Crazy Weather

by Charles L. McNichols

McNichols, Charles L., Crazy Weather

Genres: Fiction, Novels

Hardcover

First published February 1, 1967

Reviews

[Peter Tillman]

High marks from UK LeGuin, who read it twice: first in the mid-40s, when she was about 15, then read it again some 70 years later, and liked it even more. I think her review was published in
Words Are My Matter: Writings About Life and Books, 2000-2016, which I highly recommend:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The book was first published in 1944, two years before I was born. I happened upon a copy of that edition. Book of its time, but great stuff, just as I hoped. Stay tuned...

[Robin Bilton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this because my Dad told me to. Just as Ursula le Guin said, it is as dramatic as Shakespeare and as fiercely unromantic as the Iliad. A great contrast to almost all the other books I've read.

[Jonathan-David Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoroughly engaging book. The writer writes about Mojave culture in a way that seems authentic, and it is fascinating. It gave me the same feeling as reading the best science fiction: here is a world very different from your own, but entirely plausible and even preferable in some parts.

[Virginia · Rating 4 out of 5]

McNichols's subtle and agile portrait of a young man coming of age on the cusp of white and Mojave cultures helps us understand what is universal, and what each culture has to offer. It's a poignant story of courage and confusion, loyalty and separation. South Boy, a white teen coming of age on a Mojave Indian reservation, and his native friend Havek, set off on a journey in hopes that they will have an opportunity to do A Great Thing and win honor and new names for themselves. South Boy is also fleeing his mother's intention to send him away to a white school to be educated. South Boy struggles with his dual view of the world, and longs for the clarity that Havek enjoys. At one point, after South Boy shows courage, Havek is elated, but South Boy's "white" side cannot join in the celebration: "Havek was staring at him, his mouth open, the whites of his eyes showing. 'Truly,' he muttered. 'Truly. A hawk-dreamer. His hands empty. He went down into Death's face. He walked slowly away. Truly -- truly -- truly -- a Great Thing.' South Boy heard him and felt low and cheap. ... He could not explain because he had promised ... and how could he explain a thing like that to an Indian, anyway? So he walked in silence, which was exactly what a Mojave would have done after an act of great courage. ... The trouble is, he was thinking, I act Indian one time and white another time and I get all mixed." While South Boy's dilemma is unique, we can all relate to the thicket of choices he must penetrate in order to find a place of his own in the adult world.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a surprising read. It's true that some of the language is dated and the women characters are a bit trite but overall, I was impressed by the story of a boy grappling with two cultures and what it takes to live with integrity, as a consistent man.

[Cathy Douglas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This read like something lived. Not the story itself, but the background. So many of the details are things you just couldn't make up -- for example, the Mojave habit of gesturing with the chin. The way this story is told really takes you back into lost time. It was written in the forties, but I get the feeling a lot of it came from the author's childhood.

The story itself is about a boy coming of age caught between two worlds. South Boy isn't much of a deep thinker, but he feels things strongly. These kids just go off to kill people like it was nothing, because Paiutes are the enemy. You can't even imagine thinking that way, but people were different in those times.

[Anne Slater · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read this book at least 3 times in the past 60 years, bought it MORE often to give as gifts to young people (on whom it seems to be wasted), to old people, to middle aged people. I may even read it again just because i think of it so frequently.

It's the story of a boy who realizes, during one long hot summer, that his life is going to change and he might as well take a hand in making it turn out as HE wishes. Growing up on a large cattle ranch in the American southwest, he knows his mother wants him to go to an east coast boarding school, and that his father is going to back her up on this.

He spends the summer soaking up all that he knows and loves about the ranch and the southwest. He grows inwardly and accepts his fate with a different attitude.

[Louis Swagboy Galore · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is secret goated..........check ursula k leguin's intro on it....it's on the list of books that changed her life

the most surprising thing is how few people have read this book....also the author is mad mysterious and no one knows anything about him....

this book was actually so good it's incomprehensible

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A truly unique coming-of-age book about a boy who straddles two worlds and struggles to find where he belongs-and the inner strength to accept his human struggles. It is the only book I've ever read that gives such an interesting telling of Mojave myths and culture, and has piqued my interest in reading more (if it exists). A great read for adults and kids alike. Unfortunately it was a little slow-paced and narratively distracted with native stories at times, hence only 4 stars.

[Stacey]

I have a copy of this book and there is no jacket cover, but inside is stamped 'Department of English Wichita High School East' and it was first published by The MacMillan Company, New York, 1944.

[Michelle Wightman-teixeira]

Excellent I love the FIRST EDITION CLASSICS

[Karen Boruff]

Excellent and interesting book. I read it out loud to my son who is young and he loved it...begged for one more chapter every time. I would recommend this book

[Louie van Bommel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice journey into a world very much removed from this one. Well written.