Customer Reviews

The Songcatcher (Ballad Series)

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This, my friends, is literature. A lot of the "important" writers taught in lit classes today wrote popular fiction--even detective fiction--in their day: Dickens, Scott, even Jane Austen; and I suspect that a century or so from now, when the likes of Fay Weldon and Philip Roth are forgotten, people will still be reading and enjoying writers like Terry Pratchett and Sharyn McCrumb.

The latest entry in her Ballad Series, with titles drawn from traditional songs, has inspired me to write my first online review, even if I only gave it 4 stars--only because I like a couple of the other books better. I'd have given it 4 1/2 if I could have figured out how. This one is not, like the earlier ones, about murder, though a murder does make a brief appearance; it is about mysteries of time and heredity and the search for an elusive folk song. Nine-year-old Malcolm McCourry first heard "The Rowan Stave" in 1751 aboard the English ship which kidnapped him from his native Islay; after a career at sea and as a prosperous lawyer in New Jersey who fought in the Revolution, he took it with him when he moved west around the turn of the century when he moved west along the Wilderness Road and settled in western Carolina to found a new family. He also took along the family curse: that each McCourry firstborn would never come first with his or her parent; someone else would always come between.

Lark McCourry, moderately famous folksinger, doesn't know about the curse, but is familiar with its result. Returning to Hamelin, Tennessee, to see her dying father and to trace the song she remembers hearing as a child, she is lost in the mountains when her small plane crashes. As Sheriff Spencer Arrowood and some of our old friends, and some enjoyable new ones, search for Lark, second-sighted Nora Bonesteel searches for the song. And of course, there are ghosts, literally and metaphorically, playing their part in the story.

This is a novel about the persistence of character in family lines, about history and the making of the American--certainly the Appalachian--character, and about how a song survives and changes through history. McCrumb's great gift, even greater than her ability to tell riveting stories, is to create real, three--make that four--dimensional people, and a wonderful sense of place and time that makes the reader live in her books, hoping against hope that things will work out for people one cares deeply about.

I like and own all McCrumb's books. She has two other series: the BIMBOS/ZOMBIES books about science fiction fandom, and the Elizabeth MacPherson series, all mysteries, and all good. But the Ballad Series is superb. IF EVER I RETURN, PRETTY PEGGY-O is still my favorite, because the reminiscences of high school are so painfully accurate reflections of my own experience. SHE WALKS THESE HILLS is the most haunting. But none of them should be missed, by mystery readers, fans of Appalachian regional stories, or anyone who loves a good book.

Sharyn McCrumb's Ballad Series is one of the best out there. Ms. McCrumb is a master of plot and character development. Weaving fiction and non-fiction into a wonder story, the author gives the reader a real understanding of how this country developed. Ms. McCrumb also has a great and wonderful understanding of the people who settled and live in the rural Appalachian Mountains. Yes, there really are people living just like Ms. McCrumb describes in her books. I know I'm from there.

I'm not going to bore you with a recap of the plot. If you want that read one of the other reviews. The Songcatcher is a little bit different than her other ballad series books, if that doesn't make it any less entertaining. There is no murder mystery, but there is plenty of mystery. So if you enjoy a good mystery, written very well. This is the book for you. In fact, you don't even have to be a mystery reader to enjoy any of Sharyn McCrumb's books. She is a wonderful writer and I feel that anybody, who enjoys a good book, would enjoy Sharyn McCrumb.

Sharyn McCrumb does for Appalachian history what a songcatcher does for ancient Scottish ballads. She is surely one of the great storytellers of the century and one of the most diverse. She writes intricate mysteries, comic scenarios of Science Fiction buffs, and her lovely, haunting Ballad series.

"Songcatcher" is anchored by Malcolm McCourry, the forefather, who is shanghaied from Islay, Scotland at age nine to become a seaman, lawyer, and early Appalachian mountaineer. His legacy is an obscure Scottish ballad, "The Rowan Stave." His story, continued by his descendents, is interwoven with the modern day protagonists. The early McCourrys are so vivid; the modern folks frequently seem pale in comparison. The "curse" Malcolm passes down is his first born child and succeeding generation's first born children will be unloved and unappreciated. The subsequent narrators are all first-born children, each baffled and hurt by the McCourry parent; yet they in turn unconsciously carry on this harsh legacy.

The tale is full of ghosts, faeries, and things that go bump in the night. The reader can believe or not believe; but they are there in a most matter-of-fact way. There were a few too many storylines in the present-day world. Joe LaDonne being trapped in the forest under old plane wreckage did not forward the story, and was a needless distraction. There was no "mystery" per se, yet everything was a mystery. Like the expert she is, Ms. McCrumb entices us with every new revelation and delivers a fast paced and gripping story.

"Songcatcher" is a worthy addition to the superb Ballad series.

Continuing in her successful ballad series, Sharyn McCrumb reaches back to her own family tree for the source of this satisfying tale. The reader is immediately captivated by the story of young Malcolm McCourry, kidnapped in the 1700's, by sailors from his native Scotland and brought to the colonies. On board the ship, the young boy hears a haunting ballad which stays with him his entire life.

The focus of the novel is the search for this ballad by a contemporary folk singer, McCourry's descendent. She is the "songcatcher" of the title.

Along the way, the author gives us an informal tutorial in how the classic appalachian ballads were "found" by musicologists. The author's love of her heritage is felt in every page.

Its also great to see some of the familiar characters from the earlier ballad novels here as well. Altogether, this is one of her very best. Couldn't put it down.

In 1751 Islay, off the Scottish coast, Malcolm McCourry is abducted and turned into a slave on board a ship heading to the New World. On the trek, he hears and learns a haunting ballad. In America, Malcolm makes the most of his fate and soon becomes a lawyer and starts a family. He hands down the ballad to his sons.

Over a couple of centuries later, country singer Lark McCourry flies from her California home to see her ailing father. When her plane crashes in the Carolina Mountains, she calls police dispatcher Ben Hawkins. However, she wastes her cell phone battery by asking for his help in finding the family song she vaguely remembers from her youth rather than for her rescue. He turns to Nora, who can help with the song, but not with finding Lark.

THE SONGCATCHER is a tremendously rich epic that sweeps across two and a half centuries. The story line is loaded with depth as readers get a deep glimpse into strong characters that cross the American generational spectrum since the birth of the nation in a combined historical and contemporary plot. Sharyn McCrumb's latest novel turns into a delightful gourmet meal for anyone who wants a deep ballad filled with humor and poignancy as reading material.

Harriet Klausner

I've had this one on my bookshelf for some time and just recently, in the mood for a good story, I picked this one up. I wish I hadn't finished it. It is a tale of a people that traveled from Scotland to the USA to the Tennessee/North Carolina mountains. This book travels back and forth from 1751 to present ~~ tracing the footsteps of a lineage and a haunting ballad that has been preserved in the family over the generations.

Lark McCourry is on her way home when her plane crashed in the mountains. She is haunted by the memory of a song that she had heard as a child, a song that was brought over to the States by her ancestor, Malcom McCourry, who was kidnapped as a child off the coasts of Scotland. He eventually became a lawyer in the States, fought in the Revolutionary War, raised a family, and headed off to the Wilderness Road to North Carolina, where he raised a second family. He passed the song onto his descendants, one of whom is Lark.

Lark is a famous folksinger on her way home to seeing her dad, with whom she has a rocky relationship with and is trapped in the plane that crashed. While waiting for help, she also asked for help in relocating this ballad to preserve it.

While the song travels over the years, McCrumb writes of people who lived in different times and their little stories become enmeshed with one another in a trickle of humanness and bits that make up the world today. Those ancestors of Lark's were all unique individuals who struggle to get ahead and still have a deep abiding love for their mountains and heritage.

It is a beautiful haunting story ~~ one to keep as a reminder that there are just some things that are worth preserving, a family song, a memory and family. It's a great book ~~ and one to cherish.

8-4-06

I found THE SONGCATCHER, Sharyn McCrumb's latest ballad novel, so very engrossing I read it all in one sitting. As with most of McCrumb's ballad novels, it's not a mystery. Instead, it's a study of human relationships.

The usual ballad characters (Nora Bonesteel, Sheriff Arrowood, Martha Ayers and Joe LaDonne) are back, although they remain in the background for most of the book. In fact, there isn't one main character. Instead we follow a song through each generation of the McCourry family, starting in 1751 when young Malcolm McCourry is kidnapped from his home in Scotland and is pressed into service on a ship. We follow Malcolm to America, where he settles and spawns a dynasty in the Tennessee/North Carolina area. With him he brings his family curse (the firstborn child will never be best loved; another will always supplant him) and the family's special song. We then follow each succeeding generation as they suffer under this curse but still pass on Malcolm's song. It is in the present-day generation that we meet Lark McCourry, a country singer who has only a vague memory of her family song. Long estranged from her father, Lark returns home to attend his deathbed and seek out this elusive song for her next album.

While well worth reading, THE SONGCATCHER isn't Ms. McCrumb's best work. I think the book suffers from the lack of a major protagonist, which is why I gave it only 4 stars. However, it is still a wonderful study of human relationships, and I expect most readers will be caught up in the book's magical spell.

Sharyn McCrumb has given us a fictionalized version of her family tree, and it's a treat.

John Walker is dying and his housekeeper summons his estranged daughter home. His daughter, Linda, now a famous folksinger known as Lark, suffers an accident on the way home, however, and is stranded on a mountainside with faint chance of rescue. To see her through her ordeal, the 911 officer she managed to reach on her cell phone before the battery died promises to track down a folk song she heard when she was a child.

Interspersed with the events taking place in the present day is the story of Malcolm McCourry, a young Scots lad kidnapped by sailors in 1759, when he was nine years old. Although I was a bit confused the first time the story jumped back two hundred years, it didn't take me long to make the connection between Malcolm McCourry and John Walker, and I followed the subsequent years and generations with interest.

A quick read, and enjoyable.

I have read 90% of Sharyn McCrumb's books. I started with Frankie Silver in a book club and was hooked. I especially like the "Appalachian Series" and the characters that appear from book to book. That is one reason I liked The Songcatacher. It ebbed and flowed similarly to the "Appalachian Series" and also had return characters. If you enjoyed this book I highly recommend all in the "Appalachian Series". I can't remember the correct order they come in but research it and read them in order if possible. It is not completely necessary, however. She Walks These Hills and The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter were probably my favorites. I liked them more than The Rosewood Casket and especially more than If Ever I Return Pretty Peggy-O.

Sharyn McCrumb's Ballad novels are mysteries only in a limited sense. Their main purpose is to evoke a sense of place. Set in the Appalachian (pronounced "Appal-at-chian," not "Appal-ate-chian") region of the Tennessee/North Carolina border, they are terrific at just that. I was born into that area, and McCrumb highlights all that is good about it, while leaving out most of the bad parts.

In fact, the best thing I can say about them is that they bring out my sense of heritage. Even though I moved away to New England (and feel much more comfortable here), Sharyn McCrumb almost (I said almost) makes me want to go back. Her mention of cities and landmarks that I grew up with makes me hearken back to my time there. If only the South really were exactly as she writes it.

Songcatcher is the most evocative of all the Ballad series. It tells several stories that eventually overlap, but the central tale is that of Malcolm McCourry, Scottish immigrant to the New World. He tells his story of leaving his family, becoming a sailor, and settling in the new state of Tennessee to start a new family. A ballad called "The Rowan Stave" is vital to his tale, as it is to the book and McCrumb takes the time to show how that song is changed by being passed down over generations.

Meanwhile Lark McCourry is searching for that lost song sung by her ancestors while having to deal with a sick father that doesn't appreciate her fame as a folk/country singer. Her search doesn't really begin in full until she is trapped in a wrecked plane.

Ballad regulars Nora Bonesteel and Spencer Arrowood (pronounced "Ar-wood") also appear, but in less of a role. This is really the story of the McCourrys. Malcolm's story is so engrossing (and takes up a good portion of the book) that I would forget that I was reading a "mystery" novel. In Songcatcher, McCrumb has produced literature. And a book that any Southerner can be proud of.