Where the Sea Used Be: Avail in Pa

As someone obsessed with the mountains and mountain culture, I simply can not get enough of the nature writings of Rick Bass, especially "Where the sea used to be." The geological terminology that peppers the book and the premise of protecting the Yaak from drilling makes the story much more understandable and interesting to me, as a petroleum engineering student. No matter what one's perspective is regarding environmental policy, the attatchment to The Valley that Bass imbeds in every reader is unavoidable.

Rick Bass has pulled off a masterpiece in his first novel about man or machine versus nature. The story operates on two levels - the contest between four central characters - a sort of King Lear and his daughters, except in this case one daughter and two proteges who are stand-ins for sons, geologists/oil drillers/naturalists. The other level is the backdrop of Big Sky country, Montana. The book is also big, long, and challenging, and sometimes hard to get your mind around. For those who want their stories in small doses and to get to the point fast, this book is not for you. It demands a leisurely pace, which makes even I who am a patient reader sometimes squirm. The only flaw with regard to length are some of the Dudley passages on the formation of the earch, which form a story within a story. A lot of that I think could have been trimmed back. Some if it, and especially, Dudley's personal story is integral to the novel. Yet, you will do yourself a disservice if you skip over the lush and lengthy descriptions of the main story. There is a reason for it. The setting and the characters are intertwined. The setting shapes the characters and the characters shape the setting. Could Bass or someone else have a written a shorter book on the same topic? Probably, but the effect would have been lost. Some say it is pretentious. I disagree. This is a book of magnitude and scale, in other words, an epic and it needs size. To use an overworked metaphor, I believe the story has to brew likely good coffee or decant like fine wine. The story is ultimately satisfying on all levels if you allow it.

A masterful, full length novel by the X-generation's Jack London. Bass paints a magical wilderness tapestry with a lyrical brush. Memorable characters and masterful language leave a lasting impression.READ THIS BOOK

This book will overwhelm you. Fight though it. I have been waiting for years for a novel by Rick Bass. At last, at last. Read the pans with a grain of salt in your eye. No, that doesn't work, sounds too painful. Don't believe every review you read. Except maybe this one. This story is a LEGEND. A modern day myth. Of course it is unrealistic. Of course the charecters perform superhuman feats. The age old good vs. evil in the dying wilderness of NW Montana. I have met Old Dudley in the flesh, or at least men like him. They CONSUME you. I'm guessing Mr. Bass has had the same unhappy experience. All you have learned and expected of Rick Bass are hear for the taking. Glacial prose. You can't hope to slow its advance, just take a breath before it bowls you under. Hibernate and enjoy.

I've been a fan of Rick Bass ever since I read "Winter", some years back. This recent novel continues Mr. Bass' story-telling narrative style once again in the remote northwest USA. Part of me wants to escape from the urbanized Florida sunshine to the "land of changing seasons". I enjoy the interpersonal relationships that are developed among the book's characters. This novel has a sub-story, for want of a better term, relaying a "story" of the earth's geological birth & development as written by one of the characters. It takes a difficult, dry subject and makes it fascinating. Well worth puchasing!!!