Excellent, excellent book. The great American novel for sure. Everyone should read this book. It's a pity that Sometimes a Great Notion has been eclipsed by One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest because it is equally as great, if not greater. The book starts off like a needle being dropped onto a long playing record set at the wrong speed, or one that skips. It takes quite a while before you figure out where you are on the album, what song is playing. But once you find your way the rest of it just plays out smoothly and enjoyably with so many layers to explore.

Some say this is a book about unions, and I guess it's that but that's just one small part. It's also a book about family and what ties us to each other and what tears us apart. But that's not all it's about either. It's a great book for delving into characters, warts and all, to the very heart of what makes them tick. But that ain't it either, really. Mostly it's a book about nature- the beauty of nature, the horror, the indifference to mankind's attempts to plunder and destroy, to exploit. But those same exploiters have a true love and respect for the power and majesty of nature, the mystery.

The ending of the book was just the tiniest bit weak and unbelievable but I'm not going to let that affect my rating. I want everyone to read this book. It's that good. It's what I look for when I read... a journey to the very heart of human experience. The ugliness, the tragedy, the hope of redemption.

This book is going onto my favorites shelf.

Read this book!