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9th out of 219 books
—
377 voters
The Songcatcher (Ballad #6)
Haunted by a memory, Lark McCourry traces the passage of a song through generations of her family, from a Scottish island through the pages of American history, to the Appalachian Mountains in western North Carolina. As the memory of the song dims over the years, Lark's only hope of preserving her family legacy lies in mountain wisewoman Nora Bonesteel, who talks to the li...more
Paperback, 416 pages
Published
April 1st 2002
by Signet
(first published May 1st 2001)
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3.5 stars
This review originally appeared at www.readinasinglesitting.com.
Upon the hill above the kirk at moon rise she did stand
To tend her sheep that Samhain eve, with rowan staff in hand.
And where she's been and what she's seen, no living soul may know
And when she's come back home, she will be changed - oh!
I picked up Sharyn McCrumb's The Songcatcher several years ago when on holiday in Malaysia, where my husband is originally from. Like me, he has a slightly confused cultural identity: both o...more
This review originally appeared at www.readinasinglesitting.com.
Upon the hill above the kirk at moon rise she did stand
To tend her sheep that Samhain eve, with rowan staff in hand.
And where she's been and what she's seen, no living soul may know
And when she's come back home, she will be changed - oh!
I picked up Sharyn McCrumb's The Songcatcher several years ago when on holiday in Malaysia, where my husband is originally from. Like me, he has a slightly confused cultural identity: both o...more
Tracing an ancestor back to his roots gave the author some fascinating factual fodder that brightens this book about a search for an old ballad. The author’s own family stories prove that truth is often stranger than fiction. One of the key characters is Malcolm, a member of the author’s family tree, who was kidnapped from a beach in the Scottish Isles to work on shipboard when he was less than ten years old. On the ship he worked hard but also learned songs, including the fictional one that is...more
This story revolves around a song that evolves from generation to generation. The novel begins in the Appalachin Mountains, and the song begins in the Scottish Isle. Lark, the main character, is searching for a song she vaguely remembers hearing as a child. Malcom, one of Lark's ancestors, learned the song as a ship's cabin boy. The connection between the past and present foreshadows the recovery of the song for the reader. For Lark the search isn't so easy. She is lost in a plane crash, and her...more
This was an interesting book. Set in the Appalachians, what I enjoyed most about it was all of the history the author included, both about Appalachian music and the early Scottish settlers. I especially enjoyed her mention of the early Scottish settlers to Buncombe, North Carolina as I can trace my ancestry there. I did not think as far as being an overall great story that it really fit the bill for me, as it didn't seem thecharacters themselves really experienced any kind of growth or triumph...more
I picked up this book in a second hand book section of a roadside cafe, looking for some light reading for the bus.
I'm not quite sure how this book counts as a mystery... but it served its purpose, keeping me entertained for a number of hours on the road, and pool-side during my holiday. I'm cynical, I know, but I just didn't think the plot was thick enough to be a mystery. It was interesting as historical fiction, and I really enjoyed the way the two stories intertwined, past and present sewn...more
I'm not quite sure how this book counts as a mystery... but it served its purpose, keeping me entertained for a number of hours on the road, and pool-side during my holiday. I'm cynical, I know, but I just didn't think the plot was thick enough to be a mystery. It was interesting as historical fiction, and I really enjoyed the way the two stories intertwined, past and present sewn...more
Back in the small town of Hamlin with Sheriff Arrowood and Nora Bonesteel. I like this series, but this wasn't one of the best. I prefer it when only Nora Bonesteel sees the dead people because she's supposed to have the sight, but when some of the other characters see them too – it takes away from it.
Feuding father-daughter start this one. Daughter has become a famous country/folk singer and is coming home to see dad who is not doing well. He is old curmudgeon who used to be a lawyer. Part of...more
Feuding father-daughter start this one. Daughter has become a famous country/folk singer and is coming home to see dad who is not doing well. He is old curmudgeon who used to be a lawyer. Part of...more
In her usual lyrical way, Sharyn McCrumb tells two stories in one in this book. One is story that goes back to the late 18 century. A story that begins in Scotland and ends in a remote North Carolina mountain cabin. The other story is set in the late 20 century, and is about a plane crash in a remote mountain area that is also in the North Carolina mountains. Ms. McCrumb binds these two disparate stories together with an old folk song and a family thread. The book is the story of young Malcolm M...more
The Songcatcher by Sharyn McCrumb (2001, 321 pages). Subtitled “A Ballad Novel”, McCrumb’s book traces the connections between a traditional ballad and the McCourry family. The story begins in 1751 with Malcolm McCourry, a Scot kidnapped as a child, who is later brought to North Carolina. The plot alternates between Malcolm’s life story and the quest of Lark McCourry, a contemporary country singer, who is trying to track down the ballad she remembers from her childhood. Both stories are intrigui...more
Why have I never heard of Sharyn McCrumb ? My friend Judy posted this book on her Goodreads, so I picked it up, and very much enjoyed it !
Written from three seperate storylines which, in the end, weave together in satisfaction, this story has you debating whether to pop around and finish the one before becoming involved in another, or to just read straight through. Pick the latter ! Ms McCrumb has a method in her method, and it works !
Has, of course (the title), a song, the people who sing it (o...more
Written from three seperate storylines which, in the end, weave together in satisfaction, this story has you debating whether to pop around and finish the one before becoming involved in another, or to just read straight through. Pick the latter ! Ms McCrumb has a method in her method, and it works !
Has, of course (the title), a song, the people who sing it (o...more
Malcolm McCourry was kidnapped from his home in Scotland as a 7-year-old boy, and after many years working on sailing ships, he settled in America. He brought with him an old ballad which carries on down through the generations of his family, just as the story of the McCourrys does in the novel. Lark McCourry, a modern-day folksinger, is trying to find (or remember) this old ballad and her search coincides with the death of her father. I always enjoy multi-generation stories. This is classified...more
This was the first book in the Ballad series that I ever read - actually the first Sharyn McCrumb book in general that I've read and I just finished re-reading it for my bid to read the entire series in order from start to the end.
This book made me fall in love with Sharyn McCrumb. While it doesn't match the beauty of She Walks These Hills or The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter, (I'm beginning to think that none can) it's still a wonderful work. I love how McCrumb takes one historical story and sev...more
This book made me fall in love with Sharyn McCrumb. While it doesn't match the beauty of She Walks These Hills or The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter, (I'm beginning to think that none can) it's still a wonderful work. I love how McCrumb takes one historical story and sev...more
One of the best things about the Appalachian region is it's rich history of music. You can hear the scotch/irish melodies woven through many of the songs which were not even written down until a couple of decades ago. Sharyn McCrumb's story captures the beauty of the mountains, its colorful inhabitants and folklore. I live in these mountains and you can find music in almost any place you look any night of the week. This is one of the best books I've read about this amazing place; certainly one o...more
One of the things I love best about Sharyn McCrumb is her style of storytelling. She once again delivered with Songcatcher.
One of the things I will carry away from this book is how the pronounciation of words can have political meaning. Two examples are given in this book. The first is the when a New Yorker pronounces Appa-lay-cha when the mountain people prefer Appa-latch-a. The New Yorker insists on saying it his way until the second example is given. Apparently there is a city is Scotland tha...more
One of the things I will carry away from this book is how the pronounciation of words can have political meaning. Two examples are given in this book. The first is the when a New Yorker pronounces Appa-lay-cha when the mountain people prefer Appa-latch-a. The New Yorker insists on saying it his way until the second example is given. Apparently there is a city is Scotland tha...more
This was a "good" book, but it could have been so much better. I was highly-motivated to read it -- I had loved McCrumb's "The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter," which was an engrossing, haunting, lyrical tale about a family tragedy and the goings-on of a community of people in the hills of Appalachia. "The Songcatcher" has the same setting and it tries to have that same haunting, lyrical style. However, I felt that it lacked focus with too many story threads.
Some of these story threads, taken sepa...more
Some of these story threads, taken sepa...more
McCrumb alternates the current-day storyline with a story about the generations descended from a Scottish boy kidnapped from his home in Islay and brought to the Caribbean islands. His descendants ultimate settle in New Jersey and the Appalachians between Tennessee and Virginia. In her afterword the author explains that this history was based on what she could dig up about one of her own ancestors and his children and grandchildren. While both the historical narrative and the present-day story a...more
This is a boring book. The story jumps back and forth between an estranged father and daughter, and one of their ancestors in the mid 1700's. Then it also includes random characters along the hiking trails and tiny towns of the Appalachian mountains. At the halfway point of this book, I counted 4 separate story lines, none of them engaging, and there was no hint of how these story lines would be eventually tied together. I have permanently shelved the book.
Sharyn McCrumb has given us a fictionalized version of her family tree, and it's a treat.
John Walker is dying and his housekeeper summons his estranged daughter home. His daughter, Linda, now a famous folksinger known as Lark, suffers an accident on the way home, however, and is stranded on a mountainside with faint chance of rescue. To see her through her ordeal, the 911 officer she managed to reach on her cell phone before the battery died promises to track down a folk song she heard when she...more
John Walker is dying and his housekeeper summons his estranged daughter home. His daughter, Linda, now a famous folksinger known as Lark, suffers an accident on the way home, however, and is stranded on a mountainside with faint chance of rescue. To see her through her ordeal, the 911 officer she managed to reach on her cell phone before the battery died promises to track down a folk song she heard when she...more
McCrumb is a good storyteller, but the reason I gave this book a 3 instead of 4 stars is because she had to many different storylines going on. You would read a chapter and jump a few centuries, and I found myself wanting her to keep going with the one storyline. By the time the author got back to the storyline, I was confused about the storyline. I found myself frustrated most of the time and a little disappointed in how she wrapped it all up.
I really enjoy Sharyn McCrumb's books set in the Appalachians. I learn something new with each book, about people. This story evolves around a song that the first McCourry, a child kidnapped from Scotland in 1759 and who eventually ends up in western North Carolina, remembers. There is a story set in the present along with chapters about the family through the centuries. A touch of the supernatural gives it an enjoyable edge.
I shall henceforth think of myself of a "cosmic possum" genre! McCrumb is a masterful storyteller. She does a beautiful job weaving a story about her mountain ancestors and transforming it into a historical novel for the Appalachia lover. The author handles family eccentricities and mountain traits with reverence. Having loved life in Western North Carolina for half my life, this book just delighted me!
I have changed this book's rating between 3 and 4 stars several times. I really enjoy McCrumb's Ballad series, and this is another strong entry. She does a good job of weaving together a current story with a historical storyline, this time mining her own family's history.
It also had some interesting things to say about the way that we choose to pronounce place names, and the politics of doing so. It was definitely food for thought.
It also had some interesting things to say about the way that we choose to pronounce place names, and the politics of doing so. It was definitely food for thought.
In this novel there are multiple story lines but each is so well written I had no problem moving between them. The thread that holds them all together is as old ballad passed from one generation to the next. I especially like how McCrumb has two timelines. She tells one story which begins in late 1700's in Scotland and another that is current USA in Appalachia. How she moves the first story along to join with the second makes for enjoyable reading.
This was my first audio book and I really enjoyed listening to it. I'm not sure how I would have enjoyed reading it. There were some characters introduced that I didn't really get. Too many story lines. I think the only character that I cared about was Old Malcolm. The rest were either uninteresting or un-likeable.
I loved the Songcatcher on audio for two reasons: 1. the narrator did a great job with the Scottish and Appalachian accents. 2. he/she actually sang the songs. . I don't know whether the tunes were authentic, but it added so much to this story about the origins and mystery surrounding a song. . . so well written.
There is a lot going on in this book. Lots of different time periods and stories. I started out thinking this was a three star but at the end of the book the author says that this is all based on true stories of her family! So to me that made it more interesting.
Nothing earth-shattering, but it kept me entertained. The author's afterword, though, somewhat changed my perspective. Turns out much of the novel is based on her own family history, and I enjoyed learning that.
This was my first book by the author. I was especially interested in her family history described in the story. They eventually settled in Appalachia. I am in the process of reading the rest of her books.
I love Sharon McCrumb! Now I want to travel to Appalachia (and read all of the other books in this series).
Audio note: The male reader had a mediocre Scottish accent, but then I'm really picky.
Audio note: The male reader had a mediocre Scottish accent, but then I'm really picky.
Someone recommended this, but it probably isn't really my preferred "style" of book. Had a hard time finishing. Wavers somewhere between "historical fiction" and "mystery." Lark is a country singer who uses the music of her childhood to further her career, but simultaneously is isolated from her aging father and community roots. She must find her way back while searching for the "lost" folk-song that is her family's legacy. It doesn't sound all that interesting, and it really isn't. Quite a few...more
I love the way McCrumb weaves history and present showing us that our stories, our songs, our lives don't happen in isolation, but sit on the shoulders of so many others' stories.
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Sharyn McCrumb is an American writer whose books celebrate the history and folklore of Appalachia. Educated at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Virginia Tech, she has also taught Appalachian studies. She is married to David McCrumb, a corporate environmental director, and has two children, Laura and Spencer.
-Wikipedia
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-Wikipedia
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Sep 22, 2009 08:46pm