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Title: Land That Moves, Land That Stands Still by Kent Nelson ISBN: 0-670-03226-3 Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: 24 July, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.67 (15 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Real People!
Comment: Kent Nelson handles setting about as well as any writer I've ever read. This is the South Dakota Badlands and the main characters raise alfalfa, and other crops. The plot revolves around the accidental death of Matti Remmel's husband and a secret he's been hiding from her the past few years. That plot thread soon runs out of steam, and the book becomes more of a relationship novel: Matti and an archeologist who wants to dig on her land; her daughter Shelley and her former high school English teacher; and Dawn, Mattie's eccentric hired hand, and a Mexican neighbor with a secret of his own. Then there's the runaway Indian boy Mattie takes in. All of them are working on building trust.
Sometimes Nelson spends too much time trying to prove he knows all about alfalfa ranching, as he devotes pages and pages to irrigation, fixing flat bed trucks, and building a new kitchen after Dawn sets fire to the ranch house. Otherwise, he does a bang-up job writing women characters and sex from a woman's perspective.
Nelson throws in a brutal ex-boyfriend for Dawn who is instrumental in moving the novel toward a climax. Dawn is perhaps the most self-sufficient and toughest of the three women. She can fix anything and she adds a bit of humor to an otherwise angst-filled novel.
These characters are so real they make those on the MTV program seem cartoonish.
Rating: 5
Summary: A Great Book
Comment: Kent Nelson's LAND THAT MOVES, LAND THAT STANDS STILL reads like a
grass
fire. Nelson makes it difficult to put down. Master craftsman, he
interweaves each character with the theme, plot, and setting so that
the
reader feels and sees everything in the character's world. From the
first
page the reader cares what happens to these people who make their
livelihood on this beautiful ranch in South Dakota. The reader is well
cared for and always knows where she is in story and place. Nothing is
superfluous and all things work together to support the mysterious
transitory nature of the land and the people who live in relation to
it. No one can control their environment, the only choice becomes to
move
with it.
Mattie is a marvelous creation full of contradictions, puzzlements, and
needs that resonate with the reader. She lives in harmony with the
people
and the land as she struggles to understand those around her and to
make a
go of the ranch on her own. This novel is richly populated with other
characters who help or hinder her, and they, too, are also fully
realized
and each distinct from one another. At no time is one character
confused
with another. The land itself becomes a character as it carries the
theme
and moves the plot forward. It's wonderful how all things and
characters
exist and happen because of this place. Even the vivid, lyrical
language
is an integral player here. LAND THAT MOVES, LAND THAT STANDS STILL is
a
rewarding and satisfying read.
Rating: 4
Summary: 3.6 stars -- Memorable characters, a good read
Comment: I found this story of a Dakota widower and her farm challenges and family relationships -- dealing with the 'non-entities' (not) of her deceased husband, and her dead son, in addition to her typically confused and experimental college-age daughter and her emerging family of a wacky, spunky female relationship escapee and young Indian reticent, which comes into focus in the wake of the farming work and environment that presents a main conflict to the story (not to ignore the neighbors-from-hell).
Nelson's particular skills include being able to tell a story that captures your interest (despite plot being rather predictable) and great skill with building reader identification with the characters. The dialogue is skillful - often short and crisp, ironic, and well-on. I could really picture this being a made-for-TV thing. It's entertaining, but I guess I wish I could have felt more in awe of the prose; the writing is effective but doesn't take your breath way, sort of like the difference between viewing a Norman Rockwell vs. a Matisse.
Regardless, I enjoyed the whole book and the characters are remaining with me...
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Title: The Center of Everything by Laura Moriarty ISBN: 1401300316 Publisher: Hyperion Press Pub. Date: 02 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
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Title: The Known World (Today Show Book Club # 17) by Edward P. Jones ISBN: 0060557540 Publisher: Amistad Press Pub. Date: 14 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Breaking Her Fall by Stephen Goodwin ISBN: 015100806X Publisher: Harcourt Pub. Date: 01 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
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Title: Sunset Terrace: A Novel by Rebecca Donner ISBN: 1931561346 Publisher: MacAdam/Cage Publishing Pub. Date: May, 2003 List Price(USD): $22.00 |
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Title: The Great Fire: A Novel by Shirley Hazzard ISBN: 0374166447 Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux Pub. Date: 14 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
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