Son of A Midnight Land

After reading Son of A Midnight Land I find myself pondering several things. I am thinking about nature versus nature, especially in a case where both nature and nurture are often hostile. I am thinking about how our childhood experiences influence the adults we later become, and I am thinking how people accept responsibility for their actions, rather than blame others, at different ages. I wonder how some people seem to shake off their less than ideal upbringings and others get caught in the same destructive behaviors they despised/feared as children. This book gave me lots to think about, and I will never watch Alaska: The Last Frontier through the same lens after reading it.

Why does anyone who hates summer live in Georgia? Well, there are a lot of reasons, mostly due to family and friendly ties. But every chance we get, my husband and I are watching television programs set up north where it's cold most of the time, reveling in the snow and the "jacket weather," wayyy back to FLYING WILD ALASKA and many of the other programs taking place in "Seward's Icebox."

We latched onto ALASKA: THE LAST FRONTIER at once and became fascinated by the homestead life of the Kilcher family, so picking up a book written by one of the family was a given. Let's say that part of what it said was not a surprise. If you have read country singer Jewel's book, NEVER BROKEN, you know that she is Atz's daughter, that life on the homestead was pretty tough, and that the genial Yule Kilcher, patriarch of the clan, that you see in old home movies, wasn't a hard-working saint. Oh, he was hard working, but he was also often abusive and had his own inner demons. Atz, as the oldest son, bore the brunt of this, and it affected him in many ways, including internalized anger. He has been several times married, and later became an advisor toward abused youth because he understood what they were going through.

SON is written in a stream-of-consciousness style that may not fit or might confuse some readers. Atz is evidently using the book as not just a look at his past, but to exorcise some further demons brought about by an impatient, frustrated father and an unfulfilled, depressed mother. If you watch the series and have been tempted to view it as some halcyon place where you work hard, eat naturally, and live happily ever after, this book may disappoint you. When it comes to human beings, the truth is always more complicated than that.

I won't be able to watch ALASKA: THE LAST FRONTIER and Atz now without thinking of what has been revealed, but to me it makes Atz and his family stronger for it.

Note that the book contains profanity and stories of physical and emotional abuse.

Son of a Midnight Land is a very personal memoir by Atz Kilcher due to release in February 2018 from Blackstone Publishing. At 330 pages, it's a substantial book. It's written in a no nonsense gritty unapologetic voice which does not gloss over or minimize his life and upbringing.

Kilcher grew up on a homestead with an often absent, authoritarian and intermittently abusive father and a depressed mother. Life on a smallholding near the arctic circle was fraught and difficult. It didn't help that young Kilcher wasn't interested in, or capable of, the responsibilities thrust on him. He was a very angry young man. I very nearly stopped reading this book after about 6% when he describes the circumstances and fallout from being alone on their homestead with sole responsibility for the animals under their care. I kept reading with the hope that there would be a message of healing or redemption or regret or growth or something in the later parts of the book

There was a message of growth and understanding, but I'm not 100% convinced the often self-inflicted pain of his journey was worth the message for me personally. It's a brutally honest book.

The author says, "The events described in this book are as true as I can remember. If any omissions or errors were made in the telling, they were unintentional, and not meant to harm or defame anyone mentioned".

The writing is very direct and unflinching and explodes a lot of the romantic notions most people have of 'getting away from it all' and 'living on the land'. I would recommend this book as background reading for people contemplating a move to a smallholding lifestyle. It would also be good for background info for people who follow the Discovery series Alaska: The Final Frontier about the author and his family.

Three stars, and a very difficult read (and I live on a smallholding surrounded by wildlife, though I have a day job in the city).

***** I give this Book a Five Star Review. I would recommend this Book. Thanks NetGalley.

Having watched some of the TV shows about the Alaska homesteaders, I figured I would enjoy reading this book written by one of them. It was somewhat different than I expected but still very much a real and worthwhile read. The author freely admits he grew up learning early on to lie to avoid conflict and punishment from his volatile and easily angered father. He was one of eight children growing up on a 700-acre homestead in Homer, Alaska in very challenging circumstances. In his book he examines his life growing up a homesteader, the many advantages, and what he felt the disadvantages were. He feels that his early years gave him all of the tools to fix any disadvantages there were and that any complaining he'd done earlier in his life had been misplaced blaming. Liked it overall.

An advance digital copy was provided by NetGalley, author Atz Kilcher, and Blackstone Publishing, for my review. Expected date of publication is Feb. 6, 2018

This was a very informational read for me as I watch the reality show, Alaska: The Last Frontier.
Atz the son, of Yule and Ruth Kilcher who emigrated from Switzerland to Alaska in the late 1940s to start a homestead near Homer Alaska, they had eight children in all, Atz being the eldest son.
It was interesting to hear more about his time growing up, and how he was a pretty messed up kid getting into a lot of trouble. A lot of this behavior, was due to the fact that he had a not so great relationship with his father Yule, who was always very hard on him and often belittling him during his formative years. This was something that the father passed on to Atz, who later treated his kids the same way, until he finally saw what he was doing and has slowly been trying to change his ways.
This book, shows us the changes he has gone through over the years, trying to overcome a lot of history from his youth. It is an act of asking for forgiveness and learning from his mistakes and also of the love for his family and for the area he lives in.
Atz has had a very full life, from his love of animals, love of skiing, to becoming a teacher, A therapist, a singer and artist and on and on.. this book has a lot of interesting information, not only about him but about his relationships with extended family.

I sometimes watch the reality show Alaska: the Last Frontier and enjoy watching how this family of homesteaders live and interact. This personal memoir by Atz Kilcher answers a lot of unanswered questions and fills in a lot of background – and also destroys a lot of the romance. Life has not always been good on the homestead and the apparently happy and united families who share their lives there have many more stories to tell than are featured on the programme. I’m not sure that I actually enjoyed this book, as Atz Kilcher doesn’t come across as the nicest of people, but I certainly enjoyed finding out about him and his life, and I’ve certainly gained a deeper understanding of what life is really like on the homestead and for those who choose to live this sort of life. Essential reading for anyone interested in the family and their show.

I really enjoyed this book. The author has a very blunt stream of consciousness style of writing which works for me in the context of this subject matter. He was raised in a very dysfunctional family with an abusive father and a mentally ill mother. As the oldest child and a boy, he carried too heavy a load from a young age. His father was absent much of the time and he had to take on a lot of responsibility for homestead chores, 7 siblings and a depressed mother. He seems to be very candid about his shortcomings as well and a focus of the book is on his self-growth. He worked hard on overcoming his own anger and lying issues so he could develop healthier relationships with his family. It can be fairly brutal at times but overall the book is entertaining and well-worth reading.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review.