The Meadow
by James Galvin
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Read in January, 2001
I just didn't get it. A book chosen by our book club and was panned by all members. It was chosen mainly because it is set in the area which we live (Northern Co/Southern Wy). I'm not sure how to even classify this book: fiction? non-fiction? or a combo of both. I've heard that people who know the author recognize many of the characters in the novel as people they know. There really isn't a story to the book and I was confused by the characters and their roles/purpose. HOWEVER I have mentioned t...more
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Read in January, 2004
This book is the best. James Galvin has a thoughful voice and the book focuses on the numerous western characters that he grew up with and loved. The ways in which Galvin talks about open landscapes is incredibly beautiful. For any westerner thinking about suburbia and all its vast wastes this book should be on the top list of must reads. Galvins appreciation for the small details of nature, humans, life and spirituality will keep one musing for years about how to integrate oneself into the land...more
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Read in June, 2008
This book gets added to the list of essential books about the American West. It's hard to follow at first, but the beautiful writing forces you to keep reading. Once you get into it, you cannot put it down.
Why have I never heard of James Galvin until Alexandra Fuller name-dropped him in an article I read just two weeks ago? I lived in Laramie for four years and James Galvin lived and wrote just down the road. Why did no one tell me about him? My to-read list will include all books by Galvin...more
Why have I never heard of James Galvin until Alexandra Fuller name-dropped him in an article I read just two weeks ago? I lived in Laramie for four years and James Galvin lived and wrote just down the road. Why did no one tell me about him? My to-read list will include all books by Galvin...more
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Read in October, 2006
A poetic rendition of life in an earlier era in "the meadow" on the Wyoming/Colorado border. The author draws pictures with poetical prose, illustrating the integrity and slowness of life in the meadow. This is not an action book, but history lovers will appreciate it. Although the book is usually found in the fiction department, the characters are real and a part of the author's life. I loved it, but it took a few chapters for me to get into the rhythm of the book.
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Okay, it's not as if I've actually finished this book, but it's not like it's going to fall about in the last one hundred pages. And you know what? Even if it did, I'd still feel the way I feel about it -- that it's genius and that I should most certainly put a bullet in my head because I'll never write anything a third as good. But what do I matter?--a beautiful, life-changing book. All should be as good as this.
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Read in January, 2004
I've recommended this so many times to anyone living in this general vicinity (Colorado- Wyoming- Montana), but especially those living near the Colorado-Wyoming border, as we did before moving to Gunnison. The landscape is a huge component of the stories, but the history interspersed and current developments apply to the west at large...
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A beautifully written book. Characters you fall in love with. It's like a movie without any dialogue, but the most incredible cinematography you've ever seen. The landscape was brilliantly described, the world and people within it were all impeccably composed as the story was quietly revealed.
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Read in June, 2007
Read this while in the eastern plains of Colorado, not all that far from where the story took place. It was a steady and poetic story, reflective of the land. I found it hard to believe it was true. I think it's easier to appreciate the book having been to see country like that.
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This, along with Owen Meany, is one of my friend Helen's favorite books. At least when we first met, in '94. She gave me a copy for my birthday. It's one of those stories about the "life" of a meadow. It moves slowly, and I think I'd enjoy it even more if I reread it.
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Read in March, 2008
recommends it for:
nature lovers
I enjoyed this book--the story of a piece of land, and those who love it. They live there, they die there. Has a bit of bad language. It's not told chronologically (a little Faulkner-esque), so it's a little confusing to track who is who, but that is also the fun of it.
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Read in January, 2008
One of the most beautiful books I've ever read. Even if you live in the city, you know these people, I know you do. And you've seen the view from that hill. Somehow Galvin makes everything very very familiar. Makes me want to move to the country NOW.
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Read in March, 2006
recommends it for:
anyone who has ever lived in the Western US
This is one of my favorite books ever. I read it for a creative writing theory class I took from Kim Johnson about inter-generic texts. I cannot recommend this book strongly enough. I don't want to say too much about it, other than READ IT.
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Read in September, 2000
recommends it for:
people of the west
a poet writes a narrative of life on the margin, but what an intricate life and a grand margin: the edge of the prairie in Wyoming where loneliness and creativity flower into unnoticed grandeur. a book all true westerners will take to heart.
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Read in June, 2008
I started and finish this wonderful book this weekend. It is about my area of the world. I loved it and will reread immediately. If you want to know where I grew up this is the book to read.
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Read in January, 2003
recommends it for:
not Galvin's family
Like Joe McGinniss' attempts at using factual evidence to suppose real people's thoughts, "The Meadow" is a memoir thick with memories, trustworthy and not. Beautiful, almost tragic.
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Read in November, 2002
This is one of my favorite books. I had to read it for a literature of the American west class. The sense of loss and the poetic writing of the book captured me.
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Read in January, 1995
An all-time favorite. I haven't heard the acclaim given to Galvin that you hear about Doig, say, but this is one of the best portrayals of the West I've ever read.
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An astonishing book, so slender as to be almost slight, yet full of more than a century of real people, deeply portrayed and real. This book is not to be missed.
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If you have ever spent time in Wyoming and northern Colorado, this is a must read. Writing and images are beautiful.
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Crippling nostalgia for a thing I never had
and it's hard to believe I never had it, after finishing this
and it's hard to believe I never had it, after finishing this
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