Looking Back - Their Fathers' God

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

Their Father's God by O.E. Rolvaag
Fiction
1983 Bison Books (first published in 1931)
Finished in September 1997
Rating: 2/5 (Fair)

Publisher's Blurb:

Susie Doheny, an Irish Catholic, and Peder Holm, a Norwegian Lutheran, fall in love and marry in South Dakota in the 1890s. Soon their marriage is tested by drought, depression, and family bickering. Susie believes they are being tested by their fathers' God. Peder blames Susie for the timidity of her beliefs; Susie fears Peder's pride and skepticism. When political antagonism grows between the Norwegian and Irish immigrant communities, it threatens to split their marriage.

Against a backdrop of hard times, crisscrossed by Populists, antimonopolists, and schemers, Rölvaag brings the struggle of immigrants into the twentieth century. In Giants in the Earth the Holm family strained to wrest a homestead from the land. In Peder Victorious the American-born children searched for a new national identity, often defying the traditions their parents fought to uphold. In Their Fathers' God, Rölvaag's most soul-searching novel, the first-generation americans enter a world of ruthless competition in the midst of scarcity.

My Original Notes (1997):

OK, but not as good as Giants in the Earth. Rolvaag spent the entire book showing his readers how the conflict of an interfaith marriage can lead to destruction of that marriage. It was the Irish Catholic vs. Lutherans. Constant problems arose between the couple and they acted so juvenile throughout their marriage. I found the book boring and tiresome.

My Current Thoughts:

I must have been bound and determined to try the third in this series, in spite of not enjoying Peder Victorious (#2) as much as Giants in the Earth (#1).

Looking Back - Peder Victorious

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

Peder Victorious by O.E. Rolvaag
Fiction
1982 Bison Books (first published in 1929)
Finished in May 1997
Rating: 3/5 (Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

Peder Victorious, the sequel to Rölvaag's massive Giants in the Earth, continues the saga of the Norwegian settlers in the Dakotas. Here again, years later, are all the sturdy pioneers of the earlier novel, Rölvaag's "vikings of the prairie"—Per Hansa's Beret and their children, Syvert Tönseten and Kjersti, and Sörine. The great struggle against the land itself has been won. Now there is to be a second struggle, a struggle to adapt, to become Americans.The development of the Spring Creek settlement in these years is manifested in the rebellious growing up of Peder Victorious. Peder is a beautiful and moving novel of youth and youth's self-discovery. It is the story, too, of Beret's pain and dismay at the Americanization of her children, what Rölvaag described as the true tragedy of the immigrants, who made their children part of a world to which they themselves could never belong.Out of the inevitable conflict between the first-generation American and his still Norwegian mother, Rölvaag built a powerful novel of personal growth, guilt, and victory.

My Original Notes (1997):

Good, but not great. Certainly not as good as Giants in the Earth. The novel ran hot and cold for me. Some parts didn't hold my interest at all (too much religion?) and others did so much that I couldn't put it down. Interesting sections involving the loss of native language (Beret vs. children and the church)

My Current Thoughts:

I still plan to someday reread Giants in the Earth, but sadly this follow-up holds no interest to me.

Looking Back - Giants in the Earth

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

Giants in the Earth by O.E. Rolvaag
Fiction
1991 HarperPerennial (first published in 1927)
Finished on January 12, 1997
Rating: 5/5 (Outstanding)

Publisher's Blurb:

Giants in the Earth (Norwegian: Verdens Grøde) is a novel by Norwegian-American author Ole Edvart Rølvaag. First published in Norwegian as two books in 1924 and 1925, the English edition was translated by the author and Lincoln Colcord, each of whom also wrote prefatory matter.

Part of a trilogy, the novel follows a Norwegian pioneer family's struggles with the land and the elements of the Dakota Territory as they try to make a new life in America. The book is based partly on Rølvaag's personal experiences as a settler, and on the experiences of his wife’s family who had been immigrant homesteaders. The novel depicts snow storms, locusts, poverty, hunger, loneliness, homesickness, the difficulty of fitting into a new culture, and the estrangement of immigrant children who grow up in a new land.

Giants in the Earth was turned into an opera by Douglas Moore and Arnold Sundgaard; it won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1951.

My Original Notes (1997):

Excellent! One of the best sagas I've read. Very bleak outlook (from a female's perspective) on settling in the Great Plains during the late 1800's. I enjoyed it so much that I went out and bought two other books by Rolvaag.

The book was assigned in my Great Plains Literature course at U.N.L. I kept a reading journal on it [which I no longer have!].

Lots of nautical imagery; Christ-like symbolism; Man vs. Nature themes. 

Beautifully written. Not so much an intricate plot, but an in-depth psychological view of life on the prairie.

My Current Thoughts:

20 years later and I still remember this book with great fondness. As I recall, it read like an adult version of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, which I adored as a young girl. We had only lived in Nebraska for a few years when I took a Great Plains Lit class at the university (having moved from the warm climate in San Diego), so I could truly appreciate the overwhelming sense of panic and isolation on the Plains during blizzards, infestation of locusts, tornadoes, etc. I don't know if I could have survived life on the prairie in the late 1800's. I live in an insulated home with air conditioning and a furnace, have access to all the groceries I could possibly need, and am able to socialize with friends and family either face-to-face or via the Internet, and I still whine about the weather!

I hope to read this novel again someday. I was going to get rid of the mass market copy I own, since the small type is getting more difficult to read as I get older, but I want to go back and see my notations on the pages. 

Highly recommend!

A Backward Glance

2014.

Wow. I remember when I graduated from high school and I thought, "When the ball drops to begin the year 2000, I'll be 38!" At the time, that sounded so far off. But as we all know (or at least those of us over 30), time really does fly. A month ago, I turned 52. My daughter turned 30. (30!) I've been blogging for 8 years and working at Barnes and Noble for almost 7. I've been married to the love of my life for 25 years. Rachel's been gone for almost 9 years and Papa Bill only 4 weeks. And it all seems like yesterday.

Tempus fugit.

But, is it me or did this past year fly much faster than usual? Maybe it's the fact that I was away from home for almost 7 weeks out of the entire year. Or that I worked longer days than ever before. Or that I spent mindless hours watching a wide variety of TV shows on Netflix. What I didn't do is blog as often as I hoped. Or ride my bike as much as I should have. Or lose those 10 pounds…

But it's a New Year (I can still say that until February, right?) and a clean slate awaits.

For the second time in 33 years, I didn't send out Christmas cards. Back in November, I was ok with that choice. I was too busy with work, too sad about my stepdad's health and too worried about money. So I decided to skip it. Skip it and the gifts and the decorating and the baking. I just wanted to get through the holiday season, hop a plane and spend Christmas in Oregon with my parents.

We make plans and God laughs.

But I'm still making plans. I plan to catch up on all my book reviews before I post my Top Ten of 2013. I plan to post my Top Ten of 2012, as well. (Yep. Never did that, did I?) I plan to start exercising as soon as the weather permits. Gotta wait for those bike trails to be free of snow and ice before I can back out there, but I'm ready to roll!

Other than a few photo essay posts, I haven't been very active on the old blog and it felt strange to simply jump in with a couple of book reviews, so I thought I’d take this time to share the highlights of the past year with you. Consider it a belated Christmas letter of sorts. I’ll even try to brag about something. ;)

As mentioned, I was away from home for almost 2 months this past year. I think that’s a record! I took 7 trips, some with my husband and some solo. Here’s a visual recap:

Red Feather Lakes, Colorado

I learned how to snowshoe 

at an elevation of 9,000 ft. (approx.)

 Depoe Bay, Oregon
Celebrating my mom’s 80th birthday
with my brothers

Kingston, Washington

Celebrating Father’s Day with my dad

 The Black Hills, South Dakota

Road trip with the grandchild!

Taos and Santa Fe, New Mexico

Celebrating our 25th anniversary

Depoe Bay, Oregon

Saying goodbye to one of

the most influential men in my life

Depoe Bay, Oregon

Spending Christmas with my mom

So, there was quite a bit of traveling; most of which was very fun and exciting. I saw whales, bald eagles, elk, and mountain goats, and I didn’t get trampled by a moose. Or a buffalo.

I also mentioned that I spent a great deal of time in front of the TV. Rod had back surgery in November and was out of work for 4 weeks. As a result, we watched A LOT of TV. And now we’re completely addicted to Justified, Dexter, Breaking Bad, Sherlock, House of Cards and Parenthood. It’s no wonder I didn’t have time to blog. Or answer emails. Or dust.

Speaking of computer time, I have made an effort lately to “unplug” and spend more time reading rather than sitting in front of the computer for hours. It’s going pretty well, but I still can’t seem to cut the cord on Facebook or Instagram. I got sucked back into Twitter, only to decide it really isn’t my thing. I miss keeping up on some of my blogmates’ chats, but there are only so many hours in a day… Same goes for Pinterest. I’ve still got my boards, but haven’t looked at any of them in months. After the demise of Google Reader, I discovered Bloglovin’ and while I may not comment as often as I used to (darn that clumsy iPad!), I still enjoy keeping up with what’s going in your lives, adding book recommendations to my insanely long list of books to read.

And on that note, it’s time to share some of my recommendations with you…

But before I do, I want to wish you all a very Happy New Year and say thanks for being such loyal readers. Here’s to the next 8 years. OMG. I’ll be 60!!

For more New Year's posts, go here, here, here and here.

Wordless Wednesday

My lands are where my dead lie buried.

Crazy Horse

Click on photo to enlarge.

Wordless Wednesday

Phew!

Custer State Park

South Dakota

Road Trip 2013