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Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
Format: Bargain Price
Label: Viking Adult
Manufacturer: Viking Adult
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 256
Printing Date: May 17, 2007
Publishing house: Viking Adult
Release Date: May 17, 2007
Sale Popularity Level: 24316
Studio: Viking Adult
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
Award-winning short story writer Ron Carlson delivers a stirring novel about three men confronting their pasts and their purpose
Beloved story writer Ron Carlson’s very first novel in thirty years, Five Skies is the story of three men gathered high in the Rocky Mountains for a construction project that is to last the summer. Having participated in a spectacular betrayal in Los Angeles, the giant, silent Arthur Key drifts into work as a carpenter in southern Idaho. Here he is hired, along with the shiftless and charming Ronnie Panelli, to build a stunt ramp beside a cavernous void. The two will be led by Darwin Gallegos, the foreman of the local ranch who is filled with a primeval rage at God, at man, at life. As they endeavor upon this simple, grand project, the three reveal themselves in cautiously resonant, profound ways. And in a voice of striking intimacy and grace, Carlson’s novel reveals itself as a story of biblical, almost spiritual force. A bellwether return from one of our greatest craftsmen, Five Skies is sure to be one of the most praised and cherished novels of the year.
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Rated by buyers 
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Now that I've read other reviews here I might reconsider and try to finish it, but 1/3 through I am put off by the strained descriptions and the completely unrealistic dialogue that Carlson has squeezed out onto paper.
I never met any regular guys who talked like this: "What's the weather, Ronnie?" (Ronnie is a 20-year old ex-shoplifter) "That wind has quit at least," he said. "I think we're in for a gorgeous spring day here in the world," he said. "Chilly tonight but we can get something done today."
Sorry, it just doesn't do it for me. Maybe I have been reading too much good writing lately to be favorably impressed by this book.
Rated by buyers 
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Now don't misjudge the title of this review. Women can enjoy this book, book, but, primarily, it is a book about men for men. Women can appreciate the book, but only men can appreciate the emotions the characters endure, the roads they have taken and the uncertain roads their lives have yet to travel.
Essentially it is the story of three men, all at different ages and stages of their lives, all running from something and toward they aren't sure what. They come together to work in the Big Sky Country on an unusual construction project, come to know and appreciate each other and, in turn, help one another find their way toward whatever future lies ahead.
Discriptions are vivid, beautiful and moving. Humanity and expressions thereof are the book's strong suits. A stunning ending. Stunning. You feel it coming, you know its coming, but you aren't sure exactly what is coming. When it comes, it's subtelty is shocking and powerful. It's the kind of ending that stops you in mid-sentence.
This book and these men stay with you a long time after you have turned the last page and close the cover.
Rated by buyers 
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Words not written play big a part in this wonderful novel. Space, silence and setting leave room for the imagination of the reader, and the wonderful prose does the rest.
It is refreshing to find a writer who can write, not just one who churns out the requisite numnber of words necessary to sell a book. You won't forget Ronnie, Arthur, and Darwin five minutes after you've finished reading the book as is so often the case with current best sellers.
Rated by buyers -
A delicate, engrossing novel of male characters who would sink beneath their own private griefs but are forced to deal with each other in a compassionate way. It is perfectly set in the huge, empty landscape that offers little distraction from their inner turmoil. The details of carpentry and construction I found interesting; they--in their inanimate 'flatness and wooden-ness'-- acted as a good complement to the deep and swirling emotions. Gorgeous prose. This was a very satisfying read.
Rated by buyers -
Five Skies is a simple, understated story in the hands of a masterful writer. Carlson's characters reveal their complexity over the course of the novel. The writing is crisp and economical, but the sense of time and place is wonderfuly tangible.
I don't like to compare writers or stories, but it's hard to escape comparisons to Cormac McCarthy (though without the bleak edge), John Steinbeck, or the wonderful Treasure of the Sierra Madre. If you enjoyed these, you will like Five Skies.
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