Montana 1948 1

So far, this is a pretty good book. Although the writing isn't amazing the book is extremely riveting. From the prologue, the book was filled with suspense. When I read the first few pages, I really liked the format of the story because although the narrator is telling the story from the present, he flashed back to the year of 1948 and used memories prior to this time to provide context for his story. Because the prologue flashes to scenes that will happen, but only gives us glimpses into each characters to be positions, I wanted to read, to see how these characters were put into their extreme situations. In addition, the author offers excellent imagery to allow the reader to imagine exactly what the scene is and how it would look. In addition, this book offers insight into a portrayal of a warped suburban society (although in this case it is more rural). Like Revolutionary Road (movie with Leonardo Dicaprio and Kate Winslet), the "tranquil" suburbs mask a warped society that is only unleashed beyond closed doors. Because of this, the book also provides context for the theme of appearances vs. reality. David's Uncle Frank, epitomizes this, as he was the perfect son, and charming man, yet the sins he was committing were beyond what anyone would expect from such an excellent model and ideal man. In addition, the fact that David's father does not ever wear a badge, shows that he is trying to appear as something other than a cop because he is trying to avoid becoming the character of a sheriff (it is not him). The Zeit Geist of the story is proving to be extremely vital to the plot. This is because if influences everything due to the location of Montana and the time, which was following the end of World War II . The area, was not one filled with great wealth, but it was one that revolved around society life. Because of this, David, the protagonist feels uncomfortable with his situation, and people such as Frank, hide their sins. In addition, I was shocked by how warped the compact society that David resided in was. Prior to finding out about his Uncle, his life had been uneventful and he was naive to the horrors of the world, until suddenly, they became at the forefront of his life. It was insane that David's dad chose to pursue his own brother, although it was the right thing to do because justice needs to be served. It was even worse however, that David's grandfather, was somewhat aware of David's sins because of David's previous entanglements with Indian women, yet he thought and did nothing of it. In addition, I found it interesting, that while David was so anxious to grow up and be told the information as an adult, his mother searched for purity and was nostalgic of her childhood. The moccasins were the beginning of David realizing his family's dis-functionality because it was the first time he noticed that his father was racist. Also, it is easy to see that this book will rely on the presence of sex and death in everyone's life because of the quote in the first half of the book. Finally, it seems as if coyote will symbolize something, as Marie says that a coyote is hard to find when you are looking for it. I think that this may parallel the situation with David's father who is searching for evidence of Frank's previous rape. This is because now that he is looking for the information, it may not come easily. In general I look forward to continuing the book.