Once Upon a River: A Novel

This book may very well stay in my mind for a long time. There seem to be so many issues and subtexts addressed that I have been thinking about it since I finished it two days ago. This book is the story of Margo Crane, a young woman who lives near a river in a rural area of Michigan in the 1970's. But Margo, who is about 15 when the story begins, is no ordinary teenager. She can shoot, hunt, skin an animal, and does not appear to be afraid of much. Margo will need these skills when she finds herself forced to assert her independence earlier than most teenagers do. Be aware that this is not really a plot-driven book. This is a painting with moving characters. The backdrop of the river provides a rich canvas on which the author can place Margo and the various people she meets. As she searches for something that she has lost, she experiences fear and violence; and like many young women of her age, she often mistakes sex for love. There were times when I struggled with this book. It is a heavy story and doesn't start to show some rays of sunshine until the very end. However, the deeper themes explored in this book are worth sticking with it. It is truly a unique story of growing up, and it raises the very legitimate question of whether we all need to have the suburban house and picket fence to be happy. The book also explores how judgmental we can be about the way that others choose to live, simply because they are different from us. The characters in this book find contentment all around them just by paying attention to life. And these are just some of the issues explored; in reality there is a kaleidoscope of concepts from which to choose for further examination after closing the book. This is a strong recommend, but with the caveat that this is not a "beach read". This is an intense book that will keep you thinking. I know that Margo will be on my mind for quite awhile.

Someone I know conducts her life according to the notion that happiness is the absence of dread. Fear is fleeting but a smothering apprehension that something awful is coming becomes long-lasting and debilitating and carries you to a place empty of hope. Margo Crane has known dread and is driven to escape its grip even as she moves up river in search of her mother. "Margo herself had lived with dread, like every other creature in the wild. Dread about what she might lose or who she might encounter that day, maybe someone who wished her harm." Margo, 15 when the book begins, is the fully realized main character in a book stuffed with vivid, endearing and treacherous Michiganders, most of whom are river rats living on the banks of the Stark or Kalamazoo rivers in the state's Lower Peninsula. She is a completely original heroine, self-sufficient in a wild and brutal natural environment and as strong as Indian flint. She's a soul mate of Ree in "Winter's Bone," and occupies the same status as outsider and survivor. She's comfortable in her sexuality and strong in her simple resolve to find someone to care for who cares equally about her. The spirit of Annie Oakley is Margo's guide. Margo's limited edition lever-action 0.22 gauge Marlin, the same gun that Annie Oakley shot, is her sword. The rifle is her protection and her weapon of vengeance. Her odyssey along the Stark River is mesmerizing but I don't know if she's someone I would want to become close to. She's extreme, someone too wild. Michael, one of the many characters she encounters, sees something feral in Margo. He tells her she freaks him out, that she seems to him like a kid raised by wolves. For me, "Once Upon a River" is an amazing read. It's thrilling, as merciless as it is caring, and continually gripping. It's rich in its language and lore and you'll meet characters that will stay with you. The book is long but a fast read. It's mythic in scope and ultimately a work of folklore. I'm left imaging Margo living life her way, sitting on the bank of the Stark skinning a rabbit in a minute flat or slinging her Marlin over her right shoulder and shooting an acorn off a horse apple. [4.5 stars]

途中まで作者はなにを訴えようとしているのかわからなかった。１９７０年代ミシガン州を流れる川沿いで育ったマーゴ・クレーンは祖父に可愛がられて銃に親しみ小動物を狩って野生児のまま１５歳になった。母が家出し、祖父と父が相次いで他界したあと独りで手漕ぎボートに乗り、遠くに居ると伝わる母を訪ねようと川を遡った。話はその数年間の少女の心の動きを丹念に追う。自然の営みに縺れる若い女性の一人暮らしは「ザリガニの鳴くところ（ハヤカワ文庫）」ほどの息苦しさはなく、マーゴ以外の登場人物はすべて大人の男女で、皆彼女の純真さに惹かれなにかと気遣ってくれる。そしてマーゴはなんの感慨もなく男たちとセックスをするので読みながらはらはらしてくる。最後はほんのりと希望の光がさして読み手も安心な気分になるという不思議な一編だった。

I adored this book. Everything had to stop so that I could just sit and finish it. Margo's story made me wince sometimes but, in the end, it was one of the most beautiful accounts of someone seeking their own way to live that I have ever read.

This book is so strange. It's very dark, and has a lot of weird family incest. I did not make it even quarter of the way through.

Michigan, on the banks of the Stark River that leads into the Kalamazoo. Tomboyish teen Margo is at one with nature, less so with people. Outwardly she may seem slow at understanding and a bit weird, but woe betide any who tries to bully or exploit! (She has devastating ways of getting even.) When a family feud leads to tragedy, she simply rows away in the boat her adored grandfather bequeathed. Adept at trapping and skinning and an excellent shot (Annie Oakley her inspiration), she will now find her own way. Her resilience is beyond doubt, but will Margo ever discover a place where she truly belongs...? An involving, at times unsettling read - rich in atmosphere and colourful characters (some of them best avoided). Over the months Margot is destined to make unusual friendships amongst riverside residents - not least prematurely old and chronically ill "Smoke", he virtually a fixture in the wheelchair on his porch. Fiercely independent, he will remain where he loves to be. Always there is something to learn about attitudes, perhaps a need to reconsider priorities - simple pleasures with more to offer than does so-called civilization. Episodes deeply disturb, particularly when rape is involved. Much, though, uplifts. Welcome here a spirited young heroine, devoid of self-pity, she forever adapting to new circumstances. After all Margo has gone through, she deserves to succeed. Many readers will hope that she does, this a work poetical and life-affirming.

Stumbled across this by accident and am so glad I did. Soulful, evocative, fierce. Every woman should read this book.