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L'ultimo giorno di Jim Loney
Jim Loney è un sangue misto. Respinto dal padre bianco e incapace di riscoprire le origini della madre nativa americana, Loney è estraneo a entrambe le comunità e conduce un’esistenza solitaria in una cittadina del Montana. Preda di sogni inquietanti, Loney è perseguitato dalle visioni di un nero uccello di malaugurio. Nonostante i suoi tormenti, Jim è un giovane gradevole e non fatica a conquistarsi l’affetto di coloro che lo circondano, non riuscendo tuttavia a ricambiare le offerte di amicizia e di amore. Rhea, la sua ragazza, non può consolarlo e Kate, sua sorella, non riesce a farsi strada nel suo mondo. Si ritrova così costretto ad affrontare un viaggio interiore che potrebbe condurlo o alla scoperta di sé o all’autodistruzione.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
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915 people want to read
About the author
James Welch
53 books227 followersJames Welch was a Blackfeet author who wrote several novels considered part of the Native American Renaissance literary movement. He is best known for his novel "Fools Crow" (1986).
His works explore the experiences of Native Americans in the 19th and 20th centuries. He worked with Paul Stekler on the documentary "Last Stand at Little Bighorn" which aired on PBS.
His works explore the experiences of Native Americans in the 19th and 20th centuries. He worked with Paul Stekler on the documentary "Last Stand at Little Bighorn" which aired on PBS.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews
January 7, 2025
Published in 1979, this is the story of the life and death of Jim Loney, written by James Welch (1940-2003), a Native American novelist.
******
Jim Loney was a basketball star in high school and academically he was a good student. After graduation, however, he crashed and burned as his past began to haunt him and alcohol became his best friend. At age thirty-five he died with a bottle in his hand.
When he was an infant his Indian mother abandoned him and his sister, Kate, who wasn’t much older. When he was nine or ten his white father went out to do some drinking and didn’t return until twelve years later.
He lives alone in Harlem, a small town in northern Montana, where most of the story takes place. He has two people who care about him and worry that he has no ambition or any life goals. One of the people is his sister Kate, who has made a better adjustment and has a good job in Washington, D.C. She wants Jim to leave Montana and to live with her in Washington.
The other person is his girlfriend, Rhea, who left her upper middle class family in Dallas, and who teaches at the local school. She has had enough of the small town after one school year and is planning to move to Seattle. She attempts, but fails just as Kate did, to interest Jim in leaving Harlem.
Rhea does care about Jim, maybe even loves him, but doesn’t have the background or experiences to understand him and why he is totally devoid of ambition with a loss of direction and purpose.
Her lack of understanding is vividly demonstrated when she once said, “Oh, you’re so lucky to have two sets of ancestors …. You can be Indian one day and white the next.”
However, Jim believes that as a “half breed,” as individuals of mixed Indian and white blood were referred to at that time, and even later, and because he was abandoned by both his Indian mother and white father, that he has no ancestors.
Eventually, as the title indicates, Jim Loney self-destructs and dies with that bottle in his hand.
******
“Excellent story of a man painted into a corner. The prose is clean and tight and the characters are sharp and true …. Reminds me of a kind of Larry Brown of the American West.” – Charles Dodd White, author of A Shelter of Others
“A brilliant, chill, dignified piece of work, this harrowing novel establishes Welch without question as one of those few writers of classical stature who tells us about the American West. -- Kirkus
******
Jim Loney was a basketball star in high school and academically he was a good student. After graduation, however, he crashed and burned as his past began to haunt him and alcohol became his best friend. At age thirty-five he died with a bottle in his hand.
When he was an infant his Indian mother abandoned him and his sister, Kate, who wasn’t much older. When he was nine or ten his white father went out to do some drinking and didn’t return until twelve years later.
He lives alone in Harlem, a small town in northern Montana, where most of the story takes place. He has two people who care about him and worry that he has no ambition or any life goals. One of the people is his sister Kate, who has made a better adjustment and has a good job in Washington, D.C. She wants Jim to leave Montana and to live with her in Washington.
The other person is his girlfriend, Rhea, who left her upper middle class family in Dallas, and who teaches at the local school. She has had enough of the small town after one school year and is planning to move to Seattle. She attempts, but fails just as Kate did, to interest Jim in leaving Harlem.
Rhea does care about Jim, maybe even loves him, but doesn’t have the background or experiences to understand him and why he is totally devoid of ambition with a loss of direction and purpose.
Her lack of understanding is vividly demonstrated when she once said, “Oh, you’re so lucky to have two sets of ancestors …. You can be Indian one day and white the next.”
However, Jim believes that as a “half breed,” as individuals of mixed Indian and white blood were referred to at that time, and even later, and because he was abandoned by both his Indian mother and white father, that he has no ancestors.
Eventually, as the title indicates, Jim Loney self-destructs and dies with that bottle in his hand.
******
“Excellent story of a man painted into a corner. The prose is clean and tight and the characters are sharp and true …. Reminds me of a kind of Larry Brown of the American West.” – Charles Dodd White, author of A Shelter of Others
“A brilliant, chill, dignified piece of work, this harrowing novel establishes Welch without question as one of those few writers of classical stature who tells us about the American West. -- Kirkus
August 15, 2017
Depressing as you'd expect but also oddly matter of fact in tone, which I liked. Almost black humor but not quite. Just humorous at odd times maybe. I liked that it didn't try to be more than it was but I also didn't like that it didn't try to be more than it was. As defeatist as the title character himself.
October 2, 2010
Excellent story of a man painted into a corner. The prose is clean and tight and the characters are sharp and true. I will definitely be reading more of James Welch. Reminds me of a kind of Larry Brown of the American West.
December 27, 2012
Can't believe it took me so long to read this book. Picked up a paperback of it at a library sale ten years ago because I liked the title and cover. Didn't know anything about Welch. A few years ago, Willy Vlautin named it as one of his favorite books in an interview and it jumped to the top of my to-read pile. Still held off for some reason. Since then, I've heard Jim Harrison and others talk about it. Found my old paperback this weekend when I was home for the holidays. Finally sat down and just tore through it. What a sad and beautiful little book. Seriously think it might be one of my favorite novels ever. I haven't felt like this since I read Ironweed at 18 and it switched my brain. It's almost assuredly not for everyone. If you like your books light and feathery, steer clear. But if you love tight prose and reading about tormented characters in a time of crisis, Loney's for you.
July 26, 2023
“Ho davvero cercato di volere bene a Sandra, pensò, ma ora non ci riesco più. Non la conoscevo ed è impossibile amare qualcuno che non conosci. Si chiese se suo padre l’avesse amata; o se avesse amato sua madre. Mentre cercava di accendere un altro fiammifero per un’altra sigaretta, si accorse che gli tremavano le mani. Gli sarebbe piaciuto credere che tremassero per il freddo, ma capì senza pensarci che tremavano perché non c’era un vero amore nella sua vita; che in qualche modo, a un certo punto, tutto era andato terribilmente storto e, sebbene ciò riguardasse in parte la sua famiglia, riguardava totalmente lui.”
Jim Loney è solo, ha spesso lo sguardo assente, rivolto a sé stesso, estraneo a tutto ciò che lo circonda e con l’incolmabile necessità di ricostruire il suo passato che gli rende impossibile anche solo immaginare un presente e, meno che mai, un futuro.
Jim Loney è un mezzosangue, indiano da parte della madre che ha abbandonato lui e la famiglia quando Jim era molto piccolo. Forse è addirittura impazzita. La madre e Sandra, l’amante del padre che ha tentato di tirare su Jim e la sorella Kate quando se n’è andato anche il padre, appartengono a un passato consolatorio difficilmente accessibile. Le donne del presente di Jim, la sorella Kate e l’amante Rhea, potrebbero essere la sua salvezza a patto che accetti di recidere completamente i legami con il passato e la sua possibile identità di nativo americano, con i suoi simboli e luoghi, ai quali inconsciamente si aggrappa per resistere all’alienazione. Kate, che si è realizzata ben presto come donna ”bianca” di successo, e Rhea, immatura insegnante di origine texana e sua amante per breve tempo, sono entrambe estranee a quel luogo fisico e sociale nel Montana ai confini con il Canada, sia alla comunità bianca, che agli indiani della riserva; sono le uniche due persone che tentano di curarsi di lui e di strapparlo ad una inevitabile fine.
Jim è consapevole di non appartenere a nulla e che non ci sia nulla che gli possa appartenere, completamente estraneo anche al padre che lo ha abbandonato e che continua a incontrare pur avendo avuto con lui un solo, ultimo conclusivo contatto.
Non ci può essere una via d’uscita per Jim diversa dalla sconfitta, anche se con estrema lucidità e consapevolezza sarà lui a dettare le regole.
Nonostante la trama, non si tratta di un racconto cupo o, perlomeno, l’inesorabilità e la tristezza sono resi attraverso un tono piatto e pacato, una sorta di distacco partecipato, e la descrizione di un ambiente vasto e quasi desolato, che il lungo inverno restituisce con colori metallici.
È da sottolineare quanto la socialità sia rappresentata dai bar e dai loro gestori, che conoscono tutti e sono capaci di placare gli animi e di ascoltare, come ne Il racconto del barista di Ivan Doig con cui condivide lo stesso luogo della narrazione: Gros Ventre.
Mi sembra una buona lettura.
Jim Loney è solo, ha spesso lo sguardo assente, rivolto a sé stesso, estraneo a tutto ciò che lo circonda e con l’incolmabile necessità di ricostruire il suo passato che gli rende impossibile anche solo immaginare un presente e, meno che mai, un futuro.
Jim Loney è un mezzosangue, indiano da parte della madre che ha abbandonato lui e la famiglia quando Jim era molto piccolo. Forse è addirittura impazzita. La madre e Sandra, l’amante del padre che ha tentato di tirare su Jim e la sorella Kate quando se n’è andato anche il padre, appartengono a un passato consolatorio difficilmente accessibile. Le donne del presente di Jim, la sorella Kate e l’amante Rhea, potrebbero essere la sua salvezza a patto che accetti di recidere completamente i legami con il passato e la sua possibile identità di nativo americano, con i suoi simboli e luoghi, ai quali inconsciamente si aggrappa per resistere all’alienazione. Kate, che si è realizzata ben presto come donna ”bianca” di successo, e Rhea, immatura insegnante di origine texana e sua amante per breve tempo, sono entrambe estranee a quel luogo fisico e sociale nel Montana ai confini con il Canada, sia alla comunità bianca, che agli indiani della riserva; sono le uniche due persone che tentano di curarsi di lui e di strapparlo ad una inevitabile fine.
Jim è consapevole di non appartenere a nulla e che non ci sia nulla che gli possa appartenere, completamente estraneo anche al padre che lo ha abbandonato e che continua a incontrare pur avendo avuto con lui un solo, ultimo conclusivo contatto.
Non ci può essere una via d’uscita per Jim diversa dalla sconfitta, anche se con estrema lucidità e consapevolezza sarà lui a dettare le regole.
Nonostante la trama, non si tratta di un racconto cupo o, perlomeno, l’inesorabilità e la tristezza sono resi attraverso un tono piatto e pacato, una sorta di distacco partecipato, e la descrizione di un ambiente vasto e quasi desolato, che il lungo inverno restituisce con colori metallici.
È da sottolineare quanto la socialità sia rappresentata dai bar e dai loro gestori, che conoscono tutti e sono capaci di placare gli animi e di ascoltare, come ne Il racconto del barista di Ivan Doig con cui condivide lo stesso luogo della narrazione: Gros Ventre.
Mi sembra una buona lettura.
June 18, 2024
First published in 1979, I'm surprised I haven't come across this sooner, as someone who loves Native American literature and well...anything set in Montana.
The Death of Jim Loney follows Jim, a man of both white and Native American parentage, who is now in his mid thirties and still living in the same small town he grew up in.
Estranged from both his mother and father, Jim seeks something he just can't seem to find - somewhere to belong. His lover Rhea isn't quite enough to pull him through, and neither is his sister Kate who left for Washington years ago to make a life for herself. Despite both of their attempts, Jim drifts through town, from bar to bar, through distant memories of the mother he barely knew, thoughts of his drunk of a father who still lives in the same town but never talks to him, and dream-like images of a bird which continues to haunt him.
You can't help but feel for Jim who just can't seem to make sense of how he has got to this point, of his lack of identity, and the emptiness he feels from there being no real love in his life.
I wasn't quite so sure about this to begin with - the writing style felt unusual at times, and the dialogue often came across as unrealistic. However, by the last quarter it really grabbed me and I think it's one that I'll be thinking about for some time. I even found myself underlining sentences that I didn't want to forget. A very clever and beautiful ending.
The Death of Jim Loney follows Jim, a man of both white and Native American parentage, who is now in his mid thirties and still living in the same small town he grew up in.
Estranged from both his mother and father, Jim seeks something he just can't seem to find - somewhere to belong. His lover Rhea isn't quite enough to pull him through, and neither is his sister Kate who left for Washington years ago to make a life for herself. Despite both of their attempts, Jim drifts through town, from bar to bar, through distant memories of the mother he barely knew, thoughts of his drunk of a father who still lives in the same town but never talks to him, and dream-like images of a bird which continues to haunt him.
You can't help but feel for Jim who just can't seem to make sense of how he has got to this point, of his lack of identity, and the emptiness he feels from there being no real love in his life.
I wasn't quite so sure about this to begin with - the writing style felt unusual at times, and the dialogue often came across as unrealistic. However, by the last quarter it really grabbed me and I think it's one that I'll be thinking about for some time. I even found myself underlining sentences that I didn't want to forget. A very clever and beautiful ending.
June 3, 2008
The story is a modern American tragedy. Jim Loney is the product of a broken, alcoholic family. He is drinking himself to death. The slim novel reads like an elegiac cello solo plays.
April 30, 2012
While the central character of this short novel, Jim Loney, is stricken with a loss of direction and purpose that suggests a death of the soul itself, the characters surrounding him are themselves unmoored and drifting in their own ways. Jim, cast adrift early in life as a throw-away child of an Indian mother and white father, believes that his life would take on meaning if only he knew more about his background. But being a "half-breed" merely deepens the confusion about his identity. His older sister, Kate, with a beltway job in Washington DC tries unsuccessfully to jump start his life, and partly as a result, begins to doubt that most Indians can be rescued from what amounts to a debilitating inertia.
Meanwhile, Jim's sometime girlfriend, Rhea, on the lam from an upper middle-class family in Dallas, has taken a teaching job in the northern Montana town of Harlem, where the story takes place, and abruptly quits in the middle of the school year to go back to Texas or to Seattle, she doesn't know where, and to do what, she isn't sure either. And a town cop, recently relocated from the Bay Area of California, decides after a bedding a few of the local women that small town life in the back of beyond is not to his liking. It is the late 1970s, in that period of post-Vietnam, pre-Reagan vagueness about national purpose and identity, and Jim Loney's lonely 35-year-old life settles sadly into an alcohol-soaked oblivion that drifts finally into an inevitable and violent ending.
Clearly and beautifully written, but without the humor in Welch's previous "Winter in the Blood," this novel is a melanchly portrayal of isolation and loss. And identifying with the central character, readers are likely to feel that they are watching a loved but frustratingly detached friend gradually slipping away.
Meanwhile, Jim's sometime girlfriend, Rhea, on the lam from an upper middle-class family in Dallas, has taken a teaching job in the northern Montana town of Harlem, where the story takes place, and abruptly quits in the middle of the school year to go back to Texas or to Seattle, she doesn't know where, and to do what, she isn't sure either. And a town cop, recently relocated from the Bay Area of California, decides after a bedding a few of the local women that small town life in the back of beyond is not to his liking. It is the late 1970s, in that period of post-Vietnam, pre-Reagan vagueness about national purpose and identity, and Jim Loney's lonely 35-year-old life settles sadly into an alcohol-soaked oblivion that drifts finally into an inevitable and violent ending.
Clearly and beautifully written, but without the humor in Welch's previous "Winter in the Blood," this novel is a melanchly portrayal of isolation and loss. And identifying with the central character, readers are likely to feel that they are watching a loved but frustratingly detached friend gradually slipping away.
February 17, 2009
Too-soon-gone, Blackfeet author James Welch (1940-2003) frequently depicted the harsh reality of life on a reservation. Welch's novels can be terribly depressing, at the same time very honest in their portrayal.
November 22, 2025
There’s not a whole lot for me to say—well, shit; you can see the title—so I’ll leave it all for a song:
“Where you been is good and gone
All you keep’s the getting there”
—Townes Van Zandt
“Where you been is good and gone
All you keep’s the getting there”
—Townes Van Zandt
March 9, 2008
When I was a teenager I was an idiot. (I'm well aware many might say that I have changed little since then, but bear with me.) In an English class, I attempted to have Welch's Fools Crow banned from the school, mostly because I was lazy and too stupid to question my classmates.
I still don't think that Fool's Crow is brilliant. After reading The Death of Jim Loney I'm sure it's not brilliant, but this book is.
Set in the small towns of the Montana highline, reflecting the community and occasional desperation of life on the prairie it's a great introduction to contemporary Native American life.
Loney is tragic, though not a tragic hero. He is enticing, yet enfuriating, and his place in the Harlem community makes more sense the more you read. Though the ending becomes a tad too disjointed for my tastes, the complete description of a man, a culture, and a community makes it worth reading, especially if you're a good ol' country boy/girl.
I still don't think that Fool's Crow is brilliant. After reading The Death of Jim Loney I'm sure it's not brilliant, but this book is.
Set in the small towns of the Montana highline, reflecting the community and occasional desperation of life on the prairie it's a great introduction to contemporary Native American life.
Loney is tragic, though not a tragic hero. He is enticing, yet enfuriating, and his place in the Harlem community makes more sense the more you read. Though the ending becomes a tad too disjointed for my tastes, the complete description of a man, a culture, and a community makes it worth reading, especially if you're a good ol' country boy/girl.
April 30, 2015
This is one of those strange books that I'm not sure whether I want to give 5 stars or 1 star. It took me a month to read it's less than 200 pages. It is not happy. There is barely one happy thought in this novel. It is stark and cold, like the weather in Harlem, Montana. But, all that being said, I cared about Jim Loney. I didn't want him to die, even though I knew he was going to and I figured out how the book was going to play out.
I have decided to read books by local authors in places where I am traveling. This was my first as a prep for our trip to Montana, and boy did it give you a feel feel for the landscape and culture there in the 70's. I'm glad I read it, but am also glad that I'll be going to a bit different sort of Montana.
I have decided to read books by local authors in places where I am traveling. This was my first as a prep for our trip to Montana, and boy did it give you a feel feel for the landscape and culture there in the 70's. I'm glad I read it, but am also glad that I'll be going to a bit different sort of Montana.
July 6, 2012
I read this book in college 29 years ago and I still think about it often. I love the way James Welch writes a story, it penetrates you in a way that the state of Montana does. You can’t stop thinking about the starkness of landscape and prose. Growing up in Montana I knew some of the people that populate this book. It was a very personal story to me but one that I recommend to anyone who would like to know what a deserted life looks like.
September 15, 2009
This book is like the mafia. It draws you in slowly and once it’s got its hooks in you, there is no escape and you are marked for life.
January 14, 2025
I thought it was a good read. I often think about how life growing up on a reservation truly is and knowing the history of your ancestors.
October 5, 2021
*listened to audio*
Good short listen for the road. Nice visiting Montana while in New York ;)
Has some Hunger Games prequel vibes. Heart wrenching, but would have to read it again to see if it actually touched the right spots. Not sure it did. Yet I didn't necessarily dislike the book.
I would definitely enjoy it more if I read it again.
A lot of mature content
Good short listen for the road. Nice visiting Montana while in New York ;)
Has some Hunger Games prequel vibes. Heart wrenching, but would have to read it again to see if it actually touched the right spots. Not sure it did. Yet I didn't necessarily dislike the book.
I would definitely enjoy it more if I read it again.
A lot of mature content
August 22, 2025
This book quickly brings you into its world and successfully invests you in the characters, particularly the central one James Loney. There's no surprise (given the title) that we follow the last half-year or so of his life. And in my read (heh) of it, this is very much a book on how depression consumes and destroys. Despite a rough upbringing (not to mention the cultural baggage of being Native American), Jim has friends and at least two people who love him dearly and truly. Despite having multiple avenues to escape his current life and embark on a new journey, he continues a downward descent, unable to escape the sad history that tethers him to his small and future-less town.
While I enjoyed the book, the ending is abrupt and centers around a couple of characters that are introduced only towards the end (and thus their prominent place in the conclusion feel unearned). There are also a few sub-plots that are unresolved or never amount to anything - particularly one about a corrupt and cowardly cop that stalks Jim's girlfriend. Perhaps these were added to pad out a pretty short read, but they ultimately prove unnecessary and unsatisfying.
While I enjoyed the book, the ending is abrupt and centers around a couple of characters that are introduced only towards the end (and thus their prominent place in the conclusion feel unearned). There are also a few sub-plots that are unresolved or never amount to anything - particularly one about a corrupt and cowardly cop that stalks Jim's girlfriend. Perhaps these were added to pad out a pretty short read, but they ultimately prove unnecessary and unsatisfying.
January 7, 2024
great character development. simple, moving. last few chapters really had me goin! “cannery row” goes dark/emo in montana vibes.
Read
October 20, 2018this is a sad book, will break your heart and make you feel silly dumb for even giving as much attention to these people, this town, as you do.
filled with overused tropes but used at odd untimely angles, and while reading you can feel the movements of these people and taste the Montana light that seems to be peering through every kitchen window, more light a spotlight looking for something of interest in this sleepy town than a source of heat and life.
James Welch is a master of shifting perspectives of an array of characters in a room...the way he drifts from person to person, all seeing the same thing, but seeing through a different shape and edge, always adds a fun, inventive, and almost tricky game-like experience of reading.
it is always a shame to consider how infrequent indigenous people of this land appear in art created here, nonetheless conversations had with friends, family...and when it does we all just say "damn we really fucked these people over" but early is there actual, truthful, individualized light given to the people who we vaguely honor through our guilt. We never bother look at what they like to do on their days off, what they eat for breakfast, what they think of their town, their family, their friends, their past, and this is the most heart breaking realization of all while reading this book...that we exploit their lives by feeling guilty that we ruined them but don't bother see them, de-politisized, clear cut and unique and full of behavior just as interesting and confusing and lovely as any other.
James welch I respect your ability to soak the mind with juicy fat that both the high lit and the low townie could enjoy. much love.
filled with overused tropes but used at odd untimely angles, and while reading you can feel the movements of these people and taste the Montana light that seems to be peering through every kitchen window, more light a spotlight looking for something of interest in this sleepy town than a source of heat and life.
James Welch is a master of shifting perspectives of an array of characters in a room...the way he drifts from person to person, all seeing the same thing, but seeing through a different shape and edge, always adds a fun, inventive, and almost tricky game-like experience of reading.
it is always a shame to consider how infrequent indigenous people of this land appear in art created here, nonetheless conversations had with friends, family...and when it does we all just say "damn we really fucked these people over" but early is there actual, truthful, individualized light given to the people who we vaguely honor through our guilt. We never bother look at what they like to do on their days off, what they eat for breakfast, what they think of their town, their family, their friends, their past, and this is the most heart breaking realization of all while reading this book...that we exploit their lives by feeling guilty that we ruined them but don't bother see them, de-politisized, clear cut and unique and full of behavior just as interesting and confusing and lovely as any other.
James welch I respect your ability to soak the mind with juicy fat that both the high lit and the low townie could enjoy. much love.
March 22, 2015
It's difficult to talk about books one reads when they correspond to the area of research that individual is involved heavily in. I picked up The Death of Jim Loney by James Welch on the recommendation of a mentor of mine and I knew, going in, that there would be a lot of times I would want to stop reading and start really diving into what I was reading and analyzing it and driving myself crazy with new research thoughts and ideas. But, about a chapter in, I put that part of my mind back into a box and I decided that I would give Jim Loney my full attention: as someone who was reading the book to listen to the story of this character.
Read the rest of this review at The Lost Entwife.
Read the rest of this review at The Lost Entwife.
August 5, 2018
I feel like every James Welch book I read is better than the last. While the title is a bit of a spoiler the lackluster events and desperate milieu that lead up to the eponymous anti-climax are well worth the read. Acclaim for Welch always focuses on the fact that he was Native American, and Loney is a Native American of mixed origin. However, that is relatively inconsequential to the story, other than that it may contribute to his isolation and alienation. The stark landscape of Northern Montana is a character of its own. Read this. It will haunt you.
January 25, 2016
This book, originally published in 1979) was one of several Montana classics recommended for summer reading by a newspaper columnist. It portrays the hardscrabble life of a half-breed Indian named Jim Loney in a small remote Montana town. Loney is unable to connect emotionally connect either with his dysfunctional family who abandoned him in his childhood or a white school teacher who expressed affection for him. This is a short, but powerful, novel that captures the mood of the stark landscape of north central Montana.
May 10, 2009
James Welch is the quintessential Montanan author -- hearty, crisp, cautious, clean -- much like roaming the great outdoors. You can view, hear and smell the scenes in his books, whether they're in the sticky bars or lonely houses or out in the middle of a chilly Montanan field -- his writing has that extra bit of magic that vivifies his scenes. Definitely not recommended for people who love happy endings.
September 12, 2007
a great work of harsh lyricism by the great American Indian poet and novelist-
i first read it during a heat wave and felt like i was freezing the whole time i read it--
i first read it during a heat wave and felt like i was freezing the whole time i read it--
April 21, 2016
Jim Loney is a half breed who feels out of place on the rez and in white culture. His spiral downward begins and ends with the alcoholism that consumes him. It is a story of isolation and loneliness, and surprisingly funny at times. Why does everyone in North Dakota carry a turd in their wallet?
Identification.
Identification.
November 17, 2008
My favorite book from my favorite Montana author. Great story about an indian man (native american) and how he changes his perception of life. Not for everyone. You will know by the first paragraph if you can handle this book.
May 13, 2018
Emotionally devastating; sparse and direct; hard-hitting and unforgettable.
January 13, 2025
This is a haunting book about a man's descent into self-destruction. By the time Jim Loney is in his mid-thirties, he is desperately lonely and trapped in an ennui in his home region of north central Montana. Jim Loney was seemingly a bright student, a star basketball player, and a good soldier in the Army. In spite of these things, or perhaps because of them and the seeming underachieving adulthood that follows them, Jim Loney is a man who can't seem to find or allow meaning and love of others. He is half white and half Native American, and does not feel belonging or connection in either culture. He is a a man who struggles with the childhood trauma of first a mother who leaves, an ambiguous woman caretaker he thinks is an aunt but turns out was his father's lover who did lovingly care for him for a time even after his father too abandons his children. The twist being that both men wind up in the same Montana town, with terrible consequences for Jim, as he is one who can't forget and overcome the past, and his father is one who is calloused, cruel, and in some strange sense "strong" enough not to care and to be able to move through his own traumas. And while the reader is presented a picture of Jim Loney who was largely forgotten and not thought about by the people who have been in his life, he is loved by his sister, Kate, and by a respectable new teacher in town, Rhea. Kate represents such an interesting contrast to Jim in that she is apparently successful as measured by career, educational attainment, and movement (in her case to D.C.). Rhea is someone who seemingly may be regressing and getting away from a life and failed attempts at love in Texas. Yet her love for Jim seems sincere, and the reader gets a sense that she could have redeemed him, if he had let her.
And yet this love that Jim knows is real seemingly isn't enough to pull him from the brink. This seems to me to be a statement on certain kinds of trauma and personality compositions. It is a cautionary tale of the dangers of family breakdown, and the kinds of traumas that lead to pushing people away and not letting them in. Throw in the added complications of the prejudices and generational challenges facing Native American communities, and there is a formula for lives that are seemingly more binary. As the Ryan Bingham lyric goes, “when you’re born in a bucket of rain, you either sink or you learn how to swim.” In Jim’s case, he knows he is loved at least by two worthy people, but it isn't enough. He sinks. Perhaps because he doesn't love himself, he can't trust or truly be attached to this love. He can't accept this love. Perhaps he thinks deep down it is an act of charity to not let them love him. It may be that given his past that he knows that if any love can be lost, then it is too big a risk to take. But in this, he fails to see that a life without love of anyone is truly lost altogether and makes such a descent as Jim experiences final and fatal.
And yet this love that Jim knows is real seemingly isn't enough to pull him from the brink. This seems to me to be a statement on certain kinds of trauma and personality compositions. It is a cautionary tale of the dangers of family breakdown, and the kinds of traumas that lead to pushing people away and not letting them in. Throw in the added complications of the prejudices and generational challenges facing Native American communities, and there is a formula for lives that are seemingly more binary. As the Ryan Bingham lyric goes, “when you’re born in a bucket of rain, you either sink or you learn how to swim.” In Jim’s case, he knows he is loved at least by two worthy people, but it isn't enough. He sinks. Perhaps because he doesn't love himself, he can't trust or truly be attached to this love. He can't accept this love. Perhaps he thinks deep down it is an act of charity to not let them love him. It may be that given his past that he knows that if any love can be lost, then it is too big a risk to take. But in this, he fails to see that a life without love of anyone is truly lost altogether and makes such a descent as Jim experiences final and fatal.
July 13, 2024
Much like the author Tommy Orange, James Welch has given us a book on the mind set of Native American on the Reservation and their quest to deal with alcohol and drugs that permeate their life. Even though this book was written the 70's it still holds up to the test of time. As well as being a portrayal of Native American life, Jim’s character is an excellent depiction of anyone who feels alienated – the unemployed, those battling alcoholism, anyone.
The plot centers on Jim Loney, his life, alcoholism, his past, and the title pretty much sums it up. We This is not a happy-go-lucky, feel-good story. Jim Loney is a man who struggles with identification, having a Native mother and a White father. Nobody can penetrate his world, not his girlfriend Rhea or his sister Kate. This story goes through his troubles and struggles every day, fighting off thoughts of death and despair. Jim Loney is stricken with a loss of direction and purpose that suggests a death of the soul itself, the characters surrounding him are themselves unmoored and drifting in their own ways. His struggles with identity bleed into all aspects of his life, and even though he recognizes this fact, and recognizes that he is surrounded by people who could, potentially, help him get past all of it, he is a man who realizes that ultimately it has to be his choice to do so.
"The Death of Jim Loney," as a book, explores that idea. It gives us insight into the man who is Jim Loney and takes us down that dark path right along with him. Welch has created through his words a stunning depiction of loss, rejection and disconnection of a man struggling to piece himself together and find wholeness and finding solace at the bottom of a bottle. Concise and so powerful. Each word is perfectly chosen.
The plot centers on Jim Loney, his life, alcoholism, his past, and the title pretty much sums it up. We This is not a happy-go-lucky, feel-good story. Jim Loney is a man who struggles with identification, having a Native mother and a White father. Nobody can penetrate his world, not his girlfriend Rhea or his sister Kate. This story goes through his troubles and struggles every day, fighting off thoughts of death and despair. Jim Loney is stricken with a loss of direction and purpose that suggests a death of the soul itself, the characters surrounding him are themselves unmoored and drifting in their own ways. His struggles with identity bleed into all aspects of his life, and even though he recognizes this fact, and recognizes that he is surrounded by people who could, potentially, help him get past all of it, he is a man who realizes that ultimately it has to be his choice to do so.
"The Death of Jim Loney," as a book, explores that idea. It gives us insight into the man who is Jim Loney and takes us down that dark path right along with him. Welch has created through his words a stunning depiction of loss, rejection and disconnection of a man struggling to piece himself together and find wholeness and finding solace at the bottom of a bottle. Concise and so powerful. Each word is perfectly chosen.
March 21, 2018
Thirty-five-year old Jim Loney lives a solitary and brooding existence near the reservation in Harlem, Montana. Abandoned as a child by his Native American mother and his unreliable white father, Loney struggles with identity, with purpose, with alcoholism, with life itself. Even the love of Rhea, a Texas schoolteacher isn't enough to anchor or shelter Loney from the coming cold and the flutter of black wings.
The writing is sharp, the voice is true, and the loneliness never seems to end. For the most part the fragmented nature works, though I do admit that sometimes it left me out of step, though this might be a reflection, an empathetic mirroring of narrative event, or not. I like the fragmented approach as it allows room for the reader to turn inward. And there is room for this turning, too.
Most of the characters in this book aren't comfortable in their own skins, in their own lives, behind their own doors crowded by their own walls. There are characters on the move, there are characters trying to come home or to make home or to leave home, there are characters desperate for a reason, any reason, to keep swallowing the breath in their own mouths for a little while longer, anyway.
Look, no matter what I write, it won't be enough. I can talk themes, I can point to how it addresses the Native American experience and how it also correlates to post-Vietnam War America, I can... There's a lot here, there's a lot to unpack, and all of it is substantive.
James Welch was a Blackfeet author, and I will be reading more of his work.
The writing is sharp, the voice is true, and the loneliness never seems to end. For the most part the fragmented nature works, though I do admit that sometimes it left me out of step, though this might be a reflection, an empathetic mirroring of narrative event, or not. I like the fragmented approach as it allows room for the reader to turn inward. And there is room for this turning, too.
Most of the characters in this book aren't comfortable in their own skins, in their own lives, behind their own doors crowded by their own walls. There are characters on the move, there are characters trying to come home or to make home or to leave home, there are characters desperate for a reason, any reason, to keep swallowing the breath in their own mouths for a little while longer, anyway.
Look, no matter what I write, it won't be enough. I can talk themes, I can point to how it addresses the Native American experience and how it also correlates to post-Vietnam War America, I can... There's a lot here, there's a lot to unpack, and all of it is substantive.
James Welch was a Blackfeet author, and I will be reading more of his work.
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