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Anthony_Conty
Like Nothing You Have Ever Read
Meandering through generations and cultures, "North Woods" shows more ambition than any novel this year. I saw this to attract some of you to the book and keep others away. It has a plodding start, and many stories start to jell. Many families and descendants occupy the same field, and short stories tell the storied history of New England.
We encounter a man who devoted his life to an apple orchard and then to his adult twin daughters, who witness his fate tragically and suddenly altered. The crime leads to a shocking discovery. The narrative leaps from one story to another in an unpredictable, erratic pattern, adding a layer of suspense. Each vignette is a surprise and distinctly unique, showcasing the captivating and unique storytelling style of 'North Woods. '
The narrative may have its lulls, but it compensates with significant revelations from each story. The piece about a painter in forbidden love may seem familiar, but it narrates its events in a way that keeps you thoroughly engrossed. The narrative shines when it ties threads together rather than introducing entirely new characters. The story of an older gentleman who penned mysterious letters of unrequited love is a prime example.
Reading 'North Woods ', I found myself drifting off a few times, only to be jolted back by the unexpected connections. Like in 'The Overstory ', you do not realize how many ways a tree could affect us. Author Daniel Mason recognizes their experiences despite their short lifespans. These unexpected connections make 'North Woods' a compelling read, keeping you engaged and eager to discover more.
Before I knew it, I was completely immersed in the rich universe of 'North Woods '. The book's countless stories waiting to be told drew me in and kept me interested, like great literary fiction.
Cathryn_Conroy
Extraordinary. Brilliant. Masterful. Exceptional. I Adored This Book!
Extraordinary. Brilliant. Masterful. Exceptional. Yes, I adored this book. It has to be THE most imaginative novel I have ever read.
The genius of the book is in the structure. Beginning in the 1600s in Puritan New England and extending for almost four centuries, the novel's stories are focused on the occupants of a little yellow house built deep in the north woods country of Western Massachusetts, first as a one room cottage and eventually expanded into four distinct sections. The house stays as the cast of characters living in it changes. Taken together, the tales offer a slice of American, as well as natural, history told in a way you've never read before.
Written by Daniel Mason, the book begins with two disgraced Puritan newlyweds fleeing into the forest, running as fast as they can from their outraged village. Chased by the elders, the young lovers manage to escape. The one-room yellow cottage is constructed. The years pass and others come to the house. Two women who are threatened by English soldiers, murder the men, one of whom had been eating an apple just before his untimely and violent death. An apple seed in his intestine eventually develops into a sapling and then a tree with apples that are the most sweet and delicious anyone has ever had. The property becomes an apple orchard. And so the story continues with each subsequent family living in the house. Their unlikely tales are filled with love, passion, heartbreak, betrayal, violence…and otherworldly spirits.
And the point of it all is clearly explained in the last chapter when a character named Nora thinks to herself: "…she has found that the only way to understand the world other than a tale of loss is to see it as a tale of change."
The narrative is quite creative, including whole sections that are told through letters, poetry, musical ballads, journal entries, a true-crime detective story, an exposition on the (almost X-rated) sex life of beetles, and medical case notes. The fact that it works and remains a compelling read from start to finish—and doesn't disintegrate into a hodgepodge of confusion for the hapless reader—speaks volumes about Daniel Mason's writing abilities.
The ingenious plotting, the mesmerizing storytelling, and the sometimes bizarre but always fascinating cast of characters make this a novel for the ages. I cannot recommend it highly enough. It's magical!
My only question is this: Why did it not win the Pulitzer Prize, the Booker, and the National Book Award? Because it really is a novel of that caliber.
Amraha Asif
North Woods
I just finished North Woods in a rush, eager to know the ending and yet not wanting it to end. What a breathtaking book! It follows the many people who inhabit a particular house in Massachusetts throughout the centuries. It is a microcosm of the American story from the Puritans to the not so distant future. Beautifully written - a times lyrical, at times folksy, always surprisingly original. Daniel Mason not only creates a huge cast of characters, he writes with such love about the trees, the flowers, the seasons off this bit of New England forest. Indeed the woods are a character in themselves. Throughout the centuries, the house sees murder, love, despair and thwarted hopes, and the presence of each inhabitant lives on. The best book I’ve read in years.
Lakshmi
remote station of the north woods”
I just finished North Woods in a rush, eager to know the ending and yet not wanting it to end. What a breathtaking book! It follows the many people who inhabit a particular house in Massachusetts throughout the centuries. It is a microcosm of the American story from the Puritans to the not so distant future. Beautifully written - a times lyrical, at times folksy, always surprisingly original. Daniel Mason not only creates a huge cast of characters, he writes with such love about the trees, the flowers, the seasons off this bit of New England forest. Indeed the woods are a character in themselves. Throughout the centuries, the house sees murder, love, despair and thwarted hopes, and the presence of each inhabitant lives on. The best book I’ve read in years. Magical and riveting. Not sentimental. Original characters.
North Woods” proves captivating despite its piecemeal structure is testament to Mason's powers as a writer, his stylish and supple narrative voice. The novel lives in its oddments, arrayed for us by an author-collector well versed in pre-modern fruit farming, folk medicine and popular songs through the ages.
Ushrath jafnas
North woods is the most original novel I've read in ages
A sweeping novel about a single house in the woods of New England, told through the lives of those who inhabit it across the centuries—a daring, moving tale of memory and fate from the Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of The Piano Tuner and The Winter Soldier.
When a pair of young lovers abscond from a Puritan colony, little do they know that their humble cabin in the woods will become home to an extraordinary succession of inhabitants . An English soldier, destined for glory, abandons the battlefields of the New World to devote himself to apples. A pair of spinster twins survive war and famine, only to succumb to envy and desire. A crime reporter unearths a mass grave, but finds the ancient trees refuse to give up their secrets. A lovelorn painter, a conman, a stalking panther, a lusty beetle; as each one confronts the mysteries of the north woods, they come to realize that the dark, raucous, beautiful past is very much alive.
Traversing cycles of history, nature, and even literature, North Woods shows the myriad, magical ways in which we’re connected to our environment and to one another, across time, language and space. Written along with the seasons and divided into the twelve months of the year, it is an unforgettable novel about secrets and fates that asks the timeless how do we live on, even after we’re gone?
I just finished North Woods in a rush, eager to know the ending and yet not wanting it to end. What a breathtaking book! It follows the many people who inhabit a particular house in Massachusetts throughout the centuries. It is a microcosm of the American story from the Puritans to the not so distant future. Beautifully written - a times lyrical, at times folksy, always surprisingly original. Daniel Mason not only creates a huge cast of characters, he writes with such love about the trees, the flowers, the seasons off this bit of New England forest. Indeed the woods are a character in themselves. Throughout the centuries, the house sees murder, love, despair and thwarted hopes, and the presence of each inhabitant lives on. The best book I’ve read in years.
Linda_J
What. A. Gift!
I've read each of Mason's novels, but this is THE best. It reads as if it is a series of short stories when, in actuality, it's a sequence of vignettes that happen on the same wooded property in New England. I often thought well that character's gone. Not so.
The writing is exquisite. Mason's descriptions demonstrates his admiration of nature. (I did wonder how a native Californian seemed to know so much about "North Woods" but, I found he attended Harvard. Ah ha!)
The book would fit into so many genres, even some I would have chosen to avoid. No quibbles. I loved them all.
This book was like an endless Christmas presents. So many gifts, not knowing what was in each package.
Christie_C
North Woods is the best read of the year
I was thoroughly surprised and entertained with the depth of this epic story. The author is genius in changing voice and language styles as you are pulled through the centuries and introduced to its characters. Among these, along with the humans who inhabit the house, are all kind of fauna and flora, including the smallest of these. The book begins four centuries ago and proceeds though pastoral settings and pioneering settlers cultivating the landscape and cohabiting with nature. Time passes and and events will shock the reader, shocked like the drop at the top of a roller coaster! The author weaves events and characters skillfully throughout the book. I'd love to visit North Woods.
Ann_Beman
novel as palimpsest about connection, to history, to one another, to our environs
To call these linked stories would do this sweeping novel injustice. The stories are rooted to the ground, overgrowing one another to create a marvelous forest -- a wondrous palimpsest. The novel's fertile ground is a single house in the woods of Western Massachusetts, inhabited by first one soul then another and another. All iterations feature richly drawn characters -- Puritan lovers gone wild, an English soldier utterly infatuated with apples, his spinster twin daughters torn by passion and envy. Further inhabitants -- humans, as well as a mountain lion on the prowl and a ravenous beetle -- claim proceeding chapters. This novel looks at history and the cycles of nature, asking where do we fit in, what are our roles -- during and after our lives? What are our passions, what do we do with them, and how do these actions affect this place we inhabit? I was totally enthralled, beginning to end. Highly recommend.
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