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Loading... Shadow Country (Modern Library Paperbacks) (original 2008; edition 2008)by Peter Matthiessen
Work InformationShadow Country by Peter Matthiessen (2008)
  
No current Talk conversations about this book.  annebraseby | Jul 1, 2021 |   The three different perspectives were well done. They overlapped but there was enough different each time that you didn’t feel you were reading the same story. You learned different pieces of the story in each retelling. In fact, the biggest challenge of the novel was reconciling the three different perspectives given they were separated by so many pages. I also enjoyed reading about the Wild, Wild West era of Florida; the description of Florida reminded me of The Yearling. Ultimately, what detracted from the story was its length. It could have been and needed to be tighter and more concisely delivered. (  )1  afkendrick | Oct 24, 2020 |  ) Chrissylou62 | Aug 1, 2020 | I don't know who writes these unattributed introductory blurbs but the one for this book I'm pretty sure is factually incorrect. The origin plan was to write one book, not three. And this book is not a synopsis or condensation of the previous three as anyone who has read the four will know. The NYT Sunday magazine had a story about Matthiessen years ago. Matthiessen was driving the journal through the Everglades to meet some of Watson's descendants in the Thousand Islands and he points out a tree and says that species was not here in Watson's time. The journalist also noted that Watson's descendants didn't seem to be nearly as interested in Watson as Matthiessen was. Admittedly I didn't finish the book but it seems most of the reviews here are failing to mention the narrator's voice in this book. It starts more or less in the present, Ted Bundy, referred to only in passing as Bed Tundy, has just been executed and then the narrator, now an old man, reminisces about his research of Watson in the 1920s. I found the first book the best and with each subsequent book, the novelty wore off more and more. I would recommend starting with the first book but would be interested to know how it was if a different sequence was followed. (  ) JoeHamilton | Jul 21, 2020 | ) KarlaC | Feb 21, 2020 |
 To sum it up in a few words is impossible since its interest lies in the ambition of storytelling and inevitability of story. Belongs to SeriesWatson Trilogy (4) Is an adaptation of
Fiction.
Literature.
HTML:NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER ? ??Altogether gripping, shocking, and brilliantly told, not just a tour de force in its stylistic range, but a great American novel, as powerful a reading experience as nearly any in our literature.???Michael Dirda, The New York Review of Books Killing Mister Watson, Lost Man??s River, and Bone by Bone??Peter Matthiessen??s great American epic about Everglades sugar planter and notorious outlaw E. J. Watson on the wild Florida frontier at the turn of the twentieth century??were originally conceived as one vast, mysterious novel. Now, in this bold new rendering, Matthiessen has marvelously distilled a monumental work while deepening the insights and motivations of his characters with brilliant rewriting throughout. Praise for Shadow Country ??Magnificent . . . breathtaking . . . Finally now we have [this three-part saga] welded like a bell, and with Watson??s song the last sound, all the elements fuse and resonate.???Los Angeles Times ??Peter Matthiessen has done great things with the Watson trilogy. It??s the story of our continent, both land and people, and his writing does every justice to the blood fury of his themes.???Don DeLillo ??The fiction of Peter Matthiessen is the reason a lot of people in my generation decided to be writers. No doubt about it. Shadow Country lives up to anyone??s highest expectations for great writing.? ??Richard Ford ??Shadow Country, Matthiessen??s distillation of the earlier Watson saga, represents his original vision. It is the quintessence of his lifelong concerns, and a great legacy.???W. S. Merwin ??[An] epic No library descriptions found. |
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 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage: (3.96)
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Wikipedia in English (2)
1
It is a story of Ed Watson, a pioneer at the turn of the 19/20th century who tried to settle on the west coast of Florida in the heart of the Everglades. I really like local history and as I live in Florida I was eager to read this book. It does give you an insight of how remote and isolated that part of Florida was, only 100 years ago. It also portrays it as a lawless, "wild west" place with many hardships and lives were cheap, particularly people of color.
Because it was 3 books in one I found it became very repetitious, but difficult to follow. It is not a consecutive story, but tends to jump around in the story of the main character, Ed Watson. In the first hundred pages (out of 900) he is shot, so you kind know the ending and the rest of the book is fill in. There were endless characters, particularly at the beginning were not fully developed, so it was hard to relate to who they were and the relationship to the main character. Having said all that, it was beautifully written, with wonderful descriptions of the area and phrases that were poetic. (