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There are currently 20 member reviews
for When the Cranes Fly South
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Anne McK
A Reflection on Aging
I had the unique experience of reading When the Cranes Fly South at the exact time that my mother was entering hospice care and declining due to dementia. While their stories are very different, it influenced greatly how I was feeling about the book and how I was processing my mother's situation. The book is beautifully written and about a topic that we still don't talk much about -- getting old and dying. How lovely it was to hear about the daily routines and thoughts of Bo and the wonderful caretakers who filled his everyday life, marking his time at an age when all the days seem to be the same. His preoccupation with his dog Sixten is an example of wanting to hold on to something when all else seems like it is out of your control. And navigating a changing relationship with an adult son is another dynamic here related to aging -- learning to let go when you really want to have some control over something. While this was a melancholy book about the end of life time period, it was also filled with hope and beauty and love. It struck a chord with me personally about the importance of dignity and humanity later in life, and how critical it is for those caretakers of elders to try to make that period as comfortable and positive as possible. Getting a glimpse inside Bo's head and what he was thinking and processing provides a unique perspective and gives one plenty to pause and think about. Highly recommended no matter what stage or circumstance you are in life.
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Sharon H. (Chelmsford, MA)
When The Cranes Fly South by Lisa Ridzen
I enjoyed reading this book and the style that the author used to convey the periods of time that pass. It is a heartfelt story of an aging man with the loss of autonomy, reliance on others for his care and grief. The story explores past regrets as well as gratitude for relationships and moments in life. The author shows complications with relationships that caring for an aging family member can bring both for the caretaker and the family member. This was an emotional story with the perspective of life and death as one ages for a family member or ourselves. The author captures the emotions of the characters' interactions.This is a book that will resonate in your heart and soul.
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Joshua M. (westfield, NJ)
Dying .....Getting There
"When Cranes Fly South," a compelling meditation on relationships, death and legacy, lays hold of your emotions and your long-held life tenets and refuses to relinquish its grip, forcing you to think deeply about what has gone before and what is yet to come. And it accomplishes this rather complicated goal with gentleness, without any lecturing from on high.
Rather Lisa Ridzen utilizes the daily routine of a dying man, Bo, to make her points. Details carefully sowed in the telling of how day-to-day Bo loses control of his life and, more important, realizes he can't rewrite his life narrative yield a story well-stocked with emotion and understanding of life's chapters.
The novel centers on Bo as he experiences his final days when just about everything he had either slips away or is yanked from him. He remains in his childhood home that he got when his parents died and where he and his wife raised their son, Hans. Only now Bo lives there alone, his dignity long surrendered to carers who tell him when and what to eat and strip him down for showers. His wife suffers from dementia and is living in nursing facility. Sometimes she remembers and sometimes she doesn't. Throughout the novel he talks to her as he relives moments of their life together. Then there is his dog, Sixten, who provides him with comfort. But his son insists Bo can no longer care for the dog and must give him up. And then there is Bo's longtime best friend who also approaches the end of life.
Patch together, the various chapters of Bo's final days present a rather morbid story. Yet, in the end "When Cranes Fly South" proves to be reassuring and generates in each of us a reexamination of our life stories.
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Susan P. (Boston, MA)
When the Cranes Fly South
A story that is both endearing and clear eyed about the sad truths of aging -- both for the older person and those who love him. Bo is a very old man in Northern Sweden; his wife is in a dementia care home. He relies daily help and some visits from his son, granddaughter, and neighbors. Central to the story is Bo trying to keep SOME independence about decisions -- most especially whether he is able to keep his beloved dog SIxten. He knows he's very frail, but his flashbacks and dreams of his earlier life (with his wife, his son, and a close friend) sustain him and somehow make him forget how disabled he actually is. Full of heart and love. It's been compared to A MAN CALLED OVE, which is an accurate comparison, but there aren't as many chuckles here. Which is appropriate.
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Marie W. (Prescott, AZ)
A Heartfelt Story
"When the Cranes Fly South" is a story of life, love, and loss. Bo, the protagonist ,
is an old man who lives in an old house that has been home since his youth. His beloved wife, Fredrika, has dementia and lives in a care home. Bo carries on a one-sided conversation with her throughout the book. Bo's hired caregivers and his grown son, Hans, deal with his stubborn grip on the past with as much patience as they can muster.
This story is told via brief vignettes, each full of emotion, memories, and often dreams of Bo's happier past.
This book is beautifully written. The author is Swedish; the book is already a best-seller there. It is not action-packed, but the story it tells is universal, and told with compassion, honesty, and love.
I ached for Bo as he struggled to accept his unwelcome reality. I highly recommend the book to serious readers and book clubs with mature members. In the end the story moved me to tears.
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Julia B. (San Antonio, TX)
Don't Miss This Book!
In When the Cranes Fly South, Liza Ridzen has written a very sensitive book that lets the reader share a look back at a very full life. This story will tug at your heart strings, make you stomping mad, and then have you smiling only to lead you through those emotions again. Wonderful! It is the perfect book for putting the world aside for a few hours and just being with Bo.
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Emily C. (Naples, FL)
Captivating Debut Novel
Lisa Ridzen has written a captivating debut novel that accurately portrays the challenges of aging.
Her well crafted writing style is simple but beautiful.
Bo is a man in his 90th decade who lives with his dog Sixten as his only companion and his best friend. Various caretakers come in and out of his life as the last 6 months of his life grow more and more challenging.
Bo's son Hans dutifully cuts lumber for the fire and shops for Bo's weekly groceries. But when Bo decides that Sixten is too much for Bo to care for, Hans makes the decision to give Sixten to another family. Losing his dog is a devastating blow for Bo to handle and leaves him "nothing but an empty shell."
Ridzen accurately portrays the concerns and issues that Bo faces in a realistic way. Believe me, I know. I'm in my eighth decade of life and was a Chaplain in a nursing home in my younger years.
Bo searches out his motivations, decisions mistakes and life choices haunted by the ways he treated both his son Hans and his wife Fredrika. As he says, "I've never been one to doubt myself, always known what I want and been able to tell right from wrong...but I've also started to wonder."
Bo is filled with anger at the way he was treated by his father and now, angry at his son Hans "for wanting to take control of my life...people often do that nowadays, parking me in various places as though strapping me into some kind of passenger seat".
At the same time, while he wonders why Hans can't just leave things be, Bo recognizes that he needs to fix things with his son before his time is up. As he says, " I don't want there to be any hard feelings between us at the end."
Bo frustratedly recognizes that he and his son have switched roles- "He's in charge of my life...now I'm the one who has to bow down, who depends on his decisions."
While the emotional content of the novel can be seen as depressing, the end is uplifting. By the end of his life Bo realizes the worth of his son and says, "I'm so proud to have such a capable and determined son, someone who is willing to make an effort for his father."
At the end of his life Bo sees Han's hand on his leg. He is "struck by how alike they are, our hands. How old his hand looks." Then Bo puts his hand on top of that of Han's. At the end Bo hopes that Hans realizes that he did his best." Bo thinks that, "Everything is just as it should be," think, right before he dozes off.
A window opens and the cranes gather to fly south.
A perfect ending to a life well lived and a perfect ending to a captivating debut novel. I loved this novel and highly recommend it.
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