Customer Reviews

The Fields (Signed)

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Conrad Richter's "The Fields" is the middle book of his "Awakening Land" trilogy, and is no less powerful than the first, "The Trees," with its authentic use of pioneer speech and dialects, and its realistic depiction of the triumphs and tragedies of real Americans. Set in the original "West" of Ohio, "The Fields" continues the story of Sayward Luckett Wheeler as she and her growing family settle their land and deal with the everyday task of surviving. What was a handful of isolated trapper's cabins in the first book has now become a collection of settlements that is clearly on its way to becoming a bustling town. Sayward, as stoical as always, strongly confronts every realistic challenge and victory frontier life hands her. She's a refreshingly strong feminine character who is truly the reason why the West was settled. Her strength and determination holds her large family together as the frontier is pushed further westward. Mr. Richter was a truly gifted writer who manges to make the daily life of these long-dead heroes exciting and worthwhile.

Richter loses no time establishing THE FIELDS as a direct and strong descendant of THE TREES. With no time wasting, he recreates the forest and Sayward's battle against the "big butts," those mammoth trees blocking out the sun.

Her relationship with her man, Portius Wheeler the lawyer, seems at first to strengthen: seven kids in all, and a childhood tragedy once again accepted. We readers wonder how she can stay so strong, so calm. But she does. And so does her brood.

But Portius weakens and succombs. Sayward takes the blame, but again shows the inner strength to go on. The ending of book two carries on the development of their little community, and also shows the intensity of her love for her family.

Don't miss it.

by Larry Rochelle, author of DUST DEVILS, GHOSTLY EMBERS and ARROW.

Being intimately familiar with the original publication of this trilogy, I can say with utmost disdain that whoever was responsible for taking the liberties of rewriting what was very nearly perfection must have a great fondness for soap operas and should stick with romance novels instead. Not only are there additional passages inserted that were never written by Conrad Richter, there are also altered meanings of existing passages that totally change the flavor and the original intent. There are so many instances in all three volumes that I don't even know where to begin with examples. This is by far the most appalling reprint of an award-winning piece of historical fiction I have ever witnessed. You would do better to find a used copy from the original publisher, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.

Great book. Great trilogy. Recommend to anyone, male or female, young (14 and up) or old. I read the trilogy many years ago. While homeschooling, I had one of my sons read all three books and write a book report on each one. He was in the 9th grade at the time. At first, he rebelled against the setting the books were written in, preferring a more modern or sci-fi theme, but soon became engrossed in the details of the lifestyle of these early Americans. Especially the fact that they were totally self-sufficient. He was amazed. The details in these stories are accurate and believable. I read where Mr. Richter took stories told to him by people old enough to remember the actual events or those who heard the stories passed down from their grandparents, and wove them into a remarkable epic that is cohesive and believable. I recently purchased this trilogy for my mother-in-law as a birthday gift.

The second part of the trilogy "The Awakening Land". The other two are the Trees and the Town. Read them all. An excellent story of early America.

This triolgy is one of the best I have ever read. I read it years ago and only found the books in the library. I wish I could purchase this set of books and re-read the set. It is about a young pioneer woman who traveled "west" ( I believe this was Ohio and she came from PA)with her family and describes her life from the time she traveled west to the point where she was living in a big house. She helped clear the forests, helped farm the land and became a prominent citizen of a town. Elizabeth Montgomery portrayed this character in a TV movies years ago.

A beautiful story that gives a sense of the sacrifices and trials of the early settlers. Not very tolerant or insightful into the tragedy perpetrated against the original inhabitants of this country, our Indians.

The Awakening Land trilogy of books by Conrad Richter are fascinating. A real taste of the frontier in America.

All of the books in Conrad Richter's trilogy are superb. I am a descendant of people just like these, at the same time of Richter's story, and I spent much of my childhood there in Ohio living a way of life that is nearly gone. The past of my people became so rich, real, and alive through the writing.

All of the Trilogy Books are wonderful, I loved all three of them and you will find yourself wanting to read each book over and over again. " The Fields" gives a person a different perspective on life and grows not to take the way we have things now not for granted as much. "The Fields" really shows us how it was in the past in settler times.