This House of Sky: Landscapes of a Western Mind
by Ivan Doig
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 253)
Read in January, 2008
Enjoyable read,
Doig tells a story of days gone by and the challenges faced by the settlers of the untamed West. I did enjoy many of the characters and his personal story of growing up in a remote farming and ranching environment, as I too am a country boy.
It is sad to see the way that America has changed, losing its innocence along the way. He provides many personal examples of the suffering endured by his family and others as they struggled against the elements and the shift in econo...more
Doig tells a story of days gone by and the challenges faced by the settlers of the untamed West. I did enjoy many of the characters and his personal story of growing up in a remote farming and ranching environment, as I too am a country boy.
It is sad to see the way that America has changed, losing its innocence along the way. He provides many personal examples of the suffering endured by his family and others as they struggled against the elements and the shift in econo...more
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Read in August, 2007
Most people know how much I love "Dancing at the Rascal Fair," but until recently that was the only book I'd ever read by Ivan Doig. While that book is fictional, "This House of Sky" is a memoir of Doig's childhood, and it secured him even more as one of my favorite authors. I don't even know where to start with this book. The characters (if you can call them that in a memoir) are incredibly vivid, and Doig does a great job of capturing the dialect of his European family m...more
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Read in September, 2007
A memoir of growing up as the child of a sheep/cattle rancher in Montana in the 40s and 50s with his widowed father and maternal grandmother.
Doig's detailing of the harsh beauty of life out in Montana creates much of the richness in the book. These descriptions are punctuated by the words of those who remember for him - the Scottish accent of his father, the clipped drawl of fellow ranchers.
What I do find somewhat bothersome/problematic are Doig's poetical asides that close each chapter...more
Doig's detailing of the harsh beauty of life out in Montana creates much of the richness in the book. These descriptions are punctuated by the words of those who remember for him - the Scottish accent of his father, the clipped drawl of fellow ranchers.
What I do find somewhat bothersome/problematic are Doig's poetical asides that close each chapter...more
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Ranks in my top ten favorites. I even have an autographed especially for me copy, that I got from Doig when I went to hear him speak at SLC Library. I am speechless about this book. I want to cry even thinking about it and then go and read a hundred more times...PLEASE read it and tell me what you all think! A little forewarning about some of the language...it's a crusty Scottish thing-lots of these characters attributes reminded me of my Grandpa, I think that's why I loved it so much. All ...more
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Read in July, 2004
I'm writing this out a few years after having read it and often times in those years in between I've found myself referring back to what Doig wrote on. At the time I really enjoyed it as a quiet read of a rough-ish country life, and how an author grew up. What I've drawn on in his life though has been how his father handled the farm hands as their boss. Doig describes the attitudes he took with them and how he garnished their respect enough to have them listen and follow. I took that to hear...more
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Read in February, 2004
This was one of the books that changed how I thought. Particularly, it challenged me to look at the stories of the people I meet/love and understand the things that shaped them, the stories that made them into people. Understanding leads to forgiveness, and to truly knowing those you love. The book was also set in country I know and love and I could understand and appreciate the author to a higher degree
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It took a while for this autobiographical book to grab me (which is strange - usually I can't get enough of the autobiographical stuff), but I ended up loving it. This is a great story about ranching in Montana in the early-to-mid twentieth century. There's simultaneously a warmth and a sense of Montanan durability in Doig's writing.
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Read in June, 1989
My family is a group of Doig-aphiles and Stegner-aphiles. This book has passed through all of our hands at least once. I love Doig's elegant and succinct writing style. There are many moments in this book, as well as in his others, where I literally stop reading in awe of how he puts words together.
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Read in July, 2007
recommends it for:
anyone who grew up in a rural are, anyone who loves their father
Doig grew up the son of a widowed rancher/cowboy who lived a hard but loving life. This memoir of his childhood is extraordinary for its evocative sense of a place, an era, and the natural world of rural Montana, and his honest and loving portraits of his father, grandmother, and town.
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Read in May, 2008
recommends it for:
Rochelle and Matt
Found this one in my basement. My old roommate, Big B, had left it behind. I absolutely loved it. The man can WRITE! About his childhood growing up on ranches in Montana. Amazing colorful descriptions of people, places, and events. Brought a few tears to my eyes.
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Read in April, 2007
Doig's memoir of growing up out West is resonant and pure. His voice is singular, his prose glowing. Doig's mother died when he was 6 and he and his father made a life and a living on the ranches of Montana. A uniquely American story well-told. Highly recommended.
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Read in June, 2006
Perhaps it's the whole Montana thing, but I love Ivan Doig's books. If you have not read anything by him, you should try out this one. Doig's also been a Seattle resident for at least the last 20-30 years, for all of you Seattle folk out there.
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Read in March, 2006
recommends it for:
Western history buffs
This is easy in my top 5 of best ever. I inherited all of Doigs' books at one time and started with this and read ever one of them back to back to back. Some people can tell a an amazeing story and then there is Ivan Doig. WOW!!!
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Just beautiful. I can't even remember the different reactions I had when I read this book. I just remember being captivated by the writing, and I went on to recommend this (and Doig's fiction) to book-loving friends.
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Read in January, 2008
This was an interesting (true) story of Ivan Doig's childhood growing up in ranching country in Montana. I thought the writing was at times beautiful, and at other times kind of overwrought, or tried too hard.
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Read in December, 2007
Doig's memoir of his Montana youth and the history of his homesteading family, captures the people and landscape of a lost era. Doig's asides often are poetic, though sometimes distracting.
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Read in January, 1993
Ever feel like you were born in the wrong place and the wrong time? This book left me wishing I could've been the daughter of a cattle rancher in small town Montana in the 40's.
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Doig's first book. An autobiography before he was known. If you would like to see how people in Montana truly are, this is one of the best sources.
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a marvelous memoir of a bright young man growing up in western montana in 1936-50. a very human story, although nothing spectacular happens. nice.
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Read in June, 2006
One of the best books I have ever read. His prose is incredible! I would recommend this to anyone interested in pioneers or Montana.
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