Montana 1948

by Larry Watson

Book Overview

"From the summer of my twelfth year I carry a series of images more vivid and lasting than any others of my boyhood and indelible beyond all attempts the years make to erase or fade them...". So begins David Hayden's story of what happened in Montana in 1948. The events of that cataclysmic summer permanently alter twelve-year-old David's understanding of his family: his father, a small-town sheriff; his remarkably strong mother; the Hayden's Sioux...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0915943131
• ISBN13: 9780915943135
• Release Date: January 1993
• Publisher: Milkweed Editions
• Length: 175 Pages
• Weight: 0.72 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.6" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

A family tragedy seen through the eyes of a young boy

With hesitation, I read this book. Upon completion, I found it to be one of the most remarkable books I have read in many years. Montana 1948 is the story of tragedy of a small-town family. It tells of the fight for family loyalty and/or justice proceeding to the consequences of such decision. David Hayden, the young protagonist in this novel, observes the struggle of his father who is the sheriff in their small town. His father has to choose whether to arrest his brother who is the local doctor of rape or to overlook it because of the close family ties. It is told through the boy's eyes, but in telling it shows a simple picture of emotions of all the adults involved in this tragedy--the angst of father in making the decision, the downfall of his uncle who goes to extreme lengths to cover up the crime, and the starting truth finally told by the passive mother who only sees what she should see. I was reminded a lot of the book To Kill a Mockingbird, but this book is a story in its own right. It is a simple story but it is complex in its own right. I recommend it highly.

Justice with an unexpected twist.

Twelve-year-old David Hayden is about to watch three generations of his family enter into a maelstrom of events that will rip a family apart, leaving a gapping wound that time will never repair. This is the story of two brothers, one the favored son of a rich landowner, a doctor, and war hero, while the other is a father's disappointment.Marie Little Soldier reveals a dark secret that sets Sheriff Hayden off on an investigation that turns up much more than is expected. Add murder to the formula, and you have a page turning thriller that will leave you aghast at the direction it takes. Watson's writing flows along effortlessly as you catapult to an ending of cataclysmic proportion for this family. A family that has not only thrived on the justice of their time, but also has held it like a scepter to which there were no reprisals. This author writes with a western flare of youth lost to an irrepressible end, quite similar to "All the Pretty Horses". I am looking forward to "Justice" which is a prequel to "Montana 1948". It gives an added glimpse into the lives of the characters before the winds of change turn their world on end. Watson is a keen storyteller that is certainly worth reading. 12/28/00

Little Big Sky

I lived in Bozeman, Montana the summer I was eight and I still have a lot of fond memories of the time my family spent there. I know I must talk about it a lot, because one day my girlfriend brought me this book and said, "I found something you have to read." From the cover and the write-up on the back, "Montana 1948" looked like it might be a nostalgic, bittersweet coming-of-age tale set in the Big Sky state.It is all of those things, but it's more. Larry Watson spins a poignant, compelling narrative that deals with family, secrecy, innocence and corruption in a very moving way. The book's opening section gives a longish description of the setting. Soon after, drama unfolds and the plot becomes as thick as that of a mystery novel. As I was reading the book, I thought that I would probably give it a four star rating. But the ending was so beautifully moving that it bumped itself up.The story is interesting and thought-provoking and the writing is lean but never pretentious. What I liked most about this book, though, was the rich characterization and the great pleasure I took in reading a well-told story. You'll enjoy this short, great novel, even if you've never thought twice about Montana.

Montana 1948

This book, with its shocking scenarios and surprising actions, is a good, strong story of a family living in a small town with a very big name trying to make the right decisions and at the same time keep the family name good and pure. This is difficult, though, because of corruption and scandal that surfaces in this small town. the book is based around the Hayden family, which is made up of the grandfather who had been the sheriff for many years, his two sons, one is a veteran and a doctor who is married and the other is the recent sheriff who is married with a son, David. David is the narrator in this book, telling his life story, and what he went through as a 12 year old boy learning dark secrets about his once idolized family. This book is very powerful and I disagree with the Review by The New York Times Book Review, which states the "...coming-of-age novel depends on cliched characters to lug the story to its conclusion." On the contrary, the chararcters in this story make the conclusion as well as the rest of the book, very interesting and moving. For example, when David's mother, learns of their family's scandals and ends up pulling out her husbands gun to protect their house against a bunch of men trying to break in their house. This review also states that "Purple prose is the real culprit in this shallow yet overwrought tale.", which I also disagree with. Although this book may have some explicit language, it goes along with the story-line and only makes it stronger.

I enjoyed how some controversial subjects were put so nicely

The title of this book describes the setting of the book. It's a small town out in the middle of the Montana wilderness. The narrator of the story, David Hayden tells about his horrifying times as his learns about a family secret his family is trying to keep from him. David listens in on a conversation about his Native American nanny and finds that she has fallen ill and desperately does not want to see the doctor, David's uncle. In those days Indians had very little respect and rights. And he learns that his uncle has even less respect and does not obey his duties as a doctor. The problem is that David's father is the sheriff of the town. He learns about the trouble with his brother and concludes that he must do what's right and arrest his brother. The problem comes in when David's grandfather gets very upset that his one son is in jail and the other put him there. The grandfather takes matters into his own hands and endangers them all. The author Larry Watson does a superb job at making things appear real. The main character is a pre-teen but he acts much older. The story takes place in 1948 but I think it seems to fit well into the society that we live in today. In the news you often hear about doctors taking advantage of patients and influential people trying to get their family or friends out of trouble to preserve their reputation. If you enjoy hearing stories about people who had to go through misfortunes and overcome them; then you would like this book. The beginning gets you set in the world they are living in at the time and can get slow. But once you get to the problems and the story starts spiraling, you can't put it down. This is one of my favorite books.