Customer Reviews

Waiting for White Horses

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Waiting for White Horses encompasses an important time in the life of Dr. Grant Thorson. He and Dr. Will Campbell, two old college friends, met in dentistry school years ago and they love nothing more than spending time together, duck hunting in northern Minnesota.

Much of the story centers on Grant Thorson. He has experienced a time of great loss and transition. His emotional legs are weak and Will supports his friend as he negotiates his new life.

This is a lovely book about friends, family, life, love and hope. And nature adds to its beauty and lushness. I didn't want the story to end and yearned for more of the characters and their lives. I laughed and I wiped a tear or two. It tugged at my heart and hasn't let go. Waiting for White Horses is simply beautiful. Nathan Jorgenson is a master storyteller and made me love learning about hunting. This book is brilliant and holds a special place in my personal collection.

Armchair Interviews says: Waiting for White Horses is a must read and a novel you'll want to keep and read again.

Waiting For White Horses is not about white horses. Indeed, they don't show up until the last third of the book ... and they probably aren't what you're expecting anyway.

The novel contains quite a bit of duck hunting and fishing on a placid lake in Minnesota ... but it's not about that either.

It's certainly not a political drama, although the President of the United States plays a pivotal role.

Mostly, this is a book about family, friends and lovers, what binds them together and what tears them apart. If you read it, you will quickly get caught up with the characters' lives, loves and pain. You will not be able to help yourself. It doesn't matter if you've ever set foot in a boat, held a fishing rod or pulled the trigger on a rifle.

Waiting For White Horses follows a pivotal year in the lives of Grant and Will, two old college friends who enjoy nothing better than spending their free time in a duck blind, harrassing and joking with each other. Their unique relationship is beautifully and hilariously detailed almost from the first page and serves as the hook that pulls the reader deep into the narrative.

The focus is really on Grant, who has recently suffered the first personal loss of his previously-charmed life, and is trying to regain his emotional bearings. Even as Grant reels from this tragedy, he quickly finds himself on an emotional roller-coaster, facing difficulties and surprises from every direction. He seeks calm and comfort in past relationships, but nothing seems to offer the stability he craves.

No one enjoys the experience of grief and upheaval, but almost everyone has to find a way to cope with it eventually. (Those that don't have died too young and thereby caused others grief.) The first impulse is to say that life is not fair, but eventually one is forced to admit that life isn't even supposed to be fair. That's not why we're here. That is what Grant has to learn through the course of this novel.

The seriousness of this theme is leavened by a remarkable sense of humor. When Will and Grant get together, they are irrepressible, childish and utterly charming. Many of the situations in the story also contain elements of the absurd while remaining firmly grounded in reality. Life is just ridiculous sometimes, and author Nathan Jorgenson captures that beautifully.

And I haven't even mentioned the love story!

Waiting For White Horses is a compelling, thoughtful read for anyone interested in the nature of life, the power of love or the mystique of duck hunting.

On a trip through a Kitchigami library the other day, a friend urged me to read this book. She said this novel was based in KitchiLand. So, I got this book without asking what it was about or in what genre it might land. And like high flying ducks over Leech Lake, it takes a while to land. But when it does, it is a wonder to behold. It's about life. And death. And the bonds we make on our journey between the two.

Author Nathan Jorgenson has taken major artistic liberty with Walker geography. We do not have a street named "Main Street, " the main street - named Minnesota Avenue- does NOT abut the Lake and there is no such restaurant/bait shop there. Some of the characters in this firstbook lack depth and explanation. But those are small fish compared to this monster Muskie of a book. I just wish they would kill the cormorants.
/TundraVison, Amazon Reviewer

This book is an incredible read. You will laugh, you will cry, and you will rekindle memories whether of family, friendship, love, or hunting. This book is special. At times, I could not wait until the next page. At other times, I would quit reading and think back to some fond memory in my life. Read this book; you'll be glad you did.

A good book will stir your emotions, make you laugh and make you cry, compel you to keep reading, and make you wish it would't end. Waiting for White Horses is all of that and more! It will move you to look at life and loss in a new light. To see the beauty of close relationships and the gifts they bring, and the grief they can bring.
Grant Thorson was blessed to have those kinds of bonds with his best friend Will Campbell, his father, and not only one, but two women in his life. He also has a similar kind of love (or passion) for nature and the ideals he believes in which makes him a remarkable character.
The author uses the analogy (in nature) of air and water coming together in perfect harmony to create a most powerful and beautiful scene (hense the title of the book), to describe how two lives that are in sync with one another, can share the most beautiful richness life can give. Anyone who has known this kind of love is blessed, even if that love has been lost. Tamara Walker sings: "I'd rather fall than never to have flown at all, it was heaven after all, if only for a time."
I recommend this book to EVERYONE, but especially to anyone who has elderly parents, teenage children, who is searching for a soul mate, or who has lost a loved one. It has taught me to look at life and loss in a new light, (and even duck hunting)!

Nathan Jorgenson is a first-rate storyteller and Waiting for White Horses is an irresistible tale. I read all but the last chapter in one day, and the only reason I put it down is that I didn't want it to end. It made me laugh and it made me cry, and even today--weeks after I finished-- scenes and conversations from the book keep popping into my mind. What more can you ask from a novel?

Let's make a movie! The lakes, towns, and people are right here in
Cass county Mn., where the novel takes place. From reading the reviews here, I know it would by an Oscar contender.

I absolutely loved this book! It was recommended to me by the passenger sitting next to me on a flight from Florida to Minnesota. As a native Minnesotan, the book brings me back to my roots. It is humorous and touching. I'm not a fiction reader, but Nathan Jorgenson had me totally enthralled with this one. It is already on my friends' borrow list.

Growing up in the middle of North Dakota with three brothers, plus learning to hunt with them, my father, and grandfather, this was a book with which I can identify. Spending hours in duck blinds or walking for pheasants, we all grew to respect the outdoors and wildlife. All of us are now in our 50's and our father and grandfather have died. We still get together in the fall to enjoy the gift that Nathan Jorgenson describes.
I now live on a lake in central Minnesota, but still cherish times with my brothers and friends. The hunting stories he describes will be recognized by most hunters. Even the touching interpersonal plots could be all too familiar.
The book was given to me to read by a friend. I was so moved by the book I ordered five hardcover copies. I plan to give one to each of my brothers, one to a friend, and one to keep (to re-read).

This was a book that I was sorry to finish.
I missed the characters, and wondered what was happening to them when I was not reading.
Not many books can make you laugh one minute and have you grabbing a tissue the next,this is one of those books.
It is a rare book that can evoke that range of emotion.
WOW I can hardly wait for his next book.