Train Dreams in Reading with Style

Sep 16, 2011 Connie G rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, idaho

This is a novella written in beautiful spare language that paints a picture of the life of a man in the northwestern United States. Death claims the people he loves, and working as a logger for the railroads ages his body prematurely. He lives a quiet, simple life in a remote area, working with his horses and cart. He continues his life, sometimes having dreams and hearing ghosts of the past, with his lifestyle still in the early 1900s. Meanwhile, modern life marches on.

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Apr 05, 2016 Florencia Scarpatti rated it liked it · review of another edition

En rigor es un 3 estrellas y media.
Por qué?
Tremendo escritor but: la historia cae después de la mitad del libro. Deja cosas inconclusas como qué pasó con el chino y se va por lugares menos interesantes aunque me gusta el costado Twillight. De todas maneras, muy capo Denis y que bueno volver a la profundidad de un bosque.

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Feb 01, 2015 Claire Jefferies rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, own-it, five-stars, faves-of-2015

I absolutely loved this novella by Denis Johnson. The only other book of his I've read is Jesus' Son - it's been over ten years, but I don't remember liking it that much, which makes my enthusiasm for this quiet, beautiful book all the more surprising.

Train Dreams features the life of one Robert Grainier, an orphan who lands in Idaho by train in the late 1800s to be cared for by distant relatives. The story is simple but powerful - it's a story of civilization; modernization; the lonesome, mena ...more

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Dec 20, 2014 Bucket rated it it was amazing

Shelves: literary, history, identity, reviewed, tragedy, life-and-death

I really enjoyed this novel and was impressed with its compactness. A man's whole life (and half a century of the history of the American west) are stuffed into just 116 pages due to Johnson's spare, evocative language and ability to pick out the moments in his character's life that matter most and ignore the rest. There are no transitions, the timeline is out of order, and the scenes pass quickly without analysis or reflection - this is left to the reader to pause and do on their own.

Most fasc ...more

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Jan 12, 2015 Krista rated it really liked it

Shelves: time-1900-1949, historical-fiction-usa, fiction, literary-fiction, setting-usa-pacific-nw, 2014-2015-winter-challenge, 2015-books-read

I really enjoyed this novella written by Denis Johnson. It appeared on the “The Economist's Books of the Year” list for 2011 and I can see why. The book recounts the quiet unfolding of Robert Grainier’s life, starting in 1917. At that point he’s a young husband and father who is working and living in rural Idaho. The book traces the Robert’s life as he moves through life’s ups and downs. But for Robert, the ups are few and the downs are profound.

The book talks about a bygone era with insight, b ...more

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Aug 03, 2020 Joanna rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks, 2020-read, pas-readit-2020, rws-2020-summer

Denis Johnson is a fantastic writer. This short book packs a punch and Will Patton does an excellent job with the narration. I listened to the whole 2-hour narration in one sitting yesterday afternoon while working on a sewing project. Great story, worth the time.

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