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A Far Piece to Canaan: A Moving Debut – Southern Tale of Childhood Friendship in the Kentucky Hills
A warm and nostalgic debut novel from an unexpected source: Sam Halpern, whose salty paternal wisdom made Justin Halpern's Sh*t My Dad Says a phenomenal bestseller.
Inspired by Sam Halpern's childhood in rural Kentucky, A Far Piece to Canaan tells the story of Samuel Zelinsky, a celebrated but troubled retired professor who reluctantly returns after his wife's death to visit a farm in the Kentucky hills where he lived as a child. The son of sharecroppers, Samuel has long since left that life behind-yet now must reconnect with long-buried memories in order to achieve peace.
Delving into the events of 1945, Sam recalls Fred Mulligan, the hired hand's bright and spirited ten-year-old son. Together with two neighbor boys, Samuel and Fred visit the Blue Hole, a legendary pool on the Kentucky River where the hill people believe an evil force lurks. The boys find the body of a dog, surrounded by twisted human footprints, and later discover a cave that offers other evidence that something terrible has transpired. Fearing that they'll be punished for their trespasses, the boys initiate a series of cover-ups and lies that eventually lead to a community disaster.
When the Zelinskys move from the farm, the two boys promise each other that if either of them ever needs help, the other will come to his aid, but after he moves to Indiana and is ridiculed because of his "hillbilly" background, Sam rejects his past.
Now, decades later, Sam is devastated to learn from a fellow classmate about Fred's tragic life story in the years that followed-and manages to make contact with his troubled granddaughter, Lisa June. Though at first she rejects his attempts to reach out to her, through persistence and patience Samuel finally manages to establish a connection, becoming a kind of surrogate grandfather to Lisa June-and finally achieving peace through his late return to Canaan land.
A tale of superstition, secrets, and heroism in the postwar South, A Far Piece to Canaan is the surprising and moving debut of a gifted storyteller.
Inspired by Sam Halpern's childhood in rural Kentucky, A Far Piece to Canaan tells the story of Samuel Zelinsky, a celebrated but troubled retired professor who reluctantly returns after his wife's death to visit a farm in the Kentucky hills where he lived as a child. The son of sharecroppers, Samuel has long since left that life behind-yet now must reconnect with long-buried memories in order to achieve peace.
Delving into the events of 1945, Sam recalls Fred Mulligan, the hired hand's bright and spirited ten-year-old son. Together with two neighbor boys, Samuel and Fred visit the Blue Hole, a legendary pool on the Kentucky River where the hill people believe an evil force lurks. The boys find the body of a dog, surrounded by twisted human footprints, and later discover a cave that offers other evidence that something terrible has transpired. Fearing that they'll be punished for their trespasses, the boys initiate a series of cover-ups and lies that eventually lead to a community disaster.
When the Zelinskys move from the farm, the two boys promise each other that if either of them ever needs help, the other will come to his aid, but after he moves to Indiana and is ridiculed because of his "hillbilly" background, Sam rejects his past.
Now, decades later, Sam is devastated to learn from a fellow classmate about Fred's tragic life story in the years that followed-and manages to make contact with his troubled granddaughter, Lisa June. Though at first she rejects his attempts to reach out to her, through persistence and patience Samuel finally manages to establish a connection, becoming a kind of surrogate grandfather to Lisa June-and finally achieving peace through his late return to Canaan land.
A tale of superstition, secrets, and heroism in the postwar South, A Far Piece to Canaan is the surprising and moving debut of a gifted storyteller.
400 pages, Paperback
First published May 28, 2013
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752 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews
June 6, 2013
Oh my goodness - what a jewel of a book this is! Author Sam Halpern takes his readers on a journey that follows his main character, Samuel Zelinsky, as he returns to his childhood home in the hills of Kentucky and as he remembers the good and bad times he experienced there.
For a debut novel, "A Far Piece To Canaan" is an absolute masterpiece. The characters are just that, characters that are full-dimensional and fascinating, the storyline is fast moving and smoothly moves from the past to the present and back again, and the mystery that is intertwined throughout the story is spine-tingling.
There is quite a bit of dialect spoken by the characters, which adds to the overall authenticity of the story. At first, it takes a bit to get used to it, but once you get involved in the story, it rolls of the reader's "tongue" with ease. Hun-ney - ya'll will love it!
This novel will take it's well-deserved place in my top books for 2013! I highly recommend it!
For a debut novel, "A Far Piece To Canaan" is an absolute masterpiece. The characters are just that, characters that are full-dimensional and fascinating, the storyline is fast moving and smoothly moves from the past to the present and back again, and the mystery that is intertwined throughout the story is spine-tingling.
There is quite a bit of dialect spoken by the characters, which adds to the overall authenticity of the story. At first, it takes a bit to get used to it, but once you get involved in the story, it rolls of the reader's "tongue" with ease. Hun-ney - ya'll will love it!
This novel will take it's well-deserved place in my top books for 2013! I highly recommend it!
July 22, 2021
I was expected to contribute to the family’s quest to make a living. Sharecroppers’ kids never even thought about it, they just started doing. Then again, we had something these kids didn’t—a degree of freedom they never even knew existed. Everything was planned for the modern day kid. I doubted that any of them ever knew the joy of making a slingshot, going barefoot all summer, making their own fishing pole, or being out of sight of their family for days at a time. Free! Free as though floating in warm, breezy air. Even though what we did was often risky.
Following the death of his wife, Nora, Samuel Zelinsky reluctantly returns to his roots in rural Kentucky. The son of a Jewish sharecropper, Samuel only spent three years there but they were some of the most formative of his youth and left deep scars. And as he wanders the fields he hasn't seen in sixty years, memories of an idyllic but poor childhood flood upon him. From his best friend Fred Cody Mulligan to the kind recluse Ben Begley, from the beautiful but older Rosemary Shackelford to the Devil who lived in the river bottoms, Samuel begins to understand just how strong and deep his ties are to the place he had spent his life trying to put behind him.
I felt like a man straddling time, part of me in the 1940s, the other part in the twenty-first century. Something was missing between the halves, something that couldn’t be filled by awards, money, or even Nora. I needed those things of my distant past—the human beings with whom I had shared this imperfect place. Canaan land, complete with heroes and Philistine metaphors. Without them, I wasn’t whole.
I'm surprised this book doesn't have tens of thousands of ratings. Putting it aside for work, sleep, etc. was difficult - I just didn't want to stop reading. I loved the gentle meandering story of the friendships Samuel makes and the beginning of the mysterious events that were so defining. Then, as the story shifts more from the young Samuel to the old Samuel, it takes on a more melancholy feel of innocence and regret, of tragedy and redemption. But this isn't just one of those sepia-toned stories thick with manufactured nostalgia; it's a powerful and redeeming novel that speaks to what makes us who we are. Told in alternating times (young Samuel and older Samuel) and in the language of the hill people, the story never talks down on its characters or their poverty but makes them real and relatable. I feel like I've just spent the last few days wandering the rolling hills and fields of a place I've never been. Definitely one of my top reads for the year - a real hidden gem of a novel.
Following the death of his wife, Nora, Samuel Zelinsky reluctantly returns to his roots in rural Kentucky. The son of a Jewish sharecropper, Samuel only spent three years there but they were some of the most formative of his youth and left deep scars. And as he wanders the fields he hasn't seen in sixty years, memories of an idyllic but poor childhood flood upon him. From his best friend Fred Cody Mulligan to the kind recluse Ben Begley, from the beautiful but older Rosemary Shackelford to the Devil who lived in the river bottoms, Samuel begins to understand just how strong and deep his ties are to the place he had spent his life trying to put behind him.
I felt like a man straddling time, part of me in the 1940s, the other part in the twenty-first century. Something was missing between the halves, something that couldn’t be filled by awards, money, or even Nora. I needed those things of my distant past—the human beings with whom I had shared this imperfect place. Canaan land, complete with heroes and Philistine metaphors. Without them, I wasn’t whole.
I'm surprised this book doesn't have tens of thousands of ratings. Putting it aside for work, sleep, etc. was difficult - I just didn't want to stop reading. I loved the gentle meandering story of the friendships Samuel makes and the beginning of the mysterious events that were so defining. Then, as the story shifts more from the young Samuel to the old Samuel, it takes on a more melancholy feel of innocence and regret, of tragedy and redemption. But this isn't just one of those sepia-toned stories thick with manufactured nostalgia; it's a powerful and redeeming novel that speaks to what makes us who we are. Told in alternating times (young Samuel and older Samuel) and in the language of the hill people, the story never talks down on its characters or their poverty but makes them real and relatable. I feel like I've just spent the last few days wandering the rolling hills and fields of a place I've never been. Definitely one of my top reads for the year - a real hidden gem of a novel.
June 2, 2013
“ I bit into one of the apples and a gush of saliva and juice filled my mouth. The apple was still green, but so good. Just the way I remembered. Sometimes I felt there were only memories in my life now, the clear and solid drifting substance into a mysterious fog that rolled and shifted and entwined the past, the living and the dead, into a swirling labyrinth in which everything seemed equally distant and ethereal. My parents and siblings were gone, my Nora to cancer, my daughters married to husbands and careers, my students off to the real world, my college in search of a greater trust fund, and me to my dotage as Professor Emeritus of Comparative English Literature, which somehow rang more hollow with each passing day. I looked around at the ragged countryside. What did I want from these over-farmed hills after sixty years? I had no idea, but only days before her death, Nora had made the request that I return. I felt honor-bound to make the journey.”
This excerpt gives us a keyhole into the narrators story, it sums up the journey he will take you on in his first person narrative, from his coming of age to his present, he relives and takes you back in various periods of his life.
A life that once was, on a Kentucky farm, a man, a Jew by birth, growing up with a great circle of friends, a friendship bond that would never be forgotten, and all that comes with the fun and mystery of youth, including redemption that needs to be taken account for before his final breath.
The past and present weaved together and essential in understanding this main character, the author has done a great job in writing with a place and people, and the daily running’s of this young man in Kentucky felt real, the emotions and experiences have you feel you are there with him told with the dialect of the region in the past, he adds a true potent and original voice in this mystery and drama, a coming of age tale where a possible devil lurks in The Little Bend Bottoms.
The writing connects with the reader and he displays great ability to show the scene before him in the past and present with a voice that will have you hypnotically transported.
There is death and mystery in this tale, a haunting presence that appeared in his past in the Little Bend bottoms lurks, something that adds that extra storytelling quality and has you engaged and captivated in this tale.
As he revisits his growing place, the farm he once lived on, sixty years later he feels regret on the friends he left behind and lost, he wants forgiveness and to reconcile some deep things that disturbs his heart and soul, he searches the land for familiar faces, but as news of many passed and no longer left he finds who he can connected to his best friend Fred.
He narrates in the first person those bygone days and the mystery that once lay in the Bottoms the nostalgia, humanity against diversity form a story that would stay with you for some time and characters that would remain dearer to you than you could want.
A great read this story was, one not to be missed in the summer of 2013 and I hope is seen and heard of amongst all the great stories out this year, one to be on my best of 2013 list in the Summer.
“Nora, I have read dozens of books on Judaism, and other religions…Buddhism, Islam, Christianity. All have wonderful things in them, all are important as bulwarks of civilisation, but the vast majority require belief in a supreme being. That’s fundamental. I have my own concepts of God and they don’t fit with organised religion. I’m a Jew by birth and very proud of my roots, but it will be a cold day in hell when some rabbi directs my life.”
“After patting the line post, I put my arms on top of the gate and looked across the field. It had been pastureland when we lived on Berman’s, but now it was covered with twenty acres of alfalfa. The little creek still ran through it, creasing the field. In the distance I could see the hickory and locust grove. I had walked this way to the Mulligans’ so many times. In my mind I could still see Fred, sitting on top of the old gate in is Levi’s, multiple shirts, and no-heel shoes. Fred had been the portal to a great adventure-part beauty, part terror, all wonder.
It was getting toward noon. The heat and humidity were making my clothes sticky, and the sound of insects filled the air with a hum. I scanned the vista. Open meadows, dark groves of trees, and green hills covered with patches of wildflowers. Below the hills were valleys with slightly different carpets, but just as remarkable in their glory. I could almost hear the hills speak to my soul. Embrace us, embrace us, our prodigal son. You’ve been long away, but we still love you. Come, mingle, lie among us and become the soil of life.
I inhaled deeply and the air filled my body to my socks. Had I returned to Canaan?”
“It got quiet for a while, then LD said, “What good’s hit gonna do t’ tell if hit’s a crazy man or devil? Aint’t nobody goin’ t’ do nothin’ about it. Everybody’s scared t’ go around th’ Blue Hole. If hit’s a crazy man, he don’t hurt nobody but what goes around th’ Blue Hole. Ain’t ever hurt anybody we for sure know. Killed one or two....... If he is a crazy man, somebody will see him one of these times and shoot him. If hit’s th’ Devil, then you know dang well nothin’ we say’s gonna make a difference.” LD look around at Lonnie and Fred, then said, “Ain’t no reason t’ tell.”
“We don’t tell and hit is a crazy man, he might hurt somebody,” said Fred.
“Don’t nobody know that,” said LD, shaking his head. “Folks been tellin’ about him for years and ain’t nobody but old man Hackett seen him. Nobody believed what old Hackett said. He was out of his head half th’ time. Everybody knows that.”
And finally… three excerpts that hold some great meaning….
“Being human is difficult,” I said aloud. “Common decency is the greatest quality to which one can aspire and the hardest to practise.” I had never expressed that thought before. Maybe I was learning something!”
“Nora. What of Nora, the woman who loved me so much that she put up with my bull****. What the hell did she se in me? She was ten times the person I was, and yet she saw me as “her Rhett Butler.” Her hero? Some hero.
She believed in me! She understood somehow the effect my past had on my life. She said one time that the hill people I described to her had instilled in me a sense of Old Testament honor and its attendant rigidity. Combined with the scholarly bent of my ethnic group, these values had somehow merged to produce a beating who fiercely demanded total intellectual freedom, yet sought absolute truth! I didn’t believe any of that mumbo-jumbo but maybe it was true. If so, it was an unfortunate coupling that had haunted my life.”
“I felt like a man straddling time, part of me in the 1940’s, the other part in the twenty-first century. Something was missing between the halves, something that couldn’t be filled by accolades, money, or even Nora. I needed those things of my distant past- the human beings with home whom I had shared this imperfect place. Canaan land, complete with heroes and Philistine metaphors. Without them, I wasn’t whole.”
Review @ http://more2read.com/review/a-far-piece-to-canaan-by-sam-halpern/
June 7, 2013
Nora's final request before she passed was for her husband to return to Kentucky. Samuel Zelinsky and his family lived as sharecroppers in a small Kentucky town for three years. During that time, Samuel made friends that would stay with him for the rest of his life. But Samuel hasn't seen or spoken to any of them for decades. Now in his seventies, he's finally returned to the old farm and is forced to face the memories of so long ago.
(My own synopsis here doesn't do this book anywhere near the credit it deserves but I kind of felt that the one on the book gave away a bit more than I'd have liked it to.)
My husband and I listened to Justin Halpern's Shit My Dad Says on one of our road trips back home, so the fact that A FAR PIECE TO CANAAN was the debut novel by the dad from SHIT MY DAD SAYS meant that curiosity alone was enough to land this book on my must read list. Even with the name recognition there to prompt me to read this one, I had pretty much no idea what to expect.
And while I didn't know what to expect with A Far Piece to Canaan, I can say that I did not expect this! Sam Halpern's debut is in fact a heartfelt and enthralling read, one that he's apparently been working on for decades.
Halpern smoothly transitions between present day passages and flashbacks, switching into what the character calls "hillbilly" speak when he reminisces about his time in Kentucky. Not only was it a clever way to clearly switch between timelines, but it definitely set the tone and the sense of place more firmly in the my mind as the reader.
A FAR PIECE TO CANAAN is reminiscent at times of THE BODY/STAND BY ME (your pick, King's story or the movie based on it) and other similar coming-of-age stories strongly focused on the bonds of friendship. Readers trust me when I say this is an exceptional story and a book you will fall in love with. In fact, I dare you not to try!
(My own synopsis here doesn't do this book anywhere near the credit it deserves but I kind of felt that the one on the book gave away a bit more than I'd have liked it to.)
My husband and I listened to Justin Halpern's Shit My Dad Says on one of our road trips back home, so the fact that A FAR PIECE TO CANAAN was the debut novel by the dad from SHIT MY DAD SAYS meant that curiosity alone was enough to land this book on my must read list. Even with the name recognition there to prompt me to read this one, I had pretty much no idea what to expect.
And while I didn't know what to expect with A Far Piece to Canaan, I can say that I did not expect this! Sam Halpern's debut is in fact a heartfelt and enthralling read, one that he's apparently been working on for decades.
Halpern smoothly transitions between present day passages and flashbacks, switching into what the character calls "hillbilly" speak when he reminisces about his time in Kentucky. Not only was it a clever way to clearly switch between timelines, but it definitely set the tone and the sense of place more firmly in the my mind as the reader.
A FAR PIECE TO CANAAN is reminiscent at times of THE BODY/STAND BY ME (your pick, King's story or the movie based on it) and other similar coming-of-age stories strongly focused on the bonds of friendship. Readers trust me when I say this is an exceptional story and a book you will fall in love with. In fact, I dare you not to try!
October 18, 2021
A retired Professor who recently lost his wife reminiscences about his youth as the son of a Kentucky sharecropper. A nostalgic book about friendships that shape your life and the “ innocent wonder and youthful terrors” of a growing up during a simpler time.
October 17, 2015
I rarely write reviews online, but this book was really something for me. I just loved how real the story was and how I was able to relate to the main character in particular. That feeling you get when you find life overwhelmingly hard and you unconsciously go back to your childhood. All the people you never saw again, the combination of family, friends and experiences that shaped your personality. The nature was described in such vivid details I felt like I've time traveled 70 years and by the end of the book I really envied that old man swimming and frogging like there was no tomorrow. I might not be an old man, but earlier this year I've had a similar experience going back to my grandfather's farm some 15 years since he passed away. I was excited to show my girlfriend where I spend my childhood and enjoyed whole summers without wearing any shoes and mainly just foolin'...
I was however conflicted between the images I was seeing in my head and what the place looked like now. You keep those sacred images and somehow your brain vigorously defends them and refuses to acknowledge the cut down trees of your childhood and the lack of any life there whatsoever. You half expect that when you walk through that gate, somehow you'd time walk into the place and it would be buzzing with life. All your close relatives would be there and you would have a good time. There is something about living in a small community away from the busy life of big cities. Anyone who's ever been part of the experience is struggling to come back to his 2 room apartment in the concrete jungle, where you don't even know your next door neighbors because life happened and you're too busy doing things that don't make you any happier. The close connection to nature is what makes us human and this book is all about a man who did his duty, led his life according to society's rules and expectations. But his soul never really left those hills in Kentucky and those open chapters were bothering him throughout his whole life.I could go on saying wonderful things about this book and how I saw some of my friends in Fred, LD, Lonnie and the rest of the bunch, but I won't. As this is already turning into one of those TLDR reviews on Goodreads that crazy people write. I guess the book is not for everyone and some might not find it that appealing, but it was brutally honest in dealing with regrets of old age. I just hope I can live my life in a way that would ensure my victory over my bitter regrets. And maybe be that old man one day, free to embrace the things that make me feel happy and peaceful.
I was however conflicted between the images I was seeing in my head and what the place looked like now. You keep those sacred images and somehow your brain vigorously defends them and refuses to acknowledge the cut down trees of your childhood and the lack of any life there whatsoever. You half expect that when you walk through that gate, somehow you'd time walk into the place and it would be buzzing with life. All your close relatives would be there and you would have a good time. There is something about living in a small community away from the busy life of big cities. Anyone who's ever been part of the experience is struggling to come back to his 2 room apartment in the concrete jungle, where you don't even know your next door neighbors because life happened and you're too busy doing things that don't make you any happier. The close connection to nature is what makes us human and this book is all about a man who did his duty, led his life according to society's rules and expectations. But his soul never really left those hills in Kentucky and those open chapters were bothering him throughout his whole life.I could go on saying wonderful things about this book and how I saw some of my friends in Fred, LD, Lonnie and the rest of the bunch, but I won't. As this is already turning into one of those TLDR reviews on Goodreads that crazy people write. I guess the book is not for everyone and some might not find it that appealing, but it was brutally honest in dealing with regrets of old age. I just hope I can live my life in a way that would ensure my victory over my bitter regrets. And maybe be that old man one day, free to embrace the things that make me feel happy and peaceful.
August 16, 2013
This book is written by the "dad" of Sh*t My Dad Says, so I wasn't sure what to expect from the book. Just to set things straight right away this book is not full of foul language, like "dad" usually is.
This is a southern coming-of-age book about a young man who is a Kentucky share croppers son. For sharecroppers money is tight, fishing isn't just for fun - sometimes it means the difference between having dinner or not, nearby neighbors and friends means they live close enough to walk to their homes, but far enough away you can't see the house from yours, everything depends on crops and ever changing prices.
Samuel Zelinsky is the main character telling a story that spans years and multiple generations. Sam is now an older man, trying to piece together the events of his childhood, as his now deceased wife has made him promise to do by visiting the area he grew up.
Back and forth in time we learn about Sam's best friend, Fred, how they became best friends, endured hard times, and made life altering decisions on their road to growing up. We also learn how they drift apart and why Sam feels he should find Fred since he's not getting any younger and now is the time.
Portions of this book reminded me of Where the Red Fern Grows, Stand by Me, and The Sandlot, the coming of age books and movies about boys. If you're a fan of stories set in the south, you'll like this book.
This is a southern coming-of-age book about a young man who is a Kentucky share croppers son. For sharecroppers money is tight, fishing isn't just for fun - sometimes it means the difference between having dinner or not, nearby neighbors and friends means they live close enough to walk to their homes, but far enough away you can't see the house from yours, everything depends on crops and ever changing prices.
Samuel Zelinsky is the main character telling a story that spans years and multiple generations. Sam is now an older man, trying to piece together the events of his childhood, as his now deceased wife has made him promise to do by visiting the area he grew up.
Back and forth in time we learn about Sam's best friend, Fred, how they became best friends, endured hard times, and made life altering decisions on their road to growing up. We also learn how they drift apart and why Sam feels he should find Fred since he's not getting any younger and now is the time.
Portions of this book reminded me of Where the Red Fern Grows, Stand by Me, and The Sandlot, the coming of age books and movies about boys. If you're a fan of stories set in the south, you'll like this book.
July 3, 2014
This book captured the 1940s. The struggles of sharecroppers. The poor of Kentucky Hills was picturesque and sometimes brutal. While reading this incredible story, I kept wondering if this wasn't part memoir. The switching from this man's 70s and back to that time when he was ten actually seemed seamless. The fact that he still carried those burdens from that time all those years, helped the reader understand the pain of guilt influencing his emotions actually as a prison bound. When Ben and his dogs were the tragedy, I actually tossed the book to the floor. But; how else could all the issues play out? You can't help liking everyone linked to this story. It keeps the reader moving forward with the plot and the Kentucky country so aptly described. Loved this book and I am so glad it was recommended by a good friend. Thank you.
September 8, 2013
I'm a southern boy and fond of good southern writing. If this is good writing then I'm one of the salamanders I tried to catch in Tennessee creeks. I had to lay it down after 60 pages.
October 23, 2018
Before I started reading, I looked at a few reviews which all stayed really positive so that got me much more excited to read. The cover of the book reminds me a little of an old photo, where it is made to look a little worn around the edges and the coloring is different. It makes me think of those random pictures or paintings that are hanging around in your grandparents house that really has no back story to it and has just always been there.
Just by looking at the back, this is a fictional book, but it may have some play on the author’s life growing up and who he is today. The author is speaking in the form of Samuel Zelinsky, an older fellow that promised his wife he would return to Kentucky after she has passed on. Although, it makes this start out seeming sad, I was still looking forward to knowing a little about his life growing up in Kentucky in the 1940s compared to my life growing up in Kentucky, especially since I’m now living in the area he’s talking about. He even mentions the county I’m currently living in.
The entirety of the book was going back and forth from past to present and then back again, but to my surprise, there was no confusion on which era we were focusing on in chapters. It made it easy to follow and allowed you to put yourself in where his thoughts were and know where he physically was during the present time to spark the memory.
I’d say the best part, which was appearing to be the main focus, is hearing about his childhood with Fred, Lonnie, and LD. These were the closest friends Samuel had growing up, but none closer than best friend Fred. I always forgot that they were as young as they were when his memories began, around the second or third grade. Their freedom and lack of fear from the community makes me forget it was a different time and that they didn’t necessarily have to be at an older age to feel safe being out and about. They were free, hardworking, honest, and respectful of their parents, friends, community, and the land.
There was one character that really bothered me. It was Samuel’s mother. I don’t know if it’s because I’m a Kentucky native, born in the mountains, then moved up to the central Kentucky “hills” (even though to my standards, this is all flat city and farm land) for college and now live here permanently. She was born in New York, Jewish in faith, and seemed to have a disgust with the hard working men and women who love and are happy with what they have even if it is not the most updated item. She made comments saying that she doesn’t want Samuel turning out like his friends and that really irked me. What did she mean by that? Those boys, as well as the other sharecroppers/farmers/working hill and mountain people are what I would be looking up to. They’re honest and driven to ensure that their families have what they need. Again, that’s just a personal opinion of mine and I think it’s just something I’ve fought my entire life to prove to ignorant people like her.
I’m just not happy with the ending. Sure, I’m glad he found someone he had known growing up and was able to get filled in on what happened to his best friends and the impactful people of his prime years, but I was not prepared to have my heart ripped out then end in a very anticlimactic way. The tragedy of Fred’s life is all too common. When you start at the bottom of the totem pole, it is very hard to work your way up. No matter how hard you work, how much time you put it, something or someone more often than not, will push you back down.
Now, learning about Lisa June, Fred’s granddaughter. She has done well for herself, a fighter. She has people around her that want to help her and are supporting her whether she wants it or not. She is the last connection that Samuel has to Fred, he wants her to know about her family, and be another person on the list and in her life to love, care, and support her in her endeavors.
Just by looking at the back, this is a fictional book, but it may have some play on the author’s life growing up and who he is today. The author is speaking in the form of Samuel Zelinsky, an older fellow that promised his wife he would return to Kentucky after she has passed on. Although, it makes this start out seeming sad, I was still looking forward to knowing a little about his life growing up in Kentucky in the 1940s compared to my life growing up in Kentucky, especially since I’m now living in the area he’s talking about. He even mentions the county I’m currently living in.
The entirety of the book was going back and forth from past to present and then back again, but to my surprise, there was no confusion on which era we were focusing on in chapters. It made it easy to follow and allowed you to put yourself in where his thoughts were and know where he physically was during the present time to spark the memory.
I’d say the best part, which was appearing to be the main focus, is hearing about his childhood with Fred, Lonnie, and LD. These were the closest friends Samuel had growing up, but none closer than best friend Fred. I always forgot that they were as young as they were when his memories began, around the second or third grade. Their freedom and lack of fear from the community makes me forget it was a different time and that they didn’t necessarily have to be at an older age to feel safe being out and about. They were free, hardworking, honest, and respectful of their parents, friends, community, and the land.
There was one character that really bothered me. It was Samuel’s mother. I don’t know if it’s because I’m a Kentucky native, born in the mountains, then moved up to the central Kentucky “hills” (even though to my standards, this is all flat city and farm land) for college and now live here permanently. She was born in New York, Jewish in faith, and seemed to have a disgust with the hard working men and women who love and are happy with what they have even if it is not the most updated item. She made comments saying that she doesn’t want Samuel turning out like his friends and that really irked me. What did she mean by that? Those boys, as well as the other sharecroppers/farmers/working hill and mountain people are what I would be looking up to. They’re honest and driven to ensure that their families have what they need. Again, that’s just a personal opinion of mine and I think it’s just something I’ve fought my entire life to prove to ignorant people like her.
I’m just not happy with the ending. Sure, I’m glad he found someone he had known growing up and was able to get filled in on what happened to his best friends and the impactful people of his prime years, but I was not prepared to have my heart ripped out then end in a very anticlimactic way. The tragedy of Fred’s life is all too common. When you start at the bottom of the totem pole, it is very hard to work your way up. No matter how hard you work, how much time you put it, something or someone more often than not, will push you back down.
Now, learning about Lisa June, Fred’s granddaughter. She has done well for herself, a fighter. She has people around her that want to help her and are supporting her whether she wants it or not. She is the last connection that Samuel has to Fred, he wants her to know about her family, and be another person on the list and in her life to love, care, and support her in her endeavors.
June 5, 2020
I am drawn to these books that portray life in the hills, world areas, small towns, and more innocent times. That’s probably because I grew up in small town southern Indiana surrounded by people, many of whom were quite similar to the people in this book. The homemade pleasures, and risky adventures undertaken boys in this book certainly remind me of my childhood.
But there’s also some really nice writing here. And for the most part it’s a good story. it’s well written and well structured. I haven’t read too much about the author, but I have to wonder how much of this, if any, is autobiographical. it just feels to me as if some of the details just had to be experienced in order to be written. Things like the unpleasant odor of a friend’s younger sister, or the hard work and indignities of being a sharecropper.
I do recommend this book.
But there’s also some really nice writing here. And for the most part it’s a good story. it’s well written and well structured. I haven’t read too much about the author, but I have to wonder how much of this, if any, is autobiographical. it just feels to me as if some of the details just had to be experienced in order to be written. Things like the unpleasant odor of a friend’s younger sister, or the hard work and indignities of being a sharecropper.
I do recommend this book.
June 1, 2020
This is a beautifully written book that shifts from the present time to the childhood of a now 72-year old native Kentuckian, who is now a professor emeritus at a college in New Hampshire.
Samuel Zilensky never was able to leave behind what helped shape him during his first twelve years in KY. As a member of a sharecropping family, he worked hard and befriended boys of his own age and situation. One boy, Fred, became his forever best friend.
But distance, change, and insecurity keep Samuel away from Kentucky until his beloved wife died. Before passing, she made him promise to return to Kentucky to confront his memories.
If you are like me, you won't be able to put the book down. Very highly recommended!
Samuel Zilensky never was able to leave behind what helped shape him during his first twelve years in KY. As a member of a sharecropping family, he worked hard and befriended boys of his own age and situation. One boy, Fred, became his forever best friend.
But distance, change, and insecurity keep Samuel away from Kentucky until his beloved wife died. Before passing, she made him promise to return to Kentucky to confront his memories.
If you are like me, you won't be able to put the book down. Very highly recommended!
June 15, 2020
An engaging story that made me think
I enjoyed the portrayal of rural life in 1950’s Kentucky, a combination of simplicity, beauty and tragedy. The protagonist returning to this time in his life after his wife died a was touching. The slowly revealed event that kept him away for so long kept me reading as fast as possible. Iwas disappointed as I finished the book, but for only an hour. The author did not give me a simple ending tied together neatly. Instead, I had to accept a flawed protagonist. I had to think in order to understand why the author ended the book the way he did. Which is why I give this book a five star rating and am taking the time to write this review. I hope you will enjoy this book as much as I did.
I enjoyed the portrayal of rural life in 1950’s Kentucky, a combination of simplicity, beauty and tragedy. The protagonist returning to this time in his life after his wife died a was touching. The slowly revealed event that kept him away for so long kept me reading as fast as possible. Iwas disappointed as I finished the book, but for only an hour. The author did not give me a simple ending tied together neatly. Instead, I had to accept a flawed protagonist. I had to think in order to understand why the author ended the book the way he did. Which is why I give this book a five star rating and am taking the time to write this review. I hope you will enjoy this book as much as I did.
April 5, 2023
This book is 90% coming of age and 10% redemption. Which doesn't make it bad, but the redemption bit feels a little crammed in and forced.
As a 40something reader, I have to say I found myself really frustrated with Samuel at several points during the historical story. Had to keep reminding myself that "he's a KID" when he made dumb choices - especially his whole thought process in not reporting the things he and his friends had seen. When he was skeptical of Ben's advise I was all "BUT BEN IS RIGHT!". So it seems I've reached an age where I dont identify with the young protagonist anymore :)
Another reviewer said it had the feel of Stand by Me, and I'd agree. I really enjoyed this coming of age story.
As a 40something reader, I have to say I found myself really frustrated with Samuel at several points during the historical story. Had to keep reminding myself that "he's a KID" when he made dumb choices - especially his whole thought process in not reporting the things he and his friends had seen. When he was skeptical of Ben's advise I was all "BUT BEN IS RIGHT!". So it seems I've reached an age where I dont identify with the young protagonist anymore :)
Another reviewer said it had the feel of Stand by Me, and I'd agree. I really enjoyed this coming of age story.
August 25, 2018
Friendship. This book is about true, raw, best friendship. The kind that that’s built upon days of foolin’ around, upon days of hard work, on times of plenty and times of famine. It survives through secrets, through fights, and through foolish human pride. It’s the kind where presence is enough in times of adversity. It’s friendship of two boyhood best friends and how they put themselves at risk for each other.
And yet, one of them forsakes the other. And the consequences after 60 years are heavy.
I had high hopes for this book, and it went above and beyond them.
And yet, one of them forsakes the other. And the consequences after 60 years are heavy.
I had high hopes for this book, and it went above and beyond them.
December 12, 2020
Hang with it!!
Good story, but the first half was slow. The 2nd half began the important stuff, so stay with it. The last 1/3 is fast, heartening, moving, thoughtful, and really good. If you don’t get the southern boyhood coming-of-age stories of poverty, hardship, and growing up together, this may not be for you, but the lasting bonds of childhood make the man, and this book explains it well. The only thing I didn’t understand was why the boys called themselves “hun-ney” which sounded like “honey”!
Good story, but the first half was slow. The 2nd half began the important stuff, so stay with it. The last 1/3 is fast, heartening, moving, thoughtful, and really good. If you don’t get the southern boyhood coming-of-age stories of poverty, hardship, and growing up together, this may not be for you, but the lasting bonds of childhood make the man, and this book explains it well. The only thing I didn’t understand was why the boys called themselves “hun-ney” which sounded like “honey”!
October 13, 2020
I see myself in this author
I only wish that I could go back to my Detroit origins and gain forgiveness for leaving and coming out east. I miss my old childhood friends but wish that I had one like Fred. This story put my mind back to my teenage years, but I know that I am in my 70s now. While I have no granddaughter of a friend to see, I have gotten my feelings of loss and renewal back, and I APPRECIATE my history more than ever!
I only wish that I could go back to my Detroit origins and gain forgiveness for leaving and coming out east. I miss my old childhood friends but wish that I had one like Fred. This story put my mind back to my teenage years, but I know that I am in my 70s now. While I have no granddaughter of a friend to see, I have gotten my feelings of loss and renewal back, and I APPRECIATE my history more than ever!
August 25, 2020
I've always been a sucker for young boys growing up. Doing so in the country is all the better. Great characters in a well written story. I highly recommend A Far Piece to Canaan.
I could relate to so much of what happened in this book. Even jump to the present day. I'm about the same age as Samuel.
I could relate to so much of what happened in this book. Even jump to the present day. I'm about the same age as Samuel.
June 9, 2018
In spite of the fact that this took me forever to read (through no fault of the book), this is a truly worthy literary read. This is a part Tom Sawyer, part Mayberry, coming of age tale told through the now old eyes of Samuel, who grew up and left this childhood world behind.
August 7, 2018
This was a wonderful heartfelt memoir style account. This story represents the very foundation of young Samuel life, his essence and soul of his very existence.
These years were not easy, but they were most important in his long life.
These years were not easy, but they were most important in his long life.
July 5, 2020
Nostalgia
This is a great story that takes one back to a simpler time. Living was hard but "things" were not the backbone of a friendship or life. Honesty, friendship, helping your neighbor and doing the right thing in your life.
This is a great story that takes one back to a simpler time. Living was hard but "things" were not the backbone of a friendship or life. Honesty, friendship, helping your neighbor and doing the right thing in your life.
August 9, 2020
Kentucky coming of age story
This is a well written story with complex characters. The ending was emotional if maybe a little far fetched. I liked this story but it was slow moving.
This is a well written story with complex characters. The ending was emotional if maybe a little far fetched. I liked this story but it was slow moving.
June 19, 2024
I really enjoyed the prose. Parts of the story were rather engrossing as well. For some reason though, I found this book very easy to put down. It took me months to get through the book, getting passed by dozens of other books in the process.
Read
August 28, 2019A retrospect of Samuel's impoverished childhood in rural Kentucky and how that later affects his adult life. Childhood jinks, a secret friendship, and just getting by.
June 4, 2020
Rating
I loved this story. I gave it 5 stars because it is a well written book. I will recommend it t my book group.
I loved this story. I gave it 5 stars because it is a well written book. I will recommend it t my book group.
June 16, 2020
Great writing using flashbacks to merge the Olden days of an old mans youth with his current life
June 18, 2020
Great book
Wonderful story. So much suspense-what next can happen. Samuel tracing his past. Love this book. I love stories of children growing up
Wonderful story. So much suspense-what next can happen. Samuel tracing his past. Love this book. I love stories of children growing up
Read
July 7, 2020A great story about a childhood friendship and how that friendship affects a life over the years.
August 31, 2020
I absolutely loved this book. Amazing sense of time, place and character.
November 15, 2020
A really good book. Loved all the characters and their interactions with each other.
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