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Nov 23, 2015rpavlacic rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Think rural Saskatchewan at its worst during the Great Depression. That pretty much is the basic plot of Who Has Seen the Wind. W.O. Mitchell would write some more popular books including Jake and the Kid and another about a curling match with the devil as one of the opponents. But WHSTW is so much more than a novel about the Dirty Thirties. The best and worst of characters are found in here - from the most tolerant of characters to the most bigoted, and some who simply refuse to change. My favourite required reading in high school - even more so than The Glass Menagerie or To Kill a Mockingbird - in that order. Luckily my Grade 12 English teacher provided so much context behind the story which added to the experience. If you get this book out, try to find an "unexpurgated" edition. Most copies sold in Canada and the US actually uses the 1947 US version which is about 5000 words shorter than Mitchell's original text and leaves out a lot of colour that enriches the story. I only discovered the longer version after I left high school. It's worth the extra time. One last thought - during the 90s there was a show on TV called "Road to Avonlea". One episode had the author of this book as a guest star playing a curmudgeon stuck in quarantine with two of the main characters during a measles outbreak. His presentation was priceless. One of my most recommended books.