern for the disappearance of a way of life -- and the mountains themselves -- genuine and heartfelt. Encouragingly so. Few show a love of a people, their heritage and their environment as Sharyn McCrumb.
Rating:
Summary: An Appalachian Treasure
Review: Sharyn McCrumb is the preeminent ballad weaver of the history, people and lifeblood of the Appalachian (prounounced appa-LATCH-un)culture. A predominantly Scots-Irish culture rich in song, language, legend and hardship. She likens her stories to a patchwork quilt, and it is a fine comparison. To read a Sharyn McCrumb novel is to behold a way of life quickly disappearing in the face of urbanization and development.
To one who shares the Celtic heritage, whose family goes back into these mountains many generations, the tales are as real as cherished memories; the dialect is respectfully conveyed; and the concern for the disappearance of a way of life -- and the mountains themselves -- genuine and heartfelt. Encouragingly so. Few show a love of a people, their heritage and their environment as Sharyn McCrumb.
Rating:
Summary: Best of the Ballad novels
Review: Sharyn McCrumb's Ballad novels are mysteries only in a limited sense. Their main purpose is to evoke a sense of place. Set in the Appalachian (pronounced "Appal-at-chian," not "Appal-ate-chian") region of the Tennessee/North Carolina border, they are terrific at just that. I was born into that area, and McCrumb highlights all that is good about it, while leaving out most of the bad parts. In fact, the best thing I can say about them is that they bring out my sense of heritage. Even though I moved away to New England (and feel much more comfortable here), Sharyn McCrumb almost (I said almost) makes me want to go back. Her mention of cities and landmarks that I grew up with makes me hearken back to my time there. If only the South really were exactly as she writes it. Songcatcher is the most evocative of all the Ballad series. It tells several stories that eventually overlap, but the central tale is that of Malcolm McCourry, Scottish immigrant to the New World. He tells his story of leaving his family, becoming a sailor, and settling in the new state of Tennessee to start a new family. A ballad called "The Rowan Stave" is vital to his tale, as it is to the book and McCrumb takes the time to show how that song is changed by being passed down over generations. Meanwhile Lark McCourry is searching for that lost song sung by her ancestors while having to deal with a sick father that doesn't appreciate her fame as a folk/country singer. Her search doesn't really begin in full until she is trapped in a wrecked plane. Ballad regulars Nora Bonesteel and Spencer Arrowood (pronounced "Ar-wood") also appear, but in less of a role. This is really the story of the McCourrys. Malcolm's story is so engrossing (and takes up a good portion of the book) that I would forget that I was reading a "mystery" novel. In Songcatcher, McCrumb has produced literature. And a book that any Southerner can be proud of.
Rating:
Summary: Ms. McCrumb Does It Again!
Review: Sharyn McCrumb's Ballad Series is one of the best out there. Ms. McCrumb is a master of plot and character development. Weaving fiction and non-fiction into a wonder story, the author gives the reader a real understanding of how this country developed. Ms. McCrumb also has a great and wonderful understanding of the people who settled and live in the rural Appalachian Mountains. Yes, there really are people living just like Ms. McCrumb describes in her books. I know I'm from there. I'm not going to bore you with a recap of the plot. If you want that read one of the other reviews. The Songcatcher is a little bit different than her other ballad series books, if that doesn't make it any less entertaining. There is no murder mystery, but there is plenty of mystery. So if you enjoy a good mystery, written very well. This is the book for you. In fact, you don't even have to be a mystery reader to enjoy any of Sharyn McCrumb's books. She is a wonderful writer and I feel that anybody, who enjoys a good book, would enjoy Sharyn McCrumb.
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