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The Whistling Season Ivan Doig 9780151012374 Books

Download As PDF : The Whistling Season Ivan Doig 9780151012374 Books

The Whistling Season Ivan Doig 9780151012374 Books

This book was Ivan Doig’s last book and I am grieving that there will not be any more books coming from this wonderful author. In ‘The Whistling Season ‘ Paul, a delightfully smart, funny, irreverent and realistic 13-year-old tells the story of his 13th year on a dry farm in Montana in 1910. Paul, his father and two brothers are grieving the loss of their mother when they answer an add for a housekeeper who ‘Can’t cook, but doesn’t bite’. Rose and her brother Morrie come to Montana with secrets. One thing I really loved about this book was the lack of sugar coating on life in a one roomed schoolhouse and the individuality of each character. Montana was a character all in itself and played a part in every day in a way that only people who live off the land understand. While this book is historically accurate, read it for it’s wonderful quirky plot and enjoyable characters.


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The Whistling Season Ivan Doig 9780151012374 Books Reviews

I recently read Doig's last book, 'Last Bus to Wisdom' and greatly enjoyed that book. The Whistling Season shares many good things with that book, like memorable characters, a vivid setting, and Doig's endearing style of writing. I found this book considerably slower though, and harder to stay tuned to throughout. The last 10-20% get cosiderably more interesting though, so it's worth sticking with it. If anything, it's just nice to find an unfilty story with a good heart, given how much trash it out there these days. Worthy read.
I loved this book! Being the daughter of a one room schoolhouse teacher, I cherished the story as much as those told by my mother of her experiences in Iowa. The reader can hear the voices of Ivan Doig's characters through the natural dialogue that flows through their conversations and thoughts. The story depicts life in Montana in the early 1900's...dry farming, family loyalty, the value of learning in a room with many grade levels, the work ethic and responsibility learned on a farm, secrets and more secrets, questions about honesty and truth, the value of learning Latin, the difficulties and joys of living in the country. The reader becomes part of the family. The landscapes portrayed are not only of the land but also of the minds of the children that are filled with the wonders of the world by their oft times eccentric, marvelous teacher. This is a delightful read!
This book surprised me. I'm not sure exactly what I expected but I fell in love with the interesting and well developed characters in the book. This is my favorite kind of fiction fascinating characters, historical detail, and good story telling without unnecessary drama or complication. I couldn't put it down near the end and was sad to be at the end of my time spent with the family in this story. Excellent book!
I very rarely read realistic fiction which isn't specifically for young adults, but this was chosen for my book club. I only JUST realized that this won an Alex Award, which is an ALA award for books young adults enjoy, which isn't necessarily given to YA books.

And this so deserves the award! An old man, watching the launch of Sputnik and realizing what it means for the one-room schools of his district reflects back on a year in his life, and the importance of the schoolhouse in his formation. I'm used to books with adults reflecting back on childhood being too simplistic, idealizing the children, but this story really encapsulates the personalities of children, despite such a gap in time between the publish date and the setting. Each character has their own unique personality, backstory, and dreams for the future, even if the dreams are so waylaid that we never learn them. We know they're there, because the characters are REAL.

Given the plot of a woman moving West to help as a housekeeper, I was worried we were going to have a "Sarah, Plain and Tall" romance story, but the relationship of Rose Llewellyn and the father of the family, Rose Llewellyn, is far more interesting. It's back and forth battles and compromises and compassion. By the end of the book, I damn near did ship them!

But the focus is so much more on the place of Morris Morgan--Rose's brother--in the local schoolhouse. He's a constant whirlwind for both the students and the readers, and easily my favorite character.

Highly recommended! It can be hard to find an audiobook version at your library, but if you can manage, the reading is just fantastic, as well.
4 stars, but because I wouldn't recommend this unconditionally for just anyone. If the writing style and subject matter is within your realm of interest, this is a 5-star read. Ivan Doig has a "folksy" writing style that fits well with the milieu he's chosen. This was the first book I read by him, and I will definitely read others. Doig does tend to ramble - an integral component of his folksy style - but the narrative is typically worth the short meander.

Doig develops the characters well; some quickly, others gradually, omitting just enough information to allow the reader to speculate in order to fill in the gaps. In a mild cultural collision, the main characters are the basis of the story that becomes a compelling set of interactions, both among themselves and between themselves and the other members of their local social network. Fascinating characters; intricate story line. I strongly recommend this book.
If you love knowledge for knowledge's sake, if you love words, if you love beautiful language and clever prose, if you love quirky characters and quirky humor and if you can say of yourself two or more of these things, then you will love this book. If not you probably won't like it. Oh yes, If you are a reader, like me, who spends as much time looking stuff up as you do reading the book because a little knowledge is never enough, then this is the book for you. I read Last Bus to Wisdom and Bartender's Tale and this is my favorite of the three. Ivan Doug's novels are among the very few written today that I would call literature.
This book was Ivan Doig’s last book and I am grieving that there will not be any more books coming from this wonderful author. In ‘The Whistling Season ‘ Paul, a delightfully smart, funny, irreverent and realistic 13-year-old tells the story of his 13th year on a dry farm in Montana in 1910. Paul, his father and two brothers are grieving the loss of their mother when they answer an add for a housekeeper who ‘Can’t cook, but doesn’t bite’. Rose and her brother Morrie come to Montana with secrets. One thing I really loved about this book was the lack of sugar coating on life in a one roomed schoolhouse and the individuality of each character. Montana was a character all in itself and played a part in every day in a way that only people who live off the land understand. While this book is historically accurate, read it for it’s wonderful quirky plot and enjoyable characters.