Customer Reviews

Centennial (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition)

5 star:		(47)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've been fortunate enough to read several of James A. Michener's works, and CENTENNIAL is by far my favorite from this gifted author. In fact, I've read this book twice, which is no small task, given its 900-plus pages.

CENTENNIAL is about a fictitious town of the same name in Colorado. The town is not nestled in the majestic Rockies, as one might expect, but instead is located out on the vast, open, treeless, windswept plains that run down from the eastern slopes of the mountains. It is here, at the nexus of two radically diverse land masses, that Michener gives the reader a comprehensive history of the area, from the formation of the land and its rivers, to its prehistoric inhabitants, to its early settlers, to its subsequent clash of various cultures. The plains Indians, fur trappers, pioneer settlers, soldiers, ranchers, dry land and irrigation farmers, and the hearty descendents of these diverse groups--all are depicted vividly and weaved into an engrossing story by an author with a keen eye for detail.

CENTENNIAL furnishes an impressive assortment of powerful, unforgettable characters: Lame Beaver, an Arapaho chieftan; Pasquinel, a French fur trapper; pioneer Levi Zendt; trail boss R.J. Poteet; ranchers Jim and Charlotte Lloyd; and many more. Through these characters the reader is given an epic tale of the American West, a tale that is beautiful, compelling, profound, and often tragic. CENTENNIAL is higly recommended to any student of the American West, or to any lover of epic literature.

James A. Michener's "Centennial" is arguably his best literary work. Released in 1976, at the bicentennial of our nation's history, Centennial was a the novel blockbuster of the year. Like all of Michener's historical fiction novels, Michener lived in the actual town of Centennial, Colorado, for a year or more to do the extensive research for his story. The story itself is one that spans the ages from the lying down of the bedrock of the earth to the first creatures, to the Native American Arapaho, to the coming of the white settlers, to modern times. Each chapter is a mini-novel in itself dealing with a specific time period. Some of the characters Michener has created will be remembered for the rest of the reader's life. He writes at length on the life of Lame Beaver, the Arapaho chief, a fascinating narrative of how the Native Americans lived and how their society was overcome by the tidal wave of European white immigrants. Then there is R. J. Poteet, the cowboy trailboss who moves a herd of cattle from Texas to Centennial in order to establish the first cattle ranch in that area. Michener writes about the "dry-farming" methods of the white farming settlers such as "Potato Brumbaugh and men like him, who were the first to turn the soil, and how these "sod-busters" conflicted with the open-range ranchers, and their conflict to who would control the water rights of the land. The chapter on the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl years is still vivid in my mind more than 30 years after reading it.

Yes, this is a novel of epic proportions, over 1,000 pages in length, that will entrance you with every new chapter. It is a novel that you will not want to put down. It is also so well written that you will want to read it again to experience the lives and stories of the characters that Michener brings to life.

Michener's writing style is one that is unique to him. Readers seem to either love his vivid and pprolific prose, or they are overwhelmed by the great attention to detail that is Michener. I happen to be in the group that loves his writing and has read virtually all his novels. If you have never read a novel by Michener, this is the one to read first to see if you like his writing style. Like me, chances are you will become a life-long fan of the man who has become one of my favorite authors.

Jim "Konedog" Koenig

This is the 8th Michener book I've read, and they're all good books. Always well researched and entertaining. This one concerns the fictional town of Centennial, Colorado, and like most books written by Michener, start with the formation of mountains and animal life at the beginning of time, and later focuses on a few families and their extended family trees throughout the ages. He wonderfully illustrates the influences of the many cultures that make up the heart of America, using this one fictional town only as an example. A long read at over 900 pages, but worthwhile.

(If you want, though, you can skip the second chapter about the land forming and dinosaurs wandering over the earth... It's pretty dull and has little bearing on the rest of the book.)

This was my first Michener...always wanted to read this one, but the size was intimidating. Finally got around giving it a shot!

Overall, I enjoyed the experience! Some great stories about the "regular folks" that made the American West great.... struggles between Native American tribes and the white folks, to cattle driving, farming, and more, the characters in this book come to life. It is like you are there in the old west, on your own ranch!

Most of the stories are excellent. My favorites include "The Wagon and the Elephant," the story of a falsely accused outcast from the east who moves west to start over, and "The Cowboys," a story about driving cattle from Texas to Colorado for the purpose of starting a profitable ranch.

I'll agree with many people's comments that the second chapter can probably be skipped without missing much. It reads more like a college geology textbook, talking about the land formation history. It is relevant to some things that happen later in the book, but you won't miss out. The real stories here are with the people.

I will admit that through the last 1/3 or so, it was getting long. Of course, a book like this could probably be even longer, I'm sure there are hundreds of interesting stories that could be told!

Give it a try. If a particular story doesn't catch your interest within a few pages, skip it and try the next. Just give yourself the chance to be taken back to another time and place.

I love Centennial. Lame Beaver, Pasquinel, Levi Zendt, Elly Zalm, McKeag - unforgettable! For them alone the book is worth it - a classic. They live and breathe and allow Michener to bring magical life to 18th and 19th century Colorado.

BUT...

A hefty chunk of the book is simply not worth reading.

Centennial is presented as a book-within-a-book, with a modern narrator, Lewis Vernor, who is trying to sell his writing to "US" magazine. TOTALLY DULL. At first, while reading it, I thought I'd made a mistake and was reading some unedited, in-house, pre-publication manuscript. What were Michener's editors thinking?

I recommend skipping ALL sections relating to Lewis Vernor. That includes ALL of chapter 1 and the few pointless pages at the end of every subsequent chapter.

Also: Frankly, I would skip chapters 2 and 3 entirely, and would start reading about ten pages into chapter 4 (which in my paperback copy is page 149), at the entry of the Arapaho Indian Lame Beaver in the year 1756. This is where the book comes to life. You miss nothing before that, just a bunch of boring, dry stuff about Colorado's ancient history that you could get much more quickly off Wikipedia.

And since I'm going wild: The book peters out once it hits the 20th century. The characters lose their magic and the story becomes flat. All in all the last two hundred pages are worth skipping.

But don't worry, that still leaves you over 700 worthwhile pages to read!!

Many others have reviewed this book, so I will not be redundant. This book is simply the best historical novel I have ever read. I would certainly recommend the TV mini-series, which lasted over 21 hours. I consider it to be the best programming I have ever seen on TV. The producers did a magnificent job of adapting the novel to the screen. The only significant differences between the book and the miniseries is the mode of death of some of the main characters. Some who died rather mundane deaths in the book died dramatic deaths in the miniseries (beware of dancing outside!--those who have seen the miniseries will know what I mean.)

A couple of criticisms I have of the book: Michener sometimes engages in historical revisionism in his attempt to dramatize the exploitation and mistreatment of Native Americans. He overcompensates for the former celebrative tone about "Manifest Destiny" found in many histories by portraying the Native Americans as faultless and wise, while whites are often portrayed as hard-drinking fools who have no appreciation for the land.

Another criticism would be how Christianity is portrayed. I think Michener is too hard on the role of the church in the settling of the American West. True, some justified the genocide of the Native Americans by writing them off as "pagan savages," but many Christian leaders had a positive impact as well. But a pattern emerges in the book: most leaders and adherents to organized religion (Zendt's Mennonite pastor, the Catholic priest who dialogued with Pasquinel, the Centennial pastor who fell to the wiles of Wendell's wife) are portrayed at worst as self-righteous, vindictive and not having a clue about how to treat the Native Americans, and at best as easily-duped fools. This is certainly an overly simplistic appraisal of the role of Christianity in the West.

Despite these weaknesses, I heartily recommend this book or miniseries to all. I purchased the entire miniseries, and I am currently watching it for the third time.

I grew to love Michener, when I read Hawaii, Mexico, and The Novel. I lost a little faith in him when I attempted to enjoy the Covenant, Source, and Journey. Fortunately, I'm glad to say that Michener redeemed himself with the Centennial. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is a wonderful novel that is as sweeping as his best works are. Finally, the biggest weakness of his writing, binding all the characters together, is gone because the span of time is relatively short. Even though some events seem hurried and never fully explained, Michener is still poetic and fills the novel with startling images and original characters. I especially liked the final fourth of the book. Michener foreshadowed what would happen in the first few pages, but he took sweet time getting there. The Wendells and the Grebes are the most intriguing characters in the book, so be patient until you read about them. The only gripe I have is Michener's knack of cheating his readers by providing an interesting portrait of a character and then, suddenly, drop them out of the picture: e.g., Elly and Soledad. Overall, he is at his best here and I would rank it third on my list of his best works, behind Hawaii and Mexico.

Once again I've enjoyed every word of a book by Michener. Centennial offers an excellent portrait of the history and development of the American West. The depiction of the different Indian tribes is superb and very educational. The way all the characters and their situations are portrayed is magnificent. Every time I picked up the book I could picture myself in the 19th century West living and feeling like the characters of this fascinating book do. Of the six or seven novels I've read by Michener, I liked only "Chesapeake" better than this one. Michener is my American hero, and I've learned to love your country thanks to him.

When I read this book, I determined I would someday live in Colorado. It was that good. I read the book over 25 years ago and I will pick it up every once in a while and read parts of it or the whole thing. Warning, it is very long, but well worth the investment of time. There is a particularly great part at the end that has always stuck with me about the wilderness and natural parts of Colorado.

I've had this book likely over seven years, and it has taken all of that to get through this: seven starts and stops, but at the end here the determination to see the read through.

I agonized over the prehistoric, dinosaurish opening, but then found the Indian and trapper-mountain men section fascinating.

But for me the best section was the establishment of the area of Centennial and the ranching. Having grown up in this area, it sure seems like Centennial would have to be Sterling.

The Hereford and Black Angus are the backbone of the ranching community, here well represented in this epic tale of the West. Panaramic in his scope, Michener provides all the angles, sugar beets, irrigation, livestock wars, minority farm workers, etc.

Easily the funniest part was the tragic tryout of the preacher at Centennial's Union Church who preached lengthily on the sheep and the Good Shepherd passage from John. Hilarious knowing that the sheep-cattle wars were raging and he was preaching to the cattle choir!

Massive research well written, but tedious read through all 1038 pages. Sorry, but I enjoyed T.A. Larson's History of Wyo much more and recommend it to those interested in the area.