Larry Watson: American Author Challenge

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Larry Watson: American Author Challenge

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1msf59
Redigerat: dec 27, 2014, 10:12 pm



Larry Watson is an American author of novels, poetry and short stories. He was born in 1947 in Rugby, North Dakota. Watson taught writing and literature at the University of Wisconsin/​Stevens Point for 25 years. He currently lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

**This is part of our American Author Challenge 2014. This author will be read in December. The general discussion thread can be found right here:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/182058#

2msf59
Redigerat: nov 23, 2014, 9:35 am

3msf59
Redigerat: nov 23, 2014, 9:43 am

My daughter had to read Montana 1948 for high school and I decided to read along with her. It is an absolutely amazing book. He evokes the American west, in vivid, lyrical strokes. If you admire Stegner and McCarthy, you will also be drawn to Watson.

I also read his last novel, Let Him Go last summer and it packed quite a punch.

I plan on reading Orchard and possibly Justice.

4luvamystery65
nov 23, 2014, 9:52 am

I am reading Let Him Go. Richard sent it to me last year in the Christmas Swap. I can't believe we are going to be reading the last one for the year. I'm taking this with me to the Reading Retreat 2014.

5Deern
nov 23, 2014, 10:42 am

Another completely new author for me - and the only one of the AAC who doesn't have a book on the 1,001 lists. I just ordered samples of Montana 1948 and American Boy for my Kindle.

6msf59
nov 23, 2014, 10:59 am

>4 luvamystery65: I LOVED Let Him Go, Ro! Hey, that rhymes! I am sure you will too. Ooooh, Reading Retreat, coming up.

>5 Deern: Watson is the least known on the AAC list but that is one reason I wanted to include him. I would sure like to see him reach a wider audience. He deserves it.

7katiekrug
nov 23, 2014, 11:01 am

I'm very torn about what to read for this one, as I have a few on the shelves to choose from. Right now, I'm leaning toward Montana 1948. The good thing is, it doesn't sound like one can go wrong with any choice :)

8Morphidae
nov 23, 2014, 12:14 pm

I'll be reading Montana 1948.

9alphaorder
nov 23, 2014, 12:37 pm

I read Montana 1948 before it was published in 1993 and was blown away. I really enjoyed Sundown, Yellow Moon but had mixed feelings about Let Him Go. It has stuck wtih me though, so I guess that says something. Apparently American Boy resides on my shelves somwhere, so perhaps I should join you?

I have met Larry a number of times when I hosted him at the bookshops and then began teaching at Marquette. A really nice guy - and a great writer. Glad to see that you are bringing more readers to him, Mark!

10LoisB
nov 23, 2014, 1:13 pm

I'll be reading Montana 1948.

11banjo123
nov 23, 2014, 2:10 pm

I have Montana 1948 Thanks for making sure that I will actually read it!

12streamsong
Redigerat: nov 29, 2014, 11:54 am

I'll be reading Justice since the idea of short story backstories for the characters of Montana 1948 appeals to me.

13mahsdad
nov 23, 2014, 6:16 pm

I've never been able to coordinate reading one of the AAC books this year. Read several of them, but never during the month. I've never heard of Watson before, shame on me. But just the little I've read here has hit me with a few book bullets. To the library I go when I get home. :)

14EBT1002
nov 23, 2014, 11:26 pm

I'll be reading Montana 1948. I believe I read it many years ago but I don't specifically recall so this will be somewhere between a reread and a first-time experience.

15lkernagh
nov 24, 2014, 12:24 am

I have a copy of Laura so I will be reading that one. it will also be my first Watson read.

16DeltaQueen50
nov 24, 2014, 10:15 pm

I am going to be reading Montana, 1948 and I am really looking forward to connecting with the author again. Let Him Go totally blew me away when I read it, and I also enjoyed Sundown, Yellow Moon.

17catarina1
nov 25, 2014, 10:15 am

I recall reading Montana 1948 years ago. I already had Orchard but yesterday I picked up Let Him Go which I'm enjoying so far. Too many books, so little time.

18maggie1944
nov 26, 2014, 8:35 am

I think I'll be reading Montana 1948 along with you-all. I love novels about the West, particularly Montana. i feel family affinity for Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and Montana.

19Crazymamie
nov 26, 2014, 11:27 am

I read Montana 1948 last year, and I loved it. I'll be reading Let Him Go this month.

20maggie1944
nov 26, 2014, 4:03 pm

No more thinking. I bought Montana 1948 with a B&N coupon of 20% off. Whoooo hheeeee....

21klobrien2
nov 26, 2014, 4:40 pm

I LOVE those coupons! I'm heading there in a little while to try to find a manual for Windows 8.1. I just got a new computer (my old one is in it final throes, I think), and I am at sea with the new setup.

I am also in for Let Him Go--I've been waiting all year so that I could read it for this challenge. Can't wait!

Karen O.

22tymfos
nov 27, 2014, 9:09 pm

I'm all set to start December's AAC! I just checked out and downloaded Let Him Go.

23laytonwoman3rd
nov 28, 2014, 2:28 pm

I was planning to read American Boy, which I would have taken out of the library, but on a book-buying-binge last week I picked up a copy of Justice, a collection of short stories that apparently provide back story for the characters in Montana 1948 (which I have already read, due to richardderus and his ceaseless warbling about it). So I'll read that.

24maggie1944
dec 4, 2014, 8:22 am

So Justice provides some back story to Montana 1948. That is good to know.

25maggie1944
Redigerat: dec 11, 2014, 4:33 pm

I finished reading Montana 1948 and promptly loaned it to a friend. I enjoyed reading this short book set in Montana. As many of you know, I spent the summers of my youth in central Idaho living with a ranching family, friends to my family. I was there from about 1950 to 1958, I guess, so the time was similar to that described by Larry Watson. I remember the weight certain families had in the small community; family's who's name was known by all, and talked about, no doubt. Of course, I was a child and only there for a few weeks so I did not get in on the gossip.

Watson's book is about such a family, and in such a small community. He explores the very human frailties we all know of and how they play out when there are scandals and tragedies in a small community and how family can be torn apart, and how the innocent can be hurt, and the guilty seemingly get off "Scott free" and yet, not really. His prose is conversational, and clean, although there were times when his descriptions sat down in the middle of the story and would not allow you to follow the action quickly. He seems to have said "the action is not the important stuff, it is the feel of the place that you want".

I liked it. I recommend it particularly to those of us who love to read of the west, and how the land and the folks were when times were more simple, and life was more elemental.

26thornton37814
Redigerat: dec 4, 2014, 8:25 pm

I think I had decided to read White Crosses. I just have to remember from which library I'm supposed to be borrowing it. Off to check the catalogs.

ETA: It's the public library so I won't get it until Saturday at the earliest -- possibly even Monday.

27lindapanzo
dec 4, 2014, 9:13 pm

I picked up Larry Watson's Laura at the library the other day. Hope to get to it soon.

28LoisB
dec 5, 2014, 10:28 am

I planned on reading Montana 1948 but my library system does not have it, so I am switching to Let Him Go.

29EBT1002
Redigerat: dec 8, 2014, 12:43 am

Montana 1948

This brief story of the Hayden family, told retrospectively from the POV of then-12-year-old David, is deceptively simple. The characters are not richly wrought but I have clear images of them in my mind. I can hear their voices and visualize the way they carry their bodies. In Montana 1948, David's sheriff father discovers that his only brother has been molesting Indian women via his power as a physician. As the family grapples with this knowledge and the subsequent decisions they must make, David's coming of age and his discovery of the complexities of history is both figure and ground. The novel turns the myth of the great Wild West on its end, exposing the uncomfortable truths that continue to be effectively buried by white sentimentality and arrogance. It does so without rancor or apology. It's just a story. But it's a story that is, still, too infrequently told.

I wrote the above a few days ago and have not found the story sticking with me in any visceral way. I gave it 4 stars but I think 3.5 is more accurate. I liked it but didn't love it.

30msf59
dec 8, 2014, 7:11 am

Excellent review of Montana 1948, Ellen. Justice is a perfect companion piece. It is a prequel collection, covering the early years of the Hayden family.

31DeltaQueen50
dec 10, 2014, 3:53 pm

I have finished Montana 1948 and I loved it. I think I preferred Let Him Go but that's probably because as a grandmother I related to the main characters. I absolutely have to add Justice to my wishlist!

32jnwelch
dec 10, 2014, 5:06 pm

I finished Let Him Go, too, and liked it very much, maybe even more than Montana 1948, another good one.

33laytonwoman3rd
dec 11, 2014, 8:11 am

I'm well in with Justice, and it's mighty fine. I'll probably have to re-read Montana 1948 when I'm finished. I already feel these characters are more complete than those in the novel.

34DeltaQueen50
dec 11, 2014, 1:01 pm

I came back to post my thoughts on Montana 1948:

Montana 1948 by Larry Watson chronicles the events in a small Montana town, and in particular, the effects these events had on one family. As told through the eyes of the only child in the family, David, we learn of his quiet, inward looking father, sheriff of the town and his morally upright but loving mother. They are all part of the Hayden family who were a power source in the county. People looked up to and respected the Haydens, his rancher grandfather who had spent previous years himself as the sheriff, his war hero uncle, the local doctor and his father. Another important character was Marie Little Soldier, the Sioux housekeeper, and the catalyst of the events that were to change this family forever.

This is a story that I felt viscerally, the author writes simply and from the heart. As the plot develops I felt David’s loss of innocence as his small town life of fishing, riding and hunting changes when racism, betrayal and violence come into it. His own identity and strong family ties are shattered. He is telling the story as an adult, looking back upon that summer, but the reader intimately feels the child’s confusion and anguish.

Larry Watson’s writing reminds me in many ways of both Ivan Doig and Kent Haruf. These men write with a western viewpoint. Their writing is rich, meditative and stripped of any extra unneeded words, cutting right into the soul of the story. Montana 1948 tells a powerful, candid and emotionally charged story in under 200 pages. I admire both the writing and the story.

35alphaorder
dec 11, 2014, 8:42 pm

Signing off in a few minutes to begin American Boy

36msf59
Redigerat: dec 11, 2014, 8:57 pm

>34 DeltaQueen50: Thanks for sharing your wonderful review, Judy! It's a keeper!

>35 alphaorder: Looking forward to your thoughts on American Boy, Nancy. Donna posted a stellar review of it.

37streamsong
dec 11, 2014, 11:17 pm

>33 laytonwoman3rd: I agree with your mighty fine assessment of Justice which I finished yesterday.

38PaulCranswick
dec 12, 2014, 2:56 am

I finished Montana, 1948 early in the month. Pitch perfect in tone but not quite as good as the, in some ways similar, Plainsong which I read earlier in the year.

39alphaorder
dec 12, 2014, 7:52 am

Started American Boy this am. Wish I could stay home and read...

>38 PaulCranswick:. I read both Montana 1948 and Plainsong when at the time of their publications. I remember thinking of Montana 1948 whle i read Plainsong. I loved them both.

40laytonwoman3rd
dec 12, 2014, 7:53 am

>38 PaulCranswick: I agree with you, Paul. I read Montana, 1948 because our absent friend Richard and a few others pumped it up. And I saw its strengths, but thought it was not quite as wonderful as it should have been. Plainsong, on the other hand, was a Reading Experience. It made ME want to sing, and read everything the author wrote. Now that I have read the first and second sections of Justice. however, I am much more impressed with Watson and I suspect I will appreciate Montana, 1948 a lot better with a second reading.

41msf59
dec 12, 2014, 7:56 am

Happy to see all the Watson love. I agree with the Haruf comparisons. I am so glad we live in a world where both of these authors have graced us with these wonderful books.

>39 alphaorder: "Wish I could stay home and read..." Amen, my friend.

42maggie1944
dec 12, 2014, 2:22 pm

>39 alphaorder: don't we all, all the time.

43mahsdad
dec 13, 2014, 2:45 am

Just ordered Montana 1948 from PaperbackSwap. Figured I'd get into the action, eventually. Got a couple books in the queue ahead of it. Looking forward to it, tho.

44LoisB
dec 14, 2014, 11:24 am

Let Him Go ***.5

Interesting story with likable characters and a surprising twist at the end - not what I expected, but a very enjoyable read.

45Crazymamie
dec 14, 2014, 11:35 am

>44 LoisB: Lois, I just listed that in Challenge 19 for TIOLI - if you want to share a read but need to list it somewhere else, let me know and I will move mine. I liked it more than you did; I gave it 4.2 stars.

46alphaorder
dec 14, 2014, 11:38 am

I read American Boy. A nice way to spend a weekend in December, as the book takes place between Thanksgiving and February in a small Minnesota town. Not my favorite Watson, but stil worhtwhile.

47LoisB
dec 14, 2014, 1:30 pm

>45 Crazymamie: I will add mine to Challenge 19. I was looking for a place to put it. Thanks!

48Donna828
dec 17, 2014, 8:40 pm

>46 alphaorder:: Nancy, I am glad someone else read American Boy. It wasn't my favorite Watson either, but even so, it was pretty darn good. I love his stories about growing up and making tough choices. Mark asked me to post my review, so here it is:

Some think that growing up in the 50s and 60s was a much simpler time than today, but Larry Watson captures a time in a young man's life that was not so simple. Matthew is the son of a single mother and spends most of his time over at his best friend Johnny's house. In fact, he would like to live there in this all-American family with the town doctor the head of the household and a stay-at-home mother. Both boys are learning the art of medicine from Dr. Dunbar and their lives change when a young woman is shot by her husband and brought in as another outsider to the family fold.

Watson is a wonderful storyteller. I have enjoyed the five books I've read by him as they stir up feelings of nostalgia for the past and paint pictures of peaceful settings such as this one: "Out here everything was a shade of blue--the dark blue of the winter sky, the darker blue of tree trunks and fence posts, the pale blue of the snowfields. The moon had drifted south and risen higher, its light not much more helpful that a star's." The peace is always broken by the kind of sadness that haunts the reader because it seems so real. Just like a happy family can seem so real until something happens that breaks it apart.

If you haven't read any of Watson's works, I urge you to do so. His Montana, 1948 will always have first place in my heart, but his other tales are all first-rate.

49alphaorder
dec 18, 2014, 8:15 am

>48 Donna828:

Nice assessment, Donna. I agree!

50countrylife
dec 18, 2014, 8:37 am

Jumping on the Montana 1948 bandwagon. I also loved it! Great author choice for the last month of the year!

51cushlareads
dec 23, 2014, 1:45 pm

I'm a bit late but I bought Montana 1948 on my Kindle last month and have finally started it. I'm really enjoying it so far (40 pages in).

52msf59
dec 27, 2014, 10:40 pm

I started Orchard, my second Watson of the month and my final AAC title. This one is a bit different. A dark romance, set in Door County, Wisconsin. I love this area but have never seen a book set there.

>48 Donna828: Thanks, Donna! Great job!

>51 cushlareads: Hope you are continuing to love it. Thanks for jumping in.

53jayde1599
dec 28, 2014, 7:56 pm

I finished Montana 1948 and thought it was great. I would read other works by Watson!

54cushlareads
dec 28, 2014, 9:31 pm

I've finished it now too and really enjoyed it - I gave it 4 stars. And I got a book read for my dormant American states challenge, so that was a bonus.

55msf59
Redigerat: dec 30, 2014, 7:05 pm

I finished Orchard. My final Watson and my final AAC 2014! I liked this one but did not love it. It may be my least favorite I have read by Watson but there is enough to still recommend. I can't blame the change of setting. It's more on the storytelling.

Wow! What a great year for the AAC Debut!!

I want to thank each one of you, for making this such a joy! Hugs to all! And let's do it again!!

56LoisB
dec 30, 2014, 7:30 pm

Thank you! I'm looking forward to AAC 2015.

57maggie1944
dec 30, 2014, 8:53 pm

*shoots off some pre-new year's eve fire works*

Great year, thanks, Mark. You are the best!

58jnwelch
jan 2, 2015, 2:41 pm

Great job, Mark, thanks! So many good books. Looking forward to the new edition in 2015!