North To The Rails [Paperback]

L' Armour (Author), No Illustritions (Illustrator)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Bantam (1971)
• ISBN-10: 0553128620
• ISBN-13: 978-0553128628
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)

More About the Author

"I think of myself in the oral tradition--as a troubadour, a village tale-teller, the man in the shadows of a campfire. That's the way I'd like to be remembered--as a storyteller. A good storyteller."

It is doubtful that any author could be as at home in the world re-created in his novels as Louis Dearborn L'Amour. Not only could he physically fill the boots of the rugged characters he wrote about, but he literally "walked the land my characters walk." His personal experiences as well as his lifelong devotion to historical research combined to give Mr. L'Amour the unique knowledge and understanding of people, events, and the challenge of the American frontier that became the hallmarks of his popularity.

Of French-Irish descent, Mr. L'Amour could trace his own in North America back to the early 1600s and follow their steady progression westward, "always on the frontier." As a boy growing up in Jamestown, North Dakota, he absorbed all he could about his family's frontier heritage, including the story of his great-grandfather who was scalped by Sioux warriors.

Spurred by an eager curiosity and desire to broaden his horizons, Mr. L'Amour left home at the age of fifteen and enjoyed a wide variety of jobs, including seaman, lumberjack, elephant handler, skinner of dead cattle, and miner, and was an officer in the transportation corps during World War II. During his "yondering" days he also circled the world on a freighter, sailed a dhow on the Red Sea, was shipwrecked in the West Indies and stranded in the Mojave Desert. He won fifty-one of fifty-nine fights as a professional boxer and worked as a journalist and lecturer. He was a voracious reader and collector of rare books. His personal library contained 17,000 volumes.

Mr. L'Amour "wanted to write almost from the time I could talk." After developing a widespread following for his many frontiers and adventure stories written for fiction magazines, Mr. L'Amour published his first full length novel, Hondo, in the United States in 1953. Every one of his more than 120 books is in print; there are more than 300 million copies of his books in print worldwide, making him one of the bestselling authors in modern literary history. His books have been translated into twenty languages, and more than forty-five of his novels and stories have been made into feature films and television movies.

The recipient of many great honor and awards, in 1983 Mr. L'Amour became the first novelist to ever to be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by the United States Congress in honor of his life's work. In 1984 he was also awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Reagan.

Louis L'Amour died on June 10, 1988. His wife, Kathy, and their two children, Beau and Angelique, carry the L'Amour publishing tradition forward with new books written by the author during his lifetime to be published by Bantam.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "They could call it running away if they wanted to, but it made no sense to kill a man..., March 7, 2007

By 

H. Bala "Me Too Can Read" (Just moved to posh Marina Del Rey, CA - where if you drop a quarter, why, you just keep on walking) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: North to the Rails: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

I miss Louis L'Amour. I first discovered him when I was in high school in the '80s, and I remember devouring his books one after another. I remember the sadness I felt when I found out he'd passed away. Though I prefer his Sackett stories (especially William Tell, my favorite Sackett), his chronicles of the Talon and Chantry families also make excellent reading. Heck, even his non-series novels are gripping (FALLON, FIRST FAST DRAW, BENDIGO SHAFTER, FLINT, REILLY'S LUCK...and these are just the ones off the top of my head; he's got many other fine novels). The very enjoyable NORTH TO THE RAILS is a Chantry novel.

NORTH TO THE RAILS tells the story of young Tom Chantry, a businessman from New York who journeys to rugged Nevada and quickly garners a reputation for cowardice when he backs out of a gunfight. This hampers his attempts to purchase a herd of cattle as most folks in the Old West hold the quality of courage in high esteem, and no one now trusts Chantry. Tom does finally end up with steer when he makes a chancy deal with French Williams, a cattleman of canny but dubious nature. The deal is that Williams and his shifty cowhands will herd the beef if Chantry accompanies them for the duration of the cattle drive. If, at any time, Chantry falls out before the trail's end, then Williams gets every last steer for himself.

Williams doesn't waste time in testing Chantry's mettle as he comes up with challenges and obstacles for Tom. But, here's the thing: just because a man doesn't believe in killing doesn't mean he won't fight for what he believes in. And Chantry may now be from the soft and civilized East, but he was born in the wild West, and his father, who had been a respected marshall, had taught him some things...

Two things about the prolific Mr. L'Amour: he knew how to write bone-crunching action sequences which impact the reader on a primal level, and he was a master at conveying his great love for the West. Each western he wrote would inevitably offer rich and evocative passages not only about the land itself but about its people, its history, and its culture. Himself a self-made and self-taught man, he valued the quality of the hardy people who tamed the savage frontier.

Here, he effectively delineates the difference between someone who inhabits the urbane and long-settled East, where culture and civilized living had greatly tempered one's survival instincts, versus a denizen of the brutal and uncompromising West, where one's life and livelihood directly hinged on one's ability to show valor, keep one's word, and, on occasion, draw a gun. I was glued to the pages as, with every escalating predicament, L'Amour inexorably peels away layer after layer of Chantry's civilized veneer. Tom starts out adamant in his refusal to sport a gun and he holds to this for a large portion of the book, until circumstances force him to re-evaluate his philosophy. He becomes progressively seduced by the West, until, late in the book, Tom glances at a mirror and sees "...a tall, bronzed young man with wide shoulders, narrow hips, and a quietly commanding way about him." In Louis L'Amour's eyes, this is the very definition of a man of the West.

NORTH TO THE RAILS is action-packed, believe me, full of fist fights and, later, gun battles. Tom Chantry proves to be a very rootable protagonist as he is battered and wounded and bushwhacked but remains resolute. The can't miss premise (that of a perceived naive and out-of-his-depth character who actually turns out to have "sand," is resourceful, determined, and quite handy at kicking outlaw arse) hooked me in straightaway. The author, as usual, throws in a lot of nasty bad guys (there's even a female villainess) and a ton of peril down our dude's way. For the most part, L'Amour doesn't really take the time to flesh out his supporting characters so we're left with a lot of stereotypical cardboard cutouts here. He does give some much needed depth to French Williams and presents him with such an enigmatic stature that I didn't know which side he would ultimately be on. I also liked Sun Chief, though he was depicted in very broad strokes.

In my life, there are only two authors in the western genre: Zane Grey and Louis L'Amour. I've tried other authors of the "Cowboys and Injuns" ilk but have since learned to accept no substitutes. NORTH TO THE RAILS isn't even in the top tier of L'Amour's best works. Nevertheless, it can't help but entertain its readers. And, if you want to read about Tom Chantry's dad, take a peek at BORDEN CHANTRY.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars North to the Rails is enjoyable for everyone!, October 29, 2001

By 

Priscilla Stafford (Yokohama, Japan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: North to the Rails: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

Tom Chantry came from the East to the West to buy cattle then bring them to the railroads at Dodge. But when he backs down from a shoot-out with a drunk named Dutch Akins, everyone takes him for a coward and a man who doesn't keep his word. Tom can't find anyone now to buy cattle from or even help move them to the railroads. Tom must learn that he is now in the untamed land of the west where there is no law but only a man's courage and his gun.

Then Tom shocks everyone with how much nerve he has. He makes a deal with French Williams, a well-known man who everyone accuses of stealing cattle though there is no proof. He is said to be able to swindle anyone out of a cow deal. Tom says to Williams that if French Williams will supply the men to help take the herd to the rails, Chantry will give him some shares of the profit. Then Tom makes the deal more interesting. He says that if he himself can't keep up with the outfit and doesn't make it to Dodge City, French Williams will get all of the profit. Williams agrees to it.

Now Tom must be sure to keep up with the herd. But everyone forgets that his father was the famous Borden Chantry and that Tom knows what he's doing. Though at first he is against having a gun, he buys himself a gun and a rifle. And not only does he know how to shoot, he knows how to fight. Local outlaws and gunmen mistake him for a victim but they were going to learn that he is no greenhorn and not a man to be trifled with.

This is a great book to read!! When I first read it, I had such a hard time putting it down when I had to do other things. I couldn't stop reading it. It's very exciting and suspenseful. The character of Tom Chantry is really likable and I was rooting him on throughout the whole book. But probably my most favorite character in the book was French Williams. He is cool, smart, fast with a gun, and a very honorable man. He might steal cattle from others and swindle people out of a cattle deal, he still is very nice and trustworthy. Then there's also the character of Mr. Sparrow. He's very mysterious yet nice and kind, and strangely very attached to Tom Chantry, even though they hardly know each other. But if I tell to much about him, I'll spoil the story.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One L'Amour's best, if you wonder which one to read first, November 16, 2000

By 

C. Brandon (Sanford, FL US) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: North to the Rails: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

I used to wonder why anyone read L'Amour when all the plots seemed the same. At some point, I picked up one (probably on vacation) and now I'm hooked. Sure, they're predictable - but so are 98% of the shows on TV. It doesn't mean they're not enjoyable.

I probably won't review many westerns, but this is a great one if you don't know which of his dozens to choose.