The optimism of the early sixties, infused with the excitement of the space race and the menace of the Cold War, is filtered through the rich im... read full description
reviews
Apr 15, 2008
Michael
rated it: 
Ann-Marie MacDonald’s The Way the Crow Flies follows the arc of classical comedy, though there’s very little funny about this novel. The first third presents an idyllic pastoral, a precious if insular community where fathers are good, mothers are beautiful, and children are safe. But the seeds of tragedy lurk among the flowers, and the middle section presents a nightmare that culminates in one child’s murder, another child’s victimization in a travesty of justice, and a father's terrible dilemma
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Dec 03, 2007
Gizmology
rated it: 
I really loved this book and had to read her previous novel, _Fall On Your Knees_, the minute I finished _The Way the Crow Flies_. One thing that struck me about her writing was the fact that in both books, I came to a place fairly soon in each (maybe a third of the way through?) where she related an event that had me literally sobbing and choking with sadness and anger, and then -- after I blew my nose -- furious at McDonald herself as the author! Both times I felt like putting the book down (n
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Nov 26, 2007
Kerry
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Wow! What a read! I was fascinated by this book. From start to finish, I was captivated by the rich descriptions and character development. Although the subject matter became distasteful at times, I felt I owed it to myself to finish the story, which I am so glad I did. Like real life, the story is unsettling; unresolved; gritty. The way the author intertwined the lives of each character was masterful and often unexpected. I "read" this book on audiocassette which was performed by the
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Aug 30, 2007
Kieran
rated it: 
Overall, I have to say I enjoyed this novel. I read this 800+ page tome by Canadian author and playwright Ann-Marie MacDonald in about a week of a vacation in Mexico. The mystery was engrossing and she crafted an intricate page-turner of a story. The parallel themes of the hypocritical political maneuvers of the US and Canada after WWII and the hypocrisy of 1950s suburban life were interesting and, at times, very realistic. She covered a number of historical events that are not often discuss
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Mar 07, 2008
Arryn
rated it:
What I liked about this book: vivid and well-rounded characters(!), references to pop culture, dialogue in French, intrigue, deception, loyalty, a storybook marriage, historical references, beautiful descriptions of time and place(!), the denouement that left me feeling emotionally exhausted
What I didn't like: some strong language, disturbing scenes of child molestation, the chapters where Madeleine is an adult
I couldn't recommend this book without reservation. How More...
What I didn't like: some strong language, disturbing scenes of child molestation, the chapters where Madeleine is an adult
I couldn't recommend this book without reservation. How More...
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Feb 05, 2009
Michele
rated it:
This was SO good! A very tragic, but wonderful story of a family and the events that damage them, the secrets that they keep. But the book was so nostalgic, bringing back sweet memories from my childhood. Very enjoyable.
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Aug 02, 2011
WOW. Just picked this off the shelf without much consideration and I was completely taken by surprise. Hard book to review as it was such a disturbing subject. I certainly recommend it, but definitely had to limit my reading at times to be able to digest what I was taking in. However, became so close to the main character that I did not want to let go.
Found some parts unneccessarily lengthy. Especially fed up with the road and street references that were continuously repeated.
I also found that More...
Found some parts unneccessarily lengthy. Especially fed up with the road and street references that were continuously repeated.
I also found that More...
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Feb 27, 2009
Amy
rated it:
This was an amazing book. It is very tragic. The theme and material were hard for me to get through. I had to slow down at times to recover from the tragedy, but I am glad I stuck to it. I also had a hard time "getting into" the book. I was not fond of her style and was not drawn to all the military life details that fill the first part of the book. But, I fell in love with this McCarthy family and I just had to soldier on. Of course her style ending up charming my socks off on
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Nov 03, 2011
Mike
rated it:
[Warning: this is a long review, but this complex book merits it.]
This is a long, thoughtful, and multi-layered novel. It was recommended to me as a good depiction of life growing up on Canadian military bases, as I did. And it is. It centres around 8-year-old Madeleine McCarthy, who's on her fourth move in 1962, and her father Jack McCarthy, a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) officer. The early part of the story is about how the McCarthys, including Madeleine's Acadian mother Mimi an More...
This is a long, thoughtful, and multi-layered novel. It was recommended to me as a good depiction of life growing up on Canadian military bases, as I did. And it is. It centres around 8-year-old Madeleine McCarthy, who's on her fourth move in 1962, and her father Jack McCarthy, a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) officer. The early part of the story is about how the McCarthys, including Madeleine's Acadian mother Mimi an More...
Oct 20, 2011
Steve
rated it:
Overall I enjoyed this one. Although at times I was pulling my hair out wishing the author would 'get on with it'. MacDonald has a slight tendency to self-indulge in minutiae. Sometimes it
worked, yet other times I was ready to curse her and bang my IPad on the table. "Come on, get on wtih it". It really adds nothing to the story for me to be re-assured of the type of tobacco a Nazi rocket scientist prefers. Not at all!
There were other instances but I'll refrain from extrapolating at the r More...
worked, yet other times I was ready to curse her and bang my IPad on the table. "Come on, get on wtih it". It really adds nothing to the story for me to be re-assured of the type of tobacco a Nazi rocket scientist prefers. Not at all!
There were other instances but I'll refrain from extrapolating at the r More...
Sep 25, 2011
Stacey
rated it:
This one took a while to read, obviously due to the length, but also because I was dreading what I knew was coming. It was one of those books that's just so sad...It makes me wonder how many secrets people carry with them and how the smallest lie can change everything. Also, I like her writing style, the way she switches perspectives, and the look into a life of an air force family.
"If you move around all your life, you can't find where you come from on a map. All those pl More...
"If you move around all your life, you can't find where you come from on a map. All those pl More...
Jul 23, 2011
Matthew
rated it:
The multi-talented MacDonald is back again in top form with an 800 plus page monster of a novel which, despite its girth never drags and avoids being ponderous. I can see a novel such as this being a failure in the hands of a less competent writer, but MacDonald pulls it off brilliantly.
The novel opens with a single hook: The birds saw the murder. After that we are immediately transported back in time to an era that is so realistically evoked I could literally smell and taste each More...
The novel opens with a single hook: The birds saw the murder. After that we are immediately transported back in time to an era that is so realistically evoked I could literally smell and taste each More...
Jan 03, 2010
Nate's
rated it:
SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT
This book was way too long and I think the editor knew it. The very first page is the description of a scene in which a murder is foretold. The next 350 pages of the book is the meandering build up to the murder scene. Ann-Marie MacDonald leads the reader through rooms involving child molestation, international spydom, elementary school quarrels, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and Nazi refugees. And written like this, I admit it sounds interesting. But all of th More...
This book was way too long and I think the editor knew it. The very first page is the description of a scene in which a murder is foretold. The next 350 pages of the book is the meandering build up to the murder scene. Ann-Marie MacDonald leads the reader through rooms involving child molestation, international spydom, elementary school quarrels, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and Nazi refugees. And written like this, I admit it sounds interesting. But all of th More...
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Sep 04, 2009
Shannon
rated it:
(deep breath) Wow.
#1: writing was really amazing
#2: spot on insight into children's world from child's point of view, along with ability to communicate from child's perspective; if you are a woman, you know that girl, and you may find you were that girl
#3: So many interesting layers; I appreciated the Canadian insecurity, both inward focused (everybody thinks we're lame - and we kind of agree), and outwardly focused (look at what we've done to gain respect, and why don't More...
#1: writing was really amazing
#2: spot on insight into children's world from child's point of view, along with ability to communicate from child's perspective; if you are a woman, you know that girl, and you may find you were that girl
#3: So many interesting layers; I appreciated the Canadian insecurity, both inward focused (everybody thinks we're lame - and we kind of agree), and outwardly focused (look at what we've done to gain respect, and why don't More...
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Oct 02, 2009
Stephanie
rated it:
I read this when it first came out, but am rereading for a book club. It's interesting to reread it in the wake of having seen a couple of seasons of "Mad Men," which is set around the same time. Having not read it for so long was like reading it for the first time, as I recalled only the big picture of the novel. MacDonald deftly interweaves the various plot strands -- Madeleine's story in 1962-63, Jack's story in the same time frame, the thread about Dora, and the thread about Cla
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Jul 26, 2009
Alan
rated it:
straight at the heart
The Way the Crow Flies is a big, big novel and the author's literary genius shines from every page.
I was drawn into the book by Ms. MacDonald's transparent, vernacular prose style, reminiscent of Ken Kesey or Stephen King at their best, and her gorgeously poetic scenery. But it was the sensitive characterizations that hooked me. Night after night as I read the book, my dreams were infiltrated by concern for the members of the McCarthy and Froelich familie More...
The Way the Crow Flies is a big, big novel and the author's literary genius shines from every page.
I was drawn into the book by Ms. MacDonald's transparent, vernacular prose style, reminiscent of Ken Kesey or Stephen King at their best, and her gorgeously poetic scenery. But it was the sensitive characterizations that hooked me. Night after night as I read the book, my dreams were infiltrated by concern for the members of the McCarthy and Froelich familie More...
Jul 26, 2011
Carolyn
rated it:
The Way the Crow Flies is not, in my opinion, a 'murder mystery, spy thriller' as is printed on the back of the novel. Yes, there is a murder, a mystery and cold war spy drama, but the most memorable moments, and the majority of the novel, is made up of a coming of age tale and a reflection on morality and lost innocence.
The novel begins with a taste of 'the murder'. Then proceeds to set the scene for a hundred and fifty pages, with no inkling of any murder to come, I kind of forgot what More...
The novel begins with a taste of 'the murder'. Then proceeds to set the scene for a hundred and fifty pages, with no inkling of any murder to come, I kind of forgot what More...
Jul 15, 2010
Yumi
rated it:
depicted is the culture and conflicts of families living in the the married quarters of a canadian airbase during the time of post war optimism and through the cold war. i thoroughly enjoyed this novel, and its many characters. her almost traditional linear narrative style reminds me of margaret attwood ('cats eye' especially), which is a refreshing change from the recent trend of multiple narrators and other cheap tricks to keep readers interested ('page turner!'). the story revolves mainly a
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Apr 25, 2010
Renee
rated it:
What a read; I was captivated for all 700 plus pages (the first 75 pages were a slight challenge to get through, but then almost like a line was cast; I was hooked). This is a gritty, unresolved epic novel that revolves around a military family post WWII that has relocated to Canada from Germany. The political maneuvers of the US and Canada, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the fate of Nazi refugees were well documented and explored, but the heart of this book is seen through the eyes of 9 year old
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Feb 03, 2009
Lisa
rated it:
This book took a while to hook me. The writing was good, but the beginning does drag with lengthy descriptions prior to any major plot developments. I stayed with it, though.
I recommend the book largely because it portrayed a father's dilemma between his duty to country and his duty to humanity in a way that was emotionally wrenching. His and his daughter's inability to speak freely about certain events (for very different reasons) changed the outcome of a murder investigation in a w More...
I recommend the book largely because it portrayed a father's dilemma between his duty to country and his duty to humanity in a way that was emotionally wrenching. His and his daughter's inability to speak freely about certain events (for very different reasons) changed the outcome of a murder investigation in a w More...
Oct 06, 2011
David
rated it:
So, so weighty. At critical junctures the experience is like bathing in astringent. Only, the astringent seeps in and soaks one's soul.
MacDonald's first work, Fall on Your Knees, is a remarkable feat and remains one of my favorite six or seven novels of all time. This isn't quite that, but it remains one of the thirty or forty most significant books I've ever read. It is difficult to read, more so than that first book---not in the sense that Finnegan's Wake is difficult, say, or More...
MacDonald's first work, Fall on Your Knees, is a remarkable feat and remains one of my favorite six or seven novels of all time. This isn't quite that, but it remains one of the thirty or forty most significant books I've ever read. It is difficult to read, more so than that first book---not in the sense that Finnegan's Wake is difficult, say, or More...
Apr 21, 2008
Nancy
rated it:
This is a beautifully written, but emotionally challenging book. The author has a real gift for bringing to life characters, time, and place. Her protagonists are impressively complex and the plot is very compelling--- my only complaint is the novel's dark heart --and that is just a personal bias for more upbeat tales.
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Feb 23, 2011
Suzanne
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"The birds saw the murder. Down below in the new grass, the tiny white bell-heads of the lily of the valley. It was a sunny day. Twig-crackling, early spring stirrings, spring soil smell. April. A stream through the nearby woods, so refreshing to the ear - it would be dry by the end of summer, but for now it rippled through the shade. High in the branches of an elm, that is where the birds were, perched among the many buds set to pleat like fresh hankies."<i/>
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Jul 20, 2011
Kathryn
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This book is really incredible. It is rich with history and the prose is beautiful. The real crime case of Canadian Steven Truscott, who was wrongfully incarcerated in Ontario in 1959, is the context on which the plot is built, though, of course, it is a fictionalized version of what happened, and the story contains so much complexity-the mystery that unfolds regarding the crime is only a part of the whole work. But, because the crime involved the sexual assault and murder of a young girl th
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Jan 22, 2012
Sherri aka SDMomChef
rated it:
What a wonderful book. The first half of the book takes place during the early 1960s. A young Canadian military family is being transferred from Germany to a base in Canada. They have two children, a precocious daughter Madeline and an older son Jack. They are the genuine perfect family. Life is good. Too good. Their father Jack agrees to help his mentor Simon with a project, which help ends up challenging everything that Jack believes and with unexpected consequences.
T More...
Aug 25, 2010
Keith
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This is another one of those books that I picked up simply because I loved the author's previous book, Fall on Your Knees. Unlike in several other cases, however, this one I also really liked, and I liked it a lot. The book is a novelization of a true story that occurred near where the author grew up in Ontario, so it was likely a story that meant a lot to her. It's a very interesting story and after I finished the novel I found myself reading whatever I could find about the real life version.
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Jan 18, 2010
Jennifer
rated it:
Deeply disturbing at times, and yet humorous sometimes as well. I did struggle to keep reading and not throw the book across the room during the incidences of child molestation. And I ached for Madeleine to be able to truthfully communicate with her father. But the way in which the story is told, and the way the children behave and interact was authentic.
I enjoyed the historical and cultural references. While I was able to read this book in relative comfort and security, quckly passi More...
I enjoyed the historical and cultural references. While I was able to read this book in relative comfort and security, quckly passi More...
Dec 02, 2009
Emily
rated it:
Rich and complex in subject matter with very very good writing and beautiful descriptions of nature "rain drops falling as fast as thoughts". Life on a Canadian military base during the cold war, featuring a tomboy named Madeline and her heroic and high ranking father. Explores an unusual combination of topics including Canadian/U.S. relations, child abuse, the Holocaust, the Cold War, traditional family values, heterosexual romance, French Canadian history and family life in the Sixti
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Jan 08, 2010
Abbey
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This book is AMAZING! However, the huge-normousness of the book can be a little daunting. It is a little hard to get into but once you're about 1/4 of the way in and you pick up the style of writing it really comes together. The book is about a young girl who's dad is in the Canadian Air Force. They were stationed in Germany and are now heading back to Canada. Once there the main character, Madeline, makes some great friends but is having trouble in school with her teacher. This all leads to
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