Dancing at the Rascal Fair by Ivan Doig - Prediscussion

[JoanP]

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PLEASE POST BELOW IF YOU CAN JOIN US IN AUGUST!

Dancing at the Rascal Fair by Ivan Doig

Dancing at the Rascal Fair is an authentic saga of the American experience at the turn of this century and a passionate, portrayal of the immigrants who dared to try new lives in the imposing Rocky Mountains. Ivan Doig's supple tale of landseekers unfolds into a fateful contest of the heart between Anna Ramsay and Angus McCaskill, walled apart by their obligations as they and their stormy kith and kin vie to tame the brutal, beautiful Two Medicine country. It is a story rich in detail, recounted in language that rings true, from the Scottish lilt of Lucas Barclay to the laconic speech of Stanley Meixell; above all, it is a story filled with “those word rainbows called poems.” (Barnes & Noble) "Against this masterfully evoked backdrop. Mr. Doig addresses his real subject: love between friends, between the sexes, between the generations....His is a prose as tight as a new thread and as special as handmade candy....Dancing at the Rascal Fair races with real vigor and wit and passion." Lee K. Abbott ~ The New York Times Book Review

Discussion Schedule:

August 1 ~ 5  Scotland and Helena; Gros Ventre; Medicine Lodge (about 88 pages)
August 6 ~ 13  Scotch Heaven (about 111 pages)

Discussion Leaders:   Babi  & Joan P

Callie - we did too!  Stood up for the singing of the title song - as if it was the National Anthem!  It was a grand production.  Honestly, I thought of you throughout.  "Green Grow the Lilacs" the original playwright - a friend of your mothers!  Should have known if it had anything to do with the state of Oklahoma, you'd be connected to it.

Babi's right - if you think of the opening chapters as the future full of possibilities  for these two young men -you'll find yourself more and more involved with the excitement of being involved with something brand new.  I'm envious of them!  Wish I had it to do all over again!

[salan]

I've started Dancing.  Don't really care for the style of writing, and am hoping it/I improve as the book goes on.  I guess I'll stick with it a while.  I've sort of guessed that we'll start Monday with the first 1/4 of the book.
Sally

[CallieOK]

Sally, it's the style of the writing that I was complaining about earlier.  I like the story.

[JoanP]

Sally, You don't have to guess the discussion schedule - we keep it in the heading - the first post at the top of each page. Do you see it?  Beneath the mountain graphic?

I found myself getting used to Doig's writing style - especially as the plot thickens...

[PatH]

I was reluctant to commit to this discussion, because I will be traveling for chunks of August, but I think I'll give it a try, though there will be gaps.  I've read the first little bit.  Doig's prose is indeed very rich, and somewhat slow-going, but it's crammed with good stuff, and I kept finding nifty little bits I wanted to share.  I suspect it will get more free-flowing after a bit.  Boy, he certainly has a good feel for his narrator, every qualm well expressed.  I have a library copy, but I may have to buy it, because I keep wanting to underline.

[PatH]

Pat2, welcome, fellow namesake.  Don't worry about two of us (the third Pat is inactive for now).  This quickly gets sorted out.  Our leader, JoanP, is one of four--JoanP, JoanK, JoanR, and Joan Grimes--and we pretty much keep them straight.  Besides, all the best people are named Pat.  I hope to enjoy talking with you.

[salan]

Joan P, Thanks.  I don't know how I missed it!!!!  Callie, I agree with you.  So far (60 pages), the book seems easy to put down and hard to pick up again.  I have heard good things about Doig; so I will keep trying.  Some of the best books I have read started out this way.  Talk to you Monday!
Sally

[Babi]

I kept finding nifty little bits I wanted to share.

  Oh, me too, PatH!  I don't think I read a single cliche anywhere in this book, and the similes
are so imaginative.  Maybe some of them will be familiar to some of you, but not
me.  I have had so much fun with them.

[JoanP]

PatH - Welcome!  We are so happy to have you with us - even in chunks!  With busy summer days - and extreme heat, we  probably will all find ourselves in the same chunky situation!

Sally, I'm thinking these introductory pages describe a man's world.  Aside from the "calico situation" - we haven't met Doig's women yet.  When they aririve, the action will begin and you will find the book hard to put down and easy to pick up again....
Babi - I agree about Doig's writing - completely original and free of cliches.  Do you know if he is still writing? 

[CallieOK]

I've finished our first assignment.  Instead of fussing, I'll just call Doig's phrasing "original" - but my editor's gene would like to take a blue pencil to some of it.

However, I've chuckled a lot at some of the characters' quips.  

Not a "can't put it down" book, IMO, but I like it better than when I started.

As usual, I doubt I'll participate in much of the in-depty analysis - but I'll enjoy reading all of your comments.
I do have a tale or two about Oklahoma homesteading vs. Montana homesteading.

TTYL

[Babi]

  Neat, CALLIE!   We'll look forward to some of your Oklahoma homesteading
stories.  Come to think of it,  my grandmother told a few interesting stories about
life in that time period, too.

[CallieOK]

Babi,   I should have written "comparisons" - not "tales".  I promise not to inundate and bore you to pieces with stories of "life in a soddy" that I suspect was the same almost everywhere homesteaders settled. 

[JoanR]

It looks as if I'll be reading along with you in Doig's book.  I ordered a used paperback from ABEBooks and have just started it.  Hooked already by the lovely writing!
 I'm so far behind in everything on-line since all the family have been visiting in waves this summer.  I'm very grateful for their visits since they do a lot of needed work around this old place and tote me off to all the places I can't get to otherwise plus they are such great company!!
However, the TBR pile has been accumulating dust! I have Saramago's "The Elephants Journey" looking accusingly at me plus "The Willows in Winter" which I think will be a cooling book to read in this torrid weather! Also, I've been a truant from the Latin Summer Reading Group, I hope they'll forgive me!

Nevertheless - on with our boys to Montana!

[JoanP]

Oh let's not get into "in depth analysis"  with this one.  I think we can enjoy Doig's storytelling just as it is, don't you?  (That said, I'd like to know some of the places you've blue pencilled, Callie. )  I'm thinking that there might be differences in homesteading in Montana and Oklahoma.  Will be interested in hearing from you -  (What are "soddies" for example?

JoanR - good to hear that you are saddling up to join us in Montana - I hear they are in need of calico in Gros Ventre.  Since we'll be so near to the Canadian border, we're bound to hear some French.  Does anyone know what "Gros Ventre"  means?
 
ps. Happy to hear you mention Saramajo's "Elephant's Journey."  I've just started it, but will probably put it aside to concentrate on Dancing.

I wonder if anyone here is using an e-reader, a hardcover or a paperback?

Excited to get started in the morning!

[maryz]

Gros Ventre - big stomach (potbelly)

[rosemarykaye]

I have got the book (not started) and am going to try to keep up, but will have no internet for at least the next 10 days, and tonight I am in Edinburgh and the book is in the new house in East Lothian (30 miles away), so I am not sure how I will fare.  It does sound interesting, and something about which I know precious little - as I'm sure I've said before, all we know about the "wild west" here is what we used to see on Bonanza and The Big Valley (were they even set in the same place?  Does anyone know?).

Is Montana the state that Annie Proulx's latest and much maligned book is set?  the one about her building a house there and then realising it was nigh on impossible to live in it in winter?  I enjoyed listening to it on the radio, but the reviews were absolutely terrible.

Can I ask a stupid question?  Why would we be likely to hear French in this area?  I am reading Louise Penny's third Gamache novel, set of course in Quebec, so I understand that many people there are French Canadians, but I didn't realise that there were French speaking areas in the USA.

Will check in whenever I can,

Rosemary

[JoanP]

Rosemary, what an exciting time for you!  Finally a new house with all your stuff under one roof!  We'll be so happy to have you chirp along until you unearth your book and catch up.  

That's not a stupid question - I'm not sure that French is spoken in Montana any more.  And French is not spoken across the border - in Alberta.  We'll talk about that in the coming days.  I've a feeling we're going  to learn a whole lot about Montana.  Maryz - thanks for the "big belly" translation of Gros Ventre.  We'll find out more about that town's name too.

We'll lock this discussion tonight - are you ready to begin?
This link will usher you in to the choice seats... Dancing at the Rascal Fair - August 1
See you over there...