Customer Reviews

Boulder Dam

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I recomment reading this book if you are at all interested in period history of the building of the Boulder/Hoover Dam.
Zane Grey's colorful depiction of that era is priceless.
The ambiance of that time and place really come to life. My father worked on the Dam, and this book is like the heart and soul of the project.
Charlene Cruze/EARTHMARK

Zane Grey's BOULDER DAM is an excellent read with vivid descriptions of the construction process. The book was of a deep interest to me because I live near another large dam that has been under repair for the last seven years.
The story of Lynn Weston's drive to make a success of himself by tackling all the difficult jobs entailed in the construction is from another era when people assumed responsibility for their own actions.
The fight scenes have a quality of human interaction that is seldom present in many current adventure stories. An good read and a fine example of why 'western romance' still attracts readers.
Nash Black, author of SANDPRINTS OF DEATH

Zane Grey was one of America's most prolific writers of the early 20th century -- he was also my father's favorite author. My father had almost all of his novels and liked to read and reread them. I read a few of them when I was younger and remember enjoying them. I decided to read Boulder Dam because our family visited the dam as part of a Vegas vacation this summer. Hoover (Boulder) Dam was so impressive and it amazes me how it could have been constructed in the 1930s during the height of the Depression. Grey's novel was actually published 1963 - more than 20 years after his death in 1939. I'm not sure when it was written but reading it is definitely going back to a by-gone era. The book had some great descriptions of how Boulder Dam was built but the plot and storyline was something out of the past. It includes a plot by Communists to destroy the dam and also includes characters such as Chicago racketeers who traffick in white slavery. The hero of the story, Lynn Weston, is a typical Grey do-gooder who can do no wrong. He saves the dam and ends up with the girl in peril. The writing is very descriptive and often goes on and on. It also includes some racial slurs that were common in books of the period but expletives are deleted with blanks _______! Anyway, this was a definite change of pace.

Zane Grey is at his best in this story of the building of the Boulder Dam ( Later renamed the Hoover Dam). It shows an excellent depiction of early day Las Vegas and the people who built the dam. Of course there is the damsel in distress and the hero who gives up all to start his life anew.
Like I said typical Zane Grey. But a must read if you have ever made the trip or are thinking of treking to the Dam.