Other editions of book Who Has Seen the Wind: Penguin Modern Classics Edition

Hailed as “one of the finest Canadian novels ever written” by The Globe and Mail, W.O. Mitchell’s Who Has Seen the Wind is a beloved mainstay of Canadian literature. This new, abridged audio edition is read by the author himself. Mitchell’s novel follows Brian O’Connal, a young boy growing up in Depression-era Saskatchewan. Curious and eager to explore the impossibly vast Canadian prairie, Brian guides the listener through the inner workings of his small, rural town and its quirky characters. As Brian grows up, navigating faith, loss, and his relationships with his grandmother and his friends, we see him evolve alongside the changing landscape of small-town Canadian life. Drawing on his own experiences growing up in rural Saskatchewan, Mitchell paints a vivid, nostalgic portrait of childhood in a long-lost era.

Hailed as a great Canadian classic on boyhood, Who Has Seen the Wind evokes the sheer immensity of the prairie landscape, from the relentless wind to the far reaches of the bright blue sky. Like children everywhere, Brian O’Connal is a curious sort, and with enchanting naïveté he bestows his unforgettable perspective on everything from gophers to God, from his feisty Irish grandmother to his friends Ben and Saint Sammy, the town of Arcola’s local madman. This is no simple, forgettable novel: Mitchell gives readers a memorable glimpse into the ins and outs of small-town life during the Depression years, always through Brian’s eyes, and in doing so creates a poignant and powerful portrait of childhood innocence and its loss.

When W.O. Mitchell died in 1998 he was described as “Canada's best-loved writer.” Every commentator agreed that his best – and his best-loved – book was Who Has Seen the Wind. Since it was first published in 1947, this book has sold almost a million copies in Canada. As we enter the world of four-year-old Brian O’Connal, his father the druggist, his Uncle Sean, his mother, and his formidable Scotch grandmother (“she belshes…a lot”), it soon becomes clear that this is no ordinary book. As we watch Brian grow up, the prairie and its surprising inhabitants like the Ben and Saint Sammy – and the rich variety of small-town characters – become unforgettable. This book will be a delightful surprise for all those who are aware of it, but have never quite got around to reading it, till now.

When W.O. Mitchell died in February of 1998, millions mourned his passing. Our loss was the lead item on the national news, many newspaper obituaries ran for a full page, and as an extraordinary mark of respect, flags outside government offices across the land flew at half-mast. The man they mourned – and everyone in the Canadian book world whose life he had touched was personally saddened – was known above all as the author of Who Has Seen the Wind. And this edition – containing the full text – marrying W.O. Mitchell’s text with the art of William Kurelek, has established itself as a classic.Since its publication in 1947, Who Has Seen the Wind has established itself in the hearts and minds of millions as a Canadian classic. The reasons for the book’s classic status are not hard to find. As readers enter the world of four-year-old Brian O’Connal and his family and friends, they find characters that radiate life so convincingly that the book has a life of its own. No ordinary simple novel, it is the ageless story of childhood told with tenderness and humour and without sentimentality, and the picture of a small town anywhere, drawn with realism and understanding.This handsome edition marries W.O. Michell’s prose with the inspired illustrations of one of Canada’s finest and most popular artists, the late William Kurelek. The 8 full-colour paintings he produced, like the 32 black-and-white sketches that adorn the first page of every chapter, all come specifically from the text, and are illustrations in the very best sense. This edition is a collector's piece, a beautiful book that is also a joy to read, again and again.

When W.O. Mitchell died in 1998 he was described as “Canada's best-loved writer.” Every commentator agreed that his best – and his best-loved – book was Who Has Seen the Wind. Since it was first published in 1947, this book has sold almost a million copies in Canada. As we enter the world of four-year-old Brian O’Connal, his father the druggist, his Uncle Sean, his mother, and his formidable Scotch grandmother (“she belshes…a lot”), it soon becomes clear that this is no ordinary book. As we watch Brian grow up, the prairie and its surprising inhabitants like the Ben and Saint Sammy – and the rich variety of small-town characters – become unforgettable. This book will be a delightful surprise for all those who are aware of it, but have never quite got around to reading it, till now.

Since its publication in 1947 Who Has Seen The Wind has established itself as a Canadian classic. The book deals with the apparently unexciting subject of a boy growing up in a small town on the Saskatchewan prairie. As readers begin to enter the world of four-year-old Brian O'Connal, it soon becomes clear that this is no ordinary book. His family, and, as Brian advances towards maturity, his friends Fat and Art, his teacher, Miss Thomson, and the principal, Mr Digby, and all of the town's characters, even including the far-from-respectable Old Ben and the domineering Mrs Abercrombie—all of them radiate life so convincingly that the book takes on a life of its own. This is no simple, forgettable novel, but the ageless story of childhood told with tenderness and humour and without sentimentality, the picture of a small town anywhere, drawn with realism and understanding.

When W.O. Mitchell died in February of 1998, millions mourned his passing. Our loss was the lead item on the national news, many newspaper obituaries ran for a full page, and as an extraordinary mark of respect, flags outside government offices across the land flew at half-mast. The man they mourned – and everyone in the Canadian book world whose life he had touched was personally saddened – was known above all as the author of Who Has Seen the Wind. And this edition – containing the full text – marrying W.O. Mitchell’s text with the art of William Kurelek, has established itself as a classic.Since its publication in 1947, Who Has Seen the Wind has established itself in the hearts and minds of millions as a Canadian classic. The reasons for the book’s classic status are not hard to find. As readers enter the world of four-year-old Brian O’Connal and his family and friends, they find characters that radiate life so convincingly that the book has a life of its own. No ordinary simple novel, it is the ageless story of childhood told with tenderness and humour and without sentimentality, and the picture of a small town anywhere, drawn with realism and understanding.This handsome edition marries W.O. Michell’s prose with the inspired illustrations of one of Canada’s finest and most popular artists, the late William Kurelek. The 8 full-colour paintings he produced, like the 32 black-and-white sketches that adorn the first page of every chapter, all come specifically from the text, and are illustrations in the very best sense. This edition is a collector's piece, a beautiful book that is also a joy to read, again and again.