Customer Reviews

To The Far Blue Mountains

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Sackett's Land and To the Far Blue Mountains make a complete story of the life and times of the Sackett progenitor. The combination is entirely satisfactory. L'Amour had the ability to tell the story well, and he developed that ability with years of work and research. It is probably fortunate for Sackett enthusiasts that he wrote the first books in the series later in his writing career. We benefit from his seasoned skills.

As in his westerns, in this book L'Amour focuses on what he finds interesting and what he thinks the reader will like to know. For the most part, he doesn't go into the technical detail that some authors pursue, but he paints a clear picture. The reader has a feeling of being there, or the strong sense that they could be there, right along with our hero.

The Sackett family saga is the story of an American family. Like all of L'Amour's work, it is wholesome and educational. He consistently hits on themes that his readers recognize, the importance of education and critical thinking, respect for our fellow creatures and the world in which we live,loyalty to family and friends, and taking positive action to shape one's own life. All that and a fun story too, for the cost of five bucks.

I picked up this book because the intro on the back cover sounded good and I've liked almost every L'amour book I've read. Its written in a first person narrative as though he was sitting across from you on the couch telling the story.

The first half of the book is terrific, following his escape from England. We learn of his thirst to be out in the wild open spaces of the newly discovered America, he is falsy accused and is running from the law collecting people to join him as he describes the new beginnings they can have in the New World. Its very tightly written (though I think his escape from prison was way too easy) and you really love the character.

Once the group got to America things changed. In an effort to show the WHOLE life of Barnabas the whole story changes, now we have 50 years of history in 100 pages. So the narrative changes from a day-by-day upbeat story where friends are joining the group to a list of significant events, usually where one of the group dies from an indian raid. It becomes a series of "we built a fort", "xxx died in an indian raid", "the fort burned down", "we went down to sea and traded our skins for supplies", "yyyy died in an indian raid", "we built another fort", etc.

I didn't like the ending either, I think the whole story basically got pretty depressing towards the end with all the group dying or leaving to go off and do other things. All the next generation were grown up and strong but we don't have the emotional connection with them that we did with the first group.

Dramatically narrated by John Curless, To The Far Blue Mountains is an flawlessly recorded audiobook presentation of yet another of Louis L'Amour's classic western novels featuring the hardy endurance of the Sackett clan as they addressed the challenges of life in the Old West. To The Far Blue Mountains follows Barnabas Sackett, who is on the run with his steadfast wife Abigail and his only escape is to the west. This is a superbly written adventure story of earning a life for oneself on the frontier, surviving all manner of hazards both human and environmental, and eventually prospering despite the hostilities of nature and man alike. To The Far Blue Mountains is an enthusiastically recommended audiobook for personal and community library collections!

L'Amour is oustanding, no other writer has his attention to detail and imagery in their writings. Barnabas, Jeremy Ring, and others are once again beautifully presented and brought to life. definately a must read.

In this novel some the best setting for stories are combines. The prisons of England, the high sea in the age of piracy, and the still wild American frontier. Here the author has created a masterpiece!!

As expected "To The Far Blue Mountains" is classic Lamour storytelling.
Barnabus Sackett goes where no europeans have gone before and makes the far blue mountains his home.
There are no cowboys yet just explorers and Indians.
Start with "Sacketts Land" and then move to "The Far Blue Mountains" and then "The Warriors Path" finishing up with "Jubal".
These are the stories that come during the earliest days of what we call America.
These stories will take you from old England to Carolina and the Tennessee hills.
Once you are hooked you will just keep on going down the line and the next story is "Ride The River" which takes place just prior to the Civil war.

This is, in effect, the sequel to Sackett's Land and continues the non-stop adventure of men who comprised our historical roots. Much of the story is unbelievable until you consider our contemporary "soft" perspective versus the immense physical hardships that early pioneers were dealt on a regular basis. As with other Sackett stories, the language can be a bit on the rough side (to match the rough characters in the stories), but not vulgar or profane. Also, the love that is depicted is pure, respectful, rather than eliciting base desires.

Also, there was nothing boring about the Audio Books version of the story. I drove 28 hours in 2 days by myself and did not get sleepy!

I am one quite taken with the early Sackett novels, and this is an excellent follow up story from Sackett's Land, the first in the series. It picks up where you left off and is filled with new and old characters alike. It completes Barnabas' story in a way that leaves you feeling quite proud of a dear friend you have followed through out the last few decades of his life. I love Louis L'Amours style of writing, not everything has a happy ending, but the endings fit the stories and characters, and leave you with memories to last a lifetime.

I read this book a long long time back, but I still remember it very well.great characters and an entertaining story.A worthy sire to a wothy series.

It was easy to find the book I wanted in the Sackett series I'm reading right now. The book was in the shape it said it would be and came at a fast rate. I can't wait to get the next book in the series. I'm trying to collect them all.