Saturday, March 01, 2008
Crow Lake by Mary Lawson
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Canadian Book Challenge - Ontario
This book is set in Northern Ontario in a very small farming community. Kate Morrison lives on a small farm with her parents, much older brothers, Luke and Matt, and her baby sister, Bo. The family seems fairly normal if a touch bit reserved and undemonstrative. Then tragedy strikes. As the narrator, Kate tells the story of her youth interspersed with the present. It's interesting because you can see a direct correlation between what happened when she was seven and how it affects her twenty years later. "Crow Lake" is beautifully written, never melodramatic, but emotional. There is humor mixed in to many sad moments and a wealth of wonderful characters. I loved the description of Mrs. Stanovich, the large-bosomed neighbor who likes to hug the reticent Kate, and who cries at the drop of a hat. The novel really illustrates how misunderstandings can become overblown, how we can resent those who gives us the most, and mostly the importance of family love.
Rating: 4.25
Posted by Framed at 9:51 PM
9 comments:
John Mutford said...
Wow, this book has almost become an official selection of the Canadian Book Challenge. I think you captured a lot of the appeal when you wrote "never melodramatic, but emotional." Not an easy task, but I agree she pulled it off. Any plans on reading Other Side of the Bridge now?
12/15/2007 10:16 PM
gautami tripathy said...
Thanks to you, I got to read this book. I am very glad I did. I even passed it around to few of my friends.You summed it up so well!rootedreading room
12/16/2007 7:01 AM
Joy said...
Hi Framed! I'm glad you enjoyed this one, too. I'm picking up The Other Side of the Bridge very soon.
12/16/2007 8:00 AM
Lauren said...
I loved this book!!! I'm glad you enjoyed it too! :)
12/16/2007 10:05 PM
Stephanie said...
Nice review!! I have this on my list for the Canadian Challenge as well. Man, I really need to get to work on this one!!
12/18/2007 5:56 AM
Les said...
I've read both this and The Other Side of the Bridge. This was the better of the two, but I did enjoy both. I thought the humor Bo provided helped keep this from being too terribly depressing, didn't you? I look forward to her next novel. Let's hope it's soon!
12/18/2007 5:55 PM
adam said...
Hello I just entered before I have to leave to the airport, it's been very nice to meet you, if you want here is the site I told you about where I type some stuff and make good money (I work from home): here it is
12/19/2007 1:29 PM
Booklogged said...
Sounds good. Are you mooching this book off? If not, can I borrow it?
12/30/2007 7:15 PM
Framed said...
Booklogged, I was planning to mooch it but you can borrow it first.
Canadian Book Challenge - Ontario
This book is set in Northern Ontario in a very small farming community. Kate Morrison lives on a small farm with her parents, much older brothers, Luke and Matt, and her baby sister, Bo. The family seems fairly normal if a touch bit reserved and undemonstrative. Then tragedy strikes. As the narrator, Kate tells the story of her youth interspersed with the present. It's interesting because you can see a direct correlation between what happened when she was seven and how it affects her twenty years later. "Crow Lake" is beautifully written, never melodramatic, but emotional. There is humor mixed in to many sad moments and a wealth of wonderful characters. I loved the description of Mrs. Stanovich, the large-bosomed neighbor who likes to hug the reticent Kate, and who cries at the drop of a hat. The novel really illustrates how misunderstandings can become overblown, how we can resent those who gives us the most, and mostly the importance of family love.
Rating: 4.25
Posted by Framed at 9:51 PM
9 comments:
John Mutford said...
Wow, this book has almost become an official selection of the Canadian Book Challenge. I think you captured a lot of the appeal when you wrote "never melodramatic, but emotional." Not an easy task, but I agree she pulled it off. Any plans on reading Other Side of the Bridge now?
12/15/2007 10:16 PM
gautami tripathy said...
Thanks to you, I got to read this book. I am very glad I did. I even passed it around to few of my friends.You summed it up so well!rootedreading room
12/16/2007 7:01 AM
Joy said...
Hi Framed! I'm glad you enjoyed this one, too. I'm picking up The Other Side of the Bridge very soon.
12/16/2007 8:00 AM
Lauren said...
I loved this book!!! I'm glad you enjoyed it too! :)
12/16/2007 10:05 PM
Stephanie said...
Nice review!! I have this on my list for the Canadian Challenge as well. Man, I really need to get to work on this one!!
12/18/2007 5:56 AM
Les said...
I've read both this and The Other Side of the Bridge. This was the better of the two, but I did enjoy both. I thought the humor Bo provided helped keep this from being too terribly depressing, didn't you? I look forward to her next novel. Let's hope it's soon!
12/18/2007 5:55 PM
adam said...
Hello I just entered before I have to leave to the airport, it's been very nice to meet you, if you want here is the site I told you about where I type some stuff and make good money (I work from home): here it is
12/19/2007 1:29 PM
Booklogged said...
Sounds good. Are you mooching this book off? If not, can I borrow it?
12/30/2007 7:15 PM
Framed said...
Booklogged, I was planning to mooch it but you can borrow it first.
# posted by Framed @ 7:14 PM 
