This is a beautifully written story about one man's quest to find his right and proper place in life. I read this one as part of a challenge to read a book published my year of birth - 1953 and am so glad that I chose this one from the many available that year. I loved much about this story, especially the main character, Asahel (Ase) Linden. The reader watches life from Ase's perspective in rural New York state in the late 1800s and early 1900s from the day his brother leaves the farm through t [...]

This book is one of the best ones I've read. In many ways, it's a simple story, one of the life of a young man and ends, well, like life ends. I was transported to Asahel's shadow from the first page to the last and read late a night, fighting sleep after some really labor-intensive days, and thinking when I arose how I couldn't wait to go to bed on this next night so I could read more. The first sentence was arresting to me: "Three crows flew low over the fresh mound in the Linden burying-groun [...]

I take back what I said about Blood of My Blood. The Sojourner is easily my favorite novel by Marjorie Rawlings. The writing is so sophisticated. The details are masterfully rendered. The novel consistently surprises and makes you uncomfortable and frustrated in one part and full of joy and peace the next. This novel was inspired, in part, by Rawlings's desire to understand the Michigan farm lifestyle that produced her mother, with whom she shared a strained relationship. What she tries to expre [...]

I love Rawlings' writing style. This novel set in 1860 up to the second World War is a history of the Linden family, whose patriarch was a farmer all his life. He was one of my favorites; though he is quiet and slow to speak, he is a deep thinker and open to loving the people and beauty around him. He is "the sojourner" of the title. His best friends are colorful characters-- Mink Fisher, an Indian, "fathers" and teaches him about planting , hunting, and how to live on the earth--Tim O'Brien, a [...]

I read this before, but lately, I got a yearning to read it again, and I'm so glad I did. Rawlings lyrical descriptions are so beautifully crafted. The word magic is strong in this book, making me wish I could cut out sentences to adorn my walls. So poignant. I think I'm enjoying it even more this time than the first time I read it, as I'm coming to it older and having experienced more disappointments myself. I was originally drawn to this book by the tattered jacket with the beautiful illustrat [...]

Emotionally brutal but instantly one of my favorite books. The characters and landscape are authentic, giving a stark view of humanity simultaneously tragic and beautiful. How's that for a cliche review? Seriously though, everything about this book was real. The pain and joy I felt were intense and often prompted by the same event. The duality of life's experiences and the importance of embracing the pain and love 'cause they're pretty much joined at the hip.

The other reviews on this site already do this book justice, so I'll just add my two cents' worth: This just might be the best book I've ever read. It's certainly in the top 5, and it's one of the few books I plan on reading again some day.

Written back in 1953, this is the story of a life and the lives intertwined with it, the tale very evocatively set in rural New York state. The novelty for me was seeing lives unfold, joys and adversities alternating, from the viewpoint of a man rather than a woman. I felt it was masterfully written and well worth reading.

المغترباخر ما اقتنيته من سوريه وطني الحبيب ان كان يحق لي ان اعتبر تلك البلاد الجميله وطنا اخر لياستغرقت في قراءة هذه الروايه مايقارب الثلاثه اساييع وتعمدت ان اتباطأ في قراءتها لانني شعرت انني جزء منها وان شخصياتها وابطالها تمت لي بصلهتدور احداث هذه الروايه حول آل لندن تحديد [...]

I picked this up off of my "To Be Read" stack, not sure what to expect. The author drew me into the story of Asahel Linden, beginning with his childhood in the 1800s. Where I initially thought I'd have difficulty sticking with a story that wasn't brimming with action and adventure, I found myself invested in Asahel and his family. The author does a fantastic job balancing the hardness of his life (which is sometimes quite harsh) with his character--allowing him to retain an innocence that someti [...]

Excellent book that inspires conflicting feelings about the protagonist. You have to love Ase for his goodness and 'complicated simplicity' but there were times when I wanted to shake him for his seeming indifference (more accurately his inaction). But I came to understand that was his nature, and maybe you don't really understand that until the very end of the book. It's a wonderful study in human nature where all characters are concerned, especially in the interactions. Rawlings' character dev [...]

This story moved me incredibly, although there were times that it tore at my heart. The main character, Asahel Linden, was The Sojourner, traveling through life immersed in his heart and in his philosophical thoughts. Some of this, I identified with, but when the cruel actions of those close to him had impact, I thought to myself, "I would have fought back with actions just as heartless." Asahel was incapable of fighting, although he stood his ground firmly. I felt angry, sometimes not sure that [...]

Though Rawlings can write well, I am certain, the plot of this book was a snooze fest. I am not kidding. I have been reading this book, a couple pages at a time for almost a year. I can generally crack out a 300 page fiction book in a day or day and a half. A week at most if I have no time to read. This book was just uninspiring and I never did start to enjoy it. Asa, as a character, was easy to despise even though you are supposed to sympathize with him. That made the book challenging.For a ful [...]

I read this for the first time 20 years ago. It touched my soul then, and has touched it the other few times I read it. Interestingly, the book was important to my father as well. Neither of us is like Ase but we somehow connect to him. This is the best book I've ever read. But, if you're looking for a fast-paced modern book, stay away. Read this in a beautiful, quiet place, and go to another world.

Rawlings books remind me of Steinbeck, and they are nearly as good. I'm not sure why her works haven't received much attention lately, although her novel The Yearling won the pulitzer prize for fiction the year before Steinbeck won for The Grapes of Wrath. This book was somewhat slow moving but never boring. I recommend it.

Added 5/12/12.The Sojourner by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (first published 1951) Recommended to me by ("Based on Your Aging Shelf")I couldn't get into it. Too many details and too much description at the start. I found the first pages too uninteresting to continue.

I love this book so much. It is out of print and can be hard to find but I do have one that I will loan out. It is written by the same lady who wrote The Yearling and has much the same tone but addresses more of the marriage relationship in family dynamics. Very powerful!

I enjoyed this interesting study of Ase Linden. This novel addresses the question as to whether we aren't all just sojourners in this world; and if we can ever really know someone, be connected in a meaningful way.

The Sojourner was a dreadful book. By that, I mean reading it filled me with dread. At its core are two brothers and a mother. One son she adores; the other she deplores. The mother was second generation Scotch-Irish, with all of the Scot dourness and none of the Irish lilt. There is nothing fair about Amelia, relative to beauty and justice. Rawlings compelled me to respect and love the protagonist, Asahel Linden. I wanted to shield him from psychological desolation brought on by the strangers i [...]

I had read and loved The Yearling in grade school and now I wonder why I never looked for anything else by this author back then. This book would probably have gone right over my head, then, anyway. The language is beautiful, if a bit old-fashioned: "The last leaves shivered to earth and scurried like thin brown rats across the grave." The story is bittersweet and it wasn't until the end that I could see what tied all the characters together. Each of them had a deep longing for something - secur [...]

A quiet story, simple, about a farmer in the 1860s-- and his struggle watching the industrialization of the US and the corresponding greed and selfishness of his own kin. The story is a bit cliche in places (his best friends are an Indian and a Gypsy--), but the poignant and lovely prose make up for its failings. Not for everyone as it is rather slow moving, too. Yet, easily the best book by Rawlings that I've read. So glad I took the time.

This is one of my favorite books ever. I read it over and over.

Great story. great characters and descriptive writing. Highly recommend. Good, old fashioned literature. Loved the change.

LOVED this book!

One of the best books I've evere read.

Ms. Rawlings evidently felt that the world view of the father/protaonist was admirable. A man who refused to strive against those who dealt with him poorly, who saw himself as a sojourner traveling through this world. At the beginning of the novel it sounds admirable. The hero sucessfully resists the greed and mean spritiedness of those around him, and is rewarded by gypsies and funny fiddlers. It all falls apart when the point in the book comes where the mother leads the daughter to her death i [...]

كتاب وقع بيدي صدفة ليصبح من افضل الكتب التي قرئتها فقد حاكى في داخلي امورا كثيرة لم يسبق لي ان شعرت بها لم يؤمن كاتب هذه الرواية بالملكية الفردية او الاقتصاد الحر , كان يؤمن بأن الحياة لله وانها خالدة وان الزمن ليس له بداية او نهاية , فتراه في كتابه يوقظ ما غفا في الانسان من احا� [...]

(A friend gave this book to me and asked me to let her know what I thought of it; wish I have found it earlier). Published in 1953 this is an awesome study in human relationships, a microscopic view of what Thoreau described as "The mass of men [and women] lead lives of quiet desperation." This is a beautifully written saga, touching the reader's sensibilities, hopefully opening our minds to the needs of others, even if they don't express those needs, and allowing others to understand our needs. [...]

A sweet, old-fashioned story of a farm family's striving, with good and bad, relationships changing as people age and change. The style seems like 1930's storytelling, which it is. Worth reading for a taste of how a lot of farm families might have experienced the times in which the story takes place.I read it because I'd visited the Rawlings homestead in Florida several times and heard about her writing of it.

Really good classic book about a man's life from his early twenties to his death 60 years later. Shows his struggle to make a good life for his family and was just a nice change from the modern novels that I have been reading lately. Has a good ending, which is important for me. It really irritates me when I get to the end of what is otherwise a terrific book only to be disappointed by a bad ending.