At first, I wasn't sure this book would draw me in: a driving force of the plot is the conflict between cattle ranchers and sheep farmers in the Oregon frontier at the start of the twentieth century. Yet the writing is lovely and evocative, very much (as the book jacket promises) reminiscent of Willa Cather. What impressed me most was how the narrative seemed to belong both to the time of the characters and to our time. This novel's epilogue is an exquisite meta-narrative reflection that I have read three times now and still am not done enjoying. Kesey writes a novel about the days in Central Oregon when the cattlemen had no regard for those who made their livelihood with sheep. She draws this narrative with the mesh of everyday life with its disregard of everyone but the big ME. Anything goes in my effort to think only of myself. Hmmm! Guess nothing has changed much over time. It's okay to lie and cheat if the advantage is ME. I loved her statement "But you have everything. You have money and guns, and Gordon Cecil prints what you like in the newspaper, and Noggin Koerner runs around without a brain in his head, and there's nobody to tell you anything or stop you. But you still think you are all injured parties. That's what makes this fight so stupid. Everyone thinks he's an underdog and the other fellow's powerful and wicked and a cheater. THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD IS THE ONE WHO FEELS WRONGED AND RIGHTEOUS."
What do You think about Little Century (2012)?
A bit of a slow start but by the end you like the main character and her loyalty to those she loves.
—Victoria
Good story and written by a professor at Linfield College!
—nikki
