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260 hysterical
opinions

imho-reviews / fiction /
Wednesday, 1st January 2003, 11:26am
An opinion by: Rascal
 

The Cure for Death by Lightning by Gail Anderson-Dargatz

Had to check this book out on account of the nice title. All through reading it I had this feeling I'd read it before, which was a bit bothersome, especially because I STILL never knew what was going to happen next. It's quite possible I have read it ages ago, because it's not a new release, Anderson-Dargatz has written a couple of more recent novels, and if they are anything like "Cure for Death by Lightning" they should be read too; once or twice, however you like.

So yeah the verdict is in: read it - you'll like it. Solid story, chock full of historic trivia on life on a farm in Westrn Canada during WWII. The author's clearly done much research and that always works for me. I like to know how to light a stove, what's kept in the pantry, what's in the cellar, and what's hidden in a hole in the wall behind mother's bed. The food, the recipes, the utensils, the prices, this is the stuff that transports you to a very different time and place.

Beth Weeks is a bonny farmer's daughter who's got two native farmhands interested, as well as a girl from the nearby reservation. Her father has recently gone nutso, after a wilderness encounter with a bear. Her mother keeps a very cool scrapbook of recipes marked with memories.

    "I stood next to my mother at the kitchen table on the afternoon that Nora and I had picked cherries, dicing a pile of cleaned beets. On the table before us, the scrapbook was open to the recipe for beet wine. My mother's beet-bloody fingerprints covered the page. As I was cutting, I sprayed a bit of beet juice on this page, so I grabbed a dry dishrag and dabbed it up.
    'Leave it!' said my mother.
    'I was just wiping it off.'
    'I said leave it!'"

Beth has a big brother who just wants to get out of there and enlist. School is a drag, the kids are mean to her, the weather ruins one crop and something has got to blow, which it does. This story has got great soap opera value, but not at all fluffy or tedious - very engaging. If you are perchance travelling alone, staying among strangers, living out of a hotel room, get this book. It's a great comfort. --RBR



Readers have left 14 comments

Hey,

the novel "cure for death by lightning" is an amazing, mind capturing novel. Once you get into it, you keep reading it until you get satisfied from it. But the question I have is:

what is the purpose of this novel? how is it important to you? I would like to know all this.

thanks.
almass on Sunday, 19th September 2004, 5:50am
Hey all.

I just wanted to say that I read this book for my Eng culminating task. When I first heard about it, I was very fascinated with what I was about to read, however, once I started to read it, I found that it was a very deep look at the way farm people and the natives got a long. I found that I was getting a feel for how they see everyday life in a way that I never could have seen.

I'd like to thank Mrs. H. (and the class, mainly Alex) for introducing the book to me.
~ Yolanda ~ on Monday, 23rd May 2005, 11:48am
i love this book, there is somthing strange about it. its captivating. sometimes i read it for the recipes, sometimes to feel with the characters, sometimes its the discriptions on forest and so on. i love this book, and can re-read it millions of times....
nora on Monday, 5th December 2005, 7:57pm
basically this book explores the people living on the margins of society during World War II - people that history has largely ignored and that tend not to leave many records. this book is a great source for examining these people, i think especially people who are half native half white who have a tendancy to live in the liminal space between cultures. however although A-Dargatz writes a completely engaging story, i see holes in it. i know it's easy to criticize, but how come beth is too scared to leave her family farm, but not afraid to point her father in the face and tell him to keep his hands off her? but - probably my favourite part of the novel is the explaination of coyote as a negative trickster (Thomas King, another (sort of) Canadian writer depicts Coyote as a benevolant trickster). It is interesting to see how the folklore shifts between native groups. Question though. What is the significance of the white crow?
D on Tuesday, 31st January 2006, 4:59pm
I have just recently read the Cure for Death by Lightening as well. I too am wondering what the significance of the white crow is?? Any ideas?? I am doing a grade 12 university level english course right now and we are required to pull 2 themes or image patterns from the book and for each theme or image pattern have 10 supporting quotes to back them up. (and have a detailed analysis per quote... wooohooo)... anyway I was going to do the Albino crow as an image pattern, but I am unable to figure out the significance of it. All I've got was the fact that it died at the end... Any Ideas? Thanks
Sarah on Wednesday, 15th March 2006, 6:49pm
i had to read this book for my english class. i did not like it at all. it is a story about abuse, and there is a lot of it. sure, there is a lot of comforting parts, but the ones you remember when you finish the book are the ones about abuse. i wanted to trow up a couple of times while i was reading it. for the comfort part, this book took me out of my comfort zone and i did not like it.
Stephy on Friday, 7th April 2006, 8:26am
I agree that the outside cover of the book was quite intriguing, but the content was not what i expected. i felt that The Cure for Death by Lightning was almost like a female version of Brokeback Mountain. anyone agree? yep, it defininitely open my mind to a whole new horizon. i myself was not much fond of the book as it displays unorthodox ideas that i strongly disapproved of. as for the writing style, Gail Anderson-Dargate has written the novel in such a poetic way, that it may take moments for the reader to contemplate on. therewhere many metaphors in the novel that i yet have to figure out. i think for me to order to fully understand her writing, i am going to have to read another of her novels. overall i would give a 3/5 stars just because it was too weird for me. WAY too weird.
Catty on Tuesday, 30th May 2006, 11:17pm
I have just started reading the book, and I've found it is very engaging.
I'm doing it for my english 12 novel study, and it seemingly a perfect book for it.
I would not know how "iontruiguing" the ouside front cover of the book is, mainly because I have somehow obtained the paper back edition from my class.
I didn't really get very engaged into it until the bear attack, and that about as far as I've gotten.
I really home it gets (more) interesting.
Kelsy on Monday, 22nd January 2007, 3:33pm
uhh...why did Beth Weeks feel no remorse for her relationship with Nora??? Come on, this shit was supposed to take place during WWII. (was her sexuality lesbian or bi....?) Oh yeah, Billy was a better match for Beth than Nora (who by the way is the strangest character in the book...maybe the hottest too, hehe).
caledon on Wednesday, 16th May 2007, 5:11pm
the white crow signifies the different (the outcasts) . like norah and Beth the white crow is an outcast,
Brittany on Sunday, 3rd June 2007, 9:57pm
I read the novel for my Gr.12 ISU and can't say I really enjoyed.However I need to right an essay about it , any ideas on a good thesis staement??? They would be soooo appreciated I am completley lost!!!
Richelle on Thursday, 15th November 2007, 6:24pm
I found this novel very interesting and engaging. A lot of thing happen in it and it's kind of hard keeping track of all of them when your trying to write an essay about it, I'm having trouble figuring out a topic for this book because I don't really understand the point of the story, eventhough it was very entertaining (except for some parts) I don't know what to write an essay on. Anyone have an idea of what the book's main purpose was???
Magan on Tuesday, 18th December 2007, 6:58am
I really enjoyed reading this book, it was very mysterious and suspenceful. Eventhough I thought this book was a great read, I don't really know what the point of the book was, and I need to right an essay on it. Anyone have an idea of what the book's main purpose was???
Magan on Tuesday, 18th December 2007, 7:00am
I loved this book so much, except for all the weird sex and beastiality lol.
I did my Grade 12 ISU on it too. :) I'd recommend this book to anyone, its very well written.
Samantha on Thursday, 8th May 2008, 9:04pm

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