Shadow Country

A New Rendering of the Watson Legend

By: Peter Matthiessen

Narrated by: Anthony Heald

Length: 40 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

National Book Award, Fiction, 2008

Inspired by a near-mythic event on the wild Florida frontier at the turn of the 20th century, Shadow Country re-imagines the legend of the inspired Everglades sugar planter and notorious outlaw E. J. Watson, who drives himself relentlessly toward his own violent end at the hands of neighbors who mostly admired him, in a killing that obsessed his favorite son.

Shadow Country transverses strange landscapes inhabited by Americans of every provenance and color, including the black and Indian inheritors of archaic racism that "still casts its shadow over the nation."

©2008 Peter Matthiessen (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"[G]ripping, shocking, and brilliantly told....as powerful a reading experience as nearly any in our literature." ( New York Review of Books)
"Magnificent and capacious....the book took my sleeve and like the ancient mariner would not let go....a breathtaking saga." ( Los Angeles Times)
"[Watson] comes across as nothing short of iconic....it's difficult to find another figure in American literature so thoroughly and convincingly portrayed." ( Publishers Weekly)

Great is the word

This is one of the great listening values in Audible, for my money. Thomas Heald is a great performer of oldtime cracker accents and the production is half the fun. Skinflint that I am I always seek out the longest reads that are still on at one credit and sometimes outsmart myself (Against the Day) and I was a bit afraid of this one because it sounded like a Faulknerian ramble through lush literary effects without much plot--which it was--but the story of this charismatic man in this bewitching place in this mythic era was just so powerful it kept pulling me along. This is one where you truly do emerge as from a long consuming dream-mare blinking at the light of day, the spell clinging as you reorient yourself reluctantly to the oridinary world. Lots of people who should know are applying the word "great" to it and it isn't misplaced.

one for the ages

If you could sum up Shadow Country in three words, what would they be?

Moby Dick calibre

What did you like best about this story?

everything

Have you listened to any of Anthony Heald’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, but this is so great I'd love to get other audio books that he has done.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Too numerous to mention. I've been a fan of Peter Matthiessen's for a long time, but didn't quite expect this.

Any additional comments?

If you have any interest in this book, please get it. The performance equals the quality of the text, and that's saying a lot.

No more EJ Watson!

I only awarded 3 stars because somehow I managed to finish it. It's the same story told over and over again by different people. I really was done with Watson long before the end of the book. You'll get some sense of what Florida was like in those days, but not really in depth. The best part of it doesn't come til part 4 where EJ starts the story from his point of view. Unless you are very, very patient skip it!

By far the best narration one could expect

Mattiessen wrote a master piece and Anthony Heald has to be one of the best narrator's of all time.

Interesting read

Violence, lawlessness, love, rednecks, escape, lust, guns, frontier.... What's not to like? Great reading, too.

Great story and performance

What made the experience of listening to Shadow Country the most enjoyable?

As a native Floridian living in southwest Florida (Arcadia) I grew up knowing about the myths of this story. The book brought insight into the story. I loved the performance of the characters, they are as near to my memories as possible of the stories told by old "crackers" in my family and older acquaintences. The voices take me back and are so authentic I find myself halfway trying to identify someone they sound like.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Shadow Country?

I think there are two outstanding moments, one is of course, the shooring of Watson by the god fearin' citizens and the other is the confessiion and death of Henry Short.

Which character – as performed by Anthony Heald – was your favorite?

My favorite character is Luke.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Tough times don't last. Tough people do.

Any additional comments?

Florida has always been a tough place to survive in spite of it's sort of "paradise" reputation.
If you take time to look at the stats on poverty disease and education, you will realize it is more third world than paradise. The hurricane description in the book is very true. The people who originally settled here tried very hard to make a living any way they could. I am sorry they wasted so many animals and scarce resources but I understand why they did. It was a matter of survival.

FANTASTIC READ

Where does Shadow Country rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Top 10. For sure!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Of course, it was Edgar J Watson; unless you want to use his birth name... Edgar A Watson. He would have made a psychiatrist cry. This man was so complex, it's impossible to explain him.

Which scene was your favorite?

The ending. It actually did make me cry.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, but way too long.

It takes a while to grab you.

This is a complex tale woven together by many characters, somewhat like Rashomon on steroids. After the first thirty minutes, I contemplated dumping the book, but I was also beginning to get curious about what was going on.
Another simile is Seurat's painting, "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte," which is made up of countless little dots of paint that all contribute their share to the whole. You don't have to remember each little tale, but the impression of them certainly builds up.
This book was drawn from a longer trilogy that tells the same story in more words. It is masterfully written, and the narration is the best I've heard for an Audible book after five years and 200 titles downloaded.

not that interesting

It dragged out. It never became my cup of tea. The approach was unique with the different points of view. If you want to see how different characters perceive the same situation you will enjoy this book. The narrator was authentic to the characters with his tones and accent.

Best narrator ever!

This long and involved tale would have gotten lost for me without the amazing narration given by Anthony Heald.
I typically choose the longest books available since I spend several hours a day listening. Most of the time, the books with irritating or inept readers make it hard to keep listening. I've already searched out and chosen several more books with Mr Heald narrating.
This is an intriguing story with great insights into the minds of friends, enemies, and family members. As always, "to understand all is to forgive all", and so I find that though I started out hating EJ Watson, I end up forgiving him because I hear his side of the story at the end. A great read.