Leaving the Land

by Douglas Unger

Marge Hogan and her community struggle to keep their farms when corporate farming takes over, causing the disappearance of the family farm and its culture, skills, and ethics

Genres: Fiction, Novels, Literature, United States

277 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1984

Reviews

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why haven't I heard of this book before now? A hidden gem! Published in 1984. I found it on my local library's paperback rack, while looking for something to take on a two-week road trip. The benefit of checking out one of these books is, there's no due date (yes, my library still, sigh, charges fines), and it doesn't take up much room in my suitcase.

Part one is all about Marge Hogan's life, from childhood to young adult, on a working farm in Nebraska. It's not all sweetness and light, but there's love and humor in the family. Who knew that the Federal government encouraged farmers to raise sugar beets or turkeys during WWII? (Not me.) "As Buster Hill, local manager of the Nowell-Safebuy plant, said, "the boys overseas need beets and turkeys to win this war."

Marge's dad, Ben, chooses turkeys, "...partly because he knew a lot of farmers who had gone with sugar beets and he had always been one to move in the other direction. But the main reason he had decided to raise turkeys was that he didn't want to have anything to do with Germans." Raising sugar beets was labor intensive, and, labor being short during the war, German prisoners were utilized. Ben "...didn't want to look out in the fields and see the enemy working there, eating his food, watching his daughter."

When Marge's brothers are both lost to the war, it's Marge's duty to make sure the farm survives. "You get yourself married, she [Marge's mother] said, with an expression hardened by realities. Your papa can't run this place on his own." Marge takes her responsibility to farm and home seriously, but is confronted with a disappointing set of husband prospects. I found the passages about her search for a mate heartbreakingly funny. Her father encourages Marge to date the local boys, telling her, "You get home [after dates] awful early....You won't get nobody, you come home so early." Marge's mother, Vera, is equally forthright, if less light-hearted, about the matter.

<"What do you do, Mama, when you put your arms around a man, when you kiss him with everything you've got, when you want to give everything to him, and still you don't feel a thing? What do you do? I'd always thought I'd feel butterflies in my stomach. There's got to be that much, Mama. There's got to be."
"Nobody goes through life with butterflies," her mother said. Butterflies are the first things to go. The rest is just hard work and endless days."
"Oh, Mama, how could you say that? How could you say that about Papa?"
"There's a lot more to life than the kind of love you mean," Vera said. There's having a home. There's having a life with both feet planted. A dignified life, even with all the worries about money and bills and things like that. There's children and dogs and gardens to water. There's having a house and all the things that go with it, and all the work to keep that house a place where people want to come to your door, that's what there is.">

The man she finally marries is older than she is, and he's certainly no farmer. Part two is told from Marge's son Kurt's point of view. Marge's marriage is rocky, and reflects the changing times of the 1950's and 60's. The narrative goes back and forth between Kurt's current day, when he's visiting home for the first time in eight years, for Christmas, and his growing-up years. This timeline is a backdrop for the story of the town Marge moved to upon marrying a lawyer for the Nowell-Safebuy company, and the story of the nearby family farm, which Marge still holds firmly, like a touchstone. In the end, what becomes of the farm is uncertain, but the torch, and the burden, have been passed to Kurt.

I found this novel alternately harrowing and uplifting, funny and sincere, and I loved every word.

[A. Harnish · Rating 5 out of 5]

GORGEOUS account of life of a farm family +changes in agricultural and social life in rural Midwest. Masterful prose and narrative movement. Who knew: it's author Douglas Unger, along with Tobias Wolff, was responsible for getting George Saunders into a writing program!

[Les · Rating 1 out of 5]

My Original Notes (1997):

I didn't like this book at all. The author doesn't seem as polished as Willa Cather, Theresa Jordan, or even, Hope Williams Sykes. Depressing themes throughout the book without any redeeming qualities. I didn't connect with any of the characters. Didn't really want to finish the book, but I did. A couple of funny parts, but very few.

My Current Thoughts:

I read this for my Great Plains Lit. class and would have quit early on if it weren't an assigned reading. After 20 years, I have zero recollection of the novel.

[Miguel Imperial · Rating 4 out of 5]

+ I like books that make a place, especially their hometown, an important part of the story. The part about a land's immortality was beautiful.
+ Bit exaggeration but my life changed when I read that quote about knowing you're in the good old days. The book showed that well with the transition from two family members of two separate generations. Same thing that made me love The Farewell and Boyhood: a very linear story of growing old with other people.

- The synopsis is about X taking over/becoming Y but it was written like a side note here and there. C

[Valeria · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tried to care about this book but really couldn't. Gave it 80page-try.

[Braeden Udy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some really nice writing but it started feeling very stale.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

An intimate portrait of a farming community and its descent into corporate farming.

[MSJLibrary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leaving the Land by Douglas Unger (1984, 277 pages). Since I grew up in rural Minnesota, I’ve always loved reading novels about farms and farming families. Unger’s novel is told in two parts. The first centers around Marge Hogan and her struggle to help her father keep the family turkey farm a going concern in the years following World War II. The second is told by Marge’s son, Kurt, who returns home one Christmas and is left to reflect upon the tremendous sacrifices his mother has made to hold onto the land. Unger’s first novel, Leaving the Land is a remarkably mature work, as harsh and beautiful as the prairie itself.

[R.a. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before Douglas Coupland published Generation X, Douglas Unger provided warning with Leaving the Land.

Here, Unger's central character, Marge, contends with maintaining the family farm. While almost a seemingly melodramatic plot device, we feel the ghost of the Gilded Age and 1930's haunt us. Yet, it seems far away—only because it happens in the mid-west.

Reminiscent of Steinbeck, Unger reveals through conflicted characters the on-coming upside-down American Dream.

This novel stands as prophetic, these days.

Kudos.

[Jeff Rosendahl · Rating 1 out of 5]

I figure one of every 6 books Goodreads recommends is good, and this one followed a good one. So no, didn't care for it. I wish I would have noticed it was fiction before I got it. I do like some historical fiction and I do enjoy non-fiction detailing the histories of rural places, but this one seemed like it went from nowhere to nowhere. I can only assume there's a lot of metaphors in this work that I didn't understand because I found nothing except lots of people complaining about how life is hard. And let this serve as a reminder to look a little more closely at the recommended books.

[Lucynell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story about a family of farmers in the mid west and the ways they cope with inevitable changes. It's good, overall, with great characters and dialogue and the author's sparse and compassionate language being the highlights. A bit uneven plot wise, but even that kinda suits the unpredictability of the great wide open landscape.

[Noelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stirring and in-depth novel about what happens not just to a family, but an entire community when small farms are eaten up by a large agricultural conglomerate in the face of economic crisis.

[Randy Cauthen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book.

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book about a farming family in South Dakota, set against the background of the decline of the small family farm in the US. Well written.

[Keely · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good. This was not what I'd call a page-turner yet it was difficult to put down. I would read more books bu Douglas Unger

[Philip · Rating 5 out of 5]

Test of time: I read it many years ago, and yet I have a lot of detailed memories -- unlike many novels, it stays with you.