Mark SpraggReseñas

Fantastic!

Well this has been sitting on one of the TBR shelves forever, and I am not sure why. Excellent storytelling and a good story. Jean has had it with bad boys who beat her so she takes her daughter and through a series of occurrences winds up back in the little town in Wyoming where she is from. She shows up at her ex father in law’s house and well they hate each other.
Really good book.

Not as good as An Unfinished Life, even though it has most of the same characters. In fact for me that was where the problem lay. There were too many characters, all coming undone at the same time.
The writing like before was excellent, but the book really has nothing uplifting taking place.

Mark Spragg is a very talented author who's narrative style is concise, pacing is beautiful and dialog about as good as it can possibly be. I could have read this in one or two sittings, but decided to stretch it out over a few days. It's also so well crafted that the film matches it perfectly; Mark could easily write directly for screen. The film which stars Morgan Freeman as Mitch, and JLo as Jean is well done, though I have to say I enjoyed the book equally as much. Needless to say I'm going to read the other books he's written.

Couldn't get into it due to the repetitive narrative style, as in "he does this, and then does that, but he really thinks he might have done the other thing". It's overused and lacks rhythm that keeps the reader engaged. The cowboy thing grows old, though his creative use of descriptions as it relates to the environment is well done. But it left me wanting much more, so I quit reading it half way through. I DID enjoy "An Unfinished Life" and had hoped for more with this book. Oh well.

Nine-year-old Griff and her mom Jean flee Jean's abusive and delusional boyfriend in an Iowa trailer house and hit a westward road. The whims of the road changes their whim to drive to the Pacific coast, and they instead stop in Ishiwooa, Wyoming where Griff's grandfather lives on a ranch. Jean and Einar don't get along, but Griff is elated with the change of pace. She gets to do useful things around the property and befriends her grandfather's crippled best friend, Mitch. This story weaves the ambiance of living in the rural mountain west, a touch of Horse Whisperer-esque cliche, but otherwise keeps you reading as the family struggles to reunite despite a harsh past.

My favorite part of the story, other than it reminds me of my childhood in Colorado, is that much of the story revolves around a wise young girl and quirky old men. Old men often have the best stories, wisdom, and a youthful sense of fun. Griff didn't have that stability with her mom always selecting mean boyfriends, and through this story she discovers herself, nature, and that real wood houses are better than the fake stuff in cheap trailers. A genuine country lifestyle and old men are pretty cool for a girl like Griff.

I hate to sound like a broken record, but I heard about this book on TTBOOK and knew I had to pick it up soon. Spragg spent most of his childhood growing up on the oldest dude ranch in Wyoming, and he chronicles the formative experiences of this unique opportunity in such loving and heartbreaking vignettes.

I wasn't expecting for it to take me back to my childhood like it did. For a few years at least, my parents indulged my obsession for horses by sending me to camps to take care of them and go on the occasional trail ride. I got caught in my own flood of memories for part of the reading, remembering the ranch-hand lingo and the feel of the change of pace when devoting so much time to animals. Spragg's tenderness comes through so vividly and compassionately, it's hard not to get overly romantic about life on the range.

However, perhaps realizing the danger of getting too schmaltzy (and indeed sometimes his words did become a bit too poetically sentimental), Spragg also made quite clear the extremely harsh realities of this kind of life and that of one in Wyoming. I may have appreciated this side a little more despite that (or because?) it brought tears to my eyes on more than one occasion. Just as I was about to lose myself in planning an escape from a trivial corporate job for one so organic and fulfilling as working with animals, Spragg grounded me with his passages concerning the wind and cold, taking care of his dying mother, and having to kill his beloved horses (or learning how to swiftly kill an animal in general).

This book serves as a forgiving reminder that being away from the hustle and bustle of city life is in no way an escape, but also as a paean to a land and life the few of us have the opportunity or will power to endure. Recommended for the starry-eyed naturalist.

This is an award winning book, but not for me. I found it to be a ponderous read and an overall downer. It consists of a series of mainly dark-themed essays. I read it only because it was recommended and loaned to me by a Wyoming resident. The setting for the book is Wyoming and that's the best thing it has going for it, in my humble opinion.

different relationships w/ people — how @ people fragments / setting Southwest
marriages / affairs out of wedlock children

Ishawooa, Wyoming, is far from bucolic nowadays. The sheriff, Crane Carlson, needs no reminder of this but gets one anyway when he finds a kid not yet twenty murdered in a meth lab. His other troubles include a wife who’s going off the rails with bourbon and pot, and his own symptoms of the disease that killed his grandfather.

Best book I have read in awhile. I looked at it to see what Nancy Stauffer might mean by "utterly sprung to life characters." Got it. I, like the other old men in the book, am completely smitten by the 10 year old brave little girl. Wonder what Spragg is doing next and what it would take to get him to Torrey House.

I enjoyed the language of this book. It's reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy's descriptions of the West in All the Pretty Horses. I found it lacking in story line and trajectory. Each chapter is a snapshot of the narrator's life, and while each was interesting, I had hoped they would come together into some kind of resolution by the end. I suspect that the lack of resolution was intentional but as a reader I found it dissatisfying.

I wasn't really crazy about this book. It was predictable and I didn't like the way it was written.

Jean Gilkyson has finally had enough. Her latest loser boyfried, Roy, has hit her for the last time and she knows that it is past time for herself and her 9 year old daughter Griff to leave. They head for Ishawooa, Wyoming, the small town where Jean grew up and where she met and married Griffin Gilkyson, her husband who has now been dead for nearly 10 years after an automobile accident in which Jean was driving. There is nothing left in Ishawooa for Jean but that is where her father-in-law Einar lives and she hopes he will help her long enough to get back on her feet. Einar still blames Jean for his son's death and wants nothing to do with her but his heart is warmed by sweet Griff who longs for a stable home and family. Also living on Einar's ranch is Mitch, a friend of 50 years, who is horribly scarred and crippled from a confrontation with a bear. Einar and Mitch are quickly smitten with Griff and can't imagine their lives without her. Unfortunately, a vengeful Roy has tracked Jean to Ishawooa and nothing will stop him from getting her back.

I can't express how much I love Einar and Mitch. They are curmudgeons with hearts of gold and a loyal friendship that overcomes so much. Some of their conversations had me chuckling while always being touched by the love they obviously feel for one another. Griff is a wonderful character who has had to learn to trust these men to be the family she desperately wants. The only character I had issues with is Jean who needed to put her child first long before moving to Wyoming. She is just a bit too willing to jump into any available bed which is what got her in trouble in the first place, I guess. Great book and it was also a fairly decent movie a few years back.

Audio book performed by Tony Amendola and Judith Marx

Jane Gilkyson has finally decided to leave her abusive boyfriend. With her 10-year-old daughter, Griff, she takes off in her ancient car, headed for the Pacific Ocean. But when the car dies and she’s left stranded, she has nowhere to turn but to her father-in-law, a man who blames her for the death of his son, and who is living his life in bitterness and misery on a small ranch in Ishawooa, Wyoming. Einar Gilkyson would probably be dead by now, too, except his oldest friend needs him, and that’s about all that keeps him going. It will be up to Griff to help them all see the need to let go of recrimination and regret, and to embrace love and forgiveness.

This is the first book by Mark Spragg that I’ve read, and it won’t be the last. He has mastered the art of “show, don’t tell,” giving us insight into these characters and their complex relationships without spelling anything out. His writing is rather spare, yet he conveys a strong sense of place. The dialogue is spot on; Griff asks intelligent questions but nothing a 10-year-old wouldn’t wonder, especially one who has grown to be a keen observer of others and learned to hold her questions until “the right time.” Einar and Mitch spar like the close friends they are – almost like an old married couple, they can anticipate each other’s thoughts and reactions. There is no pretty bow tying up the ending, either. There is hope for these people, but they still have a ways to go. I like a little ambiguity in my endings.

Spragg alternates different characters’ points of view. This lets the reader know what each character is thinking, but also serves to build suspense in that we aren’t privy to all the information at once. The audio book is masterfully performed by Tony Amendola and Judith Marx.

I was browsing used books and a title caught my eye. An Unfinished Life, by Mark Spragg. Something seemed familiar but I couldn't place it. I looked at it very briefly. There was a back cover endorsement by Jim Harrison, which I didn't bother to read. Harrison wrote Legends of the Fall, so his name as an endorsement was good enough for me.

I began to read. Spragg is an excellent storyteller and in the opening chapters there were two separate story lines that seemed to be moving towards each other. There were some elements of the story that seemed familiar, and one of the characters reminded me of a role Morgan freeman played in a movie. Now what was the name of that movie? Then, about 85 pages into the book, it hit me. The move was An Unfinished Life! No wonder the title caught my attention and the character seemed like the one played by Freeman! They were one and the same!

That said, this is an excellent story, told in a captivating manner. The movie was pretty good, but this book is excellent. Spragg brings out things in the characters, in terms of both their actions and thoughts, that just isn't captured well in a screenplay or on film. The theme of reconciliation is played out in a way that is both beautiful and poignant. I invite you to read it for yourself. You won’t be disappointed.

Best book I have read in awhile. I looked at it to see what Nancy Stauffer might mean by "utterly sprung to life characters." Got it. I, like the other old men in the book, am completely smitten by the 10 year old brave little girl. Wonder what Spragg is doing next and what it would take to get him to Torrey House.

I was a little dismayed when I found out that Spragg was already working on the script for the film version before he had actually finished the novel, but overall I fell under the spell of this tale of a family in disrepair.

This is a great read! Another story of a single mother and a remarkable daughter. What is it about single mothers and their daughters?? This is the story of Jean and Griff, her daughter. Jean has bounced from one awful man to another. Roy, the last boyfriend, beats her and Griff finally convinces mom to leave him - to leave Iowa. They take off for the ocean - but their car spontaneously combusts near Estherville. They have enough money to catch the bus to the little hole in the wall town in Wyoming where Jean grew up and to the grandfather that Griff never knew she had.

There is bad - awful bad- blood between Jean and Einar, the grandfather. But, Griff is just what the relationship needed. Griff is the unpretentious little girl that sees all and quietly helps the situation.

Jean is only agreeing to stay for a month. Mitch, the black cowboy that Einar has cared for since a bear mauling, becomes Griff's friend and slowly things begin to work out. Until the night the Einar sees Jean in his dead wife's dress. Words are said, Jean runs again but this time Griff puts down her foot and runs back to the ranch.

Life gets interesting as a bear freeing escapade goes wrong, Roy shows up again ready for blood and Jean finds out that life in a small town can be utterly amazing- everyone is watching out for you!

Anyway - i really liked it. It was a bit predictable, but the language is beautiful and you really like Griff - like her a lot. And the secrets that all the main characters keep are dooled out slowly - you get to savor the knowledge, just like Griff does.

Quick and fun read.

Mark Spragg is a wonderful writer. His sense of place in the modern west of his native Wyoming is impeccably rendered. The trouble is, because these essays were written and printed elsewhere as separate pieces, that "place" thing is done over and over - the flora, the fauna, the rocks, the rivers and creeks, the cold, the wind, etc - to DEATH in fact. This very redundancy in the book dropped it from a five- to a four-star rating. The coming-of-age aspect of the story, Spragg maturing from a small boy to a middle-aged man who sees his parents divorce and his his own marriage fall apart, then watches his mother die a slow and painful death from emphysema, is handled like a master. You wanna read what it's like to to grow up out on the high plains near the end of the 20th century? Then this is a good place to start. Mark Spragg writes, in many ways, like a poet. His love of language is clear. WHERE THE RIVERS CHANGE DIRECTION is a darn fine book.

Griff ist fast 10 packt jeden Morgen all ihre Habseligkeiten in einen Koffer. Sie hofft, dass ihre Mutter endlich ihr Versprechen wahr macht und sie Roy verlässt. Griff hasst den Männergeschmack ihrer Mutter. Wie gerät sie nur immer wieder an solche Ekel? Und Roy schlägt Jean grün und blau.Doch dieses Mal hauen sie tatsächlich ab. Erst mit dem Auto, dann werden sie mit einem Motorradmitgenommen, per Zug und schließlich noch ein gutes Stück zu Fuss. Jean und Griff finden Unterschlupf bei Einar, dem Vater von Griffin - Jeans verstorbener Mann. Doch die Angst vor Roy bleibt... Und es dauert eine Weile, bis Einar und Jean Frieden schließen.

Wunderschönes Buch. Spannend erzählt, angenehm zu lesen. Ich kenne den Film nicht, kann also auch keine Vergleiche ziehen. Gefallen hat mir vor allen Dingen, dass die Gedanken der Charaktere gut nachvollziehbar dargestellt werden und deutlich wird, was häusliche Gewalt für Kinder und ihre Beziehung zu den Bezugspersonen bedeutet.Warum auf der Rückseite was von "berührende Liebesgeschichte" steht, habe ich zwar bis zum Ende nicht so ganz begriffen, vermutlich war die Beziehung zwischen Griff und ihrem Großvater gemeint.

Another fabulous book by Spragg.

The absolute best memoir I've ever read. Mark is an amazing wordsmith.

Great writing, as usual for Mark Spragg, although the story is very sad

One of the reasons I find book reviews so valuable is that they bring books like this to my notice, which otherwise would be unknown to me.

The writing in this book reminded me of Cormac McCarthy, except that it held more hope. The family made me think of Lark & Termite by Jayne Anne Phillips, another excellent book. The characters became my family and I laughed and cried with them.

I loved the characterizations in this book, especially Einar, Mitch, and Griff. Because the story is told from many points of view the reader really gets to know not only the characters but see events from more than one perspective. It was a very effective. Also, having lived 75 miles due north from where Einar's ranch was I can tell you that the descriptions of the area were perfect.

I'll definitely look for more work by Mark Spragg.½

The lives of the characters in this fine contemporary western are written about in prose as spare as as their lives. Flinty, uncompromising and tender,it's quiet drama pulls the reader in.