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    House of Earth: A Novel
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    House of Earth: A Novel
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    House of Earth: A Novel
    Ebook248 pages4 hours

    House of Earth: A Novel

    By Woody Guthrie

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    New York Times Bestseller

    Finished in 1947 and lost to readers until now, House of Earth is legendary folk singer and American icon Woody Guthrie’s only finished novel. A powerful portrait of Dust Bowl America, it’s the story of an ordinary couple’s dreams of a better life and their search for love and meaning in a corrupt world.

    Tike and Ella May Hamlin are struggling to plant roots in the arid land of the Texas panhandle. The husband and wife live in a precarious wooden farm shack, but Tike yearns for a sturdy house that will protect them from the treacherous elements. Thanks to a five-cent government pamphlet, Tike has the know-how to build a simple adobe dwelling, a structure made from the land itself—fireproof, windproof, Dust Bowl-proof. A house of earth.

    A story of rural realism and progressive activism, and in many ways a companion piece to Guthrie’s folk anthem “This Land Is Your Land,” House of Earth is a searing portrait of hardship and hope set against a ravaged landscape. Combining the moral urgency and narrative drive of John Steinbeck with the erotic frankness of D. H. Lawrence, here is a powerful tale of America from one of our greatest artists.

    An essay by bestselling historian Douglas Brinkley and Johnny Depp introduce House of Earth, the inaugural title in Depp’s imprint at HarperCollins, Infinitum Nihil.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateFeb 5, 2013
    ISBN9780062248411
    Author

    Woody Guthrie

    Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie (1912-1967) was an American folk balladeer whose best-known song is "This Land Is Your Land." His musical legacy includes more than three thousand songs, covering an exhaustive repertoire of historical, political, cultural, topical, spiritual, narrative, and children's themes.

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    Reviews for House of Earth

    3.5/5

    10 ratings9 reviews

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    • 2/5
      I must admit to not knowing much about Woody Guthrie beyond the folk songs he sang and of course, "This Land is Your Land." I suspect though that the synopsis of this book would have intrigued me no matter the author. Sadly, I think the only reason this book was published is BECAUSE it was written by Woody Guthrie.It is ostensibly a story about a man wanting a better life for his family. He thinks that building an adobe house is the answer because it will stand up the the ravages of the weather. It ends up being a four section, slow moving chronicle that mentions adobe houses at the most absurd times. The first chapter has a somewhat graphic and at the same time exceptionally boring sex scene and in the middle of it adobe houses are discussed. They are discussed in the middle of labor. They are discussed ad nasueum. I get it - he wants an adobe house. Enough already.I just didn't enjoy the book. I didn't enjoy the characters, I didn't enjoy what little plot there was and I'm pretty sure I don't want an adobe house. It's a shame because the foundation for a great book was somewhere in there, the clay to make the bricks just didn't solidify into anything usable.
    • 4/5
      Well this was unexpected. I heard a news story about Woody's long-lost novel being published, remembered to buy it and have now finished the book. Turns out ol' Woody was a rather... randy fellow. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't 'Grapes of Wrath' with a cable guy in a tool belt showing up at the beginning. Picture two Okies on the cover, their frayed clothes coming off their shoulders as the dusty sun sets behind them....I was struck by the dialogue, sometimes building for a page or two into a crescendo that in my mind I could hear Woody singing as I turned the pages. Much like Mark Twain, at points I stopped and read aloud so I could follow the narrative.I am left wondering how much the novel was edited at this late date, but even if heavily revised this is definitely Guthrie's work. Well worth the time.
    • 5/5
      Although Woody Guthrie has been dead for over 40 years this book that he wrote in 1947 was never published. He sent it off to a friend in Hollywood hoping it would be made into a movie and the manuscript was kept by the producer but never made. When the producer's papers were archived the manuscript was found and sent off to the Woody Guthrie archives in 2012. Douglas Brinkley and Johnny Depp found the manuscript while looking for information about Bob Dylan and they became its champions. Thus this novel about Dust Bowl America written almost 65 years ago finally was published.Guthrie's style is unique, much more like song lyrics than prose, but it is very engaging. In fact, I was reading this book coming home on the bus from work and I was so engrossed that I went 3 stops past my regular stop. I felt like I was right in the panhandle of Texas living in a wooden shack that let the winter winds and the summer dirt storms in with hardly any break. The story is pretty basic. Tike and Ella May Hamlin are renting 600 acres of farm land from the local banker. They live in a small wood house on the land which is much the worse for wear. Tike sends away to the federal government for a booklet that tells how to build an adobe house, something that will be warm in winter, cool in summer, keep out the bugs and stand for years. Tike is pretty excited about the idea but Ella May has to point out that since they don't own their farm land they can't build on it. The pair scheme to try to figure out a way to buy some land but this is the height of the depression. Land is still expensive but farm prices have hit bottom. The two can barely make ends meet, let alone save to buy land. Ella May is the daughter of a rich man but she won't take a penny from her father. She does, however, have some money from before her marriage. As their son is born both Tike and Ella Mae vow to raise up a house of earth to bring him up in and the reader believes they will do it.The first chapter of the book contains one of the best love scenes I have ever read. It's not a description of hot passion but more of real lovemaking between two people who love each other and have all the time in the world to show it. If this book had been published when it was written that scene would probably have been expunged or at least considerably changed. Maybe it's a good thing publication was delayed until now; otherwise we could have missed out on this glorious scene.I highly recommend this book.
    • 4/5
      I've spent the last couple of days lost in the 1930s Dust Bowl, specifically on the Texas plains. It's a hard, nasty place to be, but it was enlivened by the passionate Tike and Ella May Hamlin--wheat farmers and plain and simple, but they've got big dreams. They live in a rotting share-croppers shack, but five cents bought them a government pamphlet giving directions to create adobe bricks which would be safe from the horrible winds of the plains, protect them from the heat and the cold, and would not be prone in insect infestation. A place to grow their family in. If they can find land to build on.There is a whole lot of societal, financial and political talk in here, told with a lot of passion, frustration, and hope. It's the same, or very nearly so, that you'll find any time you turn on the news these days. This is the only book Guthrie finished, but he's made it count. He lived through the "Black Sunday: (4-14-1935) dust storm in Pampa, TX. When the storm ended, he was a changed man. He's the one who bought that five cent pamphlet and crusaded for adobe housing for the rest of his life. The lengthy introduction, written by Doug Brinkley and Johnny Depp (yes, THE Johnny Depp), covers a lot of that and Guthrie's life from then on. That alone is fascinating, but combined with the novel, the whole package adds up to a big bite of the history and culture that shaped America. Sometimes funny, sometimes bawdy, sometimes heartbreaking, this book is a gem that will make a big impression on any reader. Just because it was written in 1945 doesn't mean it can't be the best book of 2013, at least in my humble opinion.
    • 3/5
      This was written by Woody Guthrie, the folk singer. The book's language is beautiful and the story simple. I am always leery of books which have long introductions explaining the forthcoming story. If it needs that, there is an issue with the book. I plot he'd through only a portion of the introduction. The novel's primary attraction is its author, and that is unfortunate.
    • 5/5
      Woody is as masterful with prose as he is with lyrics in this novel written in 1947 but unpublished until now. His prose is pungent and exuberant, vibrant and witty. This novel stands up to any of John Steinbeck's best works.
    • 3/5
      Books like this make me wish for a different star labeled "important to read". This book is an important piece of American history that he covers in writing about what it was like to live through drought. This would be a great read for all students in learning to understand the desolation of share croppers, as well as how far technology has brought us.

    • 2/5
      Had this book in hand, but hadn't started it until returning from a roadtrip through some of the country where it is set. And the land, the elements and how they affect its inhabitants is much of the premise. The travel & the book were well timed to intertwine my understandings.
      Interesting backstory to this book, discovered only recently.
      Interesting introduction making me aware of more of the background, info on Woody, his writing, the area this was written about.
      However, I think his music & song lyrics are more enjoyable to me. Listened to iTunes in the background at times.
      Book is one that gave me insights, but was bit difficult to read. Some of it is like stream of consciousness from a hyperactive playing word games.
      However, some of that word association sing-songy style gave a overall feeling of immersion in an event or thought pattern.
    • 3/5
      I've always like Woodie Guthrie's music so had to read this novel by him that has just now been found. Based on the Dust Bowl of the 30's it is about a sharecropper and his wife trying to live through the Depression and his desire to build an adobe house for them. It is simply written and doesn't compare with today's writers but is still interesting and makes for a good read.