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jacksontibet's review against another edition
4.0
Another phenomenal book by John Sayles. Riddled with characters who come and go and stay awhile. Even the most minor characters are more developed in one paragraph than most authors can do in a whole novel.
coopburton's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
cami19's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
alexcarbonneau's review against another edition
3.0
Sayles used to excel at shining a light on the universality of things through a singular and simple ray of light.
YELLOW EARTH is just about the complete opposite of this.
It seems to me like it was too big a bite.
YELLOW EARTH is just about the complete opposite of this.
It seems to me like it was too big a bite.
spicer7's review against another edition
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
i really liked this book! i love reading diverse sets of characters and to see fracking taken in from so many perspectives was very unique to me. i want to reread it already
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
colindac's review against another edition
4.0
Compelling fiction on the fracking, resource extraction and Indigenous lands we keep seeing in the news.
erindoesdesign's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape
prcizmadia's review against another edition
4.0
Sayles is a good enough writer to somehow have his voice shine through the dozens of characters and narrative strands that pull this story along. Or maybe more accurately, are yanked at the mercy of the Yellow Earth boom, and all the peaks and valleys and crevasses along the way. He gives life to everyone at every facet of the boom, and puts into stark reality just how all-consuming the totality of extractive industry can be when it reshapes a town, and the people in it. Nothing is the same, and I imagine it’s much like surfing: If you can catch the edge and ride it, you won’t get clobbered, but if you’re not looking you can get absolutely buried.
You don’t have to dig too hard to see the metaphors at work here. I like that. I don’t always want to have to frack my own understanding of literature and history to understand what’s happening here. This book puts the lesson up front and hits you with the steel pipe of it: when capital casts its eye on a community, it will be transformed, and you may not have a lot to say about what is left. Tread lightly.
You don’t have to dig too hard to see the metaphors at work here. I like that. I don’t always want to have to frack my own understanding of literature and history to understand what’s happening here. This book puts the lesson up front and hits you with the steel pipe of it: when capital casts its eye on a community, it will be transformed, and you may not have a lot to say about what is left. Tread lightly.
bjr2022's review against another edition
4.0
Diving into a John Sayles novel is just that—the reader takes a swan dive, unable to know ahead of time how deep the water is, what might be swimming around in it, or even where one will be. Yellow Earth's "pool" is oil-digging (specifically fracking) country on a state-sized Three Nations Indian reservation in North Dakota, and you quickly realize one swan dive will not suffice because locales jump from place to place, all full of crowds of people with names and backgrounds and friends and acquaintances who all seem to know one another, along with long histories about which the reader knows nothing.
I've known John Sayles since college, and reading this book reminds me of the parties that he and his partner, Maggie, used to host in "the early days" in Hoboken, NJ. I was a somewhat tangential part of their crowd because I'd been in John's first two movies and hung out with him a lot, but I knew hardly anybody when I dove into these parties. And for a shy person, I had a terrific time. I liked John and it turned out I liked people he liked. And reading this book reminded me that that's all that's required to enjoy one of his books. You can get overwhelmed thinking you have to learn everybody's name (and, forget it, you won't). And if you decide to feel like an outsider because you don't know all the background history of people who seem to know each other so well, you can do that. But it's much more interesting to dive for the experience—dive/read as a curious explorer. Just meet everyone. See who you like. And after a while, like hanging out with people who speak their own language, you pick it up.
It took me about a hundred pages to hear the music. Or maybe the writing changed for a bit in the second section, titled "Stimulation," which is just that. The opening history of beaver murders had me almost screaming with anguish, and this was followed by a description of oil drilling, a cascade of words whose meaning didn't matter so much as their symphonic effect and I found myself swept away by the rhythms, internal rhyming, and alliteration, none of which was self-conscious, just natural poetry that could sweep an audience away (if you are an audiobook listener, this stuff is for you).
Subsequently, I sometimes got lost in the ever-jumping scenes, each so fully fleshed out that they become their own little worlds with their own language, forming a jigsaw puzzle that gradually reveals an epic picture (rather than linear story with a protagonist, etc.) about greed, exploitation, and white men's out-of-control relentless hunting—be it for animals or oil or a skewed male notion of power.
The book grows on you, and I think it will appeal to people who like big pictures full of substance. And it may be a kind of catnip for experience junkies, since every scene has its own deeply researched action—from fracking to pole dancing to card and video gaming to field biology observation and extreme fighting. I am neither of those people. However, John Sayles immerses himself in every single world he visits and is interested in everything and everyone. And if you just go where he takes you, his unexpected love at the end of this book makes you tingle all over. I am grateful for the journey.
I've known John Sayles since college, and reading this book reminds me of the parties that he and his partner, Maggie, used to host in "the early days" in Hoboken, NJ. I was a somewhat tangential part of their crowd because I'd been in John's first two movies and hung out with him a lot, but I knew hardly anybody when I dove into these parties. And for a shy person, I had a terrific time. I liked John and it turned out I liked people he liked. And reading this book reminded me that that's all that's required to enjoy one of his books. You can get overwhelmed thinking you have to learn everybody's name (and, forget it, you won't). And if you decide to feel like an outsider because you don't know all the background history of people who seem to know each other so well, you can do that. But it's much more interesting to dive for the experience—dive/read as a curious explorer. Just meet everyone. See who you like. And after a while, like hanging out with people who speak their own language, you pick it up.
It took me about a hundred pages to hear the music. Or maybe the writing changed for a bit in the second section, titled "Stimulation," which is just that. The opening history of beaver murders had me almost screaming with anguish, and this was followed by a description of oil drilling, a cascade of words whose meaning didn't matter so much as their symphonic effect and I found myself swept away by the rhythms, internal rhyming, and alliteration, none of which was self-conscious, just natural poetry that could sweep an audience away (if you are an audiobook listener, this stuff is for you).
Subsequently, I sometimes got lost in the ever-jumping scenes, each so fully fleshed out that they become their own little worlds with their own language, forming a jigsaw puzzle that gradually reveals an epic picture (rather than linear story with a protagonist, etc.) about greed, exploitation, and white men's out-of-control relentless hunting—be it for animals or oil or a skewed male notion of power.
The book grows on you, and I think it will appeal to people who like big pictures full of substance. And it may be a kind of catnip for experience junkies, since every scene has its own deeply researched action—from fracking to pole dancing to card and video gaming to field biology observation and extreme fighting. I am neither of those people. However, John Sayles immerses himself in every single world he visits and is interested in everything and everyone. And if you just go where he takes you, his unexpected love at the end of this book makes you tingle all over. I am grateful for the journey.
fastweedpuller's review against another edition
2.0
As ever the characters in a John Sayles novel are very human, and represent well their place and their time. You learn so much by engaging with the story cinematically (because each chapter and section could be screenplay staging, the dialog is well chosen to get big points across). But...this story is very bleak (and hey, in fiction, I am pro-bleak!) and considering it's based on the reality of the Bakken boom/bust it's just a little too...something. Cartoonish? I think the fact that there was zero redemption for any of the characters excepting one white couple is also kind of blind and badly thought through, especially because more than half of this novel takes place on a Native American reservation. White men! (smh)