Returning to Earth [Kindle Edition]

Jim Harrison (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Harrison's novel of a dying man's retelling of his complex family history requires multiple readers to bring it to life. Svendsgaard, Porter, Weiner and Garcia all stick close to the rueful and world-weary, with long pauses and a subtle downturn of intonation marking their readings. They tag-team Harrison's prose, which shifts back and forth between the reminiscences of its protagonists, with Svendsgaard often leaping in to amend or second the stray thoughts of dying Donald Burkett. Weiner, as Donald, gives his reading just the right flat, clipped tone, each sentence ending abruptly and without warning. Donald's memories, in Weiner's rendering, are less the florid interior dramas of a romantically rendered past than the honest remembrance of what once was. The other readers follow Weiner's lead, echoing his spare performance ably and underscoring his fine work.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Mortality is much on the mind of the longtime chronicler of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and in his new novel, he gives eloquent expression to death and the grieving process through the character of Donald. A man of few words, Donald suddenly finds himself compelled to spill out his family history after being diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease at the age of 45. His wife, Cynthia, sits at his side, recording his words for their two children. And the stories he tells about his Chippewa-Finnish father and grandfather, the "kind of people gone forever," are tales of restlessness and the hard work of mining and ranching. By contrast, his own life has been more centered, revolving around his marriage and children and his Anishnabeg religion, although he feels a powerful connection to his people through their mutual reverence for the natural world. He faces his death with the same dignity with which he has lived his life. As the narrative shifts to record how Donald's family members cope with their grieving in the year after his passing, Harrison sounds the themes he has been working out over the course of his long and prolific career, including the healing power of nature and the deep connection between the sensual and the spiritual. In the tradition of Louise Erdrich and Thomas McGuane, Harrison displays a seemingly effortless ability to present abstract issues in earthy, muscular prose. Joanne Wilkinson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 271 KB
• Publisher: Grove Press (September 1, 2007)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00155EZQO
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #218,135 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Returning to these characters..., January 5, 2007

By 

Chad M. Supp (Savoy, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Returning to Earth: A Novel (Hardcover)

When I opened "Returning to Earth", I was pleasantly surprised to find I knew these characters from Harrison's previous novel "True North". I had not made the connection when reading the book description on Amazon. Upon completing a Harrison story, I immediately miss the company of his characters. When "True North" ended, I very much missed my neurotic friend, David, who thankfully returns in this novel. Finished with "Returning to Earth", I find myself very interested in Lame Deer, Montana.

When reading reviews of Harrison's last few novels, I notice the term "rambling narrative" appears frequently (I guess I just contributed to that trend). I don't know whether to perceive this as a negative or a positive comment. Harrison's narrative takes place in the consciousness of his characters. My own experience with consciousness (I admit there have been a few interruptions along the way) has never been carefully plotted or structured for efficiency. Harrison's characters have thoughts, random, scattered, and yes sometimes rambling thoughts. The narrative carries you along, like only Harrison's prose can, and many of these thoughts become your own by the end of the novel. I will never look at a bear the same way again.

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Surviving The Dead, February 10, 2007

By 

C. Hutton "book maven" (East Coast, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Returning to Earth: A Novel (Hardcover)

"Returning to Earth" has several meanings for its title. Simply put, it is the burial of the first narrator, his family returning from their journey of grieving or a combination of both meanings. The first half of the book asks how do you die a "good" death while the conclusion asks how do you live your life after the "good" life. The family members narrate their portion of their sadness, struggling not to succumb to the overwhelming grieve. The writing is lyrical and haunting in the manner of a storyteller. Mr. Harrison is the author of 8 novels, 5 novellas ("Legends of the Fall" is the best known) & 8 collections of poetry and this is his best tale yet.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Honoring our Dead and Moving On, February 21, 2007

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Returning to Earth: A Novel (Hardcover)

Lou Gehrig's disease is such a horrible way to die. While reading this book I kept in mind watching a friend of mine (also 45 years old) find that he had the disease and watching as one muscle after another failed to function. But for more about the disease, read 'Tuesdays With Morrie.'

This instead is a story of Donald, a man slowly dying and realizing that his family history will die with hime. So he begins dictating stories that he has never shared with anyone else. While this is going on, the family around him has to learn to cope with the realization that he is dying and doing so with dignity.

After Donald's death, his family struggle through their grief at his passing. In the end, they have to go on, as we all do. But the telling of their stories is masterfully done. It's a story of trying to make sense out of life, while understanding that we honor our dead but move on to the future.

It is a tale masterfully told.