Reviews with content warning for Death - Damnation Spring

Reviews tagging 'Death'

Damnation Spring by Ash Davidson

26 reviews

serendipitysbooks's review

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

What happens when economic concerns and environmental concerns collide? That’s the issue at the heart of Damnation Spring, the story of a marriage and a California logging community both facing challenges in the late 1970s. It does a great job of highlighting growing environmental concerns about the logging industry, especially the impact of the aerial application of weed killers and balancing this with the needs of people for whom logging is not just their economic livelihood but is also a family legacy - it’s in their blood. We see this conflict play out at the community level and also through the marriage of Rich and Colleen Gunderson. He’s a tree topper whose father and grandfather died on the job. She’s a woman whose desire to have a second baby is thwarted by constant miscarriages and whose volunteer work as a lay midwife has made her aware of the number of still births and birth defects in their small community. Things that are well-known now were not common knowledge 45 years ago, meaning many people were sceptical of claims that chemical sprays could damage their health, didn’t value tress except as the source of timber, and were willing to tolerate environmental consequences like landslides. I think the author did a great job of taking the reader back to that time, when attitudes were very different than they are today - when views and knowledge that are more mainstream were fringe and viewed with scepticism. Another aspect that was done well, chillingly well, was the portrayal of the power of the logging industry and the threats, intimidation and violence companies used to quell any uncomfortable questions or opposition. This is a slow moving book, possibly a little long, and one where it takes a while for the threads of the story to really come together. However, I thought it was well-crafted, the characters and their problems compelling, the community and the work of the loggers richly depicted. My time and patience were well rewarded.

Content Warnings

maregred's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Content Warnings

nordstina's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Damnation Spring highlights a close knit logging community in California who have to come to terms with both the increasing regulations around the industry and the environmental consequences of it. Colleen, a makeshift midwife and her husband Rick, a career logger live with their son Chub. Colleen has experience several miscarriages and has been at the births of multiple children with severe birth defects. Some important events propel the narrative forward. Rick purchases a plot of land where he could potentially make a windfall set up his family financially without telling Colleen. A man from Colleen's past returns to the town in order to research the fishing and water in the area, measuring the deleterious effects of the constant spraying. Davidson is able to color in a community and lifestyle for the reader, and provided context for different characters' motivations. There were a couple of characters who were sort of comically evil, but overall I enjoyed this one. It provided a nice balance of the effects of destruction of the environment while also highlighting the consequences for a community built on a single industry.

Content Warnings

dwager's review against another edition

Go to review page

Content Warnings

rynicolereads's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional informative reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Damnation Spring was such an immersive read for me—I felt like I was wandering the Redwood Forest and taking in the views of the Crescent City coast. And the characters were as rich and complicated as the setting. You'll love this if you enjoy character-driven literary fiction with strong nature themes.

Note: Please check the content warnings for this one. They're heavy!

Content Warnings