Ivan Doig: American Author Challenge

"Ivan Doig (1939-2015) was born in Montana and grew up along the Rocky Mountain Front, the dramatic landscape that inspired much of his writing. A former ranch hand, newspaperman, and magazine editor, Doig was the author of 13 novels and four works of nonfiction, including his classic first book, the memoir This House of Sky.
His major theme is family life in the past, mixing personal memory and regional history. The first three Montana novels—English Creek, Dancing at the Rascal Fair, and Ride with Me, Mariah Montana—form the so-called "McCaskill trilogy," covering the first centennial of Montana's statehood from 1889 to 1989. As the western landscape and people play an important role in his fiction, he was been hailed as the new dean of western literature, a worthy successor to Wallace Stegner.

He lived in Seattle until his death in April 2015 aged 75 from multiple myeloma. His final novel is Last Bus to Wisdom (Aug 2015)

**This is part of our American Author Challenge 2016. This author will be read in May. The general discussion thread can be found right here:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/209611

This is the reason (okay, one of 'em) that I do the AAC- I finally get to authors I have neglected. I have only read English Creek, which I really liked. With his passing last year, I knew I had to feature him over here and finally pluck something down off the shelf.

I plan on reading This House of Sky: Landscapes of a Western Mind, (Great title!) and I hope to bookhorn in another, hopefully Dancing at the Rascal Fair.

Okay, what is everyone else reading?

Not sure I'm going to participate with this one, But i am starring the thread so that I can follow along with what everyone chooses and WL suggestions. Thanks for setting up the thread, Mark!

Have you read Doig, Mamie! He seems to be your cuppa.

I've requested the audio of Last Bus to Wisdom. Even with the Montana connection, I've only read a handful of his books.

Not yet, Mark, but I will. I saw on Ellen's thread where she mentioned that she had loved Dancing at the Rascal Fair, so that might be my starting point when I do get to him.

Dancing at the Rascal Fair is the one I'm thinking of reading, if I can find it (I have it somewhere) and can squeeze it in. Good to know that Ellen loved it.

I'm looking forward to finally "discovering" Doig! I have a few on my shelf, but think I'll start with The Whistling Season...

Well. Bought two of his novels this year after Linda's (Laytonwoman3rd) reviews, and as I'm just about to finish reading a novel, I'm going to pick one of Doig's up straight away, probably The Whistling Season, the other I have is his last novel.

And I've just dropped This House of Sky into my Marketplace basket, CLICK...

I loved The Whistling Season when I read it a few years ago. Mamie, I think you would like that one, too! I have Work Song in my TBR stash so that's what I'll be reading in May.

I'm in for The Whistling Season, also! I'm glad to hear your recommendation, cbl_tn!

Karen O.

I picked up Work Song after someone here recommended him - so I'll be reading that.

>13 charl08: Work Song is kind of a sequel to The Whistling Season, but I suspect it will work fine as a stand-alone.

I'm not one for reading in order - will report back how I go. Thanks for the heads up!

The Whistling Season is a very good place to start with Doig. I've also read Sweet Thunder, The Bartender's Tale and Last Bus to Wisdom. As Work Song belongs between The Whistling Season and Sweet Thunder, I think I'll read that one next...I didn't realize they were linked when I picked up ST, and it would have been better not to have skipped over the middle one. I'm excited about this author, and I have 7 of his books on my shelf unread. I may try to knock off a couple of them in May.

I really enjoyed The Whistling Season so I requested the audio of Work Song from the library and, since it's arrived, I'll be starting it soon. I still hope to get to Doig's final book, Last Bus to Wisdom, too.

As usual, I'm in. Never read anything by Doig, and have none of his writings on the shelves. But I've been looking at library sales and used books stores since last year. May have to buy something new (like at BnN). There's still some time...

>18 weird_O: I think you will like him, Bill. He evokes a great western spirit, to his writing, which I love.

I've never read anything by Doig but might give Dancing at the Rascal Fair a try. I already have a copy on my Kindle.

>20 lindapanzo: Dancing at the Rascal Fair was my first Doig and I loved it.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I plan to read This House of Sky and Last Bus to Wisdom.

>3 msf59: >21 EBT1002: Mark and Ellen, I'm thrilled to see that you plan on reading This House of Sky. I still sigh happily when I think of it and hope you both love it as much as I did.

I've had This House of Sky on my to read list forever. I will be reading it. Finally. :)

>21 EBT1002: Is it ok to start the trilogy with this second book? I think the first one is English Creek.

I am so excited to finally get to May! I'm reading Last Bus to Wisdom, which has been patiently waiting on the shelf for months. Ivan Doig is a favorite of mine. I've read almost everything but knowing that this is the last novel, I wanted a special occasion. It's my birthday month so I'm going to find a day to settle in with the last novel from my favorite author.

Last Bus To Wisdom

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is my first Doig. I know next to nothing about Wisconsin and even less about Montana, so it was a pleasure to explore that part of the country.

I snatched up Last Bus to Wisdom from the library shortly after it was published, and couldn't wait to read it...I loved it too.

Read - well, listened to - the audio recording of This House of Sky by Ivan Doig (as read by the author) in one day. I felt this wonderfully captured time and place with a contemplative tone that seems to echo with Montana's rolling hills and spacious prairies. What a perfect way to experience Doig's writing style for the very first time!

Hmmm. I have several Doigs and have never read even one. I'll star the thread and see how my time goes this month. Thanks for recalling him to my attention!

The results are in: I'll be reading English Creek. Found a clean used copy hiding in the stacks at the back of the shelf in Firefly Books (a favorite of mine). I see that it's the first of a trilogy, and also that lots of you have read it.

>24 lindapanzo: I think it would be okay to start with English Creek, Linda. It's been a while since I read them (I just remember starting with Rascal Fair and falling in love with his writing) but I don't think they build on one another or are a series in the more traditional sense. They each stand alone but have characters, setting, and underlying stories in common.

This House of Sky is waiting for me at the library, and Last Bus to Wisdom is in transit.
I also have three other books waiting for me on hold at the library.

I am in trouble.

I'm really enjoying The Whistling Season.

I'm going to try and do The Sea Runners this month. Whistling Season is my backup.

I've finished Work Song, which is the middle book in the trilogy that begins with The Whistling Season and ends with Sweet Thunder. (I have read the other two before.) Wonderful storytelling...just heart-and-soul satisfying. I'm really going to miss Morrie Morgan. How I wish Doig could have stuck around and given us lots more of his adventures. HOWEVER, I do have several more Doig novels to look forward to. And I think I will read This House of Sky this month too.

^ I just started This House of Sky. This one is going to be special.

>28 lkernagh: And that was the unabridged version, Lori? I had it on audio too but it was abridged. No way, buddy...

I finally decided to read English Creek and I'm enjoying it very much.

>36 msf59: :)

"Day by day as autumn tanned the valley around us, now with bright frost weather, now with rain carrying the first chill of winter, my father stayed in the dusk of his grief. That sandbagged mood, I understand now, can only have been a kind of battle fatigue-the senses blasted around in him by that morning of death and the thousands of inflicting minutes it was followed by."

"She came to the ranch on one of the first pale chilly days of an autumn, hired to cook for us for a few months, and stayed on in our lives for almost three years. Her time with us is a strange season all mist and dusk and half-seen silhouettes, half-heard cries. there is nothing like it in the sortings of my memory."

-This House of Sky

Loved The Whistling Season, and Work Song came into land this morning, so I may get to that in the next couple of weeks. Hopefully This House of Sky will land soon.

Doig has been a wonderful discovery, thanks Linda (Laytonwoman3).

>40 Caroline_McElwee: Just spreadin' the love, Caroline! I'm very glad you've enjoyed discovering Mr. Doig.

Finally picked up Work Song - I've got library reservations coming but they'll have to wait.

Finished this last night before turning out the light.

Thought I'd mention that the newest Anthony Bourdain travel episode that aired last night is about Montana - with quite a longish section on Butte for anyone reading Work Song. (Although how Bourdain visited Butte without eating a miners' pasty, a very dense meat and potato hand pie that Butte is very proud of - is a mystery.)

There is also an interview and some poetry by the recently deceased and obviously very frail Jim Harrison.

>44 streamsong: Thanks, Janet. How cool.

I very much enjoyed This House of Sky. It's a lovely memoir of family and the western (Montana) landscape.

I finished my Doig- The Whistling Season. There were parts of the book that I liked, but overall, not a favorite of mine. A bit too "Little House on the Prairie" for my taste.

But I may still try This House of the Sky.

I finished Dancing at the Rascal Fair, and it was very good. I'm glad the AAC motivated me to finally try this author. I'm not going to rush out to read another one of his, but at some point I may give This House of Sky a go.

This House of Sky by Ivan Doig 4.3 stars

“I glance higher for some hint of the weather, and the square of air broadens and broadens to become the blue expanse over Montana rangeland, so vast and vaulting that it rears, from the foundation-line of the plains horizon, to form the walls and the roof of all of life's experience that my younger self could imagine, a single great house of sky.”

“On that ranch where dreams were trapped in rock...”

This is a wonderful memoir about Doig's life growing up, in the rugged wilderness of western Montana. It captures a time and place that seem so distant now and his incredible recollections of working as a sheepherder and the brutal struggles, of living on a ranch, are poignant and unflinching. The true heroes of the story are his father, Charlie and his grandmother, Bessie. Pioneers, with big hearts and thick skins. I love this description of a young Bessie:

“But it was her look to the world that changed most, and in the few photos from about her thirtieth year, her tenth in Montana, a newcomer now gazes out from where the new bride had been-a flinchless newcomer who has firmed into what she will be all the rest of her life.”

I'm glad to see so many people loving The Last Bus to Wisdom. I just finished it and it was quintessential Doig. A wonderful story full of lovingly drawn characters in which the landscape of the West itself plays a role. Makes you want to hop on the dog bus and see if these places still exist.

I finished Work Song and I really enjoyed it. It had a different setting than many of Doig's other books, since it revolved around the Montana mining city of Butte when the Anaconda Mining Company had its 'copper collar' around the neck of its workers and those who spoke against the company could be hushed permanently.

ETA: I still have audio of The Last Bus to Wisdom requested through ILL. When it looked like it might not come in time, I changed to this one as it was available. I'm still looking forward to listening to TLBtW when it's available and glad it's getting such good reviews.

I finished Work Song but it just didn't quote grab me despite plenty of interesting stuff about the mine, the union and the library. I liked this quote though:
The nooks and crannies and grandiosities of the old building intrigued me, like an ancient mansion labyrinth leading back to Gutenberg's printing press and the start of everything, and always, always there were the lovely classic books tucked away here and there for stolen snatches of reading.

This House of Sky by Ivan Doig. 4.5 stars.

"The western skyline before us was filled high with a steel-blue army of mountains, drawn in battalions of peaks and reefs and gorges and crags as far along the entire rim of the earth as could be seen. Summit after summit bladed up thousands of feet as if charging into the air to strike first at storm and lightning, valleys and clefts chased wide as if split and hollowed by thunderblast upon thunderblast." (180)

What a sublime writer! I've had this book for ages just waiting for the perfect time to read it. Thanks for choosing Ivan Doig for the AAC, Mark. I took my time with this book because the writing was just so good. Doig sadly lost his mother at the age of six, but he never lacked love in his life. This is a great memoir about a father-son relationship that withstood various moves to different Montana sheep ranches and the separations when Ivan had to board with whoever would have him so he could continue his schooling.

And then there was his grandmother, Bessie Ringer, who came to live with the bachelors despite her strong dislike for her son-in-law. They buried their hostility and made a family for Ivan that formed the writer I have come to know and love. As a family they suffered many hardships, depending on the spirit of the west that demanded perseverance: "Life was to be lived as it came. If it came hard, you bowed your neck a bit more and endured." I loved this book

>53 Donna828: my copy of this book landed this week, and will probably get read over the summer.

I have never read anything by Ivan Doig before. I chose as my first book a stand-alone novel Bucking the Sun. The action centres around the building of the Fort Peck Dam. It is an interesting view of farmers turned damworkers. They had no choice as their farms were failing in the depression years so they sold them to the government to be flooded by the dam.

It is an interesting view of this area of Montana in the depression years. Doig has centered his narrative on a fractious family which lends spice to the tale and keeps the reader guessing because he has started with a mystery to pull the reader through the story.

I read Doig's The Whistling Season five years ago, and loved it! So no surprise that my favorite American Author read so far this year is This House of Sky, 4-1/2 stars for me. Loved it!

I LOVED This House of Sky. Wonderful book.

I just finished The Whistling Season yesterday. My first Doig, I'd certainly be happy to read another.

Me, too, Anne! It was a slow start for me, but once I got into it, I was compelled to read. I'm very glad I stuck with it!

Karen O.