BUCKING THE SUN

This family saga, which surrounds the building of a dam in Depression-era Montana, hovers precariously between The Forsyte Saga and "Dynasty." Obie winner Will Patton skillfully handles the dialogue and the many switches of viewpoint in suitably bucolic tones. Yet this recording is strangely devoid of tension and is difficult to fix one's attention to. Could it be Patton's limited repertoire of cadences? Or has the author failed to write engagingly? Perhaps it's just a matter of taste, for the milieu is colorful and the characters as Patton impersonates them, distinctive. Perhaps you would care what happens to them. This reviewer could not. Y.R. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT 97]