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The Distancers: An American Memoir
A sweeping, lush, and quintessentially American tale that is heartbreaking, hopeful, and cut from the very fabric of the heartland.A VINTAGE ORIGINAL.
In The Distancers, seven generations worth of joy and heartache is artfully forged into a family portrait that is at once universally American yet singularly Lee Sandlin's own. From the nineteenth century German immigrants who settled on a small Midwestern farm, to the proud and upright aunts and uncles with whom Sandlin spent the summers of his youth, a whole history of quiet ambition and stoic pride-of successes, failures, and above all endurance-leaps off the page in a sweeping American family epic. Touching on The Great Depression, WWII, the American immigrant experience, the uses of proper manners, how to ride the rails in the dust bowl years, and home brewing during prohibition, The Distancers is a beautiful and stark Midwestern drama, about a time and place long since vanished, where the author learned the value of family and the art of keeping one's distance.
In The Distancers, seven generations worth of joy and heartache is artfully forged into a family portrait that is at once universally American yet singularly Lee Sandlin's own. From the nineteenth century German immigrants who settled on a small Midwestern farm, to the proud and upright aunts and uncles with whom Sandlin spent the summers of his youth, a whole history of quiet ambition and stoic pride-of successes, failures, and above all endurance-leaps off the page in a sweeping American family epic. Touching on The Great Depression, WWII, the American immigrant experience, the uses of proper manners, how to ride the rails in the dust bowl years, and home brewing during prohibition, The Distancers is a beautiful and stark Midwestern drama, about a time and place long since vanished, where the author learned the value of family and the art of keeping one's distance.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
5 people are currently reading
727 people want to read
About the author
Lee Sandlin
4 books32 followersLee Sandlin is an award-winning journalist and essayist who was born in Wildwood, Illinois, and grew up in the suburbs of Chicago. He briefly attended the University of Chicago and Roosevelt University before leaving school to travel and write.
He has written feature journalism, historical studies, and music reviews on opera and classical works — mostly for the Chicago Reader, where he was also for many years the TV critic. More recently, he has become a frequent contributor to the Wall Street Journal.
His essay Losing the War, first appeared in 1997, subtitled "World War II has faded into movies, anecdotes, and archives that nobody cares about anymore. Are we finally losing the war?" It has been on university reading lists and praised in blogs of both anti-war activists and neocon crusaders. A segment was adapted for broadcast by the public radio show This American Life and anthologized by its host, Ira Glass in a 2007 collection, The New Kings of Nonfiction.
Saving His Life, is his biography of his father-in-law, a Russian emigre who grew up in China. The Distancers (2004) chronicles the American Midwest of several generations, as reflected in the history of a single house. He has also written Wicked River, a narrative history of the Mississippi River in the 19th century and Storm Kings, a history of tornado chasing; and a revised, expanded version of The Distancers.
Lee passed away unexpectedly on December 14, 2014.
He has written feature journalism, historical studies, and music reviews on opera and classical works — mostly for the Chicago Reader, where he was also for many years the TV critic. More recently, he has become a frequent contributor to the Wall Street Journal.
His essay Losing the War, first appeared in 1997, subtitled "World War II has faded into movies, anecdotes, and archives that nobody cares about anymore. Are we finally losing the war?" It has been on university reading lists and praised in blogs of both anti-war activists and neocon crusaders. A segment was adapted for broadcast by the public radio show This American Life and anthologized by its host, Ira Glass in a 2007 collection, The New Kings of Nonfiction.
Saving His Life, is his biography of his father-in-law, a Russian emigre who grew up in China. The Distancers (2004) chronicles the American Midwest of several generations, as reflected in the history of a single house. He has also written Wicked River, a narrative history of the Mississippi River in the 19th century and Storm Kings, a history of tornado chasing; and a revised, expanded version of The Distancers.
Lee passed away unexpectedly on December 14, 2014.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews
January 24, 2019
3.5 thoughts soon.
August 28, 2017
Anyone writing a memoir or thinking of doing so should read this book. Not that all memoirs should be written in the sterling storytelling way that Lee Sandlin writes, but maybe more writers would consider going more in that direction. That would hopefully reduce the number of memoirs being published where the writers go on and on about themselves, and often their families, for hundreds of pages; all the while apparently thinking that the more personal information they tell, the more they and their books will be liked; or at least the more likely their side of the story will be believed.
Mr. Sanlin is not selling any stories. He's telling stories. He's telling many small stories about his family that slowly bloom into a much larger story. A much larger story that is much like the stories of other families of the time, as well as the story of life and the world at the time. One of these small stories was about how his great-grandfather and his friends who had radios would play a game called "distancing". At the time, radio reception was wild and woolly, and a listener had no idea what radio stations might come in, how long they would stay tuned in, and where the stations were located.
The game involved sticking with a station that came in at night, and waiting to hear the call letters of the station and it's location. The next day, everyone would compare notes and whoever heard a station the farthest away was the winner of the distancing game. The distancing story was indeed a small story, but it told the much larger story of the human need for contact and communication, as well as the need for fun and mystery.
There's no fun and mystery in life and memoirs about lives when everything seems like one big group therapy session. There is some mystery in the Afterword chapter of The Distancers. In this final chapter, Mr. Sandlin is letting on to the readers that there is something bothering him about his family. He's wondering if some of them were happy with their lives or not. But the reader gets the impression that is not totally what's bothering him. It's something more than wondering about happiness. What it is, one is not sure. But that should be no surprise, since the author tells the reader in the beginning of the book that one of the most central lessons he was taught as a child by his great-aunts and great-uncles was reticence. A somewhat unknown word today.
Fortunately, Lee Sandlin did not adopt the practice of reticence as hardily as his elders. If he had, this wonderful memoir would not even exist. He did, however, absorb enough reticence while growing up that his final chapter did read like a bit of an interesting mystery, as opposed to a conversation with a psychiatrist. He, instead, is having a conversation with a Chinese friend in that chapter, who talks about family history and tells him a story about a white dragon and a black dragon. It all read like a most memorable ending to a most memorable memoir by a most memorable memoirist.
(Note: I received a free ARC of this book from Amazon Vine.)
Mr. Sanlin is not selling any stories. He's telling stories. He's telling many small stories about his family that slowly bloom into a much larger story. A much larger story that is much like the stories of other families of the time, as well as the story of life and the world at the time. One of these small stories was about how his great-grandfather and his friends who had radios would play a game called "distancing". At the time, radio reception was wild and woolly, and a listener had no idea what radio stations might come in, how long they would stay tuned in, and where the stations were located.
The game involved sticking with a station that came in at night, and waiting to hear the call letters of the station and it's location. The next day, everyone would compare notes and whoever heard a station the farthest away was the winner of the distancing game. The distancing story was indeed a small story, but it told the much larger story of the human need for contact and communication, as well as the need for fun and mystery.
There's no fun and mystery in life and memoirs about lives when everything seems like one big group therapy session. There is some mystery in the Afterword chapter of The Distancers. In this final chapter, Mr. Sandlin is letting on to the readers that there is something bothering him about his family. He's wondering if some of them were happy with their lives or not. But the reader gets the impression that is not totally what's bothering him. It's something more than wondering about happiness. What it is, one is not sure. But that should be no surprise, since the author tells the reader in the beginning of the book that one of the most central lessons he was taught as a child by his great-aunts and great-uncles was reticence. A somewhat unknown word today.
Fortunately, Lee Sandlin did not adopt the practice of reticence as hardily as his elders. If he had, this wonderful memoir would not even exist. He did, however, absorb enough reticence while growing up that his final chapter did read like a bit of an interesting mystery, as opposed to a conversation with a psychiatrist. He, instead, is having a conversation with a Chinese friend in that chapter, who talks about family history and tells him a story about a white dragon and a black dragon. It all read like a most memorable ending to a most memorable memoir by a most memorable memoirist.
(Note: I received a free ARC of this book from Amazon Vine.)
August 11, 2013
All families have stories to tell. This book proves that the family does not have to be famous or infamous to be interesting. This is a story of ordinary people trying to get through life as best they can. Some members have to struggle while others make good livings, some lives are sad, some lives are happy. This story is what families are about - history in the making - with each family member having their own set of "rules" and beliefs. Worth the read.
August 28, 2013
Recently the NY Times reported on how family stories contribute to the development of confidence and resiliency in children. Marshall Duke, a professor at Emory has been researching the importance of family stories, stating, "Ordinary families can be special because they each have a history no other family has...So if you know that [story] , it makes you special. It’s a fingerprint." In "The Distancers" Lee Sandlin tells his stories, demonstrating that there is no such thing as an ordinary family. Sandlin's challenge was learning family stories from his remarkably taciturn and incredibly stubborn relatives. "The Distancers" offers a cultural and historical portrait of the American midwest from the arrival of his German great-great-great grandparents in1850 to the close of the 20th century.
This brief book demonstrated a key truth to me: the story is the important thing, not the heirlooms or keepsakes. After recounting about half of the family history, including the story of the family brewing business, which closed in 1910. Sandlin recounts that " not so much as an empty bottle or a label has survived among the family's heirlooms." But the story remains, and is retold here, keeping the memory of the brewery alive.
Near the end of his book, Sandlin notes, "I still carried that story around with me everywhere, and kept thinking about it the way one might feel with one's fingers at a familiar stone or weathered piece of driftglass carried in a coat pocket." The story lived in his mind and now lives on paper. The book ends with an acquaintance lamenting, "All stories of the past are sad." This the only line in "The Distancers" that did not ring true. Sandlin's story of the past is sad at times, but also funny, hopeful, and lovely.
This brief book demonstrated a key truth to me: the story is the important thing, not the heirlooms or keepsakes. After recounting about half of the family history, including the story of the family brewing business, which closed in 1910. Sandlin recounts that " not so much as an empty bottle or a label has survived among the family's heirlooms." But the story remains, and is retold here, keeping the memory of the brewery alive.
Near the end of his book, Sandlin notes, "I still carried that story around with me everywhere, and kept thinking about it the way one might feel with one's fingers at a familiar stone or weathered piece of driftglass carried in a coat pocket." The story lived in his mind and now lives on paper. The book ends with an acquaintance lamenting, "All stories of the past are sad." This the only line in "The Distancers" that did not ring true. Sandlin's story of the past is sad at times, but also funny, hopeful, and lovely.
December 5, 2014
In a way, it's a family epic, but with very ordinary Midwestern family members. No saints, no captains of industry, nobody famous or unusual, just middling-class types in downstate Illinois, in Edwardsville, who live and work and snap at each other from the late 19th Century to the end of the 20th. Some of the family go to Chicago or the military, but generations of children, including the author, come back to spend at least some childhood summers with Aunt Helen and Aunt Hilda and the rest. No magic here, just a series of summers with very reticent people, who exist over the decades as the economy and the town evolves around them.
Those who have read Lee Sandlin's work in Storm Kings or Wicked River will recognize his plain-spoken, vivid prose. The people may seem dull, often aren't once he gets you to know them, but his story is never dull. This author is somehow able to make these ordinary lives something interesting; its stiff, standoffish, not-always-lovable people come to seem human in his telling. And the author tells this long-running, decade-after-decade saga within 200 pages. He has brought us, the readers, into his life and his extended family, and it's astonishing how compelling the story becomes, in his telling. And it's not just stories from his elderly surviving relatives: he seems to have done considerable research in local archives and history, a corroboration of the times and the places around the house in Edwardsville.
Compelling, human, vivid, and somewhat astonishing, what Lee Sandlin has given us here. Highest recommendation.
Those who have read Lee Sandlin's work in Storm Kings or Wicked River will recognize his plain-spoken, vivid prose. The people may seem dull, often aren't once he gets you to know them, but his story is never dull. This author is somehow able to make these ordinary lives something interesting; its stiff, standoffish, not-always-lovable people come to seem human in his telling. And the author tells this long-running, decade-after-decade saga within 200 pages. He has brought us, the readers, into his life and his extended family, and it's astonishing how compelling the story becomes, in his telling. And it's not just stories from his elderly surviving relatives: he seems to have done considerable research in local archives and history, a corroboration of the times and the places around the house in Edwardsville.
Compelling, human, vivid, and somewhat astonishing, what Lee Sandlin has given us here. Highest recommendation.
October 18, 2013
This is a book about the author's family - from great-great-great grandparents on down to his grandparents. Most of the book is set in Edwardsville, Illinois, and the author does a good job of capturing the spirit of his family - hardworking, determined, church going people who built a life for themselves. The author captures a picture of rural/suburban America and how it changes from about the 1850s to the 1970s. His great-grandfather built a small house that various descendants and family members lived in for years and years. He, as a young boy, visited the family members at the house during summers along with his siblings. The house was a gathering point for other family members who had moved away from Edwardsville. In a sad turn of fate, after the last family member who had been living in the house dies, the house is torn down and turned into a parking lot. It made me think that most families probably have similar stories and how in the pursuit of modernization, the past can get lost. The author does a good job of bringing his family members to life, and I am impressed at how he describes his family as being very reticent and kept their distance - hence the title of The Distancers - and yet he has been able to flesh out his family with interesting stories and happenings. He writes almost in novel form which also helps to make the story accessible.
I won this copy in one of the Goodreads giveaways.
I won this copy in one of the Goodreads giveaways.
November 20, 2013
*I received this book from the Goodreads Giveaway* Thank you Goodreads and Lee Sandlin
So, onto my review: I enjoyed the narrative and Mr. Sandlin does have a way with words and telling a story though I did find a few discrepancies in the first prologue or perhaps it was in Chapter 1. These discrepancies though minor; did offset me for a bit because I am a stickler for facts and details to coincide well. Once I got past that, the story flowed quite nicely.
I always enjoy reading about what life was like "back when" during different periods of history and this definitely did not disappoint.
Overall, there was a general sense of failure and sadness in these people's lives. I read quite a few memoirs and historical fiction and tragedy doesn't offset my ability to enjoy a book, though for some reason this one left me feeling a bit sad. There were no common threads of a shining truth or understanding of these people, which by the way were the author's family. I would have liked to hear more of what the author's mother had to say about her own family or how it affected her life and into her marriage, but not more than a few facts were relayed. Perhaps this was a cathartic piece for him and I found a hint of this in the afterward.
So, onto my review: I enjoyed the narrative and Mr. Sandlin does have a way with words and telling a story though I did find a few discrepancies in the first prologue or perhaps it was in Chapter 1. These discrepancies though minor; did offset me for a bit because I am a stickler for facts and details to coincide well. Once I got past that, the story flowed quite nicely.
I always enjoy reading about what life was like "back when" during different periods of history and this definitely did not disappoint.
Overall, there was a general sense of failure and sadness in these people's lives. I read quite a few memoirs and historical fiction and tragedy doesn't offset my ability to enjoy a book, though for some reason this one left me feeling a bit sad. There were no common threads of a shining truth or understanding of these people, which by the way were the author's family. I would have liked to hear more of what the author's mother had to say about her own family or how it affected her life and into her marriage, but not more than a few facts were relayed. Perhaps this was a cathartic piece for him and I found a hint of this in the afterward.
September 28, 2013
I won this book from Goodreads.
THE DISTANCERS is sad and depressing, but it is a memoir, a history of the author's ancestry, so there was nothing the author could do to cheer me with his family.
These were not famous people, or clever people or inspiring people. I felt sorry for them, and wanted to give them a hug. Hard work.
I had hoped to find something in their "Germaness" (? I'm half German) that I could relate to my own ancestry. NOPE. My ancestors were out going and joyous.
I feel the need to apologize for saying this, but I was really, really, bored.
THE DISTANCERS is sad and depressing, but it is a memoir, a history of the author's ancestry, so there was nothing the author could do to cheer me with his family.
These were not famous people, or clever people or inspiring people. I felt sorry for them, and wanted to give them a hug. Hard work.
I had hoped to find something in their "Germaness" (? I'm half German) that I could relate to my own ancestry. NOPE. My ancestors were out going and joyous.
I feel the need to apologize for saying this, but I was really, really, bored.
July 31, 2013
As a winner of this Goodreads First-Reads giveaway, I was excited! I found that this book was well written and an easy read. As one who loves family history and am working on my own family tree, it's the stories that my family memebers tell me I find the most interesting. I also have now realized that it's not only my family, but so it seems, most families don't "talk" about what was. I thank you for the chance to read this book!
January 28, 2014
Prose as plain and fresh as line-dried sheets; still, I could NOT shake a sense of pointlessness of the lives of Sandlin's relatives. Their unvoiced anger and decades-long personal grudges weighed on me as I read. I wanted to finish this book quickly, having the same feeling as you get when walking through a strange neighborhood, with nothing there to charm or hold you.
Read
February 6, 2014Won this in a giveaway. Excited to read it. Will update once I have :)
December 23, 2020
One of my favorite memoirs is Edmund Love's The Situation in Flushing, followed closely by his recounting of college days in Hanging On, Or How to Get Through a Depression and Enjoy Life (the title of which refers to an economic breakdown, as opposed to a mental one). I had hoped that Lee Sandlin's The Distancers, which is also about the (nearly) forgotten ways of life in (nearly) forgotten Midwestern farm towns, would be similar. To be honest, I was a bit disappointed.
The fact of the matter is there is too little memory in the memoir for my liking. The Distancers ceases to be a memoir fairly early; it is the history of the Sehnert family from its arrive from Germany in the decades before the Civil War up through the latter decades of the twentieth century. It's not that their story is disinteresting or that there aren't enough quirky characters to engage the reader. There is plenty of interest and not a few true characters. Squished into 180-odd pages, though, The Distancers compresses the generations together, a few years in the life of this one, a few in the life of that one, until it is impossible to remember the grandfather from the great-grandfather from the great-great-grandfather without thumbing back dozens of pages to recall the particulars.
What Sandlin does best is paint a portrait of a way of life long since past. The desire to reach into the past and pull it forward, to bring it to the reader in all its glory (and occasionally, all its grit) is palpable, and in this way The Distancers is quite similar to The Situation in Flushing. Where Sandlin does this best is, rather naturally, in the decades he can personally recall, which is the middle of the twentieth century. Earlier than that, the desire is still there, but the result is fuzzier; he is, after all, stitching together a past that is nearly forgotten.
The fact of the matter is there is too little memory in the memoir for my liking. The Distancers ceases to be a memoir fairly early; it is the history of the Sehnert family from its arrive from Germany in the decades before the Civil War up through the latter decades of the twentieth century. It's not that their story is disinteresting or that there aren't enough quirky characters to engage the reader. There is plenty of interest and not a few true characters. Squished into 180-odd pages, though, The Distancers compresses the generations together, a few years in the life of this one, a few in the life of that one, until it is impossible to remember the grandfather from the great-grandfather from the great-great-grandfather without thumbing back dozens of pages to recall the particulars.
What Sandlin does best is paint a portrait of a way of life long since past. The desire to reach into the past and pull it forward, to bring it to the reader in all its glory (and occasionally, all its grit) is palpable, and in this way The Distancers is quite similar to The Situation in Flushing. Where Sandlin does this best is, rather naturally, in the decades he can personally recall, which is the middle of the twentieth century. Earlier than that, the desire is still there, but the result is fuzzier; he is, after all, stitching together a past that is nearly forgotten.
July 27, 2017
This book was sent to me by Goodreads to read and review. I appreciate the opportunity.
It is very nteresting to read a part of a family history. It is at times gripping in the description of this family's ups and downs. The book deals with the grandfather's family of the the author. It is set in Illinois.
It is easy to read and understand as the author relates the facts as he knows them. The book is a an example of "everyone having a story". The stories range from early settlers in the 1850's to the magic experienced by current adults who as children visited the old family house.
This book is for anyone interested in the family history of the everyday people in mid-America.
Thank you for the chance to read this book.
It is very nteresting to read a part of a family history. It is at times gripping in the description of this family's ups and downs. The book deals with the grandfather's family of the the author. It is set in Illinois.
It is easy to read and understand as the author relates the facts as he knows them. The book is a an example of "everyone having a story". The stories range from early settlers in the 1850's to the magic experienced by current adults who as children visited the old family house.
This book is for anyone interested in the family history of the everyday people in mid-America.
Thank you for the chance to read this book.
July 25, 2018
These weren't special people, famous people, perfect people, or even always likable people. They were just people. This could have been the story of so many American families from the last century. The author's stories of his childhood summers in Illinois visiting his extended family particularly hit home. It reminded me so much of my own childhood summers spent in Texas.
"All stories of the past are sad." Hmmmm...in a way I might agree with the books closing line. So glad I chose to read this one.
"All stories of the past are sad." Hmmmm...in a way I might agree with the books closing line. So glad I chose to read this one.
May 1, 2021
I wish I could gather enough family history to write a book like this. "The Distancers" was a smooth and easy read, sometimes I forgot I wasn't reading a historical fiction. Very interesting right from the beginning.
December 3, 2021
This is a family history that is centered on Edwardsville, Illinois and a particular house there. It reads like a novel with its very eccentric residents. The book was first serialized in 2004 and later turned into a book. A very interesting, sad, but enjoyable read.
May 12, 2023
It says it’s an American Memoir but it feels more like a Midwestern American Memoir. I enjoyed the chronicle of Lee Sandlin’s family history in southern Illinois. I could picture his ancestors and loved hearing how they survived life’s hardships and lived long, prosperous lives.
January 27, 2020
This was very nostalgic. It made me remember times spent with my grandparents, all of whom were born from 1901-1922. This was very much a feel good book for me.
May 23, 2020
Lovely. Highly recommend.
August 10, 2021
Short read about an American family over decades.
May 8, 2024
Unique. Easy to read. Great story telling.
July 13, 2024
Families -- the strange behaviors
Of successive generations.
Of successive generations.
July 28, 2013
In 1850, Peter and Elizabeth Sehnert arrived in America from Germany. Rather than seek their fortune in one of the teeming industrial cities, they headed west. There weren’t any bridges across the Mississippi River in 1850, and the Sehnerts were not interested in following those who were headed west to California or Oregon. Instead they settled down on a small farm near Greenville, Illinois.
Peter and Elizabeth Sehnert epitomized the rapidly growing immigrant population that was transforming the American wilderness. They were God fearing, hard working people.
THE DISTANCERS: AN AMERICAN MEMOIR (New York: Vintage Books, 2013) is a family chronicle told by Lee Sandlin, the great-great-great-grandson of Peter and Elizabeth Sehnert. It is more than a family history. It provides the reader with a measure of insight into what made America the great nation it was during most of the twentieth century.
THE DISTANCERS is not the story of one of America’s leading families. None of the Sehnert’s descendents became presidents, founders of great family fortunes, or acclaimed figures in American cultural history.
The beauty of this book is that it is a story repeated innumerable times in our nation’s history. It mirrors the story of those who, like my own grandparents, came to America to fulfill a dream. It’s the story of that spirit that can be found in the songs of Woody Guthrie. It’s the spirit that built America “From California to the New York island; From the red wood forest to the Gulf Stream waters” (From “This Land is Your Land” by Woody Guthrie).
THE DISTANCERS is an enjoyable read. For those who do read it, and enjoy it, I recommend THE LAST FARMER: AN AMERICAN MEMOIR by Howard Kohn (New York: Summit Books, 1988).
Peter and Elizabeth Sehnert epitomized the rapidly growing immigrant population that was transforming the American wilderness. They were God fearing, hard working people.
THE DISTANCERS: AN AMERICAN MEMOIR (New York: Vintage Books, 2013) is a family chronicle told by Lee Sandlin, the great-great-great-grandson of Peter and Elizabeth Sehnert. It is more than a family history. It provides the reader with a measure of insight into what made America the great nation it was during most of the twentieth century.
THE DISTANCERS is not the story of one of America’s leading families. None of the Sehnert’s descendents became presidents, founders of great family fortunes, or acclaimed figures in American cultural history.
The beauty of this book is that it is a story repeated innumerable times in our nation’s history. It mirrors the story of those who, like my own grandparents, came to America to fulfill a dream. It’s the story of that spirit that can be found in the songs of Woody Guthrie. It’s the spirit that built America “From California to the New York island; From the red wood forest to the Gulf Stream waters” (From “This Land is Your Land” by Woody Guthrie).
THE DISTANCERS is an enjoyable read. For those who do read it, and enjoy it, I recommend THE LAST FARMER: AN AMERICAN MEMOIR by Howard Kohn (New York: Summit Books, 1988).
September 22, 2013
The Sehnert family, emigrated to Illinois from Germany in the 1850s, is a family of contradictions. The author remembers the laughter, but when he talked to others, one person told him that she was sure “one or two of them might have been happy in their own way...but they were sure good at hiding it.”
They believed in a work ethic and in keeping one's problems to oneself, yet it seemed that complaining about long-past slights was the only thing they could enjoy. What sense of humor they had was often directed in meanness at someone else. There were many self-imposed rules and the family seemed to wallow in its unhappiness.
It doesn't sound like much fun.
Despite this, the author has fond memories, and writes openly of them and of what he learned of his family. There is nothing special about this family, as much the same and as much different as all families.
There were a couple of minor drawbacks. The author mentioned African violets planted outside with their tendrils winding around window frames. Uh, no. And one snake-hissing simile is fine; more than that is annoying.
Even in my advance reader's copy, family photographs were included and really added to the story.
This is an interesting and pleasant memoir for those voyeurs who like to peek into other people's families.
I was given an advance copy of the book for review.
They believed in a work ethic and in keeping one's problems to oneself, yet it seemed that complaining about long-past slights was the only thing they could enjoy. What sense of humor they had was often directed in meanness at someone else. There were many self-imposed rules and the family seemed to wallow in its unhappiness.
It doesn't sound like much fun.
Despite this, the author has fond memories, and writes openly of them and of what he learned of his family. There is nothing special about this family, as much the same and as much different as all families.
There were a couple of minor drawbacks. The author mentioned African violets planted outside with their tendrils winding around window frames. Uh, no. And one snake-hissing simile is fine; more than that is annoying.
Even in my advance reader's copy, family photographs were included and really added to the story.
This is an interesting and pleasant memoir for those voyeurs who like to peek into other people's families.
I was given an advance copy of the book for review.
August 10, 2013
I won this book via the Goodreads first read program - thank you Goodreads and Mr Sandlin.
I really enjoyed this book from the moment I had finished the first page. The story of America - immigrants settle, raise a family and battle through the adversities of life.
The author is retelling the story of his family from their beginings as German immigrants to modern day times. Reading this book made me understand the need to preserve family history,customs and memories, recognising family members who bear some resemblance to our own kith and kin.
Reading this reminded me of my recent interest in watching the TV show "Who do you think you are", celebrities trace their family roots and are able to find answers to questions.
A compact tale, when you consider how much information is in this book, I was sad when I realised we had reached the final page. Nice pace, with vivid descriptions of idyllic summers that so many of us remember as children along with the sadness of loss and life changing trauma of war - it is all there in this one.
I really enjoyed this book from the moment I had finished the first page. The story of America - immigrants settle, raise a family and battle through the adversities of life.
The author is retelling the story of his family from their beginings as German immigrants to modern day times. Reading this book made me understand the need to preserve family history,customs and memories, recognising family members who bear some resemblance to our own kith and kin.
Reading this reminded me of my recent interest in watching the TV show "Who do you think you are", celebrities trace their family roots and are able to find answers to questions.
A compact tale, when you consider how much information is in this book, I was sad when I realised we had reached the final page. Nice pace, with vivid descriptions of idyllic summers that so many of us remember as children along with the sadness of loss and life changing trauma of war - it is all there in this one.
November 22, 2013
Despite being all for reading a bit of someone's family history, I admit I had a bit of a struggle getting into this. While the book seemed professional enough, it also seemed... dull. Fortunately, a few chapters' in, I found myself in the grip of this family's ups and downs and feeling quite personal with all the members.
The book primarily deals with the author's grandfather's family in its little corner of Illinois. The writing is simple, apt, and understated as Sandlin tales the facts as he knows them. The result is a surprisingly poignant example of "everyone having a story". From a brother dealing with post-tramatic stress to a sister caught in a loveless marriage to the magic experienced by the children visiting the old family house.
This book is definitely for those interested in the family history of the everyday variety and wanting to know how one author puts it altogether and I'm afraid some readers may still find it dull. But it's a solid story and well-presented with power greater than its words.
The book primarily deals with the author's grandfather's family in its little corner of Illinois. The writing is simple, apt, and understated as Sandlin tales the facts as he knows them. The result is a surprisingly poignant example of "everyone having a story". From a brother dealing with post-tramatic stress to a sister caught in a loveless marriage to the magic experienced by the children visiting the old family house.
This book is definitely for those interested in the family history of the everyday variety and wanting to know how one author puts it altogether and I'm afraid some readers may still find it dull. But it's a solid story and well-presented with power greater than its words.
June 24, 2021
The Distancers is an multi-generational saga; the true story of the authors ancestors forging a new life in a new country. Taking us through seven generations of his family history, Sandlin weaves together the stories of his German immigrant ancestors’ lives in the American Midwest.
Through careful historical research, family lore, interviews, written accounts, and his own childhood memories the author crafts a story that spans the decades. The memoir journeys through the American immigrant experience, the Dustbowl, Prohibition, the Great Depression, World War II and the authors own childhood summers spent in the home of his stern aunts and uncles.
While this is an account of his ancestors’ history, the book reads more like a fictional saga full of tragedy, hardships, fragility, stoicism, and the resilience of this family to endure their sometimes self-afflicted misery. I enjoyed this glimpse into the difficult lives led by so many midwestern immigrant families; perhaps not dissimilar to the history of mine, or yours?
Through careful historical research, family lore, interviews, written accounts, and his own childhood memories the author crafts a story that spans the decades. The memoir journeys through the American immigrant experience, the Dustbowl, Prohibition, the Great Depression, World War II and the authors own childhood summers spent in the home of his stern aunts and uncles.
While this is an account of his ancestors’ history, the book reads more like a fictional saga full of tragedy, hardships, fragility, stoicism, and the resilience of this family to endure their sometimes self-afflicted misery. I enjoyed this glimpse into the difficult lives led by so many midwestern immigrant families; perhaps not dissimilar to the history of mine, or yours?
August 6, 2013
I won this book in a Goodreads First-Reads giveaway. I entered the giveaway because I'm interested in stories, fiction and non-fiction, about how America became what it was and this book promised that. It delivered. Sandlin examined the town of Edwardsville in terms of his family and adeptly used that to demonstrate a tiny piece of early 20th century America.
The book only rates three stars from me, however because:
First, it was too small. By focusing only on his family, he wrote a mildly interesting story. It could have been more interesting if he'd researched someone else, even just in Edwardsville, for a comparison.
Second, I'm not part of the Sehnert/Sandlin family so, beyond what I said above, the Sehnert/Sandlin family is only mildly interesting to me.
Third, too much of the book read like lists turned into prose. Names, dates, places, personalities... it was kind of bland.
The book only rates three stars from me, however because:
First, it was too small. By focusing only on his family, he wrote a mildly interesting story. It could have been more interesting if he'd researched someone else, even just in Edwardsville, for a comparison.
Second, I'm not part of the Sehnert/Sandlin family so, beyond what I said above, the Sehnert/Sandlin family is only mildly interesting to me.
Third, too much of the book read like lists turned into prose. Names, dates, places, personalities... it was kind of bland.
September 26, 2013
I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Distancers, an American Memoir by Lee Sandlin. Since I am from Illinois and the family genealogist, this story struck a wonderful cord in me. Sandlin has a nice easy manor when telling his family’s story. The prologue is easily read and grabs the reader’s interest before the story even begins. Sandlin is able to bring to life all the characters so much that by the end of the story the reader truly knows them all.
I won this book on Goodreads, First Reads Giveaway and I thank the author for my copy. The story is of a family that goes through the depression and has family members go to the South Pacific in WWII. The book gives the reader insight into how these times affected the family.
I recommend this book to any one that enjoys a study of family relations.
I won this book on Goodreads, First Reads Giveaway and I thank the author for my copy. The story is of a family that goes through the depression and has family members go to the South Pacific in WWII. The book gives the reader insight into how these times affected the family.
I recommend this book to any one that enjoys a study of family relations.
December 20, 2013
Sandlin's family history is not like mine or that of my ancestors but maybe more of a parallel story. I was drawn to his story of characters, their flaws and faults ever so real, and their redeeming traits remembered and cherished. All families have stories and I am impressed that he was able to revive so much if his family history, yet make it seem less like historical reading and more like a novel, alive with the struggles, emotions, disappointments, and love of family members for generations back. The writing and the story captivated me and I recognized things that I have heard told about my family history, whose participants experienced wars, poverty, big families, hard work, values being passed from one generation to another, and most if all, love. Bravo, Mr. Sandlin, for taking the time and effort to write this. I enjoyed it very much!,
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