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The Signal
Their relationship troubled, Mack and his wife backpack through the woods of Wyoming to say goodbye, but instead receive a signal from a beacon that has fallen from the sky that leads them to an even darker place.
184 pages, Hardcover
First published May 28, 2009
18 people are currently reading
492 people want to read
About the author
Ron Carlson
84 books125 followersRon Carlson is an American novelist and writer of short stories.
Carlson was born in Logan, Utah, but grew up in Salt Lake City. He earned a masters degree in English from the University of Utah. He then taught at The Hotchkiss School in Connecticut where he started his first novel.
He became a professor of English at Arizona State University in 1985, teaching creative writing to undergraduates and graduates, and ultimately becoming director of its Creative Writing Program.
Carlson also taught at the University of California, Irvine.
For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Carlson
Carlson was born in Logan, Utah, but grew up in Salt Lake City. He earned a masters degree in English from the University of Utah. He then taught at The Hotchkiss School in Connecticut where he started his first novel.
He became a professor of English at Arizona State University in 1985, teaching creative writing to undergraduates and graduates, and ultimately becoming director of its Creative Writing Program.
Carlson also taught at the University of California, Irvine.
For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Carlson
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 191 reviews
December 15, 2013
Back in olden days, before we started worrying about the survival of novels, we used to worry about the survival of novels for men. But that battle was lost so long ago that we should declare the field a national park and open a visitors' center (Look, kids -- Norman Mailer published right on this spot!). Chuck Palahniuk and his "Pygmy" vibrator gags notwithstanding, polls suggest that only 20 percent of fiction readers are male. Ian McEwan warned in the Guardian that "when women stop reading, the novel will be dead."
Well, don't blame the authors. Or even those supposedly mercenary, Oprah-chasing publishers. A couple of weeks ago, we ran a roundup of five novels about guys behaving badly -- not psycho-legal thrillers but genuine works of literary fiction. A man's man couldn't go wrong picking from this list: funny, crazy, existential, libidinous -- whatever he's after. And best of all, each one clocks in at around 200 pages, perfect for the commitment-phobic male.
The latest addition to this burgeoning category of high-quality macho novellas comes from Ron Carlson, who writes like Hemingway without the misogyny and self-parody. If there's a smart man in your life who might still be tempted into the pleasures of contemporary literary fiction, "The Signal" could be just the gateway drug you're after. (Father's Day is June 21, and let's face it: Dad's not going to get through Bolaño's "2666" no matter what you tell him.)
Carlson's first love is short stories, and his expertise with that concentrated form shows in this well-toned novel, which covers six days of camping in the Wind River Range of Wyoming. His life-weary hero is a young man named Mack, recently released from a few weeks in jail that gave him time to dry out and reflect on his misery. Out of residual affection and maybe even a little pity, his ex-wife, Vonnie, has agreed to one final fishing trip, an annual September adventure they've maintained for almost a decade. "It's been a hideous year," Vonnie tells Mack, "and you hideous in it, but it's my word." Still, he's surprised when she shows up with her backpack ready, fishing pole and binoculars in hand. This is a woman for men who fantasize over the L.L. Bean catalogue rather than Victoria's Secret. She's tough and steady and doing her best to keep from falling back in love with Mack.
Despite the beauty of these mountains, carved by glaciers and spotted with crystal lakes, their trip is tinged with nostalgia and the worn-out bitterness of a ruined marriage. "You're just full of ghosts," Vonnie tells him. For her, their 10th trek into the woods is a way to finally say goodbye; for Mack, it's a slender last chance, if not for reconciliation then at least for a fresh start in a place so pristine and majestic it just might start to heal him: "He felt like a man washed up on the beach after trying to drown himself." Given the plot and these cleanly cut sentences, it's impossible not to think of Jake Barnes in "The Sun Also Rises," another fractured young man who retreated into the mountains to fish and pare his life down to a few deliberate routines. "Mack was not scared," Carlson writes. "He had been uneasy and worried and scared and empty and sort of ruined, and he knew this, but now he had his ways of doing one thing and then the next and it kept the ruin off him."
There's a tragic kind of romance to Mack and Vonnie's comfortable inside jokes as they return for the last time to favorite haunts along the trail. They both know it'll be tough to go through the motions of their marriage's most cherished moments without scratching old wounds. But Mack "made himself one of his stone-cold promises that he would keep it light and tight and not get riled or ripped up."
The story sometimes drifts back to Mack's childhood, on the ranch where he was raised by a man of few words and impeccable moral standards. His late father appears only in these flashbacks, but they're some of the novel's most moving scenes, a striking demonstration of Carlson's ability to be tough and tender at the same time. Memories of his father only deepen Mack's sense of humiliation for not being able to save the ranch or his marriage or his sobriety. "He'd had a headache or so it seemed for five years, always scraping by, eking out, scratching," Carlson writes in a voice that captures Mack's thoughts with mountain-air clarity. "The disappointment yawned and wore at him, something he never honored by calling it a name. He just let it burrow in and work him."
The electric current that runs through "The Signal" is generated by Mack's ulterior motive for taking this trip. Whenever Vonnie turns her back, he checks his BlackBerry for an update. Clearly, he isn't just looking for cherished memories or even rekindled romance; he's searching for a lost piece of military equipment that some shady operators have paid him to locate in these mountains. The job is fraught with danger, but he imagines it's a chance to escape the debts that have crushed his ranch.
Frightening implications of what this job entails are sprinkled subtly throughout the beginning of the novel, but Carlson's prose is so spare and free of ornament that every fleck of nervousness catches the light. When Vonnie looks up suddenly and asks, "What was that?" you're on high alert, and the tension only rises from there as Mack realizes what deadly trouble he's led them into. Carlson never drops an extra word or a false phrase, even as "The Signal" accelerates like an avalanche, suspicion rolling into fear and then roaring down with a conclusion that shakes the ground. If men can't be brought back to fiction by books as fine as this one, it's their own damn fault.
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/20...
Well, don't blame the authors. Or even those supposedly mercenary, Oprah-chasing publishers. A couple of weeks ago, we ran a roundup of five novels about guys behaving badly -- not psycho-legal thrillers but genuine works of literary fiction. A man's man couldn't go wrong picking from this list: funny, crazy, existential, libidinous -- whatever he's after. And best of all, each one clocks in at around 200 pages, perfect for the commitment-phobic male.
The latest addition to this burgeoning category of high-quality macho novellas comes from Ron Carlson, who writes like Hemingway without the misogyny and self-parody. If there's a smart man in your life who might still be tempted into the pleasures of contemporary literary fiction, "The Signal" could be just the gateway drug you're after. (Father's Day is June 21, and let's face it: Dad's not going to get through Bolaño's "2666" no matter what you tell him.)
Carlson's first love is short stories, and his expertise with that concentrated form shows in this well-toned novel, which covers six days of camping in the Wind River Range of Wyoming. His life-weary hero is a young man named Mack, recently released from a few weeks in jail that gave him time to dry out and reflect on his misery. Out of residual affection and maybe even a little pity, his ex-wife, Vonnie, has agreed to one final fishing trip, an annual September adventure they've maintained for almost a decade. "It's been a hideous year," Vonnie tells Mack, "and you hideous in it, but it's my word." Still, he's surprised when she shows up with her backpack ready, fishing pole and binoculars in hand. This is a woman for men who fantasize over the L.L. Bean catalogue rather than Victoria's Secret. She's tough and steady and doing her best to keep from falling back in love with Mack.
Despite the beauty of these mountains, carved by glaciers and spotted with crystal lakes, their trip is tinged with nostalgia and the worn-out bitterness of a ruined marriage. "You're just full of ghosts," Vonnie tells him. For her, their 10th trek into the woods is a way to finally say goodbye; for Mack, it's a slender last chance, if not for reconciliation then at least for a fresh start in a place so pristine and majestic it just might start to heal him: "He felt like a man washed up on the beach after trying to drown himself." Given the plot and these cleanly cut sentences, it's impossible not to think of Jake Barnes in "The Sun Also Rises," another fractured young man who retreated into the mountains to fish and pare his life down to a few deliberate routines. "Mack was not scared," Carlson writes. "He had been uneasy and worried and scared and empty and sort of ruined, and he knew this, but now he had his ways of doing one thing and then the next and it kept the ruin off him."
There's a tragic kind of romance to Mack and Vonnie's comfortable inside jokes as they return for the last time to favorite haunts along the trail. They both know it'll be tough to go through the motions of their marriage's most cherished moments without scratching old wounds. But Mack "made himself one of his stone-cold promises that he would keep it light and tight and not get riled or ripped up."
The story sometimes drifts back to Mack's childhood, on the ranch where he was raised by a man of few words and impeccable moral standards. His late father appears only in these flashbacks, but they're some of the novel's most moving scenes, a striking demonstration of Carlson's ability to be tough and tender at the same time. Memories of his father only deepen Mack's sense of humiliation for not being able to save the ranch or his marriage or his sobriety. "He'd had a headache or so it seemed for five years, always scraping by, eking out, scratching," Carlson writes in a voice that captures Mack's thoughts with mountain-air clarity. "The disappointment yawned and wore at him, something he never honored by calling it a name. He just let it burrow in and work him."
The electric current that runs through "The Signal" is generated by Mack's ulterior motive for taking this trip. Whenever Vonnie turns her back, he checks his BlackBerry for an update. Clearly, he isn't just looking for cherished memories or even rekindled romance; he's searching for a lost piece of military equipment that some shady operators have paid him to locate in these mountains. The job is fraught with danger, but he imagines it's a chance to escape the debts that have crushed his ranch.
Frightening implications of what this job entails are sprinkled subtly throughout the beginning of the novel, but Carlson's prose is so spare and free of ornament that every fleck of nervousness catches the light. When Vonnie looks up suddenly and asks, "What was that?" you're on high alert, and the tension only rises from there as Mack realizes what deadly trouble he's led them into. Carlson never drops an extra word or a false phrase, even as "The Signal" accelerates like an avalanche, suspicion rolling into fear and then roaring down with a conclusion that shakes the ground. If men can't be brought back to fiction by books as fine as this one, it's their own damn fault.
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/20...
August 19, 2016
I must confess a soft spot for this book, having backpacked some of the same territory that estranged couple Mack and Vonnie traverse in this short and (somewhat) sweet novel. Carlson does a wonderful job of creating a sense of place and giving the reader enough technical jargon to put them squarely in the Wyoming back country. His style of dialogue is clipped and spare, and this, combined with vivid descriptions of the rugged terrain Mack and Vonnie cross, gives the story a style and voice all its own. In particular, the scene where the couple fly fish for trout in a high alpine lake had me longing for the mountains big time and single-handedly earned the book its fourth star.
Having said all this, the story itself was just OK--workable, but nothing to write home about. (three stars at best) The couple are on their last annual trip together into the mountains to basically say goodbye to each other, wrestling with some personal demons along the way. And Mack's search for the source of "The Signal" results in a less than thrilling confrontation with a somewhat undeveloped antagonist.
Recommended for lovers of rugged, descriptive fiction, not so much for die-hard thriller fans.
Having said all this, the story itself was just OK--workable, but nothing to write home about. (three stars at best) The couple are on their last annual trip together into the mountains to basically say goodbye to each other, wrestling with some personal demons along the way. And Mack's search for the source of "The Signal" results in a less than thrilling confrontation with a somewhat undeveloped antagonist.
Recommended for lovers of rugged, descriptive fiction, not so much for die-hard thriller fans.
February 12, 2011
The only thing going for this book was the fact that it's short in length. The back cover sells it as a love story, with intrigue, but the only mystery is why this couple -- who are already divorced, with one in a new relationship -- would agree to go camping together in the first place.
Mack, the annoying male lead in this melodrama, is constantly ragging on his ex, because of what her new beau purchased for her. "Oh, nice camera. Did Kent buy that for you?" "Those are expensive binoculars! Did Kent get those for you?" And so forth. I was ready to slap him.
Vonnie, Mack's ex-wife, makes a big deal out of having him turn away when she gets dressed in the morning. She refuses to get nostalgic with him, as they hike through familiar territory. She is insistent that she is solely along for the fishing. I wanted them both to get lost in the woods, and allow me to find my way to a better story.
There is also intrigue thrown in. I suppose because Carlson cannot come up with a meaty relationship between Mack and Vonnie, the two shallow main characters. It seems that Mack also does some work for a secret government agent, all on the Q.T.. He relays codes from remote locations. On this particular camping trip, his mission is to track a downed spy plane, using his government issue Blackberry. Throw into the mix a couple of meth addicted elk poachers, and you've got a mishmash that sounds like a bad movie pitch in some Hollywood executive's office.
On the plus side, I now know to avoid any books by Ron Carlson.
Mack, the annoying male lead in this melodrama, is constantly ragging on his ex, because of what her new beau purchased for her. "Oh, nice camera. Did Kent buy that for you?" "Those are expensive binoculars! Did Kent get those for you?" And so forth. I was ready to slap him.
Vonnie, Mack's ex-wife, makes a big deal out of having him turn away when she gets dressed in the morning. She refuses to get nostalgic with him, as they hike through familiar territory. She is insistent that she is solely along for the fishing. I wanted them both to get lost in the woods, and allow me to find my way to a better story.
There is also intrigue thrown in. I suppose because Carlson cannot come up with a meaty relationship between Mack and Vonnie, the two shallow main characters. It seems that Mack also does some work for a secret government agent, all on the Q.T.. He relays codes from remote locations. On this particular camping trip, his mission is to track a downed spy plane, using his government issue Blackberry. Throw into the mix a couple of meth addicted elk poachers, and you've got a mishmash that sounds like a bad movie pitch in some Hollywood executive's office.
On the plus side, I now know to avoid any books by Ron Carlson.
August 9, 2014
(Disclaimer: I'm writing this having read the ARC about four months ago, so there aren't a lot of details, but I do strongly remember my reaction to the book as a whole.)
I really wanted to like this book. In fact, I really did like parts of it, especially the ones that talk about mundane bits of walking around, etc. But the plot just didn't work for me. It was too obvious, too damsel-in-distress-y, too predictable. Although certain scenes carried a tense weight to them, I never really worried about whether the characters would be all right in the end.
I guess what I'm saying is: well written, very poorly plotted.
I really wanted to like this book. In fact, I really did like parts of it, especially the ones that talk about mundane bits of walking around, etc. But the plot just didn't work for me. It was too obvious, too damsel-in-distress-y, too predictable. Although certain scenes carried a tense weight to them, I never really worried about whether the characters would be all right in the end.
I guess what I'm saying is: well written, very poorly plotted.
July 31, 2009
This one is a one day read, but very engrossing. Not your typical cowboy story by a long shot! The author has done several short story collections, so this is properly a novella. The sparse language makes the plot twists all the more surprising, sort of like finding that hidden canyon on the long hike in!
July 17, 2020
What an unusual story! I think I enjoyed it but I'm left with this feeling like everything isn't quite resolved so I'm not actually sure.
It seems to be the story of a man searching for redemption. I'm all for that. Most of the characters are pretty solid and interesting. Vonnie is a different story. Most of the time I was just shaking my head at her and whispering 'What??' She goes from sensible and sturdy to bougie and spiteful at the drop of a hat. I don't like her. I really enjoyed Mack, the main character, though.
After thinking about it a bit, I don't really feel like I read a book. I feel like I met a few people in the bar that told me about their lives. I really wish Mack luck in the future.
It seems to be the story of a man searching for redemption. I'm all for that. Most of the characters are pretty solid and interesting. Vonnie is a different story. Most of the time I was just shaking my head at her and whispering 'What??' She goes from sensible and sturdy to bougie and spiteful at the drop of a hat. I don't like her. I really enjoyed Mack, the main character, though.
After thinking about it a bit, I don't really feel like I read a book. I feel like I met a few people in the bar that told me about their lives. I really wish Mack luck in the future.
February 9, 2019
Really wanted to like this...but no. Was not into this. I have a rule that if I roll my eyes at how a female character is written by a male author more than 3 times in the first 50 pages, I bail. So that happened. I’d recommend reading some of the longer reviews on here.
If you’re into landscape of the west, this might have something for you?
If you’re into landscape of the west, this might have something for you?
April 18, 2020
really interesting book. Incredible writing that sometimes got in the way of what was not a super strong plot. But amazing imagery and sense of place made it a great read
May 31, 2024
Longue randonnée dans les montagnes du Wyoming avec un peu de suspense. C’était parfait pour moi!
July 14, 2023
Good descriptions of the outdoors but lacking a full plot!
July 30, 2013
This slim novel covers a six-day hiking and fishing trip into the mountains of northwest Wyoming, but also packs in as back story the previous 20 years in the life of the main character, a down-and-out cowboy named Mack. How all that is accomplished with such visceral immediacy in a mere 184 pages must be a testament to the author’s skill.
I don’t recall having heard of Ron Carlson until a couple weeks ago, when a former teacher described him as “one of the most under-appreciated writers we have.” That endorsement prompted me to grab this title and check him out. At this point he is not under-appreciated by me.
Mack has two great loves—the ranch he inherited from his much-admired father and his wife Vonnie. Hanging on to that ranch was a bit of a challenge even in his father’s day. In recent years, Mack has always been just a step or two away from losing it entirely. Over time, the stress has worn on him to the point that he has now lost Vonnie as well as his own sense of self-worth. In trying to keep up the mortgage, he has broken the law numerous times, formed relationships with unsavory characters, and experienced so many low points that he cannot even decide which was the worst.
But for ten years he and Vonnie have always made an annual trek up into the Wind River Range (a spur of wilderness projecting out of the Grand Teton National Park). In going once again, he’s trying to pull himself back together, and I suppose she wants to help him with that, this once, out of sympathy.
There’s more than enough here simply with that story, plus the convincing details of making camp, fishing, and backwoods lore. But on top of that, one of Mack’s shady associates back in town is paying him to locate a mysterious bit of hardware that was lost somewhere in the wilderness, and along the way Mack and Vonnie bump into another rascal he knows, who’s in the act of poaching elk. These complications turn the novel into a thriller, and appear from the other comments to have given other readers some trouble. I had trouble as well, mainly because I still don’t understand the relationship between the two bad guys or the significance of the hardware quest. I also would have appreciated a map, since with all the bushwhacking the characters do it’s hard to keep a mental image of where they are at any given point. (I suspect the author has an actual place in mind for the setting.) But on the other hand as the pace picked up I also had trouble closing the book, so that I stayed up late at night to finish it (and felt a little rough the next day).
Looking forward to reading something else by Ron Carlson!
I don’t recall having heard of Ron Carlson until a couple weeks ago, when a former teacher described him as “one of the most under-appreciated writers we have.” That endorsement prompted me to grab this title and check him out. At this point he is not under-appreciated by me.
Mack has two great loves—the ranch he inherited from his much-admired father and his wife Vonnie. Hanging on to that ranch was a bit of a challenge even in his father’s day. In recent years, Mack has always been just a step or two away from losing it entirely. Over time, the stress has worn on him to the point that he has now lost Vonnie as well as his own sense of self-worth. In trying to keep up the mortgage, he has broken the law numerous times, formed relationships with unsavory characters, and experienced so many low points that he cannot even decide which was the worst.
But for ten years he and Vonnie have always made an annual trek up into the Wind River Range (a spur of wilderness projecting out of the Grand Teton National Park). In going once again, he’s trying to pull himself back together, and I suppose she wants to help him with that, this once, out of sympathy.
There’s more than enough here simply with that story, plus the convincing details of making camp, fishing, and backwoods lore. But on top of that, one of Mack’s shady associates back in town is paying him to locate a mysterious bit of hardware that was lost somewhere in the wilderness, and along the way Mack and Vonnie bump into another rascal he knows, who’s in the act of poaching elk. These complications turn the novel into a thriller, and appear from the other comments to have given other readers some trouble. I had trouble as well, mainly because I still don’t understand the relationship between the two bad guys or the significance of the hardware quest. I also would have appreciated a map, since with all the bushwhacking the characters do it’s hard to keep a mental image of where they are at any given point. (I suspect the author has an actual place in mind for the setting.) But on the other hand as the pace picked up I also had trouble closing the book, so that I stayed up late at night to finish it (and felt a little rough the next day).
Looking forward to reading something else by Ron Carlson!
November 16, 2011
This was a short mystery novel set in the great outdoors of Wyoming, involving lots and lots of hiking and wilderness. Strengths: the characters and their banter, and the great outdoors setting. I thought the writing involving the setting was splendid. Made me feel like I was there hiking along with them, breathing the mountain air, feeling the crackling fire, and seeing the fantastic vistas. I really liked the character of Vonnie (the female lead) - she was a spitfire, and lobbed wisecracks right back at Mack (the male lead) faster than he could keep up. I got a good feel for their relationship and their chemistry; it takes such talent to write "chemistry" this well.
Another great relationship was that between Mack and his father, who was dead the whole time - he just kept reappearing in Mack's memories. The father was another feisty character on his own, and you saw how effectively he taught Mack that all you really truly need sometimes are the clothes on your back. He taught him how to be a real outdoorsman, and how to embrace rustic living.
I thought a weakness was the plot - it just didn't seem all that new or different to me. Not that I guessed everything that was going to happen or anything, it just didn't strike me that anything particularly out of the ordinary (for mystery novels) was going on. Still, the fact that the book was so short and was so strong on character development sort of made up for this. I thought it was a worthy read, especially if you love hiking (or love to vicariously live through others' hiking adventures).
Another great relationship was that between Mack and his father, who was dead the whole time - he just kept reappearing in Mack's memories. The father was another feisty character on his own, and you saw how effectively he taught Mack that all you really truly need sometimes are the clothes on your back. He taught him how to be a real outdoorsman, and how to embrace rustic living.
I thought a weakness was the plot - it just didn't seem all that new or different to me. Not that I guessed everything that was going to happen or anything, it just didn't strike me that anything particularly out of the ordinary (for mystery novels) was going on. Still, the fact that the book was so short and was so strong on character development sort of made up for this. I thought it was a worthy read, especially if you love hiking (or love to vicariously live through others' hiking adventures).
Read
July 25, 2011A beautifully written, slightly odd and at times frustrating book. Ron Carlson is another writer with an amazing talent for creating beautiful landscapes from words and he has the ability to create amazing tension out of nowhere. (See his last book, Five Skies, for proof.)
This book tells the story of Mack, a rancher struggling to make ends meet, both financially and emotionally, and his now-estranged wife, Vonnie. Despite their estrangement, they meet to hike some trails, fish and spend some time together as they have each year for the last 10. During this journey, some wounds are reopened and new wounds are created, as the failure of their relationship and its aftermath is rehashed, as is Mack's involvement with a less-than-upright guy who has sent him on a treasure hunt through the woods. And that's where the book loses its track (no pun intended). It goes from a beautifully written meditation on coping when life travels a different track than you hoped to a bit of a chase 'em, shoot 'em up type of book. The characters don't have experience with this and, sadly, the reader isn't prepared to go down that road either.
This book tells the story of Mack, a rancher struggling to make ends meet, both financially and emotionally, and his now-estranged wife, Vonnie. Despite their estrangement, they meet to hike some trails, fish and spend some time together as they have each year for the last 10. During this journey, some wounds are reopened and new wounds are created, as the failure of their relationship and its aftermath is rehashed, as is Mack's involvement with a less-than-upright guy who has sent him on a treasure hunt through the woods. And that's where the book loses its track (no pun intended). It goes from a beautifully written meditation on coping when life travels a different track than you hoped to a bit of a chase 'em, shoot 'em up type of book. The characters don't have experience with this and, sadly, the reader isn't prepared to go down that road either.
June 30, 2009
Good summer reading for those who like outdoorsy, adventure stuff. The novel is set in the rugged Wind River range of WY. The main character, Mack, is a really broken guy. He and Vonnie have backpacked the same trail every September for nine years, but this year, the tenth, is different because they are no longer a couple. Vonnie sees the five day trip as closure and a chance to fish high country lakes. Mack wants a second chance with Vonnie and something else. That something else is the principal plot twist that adds mystery to the story.
The chief value of the book from my vantage point is that it introduced me to the author's fine nature prose. Here is a sample:
"Mack crossed the grassy open, his shadow reaching ten feet as it lead him through the wildflowers and sage in the last light of the afternoon. The sun was weak light, and the chill was general headed for a freeze. The watery yellow day wanted to break his heart. The season had foundered and each day was now a brave imitation of the day before. In September, the year fell away...."
The chief value of the book from my vantage point is that it introduced me to the author's fine nature prose. Here is a sample:
"Mack crossed the grassy open, his shadow reaching ten feet as it lead him through the wildflowers and sage in the last light of the afternoon. The sun was weak light, and the chill was general headed for a freeze. The watery yellow day wanted to break his heart. The season had foundered and each day was now a brave imitation of the day before. In September, the year fell away...."
May 28, 2014
Really enjoyed this short novel; whisked me away to the wilderness of Wyoming so that I felt far removed from everyday life(always a good trait for a book). I didn't realize that the novel has been promoted as a mystery or thriller. Although there are some tense moments, the beauty of the book is the descriptions of the mountains of Wyoming. Mack, a down-on-his-luck rancher, invites his ex-wife, Vonnie, to join him on their annual hiking trip. The book covers each day of their hike as they travel deeper into Wyoming and ultimately, into a conflict with others. I liked both Mack and Vonnie -- each were strong, like-able characters; not perfect, but authentic. I thought the side story of Mack's quest to find something in the mountains was a bit distracting, although admittedly important to the overall plot. Beautiful descriptions of the wilderness.
September 6, 2009
This is set in the area around Jackson, Wyoming, and it was fun to hear places mentioned that I've been on ski trips. The story was not so much fun, but it was interesting and a bit sad yet not depressing. I think it would have been better without some of the more action-adventurey elements in the plot.
September 22, 2009
The Signal has some farfetched plot angles that are annoying. The writing is beautiful. Carlson has attempted to write a thriller. He would have been better off focusing on the characters and their relationships. I have no idea why a girl named Amy has been added to the story. The protagonist is very well developed. The ending is hurried.
March 20, 2013
on se perd un peu dans les montagnes , malgré tout on finit par avoir envie d 'en savoir plus même si l 'histoire en fait ne nous surprends pas plus que ça.
March 29, 2020
Beautiful imagery, but a slow read nonetheless.
June 2, 2017
With most books, I feel like descriptions on the back and dust jacket are prone to exageration. It's got something do with all the adjectives that get thrown around like "gripping", "incredible debut", "the new voice of..." etc etc. However, with Ron Calson's The Signal it's just the opposite. Instead of throwing out praise you get this concise little description:
"Beleaguered rancher Mack has taken to crime in order to preseve his family land, and his fiercely independent wife feels her love eroding. Now, for the 10th year, the couple backpacks into the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming. This trip, however, is meant to be their farewell from one another. Yet as they wind their way through familiar mountain trails, the begin to see their marriage in a new light."
Though that is true, it leaves out that The Signal is a thriller. The book has an odd dichotomy as at one moment the two main characters are fly fishing and then in the next they're being hunted by poachers. One moment it's recounting a scene from Mack's youth and the next he's searching for a downed drown prototype. There's a lot more action and suspense than that description implies.
The cons for me was really two things, one minor and one major. The minor is the years between Mack and Vonnie's marriage and the present are somewhat underdeveloped. The drug running and Mack's fall from independant and proud rancher to hollowed out smuggler. It's a short book and you can piece it together easily enough but I would of gladly exchanged a few more chapters for some greater depths. My major complaint is Vonnie. When we first meet Vonnie she's this teenager determined to see a bear, and it's Vonnie in her role as "the bear hunter" that has her returning to Mack's life and his family's ranch each summer. But in the present day she seems rather, for lack of a better word, flighty. Mack is obviously bitter about the failed marriage where Vonnie doesn't seem to have a care in the world and this really comes across in her dialogue.
All in all, an enjoyable and quick read.
"Beleaguered rancher Mack has taken to crime in order to preseve his family land, and his fiercely independent wife feels her love eroding. Now, for the 10th year, the couple backpacks into the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming. This trip, however, is meant to be their farewell from one another. Yet as they wind their way through familiar mountain trails, the begin to see their marriage in a new light."
Though that is true, it leaves out that The Signal is a thriller. The book has an odd dichotomy as at one moment the two main characters are fly fishing and then in the next they're being hunted by poachers. One moment it's recounting a scene from Mack's youth and the next he's searching for a downed drown prototype. There's a lot more action and suspense than that description implies.
The cons for me was really two things, one minor and one major. The minor is the years between Mack and Vonnie's marriage and the present are somewhat underdeveloped. The drug running and Mack's fall from independant and proud rancher to hollowed out smuggler. It's a short book and you can piece it together easily enough but I would of gladly exchanged a few more chapters for some greater depths. My major complaint is Vonnie. When we first meet Vonnie she's this teenager determined to see a bear, and it's Vonnie in her role as "the bear hunter" that has her returning to Mack's life and his family's ranch each summer. But in the present day she seems rather, for lack of a better word, flighty. Mack is obviously bitter about the failed marriage where Vonnie doesn't seem to have a care in the world and this really comes across in her dialogue.
All in all, an enjoyable and quick read.
September 27, 2018
This was a short novel, taking place over less than a full week, six days. The two main characters Mack and his recently ex-wife Vonnie are out on one last fishing trip. This fishing trip, is more a backpacking trip that they have done annually for the past ten years. A lot of memories, or as they say in the book, full of ghosts. They do stop and go places where they often have been before.
The language of the book is wonderful to read. The setting of the Wyoming mountains are great. The people, the characters, are a different matter. Vonnie and Mack first met as teenagers on Mack's father's ranch that was run as one of those cowboy vacation dude ranches. They kept in touch, and sometime around college or after they got married.
Now Vonnie is Yvonne, and with Kent, a lawyer with money; while Mack is broke and recently out of jail; his life had gone into a tailspin with drinking and now sober and served his time for damaging Kent's vehicle. But there was this one last trip. And we can tell Mack is hoping to get his Vonnie back, but can't help complaining about the nice gear she has that Kent bought her. Yet Mack has his own secrets, another mission, perhaps one last job, searching for parts of a downed drone that needs to be kept quiet.
The story jumps from current time, the trip, to backstory; and for most of the book I thought that this Mack wasn't being portrayed accurately. He sounded like different people altogether. I couldn't reconcile the two, until the end. Perhaps that is the point of the story, Mack wasn't himself until he was again.
The language of the book is wonderful to read. The setting of the Wyoming mountains are great. The people, the characters, are a different matter. Vonnie and Mack first met as teenagers on Mack's father's ranch that was run as one of those cowboy vacation dude ranches. They kept in touch, and sometime around college or after they got married.
Now Vonnie is Yvonne, and with Kent, a lawyer with money; while Mack is broke and recently out of jail; his life had gone into a tailspin with drinking and now sober and served his time for damaging Kent's vehicle. But there was this one last trip. And we can tell Mack is hoping to get his Vonnie back, but can't help complaining about the nice gear she has that Kent bought her. Yet Mack has his own secrets, another mission, perhaps one last job, searching for parts of a downed drone that needs to be kept quiet.
The story jumps from current time, the trip, to backstory; and for most of the book I thought that this Mack wasn't being portrayed accurately. He sounded like different people altogether. I couldn't reconcile the two, until the end. Perhaps that is the point of the story, Mack wasn't himself until he was again.
September 12, 2018
Ron Carlson's protagonist, Mack, heads out on a camping trip in the Wyoming mountains.
Upon his father's death, Mack inherited his family's Wyoming ranch. Before long, the ranch was in trouble. It threatens to slip right out of his hands unless he can come up with a few thousand dollars. Mack turns to shady dealings hoping to raise the money that will fix his troubles.
In fact, there's more to this camping trip than admiring nature. Mack is up to something suspicious out there in the wilderness. He brings his ex-wife along; I don't know why, unless it's to provide a damsel-in-distress element. But they hike deep into the range lands, turn a corner and -- uh-oh! -- run into the downside of shady dealings.
Upon his father's death, Mack inherited his family's Wyoming ranch. Before long, the ranch was in trouble. It threatens to slip right out of his hands unless he can come up with a few thousand dollars. Mack turns to shady dealings hoping to raise the money that will fix his troubles.
In fact, there's more to this camping trip than admiring nature. Mack is up to something suspicious out there in the wilderness. He brings his ex-wife along; I don't know why, unless it's to provide a damsel-in-distress element. But they hike deep into the range lands, turn a corner and -- uh-oh! -- run into the downside of shady dealings.
July 20, 2017
I actually like his one more than the acclaimed Five Skies, I guess because the wonderful attention to the outdoors (the Wind River range), hiking forms around very human conflicts--a young man who wants to save the homeplace, hiking with his ex-wife. To that relational drama, add a private possibly dangerous mission and some bad guys poaching, and you have a thriller in which a person's ability to track, orienteer, and poise come into play, against the odds. Nicely done!
September 30, 2019
Suspenseful...great description of the woods, mountains and valleys...The plot's backstory is alluded to in bits and pieces...in flashbacks and discussions of past mistakes. The crazy thing is that there is always an undercurrent, a tension regarding what's going to happen. We know all the characters have potential to destroy the peaceful nature of an innocent reunion/farewell hike. Who's going to do it, and why? As far as the meaning of "the signal," I'm not sure...
September 17, 2018
Not quite as powerful as Five Skies, which I so loved, but still carries the terse, intense love of the land. The ending was not as gutwrenching. I will read anything by Ron Carlson.
Was really surprised to find the author lives in Huntington Beach CA, not Wyoming.
Was really surprised to find the author lives in Huntington Beach CA, not Wyoming.
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November 25, 2019His language gives me a very visual experience and the description of nature in the wilderness is extraordinary. The plot turns into a somewhat grisly thriller with an interesting twist to the relationship of a couple who broke up and meet for an intense saga in the woods.
September 9, 2023
A novel that’s simultaneously an autopsy of a failed marriage and a crime thriller. Mack and Vonnie, young and living in a trailer, “were in love and poor and so fine, but then they wore out poor and they did some damage to love.”
May 25, 2017
It is great to find a writer you never heard of. Loved the book. What a unique voice he has. Nicely done.
September 24, 2017
Engaging plot and characters, lovely descriptions of the Wind River Range. I especially enjoyed the portrait of the protagonist's father, an old school rancher.
November 1, 2017
Tell well, just a little boring. Very straightforward. But I liked the jackson Hole references and the Wind River mountains.
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