This is an extra copy for release..........the story of a boy and the wind and the endless sweep of sky growing up on the Saskatchewan prairie........loved by generations of Canadians...a classic.

different edition than pictured

I'm sending this along on a bookray. Here is the order:
1. GoryDetails- New Hampshire
2. cormac- Pennsylvania
3. Clawdia-Barcelona, Spain<----reading now
4. Mandana-Halifax, Nova Scotia
5. christine-bpc -Houston, TX
6. arugh48187-Minnesota
7. caligula03-California
Please follow the usual rules for bookrays: journal when you receive the book, journal a note when you finish, try to read in a month, if not, pass it on to the next person. If there are issues with the order, just let me know. I tried to accomodate all shipping preferences.

Released on Thursday, October 23, 2003 at mailed at post office in Saanich, British Columbia Canada.

It's off to GoryDetails in New Hampshire......happy reading!

This arrived in today's mail; many thanks! (And the monkeys on the package label are very entertaining...) Will read this promptly and move it along.

Not quite what I expected, this is a rather somber account of life in a small prairie town during the late '20s and early '30s. Young Brian O'Connal is the main character (after the prairie itself and the ceaseless wind); we meet him at age four, and follow his life to age 11 or so, with digressions dealing with several other characters in the town - Brian's parents, grandmother, and uncle; the new school teacher; the town doctor; and the troublesome town drunk, Ben, and his troubled, free-spirited son "the young Ben". The events that unfold are the kind of thing I recall from my childhood - life in a small town, where even very young children could walk or ride bicycles to friends' houses, or straight out into the prairie to explore. [The high desert in Wyoming sounds rather similar to the prairie here, although much less fertile; it was home to scattered bands of antelope rather than fields of wheat.]

I suppose I found the story rather sad because so much of it had to do with a child's view of a very confusing world, including an assortment of large and small tragedies (all of which could be devastating to a child). There was some of the casual cruelty that's not uncommon among children, although it bothered me when I was a kid and does so now... Likewise, the equally-casual cruelty of adults towards children - or other adults whom they regard as "different" - showed up here more than once. Life unfolds, crops succeed or fail, friendships grow and ebb, beloved people and things are found and lost - "life goes on," as they say. But there is progress, though it takes a while to come to fruition, and by the end I felt more hopeful than otherwise. Still, overall the book struck me as rather melancholy, in a quiet, autumnal kind of way.

It's odd; I can remember distinctly feeling the sort of bitter disappointment that young Brian felt when his parents got him the wrong gift, but I also empathized (perhaps too strongly!) with Brian's grandmother as she sat reflecting on her life and sensing time closing in. Mitchell's writing evokes a wonderfully strong sense of place... I think I'm going to find a copy of this to share with my family. Thanks for sharing this!

Controlled release: I'll be sending this along to Cormac in Pennsylvania today, to continue the bookray. Hope you enjoy it!

Received the book today. I'll add another journal entry when I finish it. Then it is on to Spain - Clawdia.

An entertaining book. It puts me in mind of Ferrol Sams' "Run With the Horsemen". Same timeframe, but different location - rural Georgia.

Mailed today to Clawdia. Enjoy the book!

Got it from the Post Offices yesterday afternoon... Will start reading it as soon as I finish "In America", which is part of another bookring and needs to be sent forward asap!!

Thanks for sending it over to Spain, cormac :)
Hope to spend some nice reading hours with it...

I guess this bookray will end in Spain. Thanks for participating everyone!