HomeGroupsTalkMoreZeitgeist
Search Site
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

The Blind Corral (Contemporary American…
Loading...

The Blind Corral (Contemporary American fiction) (edition 1987)

by Ralph Beer

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingConversations
311765,892 (4)None
When Jackson Heckethorn returns to his home in Montana, his overriding goal is simply to say good-bye to the ranch that his family has worked for three generations. But the mystery of the land and its people holds him much longer.
Member:RiversideReader
Title:The Blind Corral (Contemporary American fiction)
Authors:Ralph Beer
Info:Penguin (Non-Classics) (1987), Edition: Later printing, Paperback, 240 pages
Collections:To read
Rating:
Tags:library, spurr award, western

Work Information

The Blind Corral (Contemporary American fiction) by Ralph Beer

None
Loading...

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

No current Talk conversations about this book.

Hauntingly beautiful, ineffably sad.
A couple months ago I had never heard of Ralph Beer. Now I have read both of his books - one non-fiction collection of essays (In These Hills) and this novel, The Blind Corral. And I wish there were more. It seems like such a tiny output for such a hugely talented writer. Beer writes about the vanishing West, Montana in particular, in a way that simply tugs at your heartstrings as he describes three-plus generations of small-time ranchers who are trying desperately to hang onto a world they love. They are trapped by a world they cannot understand. "And what had trapped them was so simple, so clear. Change. Change accelerating beyond their wildest dreams ..."

The Heckethorn family name is perhaps indicative of how fiercely they have attached themselves to their land. The protagonist's first name, Jackson, was taken from a creek that runs across their pastures. His brother's name - Summerfield - was no doubt chosen by a similar logic. The family history - the two brothers, the absent, dissolute mother - suggest borrowings from East of Eden. In any case there is much to ponder here, if you are of that bent.

In addition to the beautiful prose, I was delighted to recognize a secondary character in The Blind Corral. It was a very thinly disguised version of writer James Crumley, rendered here as a hard-drinking writer named Duncan Carlisle. Beer even references a Crumley PI novel, calling it The Wrong Ace (vs its real title, The Wrong Case). It's a tip of the hat from one writer to another, made that much more poignant to me, knowing that Crumley died in September 2008. This books was written in 1986.

Otherwise I just don't know what else to say. This is simply a beautiful book, an eloquent elegy to a West that is nearly gone. I wish it weren't true, but ... Thanks for the memories, Ralph, and I hope you are still writing and we can look for another book soon. In any case, I will be thinking about this one for a long time. - Tim Bazzett, author of SOLDIER BOY: AT PLAY IN THE ASA ( )
2 vote TimBazzett | May 23, 2009 |
no reviews | add a review
You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Canonical title
Original title
Alternative titles
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Related movies
Epigraph
Dedication
First words
Quotations
Last words
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original language
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English

None

When Jackson Heckethorn returns to his home in Montana, his overriding goal is simply to say good-bye to the ranch that his family has worked for three generations. But the mystery of the land and its people holds him much longer.

No library descriptions found.

Book description
Haiku summary

Current Discussions

None

Popular covers

Quick Links

Rating

Average: (4)
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3 2
3.5
4 1
4.5
5 2

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

 

About | Contact | Privacy/Terms | Help/FAQs | Blog | Store | APIs | TinyCat | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | Common Knowledge | 203,221,433 books! | Top bar: Always visible