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Two Medicine Trilogy #2
Dancing at the Rascal Fair
The central volume in Ivan Doig's acclaimed Montana trilogy, Dancing at the Rascal Fair is an authentic saga of the American experience at the turn of this century and a passionate, portrayal of the immigrants who dared to try new lives in the imposing Rocky Mountains.
Ivan Doig's supple tale of landseekers unfolds into a fateful contest of the heart between Anna Ramsay and Angus McCaskill, walled apart by their obligations as they and their stormy kith and kin vie to tame the brutal, beautiful Two Medicine country.
Ivan Doig's supple tale of landseekers unfolds into a fateful contest of the heart between Anna Ramsay and Angus McCaskill, walled apart by their obligations as they and their stormy kith and kin vie to tame the brutal, beautiful Two Medicine country.
405 pages, Paperback
First published September 18, 1987
243 people are currently reading
4140 people want to read
About the author
Ivan Doig
41 books797 followersIvan Doig was born in White Sulphur Springs, Montana to a family of homesteaders and ranch hands. After the death of his mother Berneta, on his sixth birthday, he was raised by his father Charles "Charlie" Doig and his grandmother Elizabeth "Bessie" Ringer. After several stints on ranches, they moved to Dupuyer, Pondera County, Montana in the north to herd sheep close to the Rocky Mountain Front.
After his graduation from Valier high school, Doig attended Northwestern University, where he received a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in journalism. He later earned a Ph.D. in American history at the University of Washington, writing his dissertation about John J. McGilvra (1827-1903). He lived with his wife Carol Doig, née Muller, a university professor of English, in Seattle, Washington.
Before Ivan Doig became a novelist, he wrote for newspapers and magazines as a free-lancer and worked for the United States Forest Service.
Much of his fiction is set in the Montana country of his youth. His major theme is family life in the past, mixing personal memory and regional history. As the western landscape and people play an important role in his fiction, he has been hailed as the new dean of western literature, a worthy successor to Wallace Stegner.
Bibliography
His works includes both fictional and non-fictional writings. They can be divided into four groups:
Early Works
News: A Consumer's Guide (1972) - a media textbook coauthored by Carol Doig
Streets We Have Come Down: Literature of the City (1975) - an anthology edited by Ivan Doig
Utopian America: Dreams and Realities (1976) - an anthology edited by Ivan Doig
Autobiographical Books
This House of Sky: Landscapes of a Western Mind (1979) - memoirs based on the author's life with his father and grandmother (nominated for National Book Award)
Heart Earth (1993) - memoirs based on his mother's letters to her brother Wally
Regional Works
Winter Brothers: A Season at the Edge of America (1980) - an essayistic dialog with James G. Swan
The Sea Runners (1982) - an adventure novel about four Swedes escaping from New Archangel, today's Sitka, Alaska
Historical Novels
English Creek (1984)
Dancing at the Rascal Fair (1987)
Ride with Me, Mariah Montana (1990)
Bucking the Sun: A Novel (1996)
Mountain Time: A Novel (1999)
Prairie Nocturne: A Novel (2003)
The Whistling Season: A Novel (2006)
The Eleventh Man: A Novel (2008)
The first three Montana novels form the so-called McCaskill trilogy, covering the first centennial of Montana's statehood from 1889 to 1989.
from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Doig"
After his graduation from Valier high school, Doig attended Northwestern University, where he received a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in journalism. He later earned a Ph.D. in American history at the University of Washington, writing his dissertation about John J. McGilvra (1827-1903). He lived with his wife Carol Doig, née Muller, a university professor of English, in Seattle, Washington.
Before Ivan Doig became a novelist, he wrote for newspapers and magazines as a free-lancer and worked for the United States Forest Service.
Much of his fiction is set in the Montana country of his youth. His major theme is family life in the past, mixing personal memory and regional history. As the western landscape and people play an important role in his fiction, he has been hailed as the new dean of western literature, a worthy successor to Wallace Stegner.
Bibliography
His works includes both fictional and non-fictional writings. They can be divided into four groups:
Early Works
News: A Consumer's Guide (1972) - a media textbook coauthored by Carol Doig
Streets We Have Come Down: Literature of the City (1975) - an anthology edited by Ivan Doig
Utopian America: Dreams and Realities (1976) - an anthology edited by Ivan Doig
Autobiographical Books
This House of Sky: Landscapes of a Western Mind (1979) - memoirs based on the author's life with his father and grandmother (nominated for National Book Award)
Heart Earth (1993) - memoirs based on his mother's letters to her brother Wally
Regional Works
Winter Brothers: A Season at the Edge of America (1980) - an essayistic dialog with James G. Swan
The Sea Runners (1982) - an adventure novel about four Swedes escaping from New Archangel, today's Sitka, Alaska
Historical Novels
English Creek (1984)
Dancing at the Rascal Fair (1987)
Ride with Me, Mariah Montana (1990)
Bucking the Sun: A Novel (1996)
Mountain Time: A Novel (1999)
Prairie Nocturne: A Novel (2003)
The Whistling Season: A Novel (2006)
The Eleventh Man: A Novel (2008)
The first three Montana novels form the so-called McCaskill trilogy, covering the first centennial of Montana's statehood from 1889 to 1989.
from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Doig"
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 713 reviews
July 11, 2020
I give up. I have written two reviews for this and both I have trashed. I cannot do the book justice. The lines are wonderful. The writing is not brash, but subtle. The relationships are beautifully portrayed. The book is about friendship and love. Love isn't always returned. How do you live with that? Does love then die? Can you love another? And what happens every time you meet up with that person who does not return your love?
Excellent historical fiction. A time and a place become real - something you live, not just something you read about.
Excellent historical fiction. A time and a place become real - something you live, not just something you read about.
March 30, 2012
Ivan Doig belongs to that rare class of alchemists who can turn language into music.
July 17, 2020
This is the second in the author's 'Montana trilogy', although the events of the story take place before those in English Creek, which was written before this one. Some people might prefer to read this book first in order to have their timelines in the right order, but I like to read books in the order the author writes them. In this case, I found that I learned the stories behind not only the settlement of the Two Medicine area that was featured in English Creek, but the early stories of some of the characters from that book and how their lives were connected before they showed up in the other book.
Here the narrator is Angus McCaskill, grandfather to Jink, the narrator of English Creek. We meet Angus as he and his best friend Rob Barclay are getting on the boat that will bring them to America and Montana where they have an uncle. We live through everything with them, from the ocean voyage to the arrival in Montana to their search for their uncle, who was not where they expected him to be. And then we participate in the early days of homesteading and we deal with all that Nature and human beings can throw at us along the way.
This is a wonderful book, a fine addition to my library. But I have something to say in regard to how this book will remain in my mind forever. Not only for the story itself but for what happened while I was reading it.
The dates for reading this book look so innocent. July 5 to July 13. Just eight days. And yet in those same eight days, a family was shattered. My husband's 39 year old son went into hospital on July 4 with Covid-19. He died last night. Eight days to read a book. Eight days to die. How can I ever look at this book again without thinking of that. Rest in peace, Rasham Zapata. You will be missed.
Here the narrator is Angus McCaskill, grandfather to Jink, the narrator of English Creek. We meet Angus as he and his best friend Rob Barclay are getting on the boat that will bring them to America and Montana where they have an uncle. We live through everything with them, from the ocean voyage to the arrival in Montana to their search for their uncle, who was not where they expected him to be. And then we participate in the early days of homesteading and we deal with all that Nature and human beings can throw at us along the way.
This is a wonderful book, a fine addition to my library. But I have something to say in regard to how this book will remain in my mind forever. Not only for the story itself but for what happened while I was reading it.
The dates for reading this book look so innocent. July 5 to July 13. Just eight days. And yet in those same eight days, a family was shattered. My husband's 39 year old son went into hospital on July 4 with Covid-19. He died last night. Eight days to read a book. Eight days to die. How can I ever look at this book again without thinking of that. Rest in peace, Rasham Zapata. You will be missed.
April 11, 2009
Readers who love Norman MacLean (A River Runs Through It) and Wallace Stegner (Angle of Repose, Crossing to Safety) will appreciate Ivan Doig. In the voice of a young Scottish immigrant to Montana, he writes a novel about making a life. Acts of God and very human choices intersect against a backdrop of homesteading, sheepherding, the newly-created National Forest Service, World War I, influenza, and always the manic and skulking weather. Doig spins a tale that is not easy or light but very beautiful.
June 23, 2008
What I liked about this novel:
-- The sense of time and place: Montana homesteading in the late 1800's and early 1900's.
-- The Scottish immigrant characters.
-- And probably not unrelatedly, the way a glass of whiskey is frequently being hoisted.
-- The homespun feel of homestead life.
-- The descriptions of sheep-ranching.
-- The historical information about World War I and the Influenza Epidemic.
-- The bits of verse woven into the prose.
What I was less enthralled by:
-- The central thesis (and plot driver), involving unfulfilled love pined after for decades, which seemed unrealistic to me.
-- A contrived feel.
-- A tendency toward melodrama.
-- Plot points that were predictable or noticeably contrived.
-- Overly wordy writing.
-- The sense that it needed (at least) one more good editing.
In summary, although I have enjoyed some across-the-decades family sagas, this was not the one for me.
-- The sense of time and place: Montana homesteading in the late 1800's and early 1900's.
-- The Scottish immigrant characters.
-- And probably not unrelatedly, the way a glass of whiskey is frequently being hoisted.
-- The homespun feel of homestead life.
-- The descriptions of sheep-ranching.
-- The historical information about World War I and the Influenza Epidemic.
-- The bits of verse woven into the prose.
What I was less enthralled by:
-- The central thesis (and plot driver), involving unfulfilled love pined after for decades, which seemed unrealistic to me.
-- A contrived feel.
-- A tendency toward melodrama.
-- Plot points that were predictable or noticeably contrived.
-- Overly wordy writing.
-- The sense that it needed (at least) one more good editing.
In summary, although I have enjoyed some across-the-decades family sagas, this was not the one for me.
September 29, 2009
Possibly well written, but I'm afraid I was so distracted by the self-involved narrator ("protagonist") and the object of his unrequited love. I have no patience for people/characters whose self-absorption & selfishness causes real unhappiness in those around them. I was utterly disgusted with the main character by the end of the book.
So, to be fair, I honestly couldn't tell you if the book itself was good or not. :-) I know others who really loved this book. But I also know of three other close friends who hated the book for the same reason I did.
So, to be fair, I honestly couldn't tell you if the book itself was good or not. :-) I know others who really loved this book. But I also know of three other close friends who hated the book for the same reason I did.
May 27, 2011
I was moved by the reflective voice of the narrative. There were many elements that make this a five star book for me. First, the writing is poetic and delicately stated.
Second, the history of the setting places the story in a very nostalgic period of American homesteading. I love the setting. For some reason I feel particularly connected to the late 1800's and early 1900's. The wild Montana frontier life during this period fascinates me and completely captured my imagination in this novel.
Next, the story of friendship and family connections was compelling and sober. While many may disagree that this is Doig's weakest part of the writing, I think that the relationships remind me faintly of the classical Don Quixote and Sancho Panza duo. I realize that I see Quixote and Sancho in literature like a Guadelupan sees the Virgin in fabric. However, Angus the romantic seem as impractical as Quixote. Further, I found beauty in the consequences of fanciful sentimentalism in a Montana homesteader. You simply can't afford wasting anything in Montana, most of all your heart. Its a truly frontier response to the Quixote question of whether its noble to be delusional.
Additionally, Rob's pragmatism parallels Sancho. Rob's pragmatism like Angus's romantacism, leads to disaster. His pragmatism leads him to believe too much in manifest destiny. He believed too strongly that the world was his to bend to his will. Montana proved too powerful for even someone as stubborn as a Barclay. Thus, Doig rewrites the pragmatist as every bit as delusional as a romantic. He made the classic Quixote model his own and interpreted it beautifully and convincingly through the lens of a frontiersman. The novel is a masterpiece.
There are some obvious issues other reviewers address. Many complain that Angus couldn't have been so manly and mature in so many ways but remained emotionally immature with his lifelong infatuation of his first love. I agree that this is almost unbelievable. However, realistic characters can't be average and like everyone in every category, otherwise, they are simply characters compiled of statistics. A character written to statistical probabilities can be no more believable than one possessing abnormalities of the heart.
I find an additional concern more persuasive. Angus and Rob's eventual falling out led to a life ending in years of enmity towards one another. The book concluded beautifully as a result of this enmity. However, the premise that the enmity was naturally related to Angus's misplaced love might be too much for even me (a man always seeing Quixote in every novel). Thus, perhaps the enmity should have been more developed so not to strain the imagination as much as was required. Yet, I find myself inspired by the story driven by the enmity and resist dwelling upon the underdeveloped justification for it because in the end the enmity climaxed with beautiful symbolism. I was utterly moved when at the conclusion a Sancho (Rob) rides Quixote's heart (Angus's horse) into ice cold water, drowning both Sancho and the heart of Quixote. I can only feel grateful the enmity existed so I could witness the beautifully rendered conclusion to a thoroughly enjoyable novel.
Second, the history of the setting places the story in a very nostalgic period of American homesteading. I love the setting. For some reason I feel particularly connected to the late 1800's and early 1900's. The wild Montana frontier life during this period fascinates me and completely captured my imagination in this novel.
Next, the story of friendship and family connections was compelling and sober. While many may disagree that this is Doig's weakest part of the writing, I think that the relationships remind me faintly of the classical Don Quixote and Sancho Panza duo. I realize that I see Quixote and Sancho in literature like a Guadelupan sees the Virgin in fabric. However, Angus the romantic seem as impractical as Quixote. Further, I found beauty in the consequences of fanciful sentimentalism in a Montana homesteader. You simply can't afford wasting anything in Montana, most of all your heart. Its a truly frontier response to the Quixote question of whether its noble to be delusional.
Additionally, Rob's pragmatism parallels Sancho. Rob's pragmatism like Angus's romantacism, leads to disaster. His pragmatism leads him to believe too much in manifest destiny. He believed too strongly that the world was his to bend to his will. Montana proved too powerful for even someone as stubborn as a Barclay. Thus, Doig rewrites the pragmatist as every bit as delusional as a romantic. He made the classic Quixote model his own and interpreted it beautifully and convincingly through the lens of a frontiersman. The novel is a masterpiece.
There are some obvious issues other reviewers address. Many complain that Angus couldn't have been so manly and mature in so many ways but remained emotionally immature with his lifelong infatuation of his first love. I agree that this is almost unbelievable. However, realistic characters can't be average and like everyone in every category, otherwise, they are simply characters compiled of statistics. A character written to statistical probabilities can be no more believable than one possessing abnormalities of the heart.
I find an additional concern more persuasive. Angus and Rob's eventual falling out led to a life ending in years of enmity towards one another. The book concluded beautifully as a result of this enmity. However, the premise that the enmity was naturally related to Angus's misplaced love might be too much for even me (a man always seeing Quixote in every novel). Thus, perhaps the enmity should have been more developed so not to strain the imagination as much as was required. Yet, I find myself inspired by the story driven by the enmity and resist dwelling upon the underdeveloped justification for it because in the end the enmity climaxed with beautiful symbolism. I was utterly moved when at the conclusion a Sancho (Rob) rides Quixote's heart (Angus's horse) into ice cold water, drowning both Sancho and the heart of Quixote. I can only feel grateful the enmity existed so I could witness the beautifully rendered conclusion to a thoroughly enjoyable novel.
June 3, 2012
Like Montana winters, this was way too long. I got bogged down a little halfway through, but I continued because the narrator, Robert Ian Mckenzie was terrific. I kept thinking I'd never finish the book if I had to read it, and was almost gleeful when there were only 2 cds (of 17) left and the end was in sight! That ending is not only depressing, but there is no satisfying resolution. Whistling Season is much better, and you'll like the ending, but this not one. I read it first and consider it one of the best books I read this year, so I read this hoping for more of the same but was hugely disappointed. The story drags; I wanted to slap the 2 main characters upside the head; and there is precious little humor in it. I give the author, Doig, credit for ably conveying the homesteaders' exhaustion and defeat to the reader. I was exhausted and relieved when the narrative ended.
October 20, 2019
4.5
I love good historical fiction, and this novel was well done. It chronicles the emigration from Scotland in the early 1880s of two young men traveling to Montana literally "seeking their fortunes." It continues as they immigrate into the United States to become sheep ranchers in a hard but stunningly beautiful mountain country. Rob Barclay and the narrator, Angus McCaskill, have a complex relationship with each other, their families, and the land itself.
I cared about each of the characters and found the description of their lives absorbing. This is not the typical romantic view of Western pioneer life. There were years of plenty, years of drought, illness, accidents, losses of young men in WWI, the influenza epidemic of 1919, blizzards, and sudden death. Strong relationships frayed. Some were repaired and others were not--realistic historical of a time and place that was new to me.
I look forward to next month's book club selection, English Creek which was written before this prequel but chronologically continuing after this novel ends. I expect that learning the back story of the characters will add depth to English Creek although I understand that all three of the books in this trilogy stand alone.
I love good historical fiction, and this novel was well done. It chronicles the emigration from Scotland in the early 1880s of two young men traveling to Montana literally "seeking their fortunes." It continues as they immigrate into the United States to become sheep ranchers in a hard but stunningly beautiful mountain country. Rob Barclay and the narrator, Angus McCaskill, have a complex relationship with each other, their families, and the land itself.
I cared about each of the characters and found the description of their lives absorbing. This is not the typical romantic view of Western pioneer life. There were years of plenty, years of drought, illness, accidents, losses of young men in WWI, the influenza epidemic of 1919, blizzards, and sudden death. Strong relationships frayed. Some were repaired and others were not--realistic historical of a time and place that was new to me.
I look forward to next month's book club selection, English Creek which was written before this prequel but chronologically continuing after this novel ends. I expect that learning the back story of the characters will add depth to English Creek although I understand that all three of the books in this trilogy stand alone.
December 31, 2021
Truly outstanding. Makes you chuckle and makes you weep. Ivan Doig's writing is pure magic!
March 8, 2023
I love Doig's writing. I've read several of his books and this is my least favorite. The writing is beautiful and the story compelling. I found several of the characters, including the narrator, difficult to like.
November 28, 2017
This novel was so frustrating. I love Mr. Doig's style of writing and the first third of this novel was riveting. Then, Angus McCaskill doesn't get to marry the woman he loves. He spends the rest of the novel whining and pining for the woman he can't have rather than focusing on the wonderful wife he is married to. It's so irritating and completely ruined the rest of the novel. Skip this one and read 'The Whistling Season' instead.
July 4, 2018
This was a really good read and I recommend it to everyone. Ivan Doig has a wonderful writing style that really involves you right from the get go. My only complaint about this book was the font was incredibly small. Doig's writing is very dense. He packs a lot in to a page but it was a bit of a slog because of the font.
The story revolves around two young Scotsman, Angus MCaskill and his childhood friend Rob Barclay who are about to embark on a voyage to from their town in Scotland to Montana in America. Robs family has a relative who went To Montana years ago and they get the occasional Christmas letter with a welcome $100 enclosed. Lucas, the relative was a miner and Rob and Angus hope to make their fortunes there. Rob was a wheelright, and Angus worked with a teacher and was an accountant and also helped the teacher so they have skills and some money.
Doig's lyrical style is full of good humor, and wonderful description of the Ocean voyage the journey across country and their somewhat shocked and confused impressions when they finally get to the town where they find Lucas. It was a really enjoyable read. This book is part of the Montana trilogy but this is the second book and I am not sure if the other two have the same characters in them. Two thumbs up from me.
The story revolves around two young Scotsman, Angus MCaskill and his childhood friend Rob Barclay who are about to embark on a voyage to from their town in Scotland to Montana in America. Robs family has a relative who went To Montana years ago and they get the occasional Christmas letter with a welcome $100 enclosed. Lucas, the relative was a miner and Rob and Angus hope to make their fortunes there. Rob was a wheelright, and Angus worked with a teacher and was an accountant and also helped the teacher so they have skills and some money.
Doig's lyrical style is full of good humor, and wonderful description of the Ocean voyage the journey across country and their somewhat shocked and confused impressions when they finally get to the town where they find Lucas. It was a really enjoyable read. This book is part of the Montana trilogy but this is the second book and I am not sure if the other two have the same characters in them. Two thumbs up from me.
October 4, 2018
This is the second in a trilogy. I liked it but did not love it. Let's see how the third one pans out.
November 17, 2024
I liked this book so much that I had to ask myself what it was besides beautiful writing, compelling characters, riveting story lines and fascinating historical fiction that drew me in to life in northern Montana in the late 1800s and early 1900s. This is a dense book and one that should be savoured, but I devoured it page after page.
Much like Cold Mountain, I loved Dancing at the Rascal Fair for absorbing me completely into another world and connecting me with my ancestral past. I felt a "sense of place" in each of these books, a link to my southern ancestors in Cold Mountain and a link to my Scottish-Canadian ancestors in Dancing at the Rascal Fair.
I can see why people are passionate about Ivan Doig, many declaring him their favorite writer. After I complete this trilogy, I plan to read Mr. Doig's memoir, This House of Sky, which was a National Book Award finalist.
Dancing at the Rascal Fair, by the way, even though #2 in Mr. Doig's Two Medicine trilogy, takes place before #1 in the series, English Creek. I once again thank the L.A. Times for its enlightening obituary of Ivan Doig and introducing me to this skilled and passionate writer.
http://eedition2.latimes.com/Olive/OD...
Much like Cold Mountain, I loved Dancing at the Rascal Fair for absorbing me completely into another world and connecting me with my ancestral past. I felt a "sense of place" in each of these books, a link to my southern ancestors in Cold Mountain and a link to my Scottish-Canadian ancestors in Dancing at the Rascal Fair.
I can see why people are passionate about Ivan Doig, many declaring him their favorite writer. After I complete this trilogy, I plan to read Mr. Doig's memoir, This House of Sky, which was a National Book Award finalist.
Dancing at the Rascal Fair, by the way, even though #2 in Mr. Doig's Two Medicine trilogy, takes place before #1 in the series, English Creek. I once again thank the L.A. Times for its enlightening obituary of Ivan Doig and introducing me to this skilled and passionate writer.
http://eedition2.latimes.com/Olive/OD...
April 17, 2015
In the book "Dancing at The Rascal Fair" Ivan Doig describes a wonderful story of perceverience, adventure, exploration and love. This story is about two Scottish friends who travel to America to give life over here a shot. It takes place in 1889, the year Montana became a state. They come over on a rough voyage on a ship and they become shepards in a dry land farming section of Montana called Grovant.
I encourage all y'all to read this great book.
Enjoy and Be Blessed.
Diamond
I encourage all y'all to read this great book.
Enjoy and Be Blessed.
Diamond
September 25, 2014
On my life list of best books I've read, this is No. 1. Ivan Doig is master wordsmith. Some of the writing in this story is like poetry. Well structured, the story of family and the Montana territory is a testament to perseverance and love.
March 3, 2015
Hint: don't read books that make you cry on the L. Embarrassing.
February 19, 2015
Long historical novels about immigrant life in the US around the turn of the 20th century are very low on my list of must-reads, and so I would never have picked this up had it not been selected for my book club. I figured I'd dip into it dutifully, find it mind-numbing, and then sit respectfully by as the more dedicated members of our bookclub dissected it. What I did not expect is that the writing would suck me in from the earliest pages, and that the page-turner plotting would keep me interested until the end.
The trick is, that despite the incredible amount of archival research that must have gone into creating this tale of Scottish immigrants to the upper northwest of Montana in the 1890s, the book is really good ole' soap opera. It starts on the Glasgow docks with two teenage friends watching in horror as a horse slips into the water and drowns. They then embark on a fearsome trans-Atlantic crossing, and make their way to Montana, where one of them has a prosperous uncle who immigrated years before. What follows are the next 25-30 years of trials and tribulations as the two friends homestead and become sheep ranchers in the vicinity of what is now Glacier National Park. Key to the story are the romantic lives of the two men, and how various triumphs and disappointments feed and starve their own friendship.
I won't get into all the twists and turns of the plot, but there's plenty there to keep one reading on. Woven in are how the larger forces of the world (weather, war, viruses) kick aside the best-laid plans of even honest, hard-working people. Doig's dialogue is chock full of keen turns of phrase, and his descriptions of physical landscape are striking without feeling overwrought. Definitely recommended to anyone from Montana, and anyone who's at all interested in what the life of a homesteading American would have been at the time.
The trick is, that despite the incredible amount of archival research that must have gone into creating this tale of Scottish immigrants to the upper northwest of Montana in the 1890s, the book is really good ole' soap opera. It starts on the Glasgow docks with two teenage friends watching in horror as a horse slips into the water and drowns. They then embark on a fearsome trans-Atlantic crossing, and make their way to Montana, where one of them has a prosperous uncle who immigrated years before. What follows are the next 25-30 years of trials and tribulations as the two friends homestead and become sheep ranchers in the vicinity of what is now Glacier National Park. Key to the story are the romantic lives of the two men, and how various triumphs and disappointments feed and starve their own friendship.
I won't get into all the twists and turns of the plot, but there's plenty there to keep one reading on. Woven in are how the larger forces of the world (weather, war, viruses) kick aside the best-laid plans of even honest, hard-working people. Doig's dialogue is chock full of keen turns of phrase, and his descriptions of physical landscape are striking without feeling overwrought. Definitely recommended to anyone from Montana, and anyone who's at all interested in what the life of a homesteading American would have been at the time.
February 9, 2017
Four and a half stars for a Montana homesteading saga that takes us through three generations of two intertwined families in beautiful Two Medicine country. It 's a long and sprawling story, written in Ivan Doig's rich, descriptively unique voice.
It's a slowly told tale--Doig takes his time, and repeats his themes and points. In order to enjoy the book, you have to decide, early on, that you want to hear every colorful detail, that you're in it for the long haul. If you can do that, it's a rewarding experience.
It's a slowly told tale--Doig takes his time, and repeats his themes and points. In order to enjoy the book, you have to decide, early on, that you want to hear every colorful detail, that you're in it for the long haul. If you can do that, it's a rewarding experience.
June 10, 2020
The characters are vividly alive and the setting is realistic. Angus, however, is frustrating. Is his lifelong obsession realistic? This is the second in Doig's three-book series, Two Medicine Country, but I wish that I'd read it first (or at least soon after I'd read the first book).
In the middle of the book (p 241), the national forests are established, and the new ranger has to address the angry and frustrated ranchmen. The ranger explains,
"I used to ask people what they were going to do when the land wore out. And they always said that when they'd used the country up, they'd just move on. But I don't know of anything you can just keep on using up and using up and using up, and not run out of. And that's all the Forest Service is saying with this Two Medicine National Forest. You can use it, but not use it up."
In the middle of the book (p 241), the national forests are established, and the new ranger has to address the angry and frustrated ranchmen. The ranger explains,
"I used to ask people what they were going to do when the land wore out. And they always said that when they'd used the country up, they'd just move on. But I don't know of anything you can just keep on using up and using up and using up, and not run out of. And that's all the Forest Service is saying with this Two Medicine National Forest. You can use it, but not use it up."
July 4, 2018
Doig does not disappoint. It is hard to describe what is so special about this book--the story, the characters, the writing or just being wrapped in the atmosphere of early 1900's Montana and the plights of the early settlers. It was a perfect book to get lost in on lazy summer afternoons. The story tells of two friends leaving Scotland for the wilds of the west and all the hope and promise it might hold for them. This story follows them from 1897 to 1916 (approximately) as they homestead and live on their land. It is not a thriller or a mystery but has weather and sheep, some sex and days on end. The reader gets to see their lives take shape dictated by the land and the times around them. A very enjoyable read especially if you like tales of the early days of our country and all it meant for those who left their homeland to build a new life.
September 4, 2010
an audiobook for me, I've been inhaling the Doig books backwards in time, having found The Whistling Season in a shop in Red Cloud, MT. I finally found the McGaskill who emigrated! Not everyone will like this -- the language is very rich, and the themes of turn of the century Montana settlement near the Two Medicine may get a bit redundant as we wind through the final third of the book, but I loved it -- the struggles with family, with women, with sheep, with all that new coming over the horizon, and what is possibly my favorite term since finding it in a later Doig work, those first Park Arrangers. Well, somebody had to arrange the national forest, didn't they? The reader on this version was excellent, I could've listened to his accent and style for hours -- and I did.
January 30, 2024
This is the second book in The Montana Trilogy written by Ivan Doig. This author is just incredible! His writing is so descriptive and captivating, poetic even! Yesterday, as I finished the last ten percent, I lived through the 1918 flu and a blizzard. Doig had me convinced that I was there! Also, while he is said not to write about heroes, his characters are bigger than life and definitely live heroic lives as they homestead the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, raise herds and herds of sheep, and live through drought, fires, flu, and blizzards. Stories about his family's trials and tribulations are the basis of Doig's stories. Just WOW!
November 5, 2015
Two members of the McCaskell and Barkley family come to America from Scotland in 1889. Angus McCaskell had an Uncle that had come earlier to North West Montana. Family was everything to Robert and Angus. They were some of the first homesteaders. Creating a living from very little, they decided to raise sheep. After 30 years, life was still hard and the weather harder. As a love triangle starts to emerge their friendship is in ruins. As the chronicle continues, their children grow up and start new lives. A very heart warming story.
March 2, 2008
It took me more than 6 months to read this book. I could only read a couple pages at a time. It is so wordy and slow moving but I was determined to finish it and hopefully find out what my friend found so compelling about Ivan Doig's writing. She loves Montana. That wasn't enough for me. The relationships of families, friends, and neighbors were quite real--all except the pining of the main character for another man's wife. If that was supposed to give the book spice, it failed miserably.
April 16, 2022
The good thing about the book was reading about that era in Montana. The homesteaders, raising sheep, influenza….but I simply could not stand the plot of an entire lifetime of unrequited love. There was not even one character in the book I cared about, unless it was the sort of minor character, Lucas. When I feel relieved, even glad, when a main character dies, I know it’s not the book for me. A pox on both of them. Rob and angus. Ugh
July 7, 2012
Read this LONG ago but am posting books that I have really enjoyed. This is one of them. May make you yearn to live in a different place at a different time.
April 12, 2018
I love Ivan Doig's books, his prose is so beautiful, and this book is no exception. It involves two young Scottish men who emigrate to Montana in the 1800s, and their lives thereafter, which are intertwined as business partners in sheepherding, and the narrator's marriage to the man's sister. But it also is very sad, showing the hardships the pioneers had to endure in the terrible Montana winters, the loss of animals, the difficulties of sheepherding, and an additional story of unrequited love. A very interesting book, but because of the sadness it is not really that enjoyable a story, but for lovers of Doig's books it is invaluable.
August 21, 2019
A book club pick that introduces me to a previously unknown-to-me author, Ivan Doug.
I was captivated not only by the story’s richness and clarity but also by the writing. I now rank Doug in the category of writers I most enjoy. Reminiscent of both Pat Conroy and Wallace Stegner, Doug captures words and casts his pixie dust on them in presenting vividness in painting portraits of natural beauty, humanity in its best and worst, and a storyline that never strays off-course in delivering a range of emotions and thoughts for the reader to contemplate long after finishing the last page.
Written with intelligence, empathy and understanding, I applaud Doig and look forward to admitting him to my bookshelf circle of favorites.
I was captivated not only by the story’s richness and clarity but also by the writing. I now rank Doug in the category of writers I most enjoy. Reminiscent of both Pat Conroy and Wallace Stegner, Doug captures words and casts his pixie dust on them in presenting vividness in painting portraits of natural beauty, humanity in its best and worst, and a storyline that never strays off-course in delivering a range of emotions and thoughts for the reader to contemplate long after finishing the last page.
Written with intelligence, empathy and understanding, I applaud Doig and look forward to admitting him to my bookshelf circle of favorites.
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