Red Sky at Morning: A Novel (Perennial Classics)

I, too, grew up in the "real" Sagrado. In fact, Bradford's son and I were briefly acquainted as teenagers. I think the book is more autobiographical than Bradford would like to admit; my aunt has said that almost all of the teenaged characters were recognizable as actual people at the local high school at that time--especially Chango.

Any time I'm homesick, all I have to do is reread the book and I'm right back home again. I'm glad that so many people from so many walks of life have enjoyed it as much as I have. It totally captures, very affectionately, all of the GOOD things about Northern New Mexico--things you wish would stay the same forever.

It's like Catcher in the Rye, but it's warmer. It lovingly represents the wholly unique people of Northern New Mexico, who are unlike people anywhere else in the world. But it also reflects human nature and adaptation through scenes of humor, pain, the clashing and meshing of cultures, and the inevitable unwelcome changes that come with the passage of time. Red Sky at Morning bears witness to the coming of age of Joshua Arnold--the futile battle to remain young and untouched by the uglier side of the world, the bittersweet and inevitable transformation of boy to man. It was originally an allegory, I believe, parelleling Josh's growing pains with those of a post-war America. Ironically, it is now an allegory for what has become of the "real" Corazon, Sagrado--full of bittersweet memories--the end of an old road and the beginning of newer, less innocent one.

Just beware: you won't be able to put it down and you WILL read it again and again. It really is that good.


"Jew are a pendejo bahstair,"...   June 8, 1997
25 out of 25 found this review helpful

My father read to me a passage from RED SKY AT MORNING when I was eleven. He was trying to get me interested in reading the book for myself and chose one of the more memorable scenes. I remember reading it and getting partway into the book and giving up. I just found nothing interesting to the story.

When I turned eighteen, I recalled the book my father told me about many years prior, and picked it up again. What a difference a few years made.

I've literally spent a year getting intimate with this novel. Memorizing every passage, and character development. It's a rare American novel that has very few equal. Many people compare RED SKY AT MORNING with J.D. Salinger's CATCHER IN THE RYE. Both are classic works of literature, and have a very honest look at adolescents, but that's where their similarities end. RED SKY AT MORNING is also a rich look in the life of not just one character, but an entire town as diverse as we are. We grow along-side with those from the small town called Corazon, Sagrado.

Frank Arnold decides to move his family from MOBILE, ALABAMA to a small town in New Mexico where Joshua (our Narrator) spends his Senior year of High School.

RED SKY AT MORNING can be seen as a coming of age story; but it's very much a coming of understanding story as well. The Arnolds came from a mostly White upper class background, where they were the Majority, but by moving to this small town, they are turned into the Minority overnight. Old habits die hard for some, but through exposure others come to accept those who are different.

This is a story that will make you laugh for days. It will make you cry the first time you read it, and the 9th time you read it. It's as bitter-sweet as life itself. I will never come across a book that has touched me as deeply as RED SKY AT MORNING.


Red Sky at Morning - a new friend is found.   August 20, 2000
W. D. Kuykendall (Christoval, TX USA)
14 out of 18 found this review helpful

It has been so long since I've had time to read anything fictional. There's not a lot of time in a middle-aged guy's day to spend on fluff like that. Then I ran across this book at an estate sale my wife was dragging me through one day (I collect books but rarely read them) and the short exerpt of Mr. Arnold's admonition to Josh to take care of his mother while he was away on the cover leaf caught my eye. Throughout the book there is a frankness between Josh and his father that I strive for with my son ... sometimes successfully. Mr. Arnold had come to the conclusion that he has brought into the world an intelligent young man and he treats Josh just that way. If more fathers would have a relationship like this with their kids most of this country's problems would disappear in less than a decade! This book is worth more than its weight in 24k GOLD. It will always be one of my most cherished garage sale finds. (Its the fifth printing version of the 1968 release)

Josh, himself, is a smart kid. Perhaps it's because his author is pretty sharp himself as youthful ignorance seems to be missing in much of Josh's observations and narration. Nevertheless, this story takes me back so smoothly, successfully and with such wonderful dead-pan humor that I made time for it almost every night before my eyes slammed shut until I'd read the whole thing. Now I ache for my kids to add this book to their reading experience. Once I read with incredulity of that Southern delicacy called Coca-Cola ham I was hooked and laughed my way through the rest of the book. I fervently hope my kids will too.

My wife is Mexican-American. I was always jealous of the kids that could speak Spanish in school and thus maintain their privacy in a crowd. That makes our kids half Mexican and our son speaks it regularly with his abuela. Our daughter, welllll... I delved into my Spanish/English dictionary, and my wife's knowledge, many times throughout this book because it thrills me to learn what I can of this language in an everyday setting. This being the case, it makes this book doubly good for those who have an interest (if you don't you ought to) in our country's "second" language. Even though many of the phrases may be from a era strange to us now it opens a wonderful and accurate picture into the Hispanic community in a much simpler time. This book will help those of us outside the Hipanic community understand the pride that comes from being born into it and the distinct priviledge of being welcomed into it.


....A Reader's Delight   February 18, 2001
Mary Esterhammer-Fic (Chicago, IL United States)
12 out of 14 found this review helpful

While I was browsing through the stacks at the library, I noticed that Harper Lee gave this a good blurb. That was good enough for me!

The teenage narrator, Josh, has a really engaging attitude. He has a close relationship with his dad--who, as the novel opens, leaves his Mobile, Alabama shipyard for a stint in the Navy during WWII. Josh and his "Southern aristocrat" mom are supposed to wait out the war at the family's summer home in New Mexico.

This has no adolescent angst or self-conscious soul-searching that marks so many coming-of-age novels. Josh makes good friends at school, has a lot of adventures and meets interesting characters. Josh is open-minded, honest with himself, and is not afraid to ask for help if he needs it. His story is compelling, and every few pages I laughed out loud.

This should definitely be on the required reading list of any high school. For the adult reader, it's the sort of book you can enjoy, pass around to friends, and look forward to reading again.


Why don't they release the movie on video?   September 23, 1999
8 out of 9 found this review helpful

I agree with the other reviews- I saw the movie first, way back in 1971, and then read the book. Both are excellent and, as usually is the case because of the luxury afforded by the printed page, the book was "better." But I also love the movie; it will always have a special place for me because my time of coming of age was synchronized with the release of the movie. Very moving story, wonderful character development, something that will stay with me forever. Now that the book has been re-released, why don't they release the original 1971 movie on a video? With all the magnetic tape wasted on things that should have never been recorded in the first place, this time put the tape to good use!