Down from Basswood

by Lynn Maria Laitala, Carl Gawboy (Illustrator)

Down from Basswood is set in the area that now includes the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northern Minnesota. Characters from three generations each tell their own stories. Taken together, their interrelated stories tell a history of the place.

211 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 6, 2001

Reviews

[Kayli · Rating 5 out of 5]

One HUNDRED stars. Storytelling that makes me feel so human.

[Molly Kii · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m borrowing this from the library but I liked it so much I’m going to buy it too.

That subtitle, Voices of the Boundary Waters, had me expecting stories from one type of person in one type of place, but the geographic scope of the first few stories was wide, and the types of people were various. I wonder how much time the author put into researching personal histories in order to write this. And I’m so curious to know which details were born out of actual happenings, since I’m guessing at least some of them were.

Each chapter is a short story that could stand alone. In fact at the end of the book is a list of publications in which individual chapters were published on their own. (So another question I have: Were these stories always meant to end up together in a book?) Anyway, each chapter brings you intimately into one person’s experience at one point in time. The Goodreads summary says, “Taken together, their interrelated stories tell a history of the place.” I love that concept, to begin with. But then the power of the straightforward, unembellished story-telling — possibly my favorite kind of writing — caught me by surprise. In the twenty years this book has been out in the world, I hadn’t heard of it. How?? This stoic Finn (I have Finnish ancestry, so the story of Finns coming to America hits home for me) laughed and cried several times while reading it, so I suppose that says a lot about the power of these stories to move you.

It made my day to hear that Laitala is working on another book.

[Taika Omika · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved structure of this book (no wonder, given the author background) and wish the author wrote many more; discovered (with the help of the book and google map) how amazing northern Minnesota and its border with Canada (Border Waters) is; and that I want to travel/canoe there as much as I want to canoe in Finnish Lakeland and Polish Masuria; met virtually a lot of inspiring Finnish Minnesotans; and rediscovered how amazing Bob Dylan is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5Gjj...

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this collection of stories set in northern Minnesota near Lake Vermilion, a place we have gone to vacation. I was somewhat aware of the history of the Chipewa in this area, but did not know much about the immigrants from Finland who settled here and who worked in the logging camps and mines.

[william rector · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful picture of the pain of real life.

This is an enjoyable tour of the real human landscape which predates
the BWCA. I am glad that I read it.

[lex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Down From Basswood tells the history of northern Minnesota from the perspective of the people who lived it. It puts just as much emphasis on the mining, the worker strikes, and the Forest Service as it does on the people, their love stories, and their tragedies. Perhaps because I'm falling in love myself, or perhaps because it's human, it was the love stories that kept me turning the pages. Through each chapter, we see the lives different people play out, including the inevitable love and heartbreak, the opportunities and hindrances provided by a government you have little say in, and the natural pain that comes with life. It reminded me of something my dad used to say: learn from the mistakes of others so that you don't repeat them. Of course, I still made mistakes. But I didn't have a book as well-written as this to learn from either.

[Kat Z · Rating 5 out of 5]

So grateful to have been recommended this book of short stories from multiple perspectives through decades of life in northern Minnesota. The book follows mainly the lives of Finnish immigrants and Native Americans. So much heartache, yet so much beauty! I don't think I will ever view the Boundary Waters the same, a space where peoples were moved from their homes so others could enjoy personal recreation.

[Amanda Kilpela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartbreaking, historical, and complex. I loved this book.