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Very powerful in parts. Simplistic and amateurish in other parts. Overall, definitely worthwhile for its documentation of many details of the mid-19thc migration from Sweden to the U.S.

Very powerful in parts. Simplistic and amateurish in other parts. Overall, definitely worthwhile for its documentation of many details of the mid-19thc migration from Sweden to the U.S.

Long, and in parts too detailed, perhaps. But the drama of Powell's career is compelling, and the story of the American West that Stegner traces to the middle of the 20th century is even more compelling as, faced with the existential challenge of climate change, we are confronted with the same reactionary forces of greed and ignorance that confronted—and, in his lifetime, at least, defeated—John Wesley Powell. The difference, of course, is that for us, such a temporary setback threatens to be permanent.

The short novel is followed by four essays/journals that chronicle her writing of the novel, including a trip to Greece. Read the essays first, then the novel. Wolf's re-imagining of Cassandra and her story is wonderful, but so are the glimpses of life in East Germany in the early 1980s, when Wolf and her friends were convinced that the world would be engulfed in a nuclear war within three or four years. The essays are sprinkled with prescient passages like this:

"To call what was true, true, and what was untrue, false: That was asking so little (I thought) . . . . Then I understood: . . . we were defending everything that we no longer had. And the more it faded, the more real we had to say it was."

Quirky characters, led by the quirky narrator. Charming, thought-provoking, clever, and elegantly written, even in translation. Highly recommended!

Quirky characters, led by the quirky narrator. Charming, thought-provoking, clever, and elegantly written, even in translation. Highly recommended!

Powerful reading in the Age of COVID. Highly recommended!