Customer Reviews

Northwest Passage

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Kenneth Roberts was one of America's finest writers of historical fiction- mainly because he actually really knew the history into which he placed his fictional characters.

"Northwest Passage" is arguably his most popular work, and its Book I was made into a pretty good 1940 movie with Robert Young as the fictional Langdon Towne and Spencer Tracy as the legendary Robert Rogers. (I must admit that everytime I read Rogers' dialogue in "Northwest Passage" I hear the voice of Spencer Tracy.) Anyway "Northwest Passage," the novel, is actually made up of two very different books.

Book I is one of the finest pieces of historical fiction that I have ever read. It's the story of Rogers' Rangers attack on the Abenaki Indian village of St. Francis during the French and Indian War. The story revolves around a fictional character, Langdon Towne, an upper middle class lad who wants to become a great artist by painting "true life" subjects such as Indians. Fleeing a dispute with local crooked politicians, Towne joins Major Rogers and his Rangers on the eve of their departure for St. Francis. What happens next is a thrilling story. Roberts' descriptions of the northern New England terrain, the agony of fatigue and starvation, and the gruesome depiction of the barbaric nature of war are stunning to read. Also amazing is the depiction of Major Rogers as seen through the worshipful eyes of Towne. The reader will finish Book I with a heroic image of Rogers as an indefatigable, courageous, clever tactician and born leader.

Book II, though, is a disappointment. Of course, it is very understandable that Book II is a let down, since Book I can hardly be topped as a historical adventure. Roberts' spends most of Book II tearing down the heroic image of Rogers that he built-up in Book I. Alcohol, debt, political enemies, a bad marriage, and his own vices reduce Rogers to a rather pathetic character. Book II also suffers from a lack of focus- we follow Towne as he develops into a famous painter from New England, to England, to the Upper Great Lakes, to Canada, back to England, and then to New England. Unlike Book I, which dealt with just a few short months of time, Book II is all over the place. However, the biggest problem with Book II is that nothing really happens in it- just Rogers' long decline and Towne's search for fulfillment.

Finally, Kenneth Roberts' books usually contain some extremely well developed and strong female characters, but "Northwest Passage" is lacking in this department. The interesting character of Jennie Coit disappears quickly. And Anne Potter, who had the possibility to be extremely interesting, is just too thinly drawn.

"Northwest Passage's" Book I is a terrific piece of historical fiction. I cannot speak more highly of it. However, Book II drags, and is really only interesting in that illustrates what happens to the characters introduced in Book I. Book II is actually just a very long and detailed epilogue to Book I.

Kenneth Roberts' "Northwest Passage" is one of the great novels of the 1930's. Little remembered now, it is the story of Major Robert Rogers and the early Rangers of the French and Indian War. Most of the book is an accurate description of what occured during that time period, and one gets an incredible feel for the hardships and calamities that befall these men. The book is written in the first person as the narrator is one of the Major's trusted associates; the story involves both men and their lives together in the wilderness and much later when their paths cross once again near the end of the 18th Century. Rogers himself commanded the first real "commando" unit and he is the father of all subsequent outfits like the Green Berets, the Navy Seals etc. Kenneth Roberts was one of the great historical fiction writers of his day and anyone who is interested in this time period would be wise to read this book. It is truly a classic.

Kenneth Roberts was one of America's best-known nonfiction magazine writers back during the heyday of the Saturday Evening Post. One of his best-known articles was a profile of Hitler following the Beer Hall Putsch, which became a book in its own right at a time when no one in America knew who Hitler was.

Beginning in the mid-1930s, Roberts wrote a series of brilliant but erratic historical novels about America in the late 1700s, set in his beloved Maine or in neighboring Boston and Portsmouth, NH. "Northwest Passage" (which was serialized by the Post) was his masterpiece and the most popular book in America for two years during the 1930s, although it's barely remembered today (or, if remembered, known only as the source for a mediocre Spencer Tracy movie of the same name).

The book is the story of a real person, Major Robert Rogers, a miltary leader from pre-Revolutionary America whose unit, Rogers' Rangers, was America's first to fight "Indian-style" (in other words, to fight battles the way we fight them today). Rogers' great success in warfare led to him becoming one of the colonies' first published authors, a star in London, and later the royal governor of Michilimackinac (the fort at the tip of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan ... and the land westward), but his unwillingness to join with pluderers who wanted to loot the British and colonial treasuries in the name of the Crown led to his arrest and unwarranted disgrace ... and to his ultimate decision to side with the British during the American Revolution, like Roberts' other main hero, Benedict Arnold ("Arundel" and "Rabble in Arms").

This novel is made up of two very different but intricately-plotted books. Book 1, which ranges in place from Harvard College to the British Army during the French and Indian Wars and the New England art world, tells the story of a young man, Langdon Towne, who becomes Rogers' personal secretary during Rogers' Rangers' expedition to destroy the town of St. Francis, home of the native group most hostile to the New England settlers. Book 2, which begins in London, crosses back to upstate Michigan and the Dakota lands, and then returns to London, tells the story of Towne's advancement as an artist and his involvement with Rogers' plan to discover the Northwest Passage.

The reason that this book rates 4 stars instead of 5 has to do with a writing issue that must be mentioned. Roberts' friend Booth Tarkington served as "editor" of the first three-quarters of the book, and the Roberts-Tarkington prose is stellar. However, under severe time pressure to finish the second half of the book (due to its smash-hit status), Roberts wrote the last quarter without Tarkington's help, and the change in writing quality is jarring -- especially as it comes right during the most historically-important and dramatically-important section of the book, Rogers' betrayal by his Northwest Passage expedition commanders and by his British and American enemies. Roberts had offered Tarkington co-writing credit, which Tarkington refused, but this justaposition of styles shows just how critical Tarkington's help was. The plot continues smoothly, though, even if the writing doesn't.

One more point: in researching and writing this book, Roberts uncovered (after two years of searching, and just before publication of Book 2) the actual court-marshal transcripts of the two court-marshals with which Rogers was involved, which were believed to have been destroyed by Rogers' enemies -- and both supported Roberts' sympathetic treatment of Rogers. Thus, not only was this book incredibly popular, but it was significant for historical research as well. What more can you ask from one book?

I first discovered Northwest Passage at a library while I was still in high school, and ever since then I have been a confirmed Kenneth Roberts fan. His ability to bring the frontier and its characters alive is uncanny and unmatched by any other author I've ever read. His research into the foods, weapons, country and historical events he writes about is unparalleled, and each character in all of of his novels seems so real it sometimes becomes diffcult to determine if they were real or not. Mingling real-life historical figures such as George Washington, Benedict Arnold and others, with fictional characters such as Steven Nason, Cap Huff, and other truly unforgettable creations, lends them a credibility that results in history coming alive. One's understanding of historical events and people that have become blase' over the years is competely turned upside down and inside out as you gain new insight and understanding of what happened, why it happened and what it meant through Roberts' masterful writing backed up by exhaustive research into his subjects and events. The characters not only are drawn larger than life in all their strengths and weaknesses, but as they move through several of Roberts' novels and are observed and encountered differently when viewed from different perspectives, we begin to realize that history is not static but is dynamic and alive. Example: RABBLE IN ARMS and OLIVER WISWELL are both books about the American Revolution, but written from diametrically opposite viewpoints ! RABBLE IN ARMS follows the struggle of the colonists to free themselves from England's grip as envisioned from the rebellious colonists' perspective, while OLIVER WISWELL is about the very same events written from the perspective of a Loyalist; many of the very same characters populate both novels, but the view one gets of them is so different from one to the other of the books that it hardly seems as if at first they are about the same thing. Additionally, OLIVER WISWELL is an outstanding exploration of the Loyalist cause and why they believed we would all be better off to remain loyal subjects of England.

I've read all of Roberts' books, and have a first edition of OLIVER WISWELL purchased for $3.00 from a used bookstore with an original newspaper review that had been tucked inside the book by the original purchaser. The review is of the novel itself, and after reading that review from more than 60 years ago, it is very apparent over the years the very high and well-deserved reputation of Roberts has not diminished.

My recommendation is: read them. Read them all !! You will never find finer writing or an author with a keener appreciation of his subject matter and the period about which he writes than Kenneth Roberts. All of Roberts' books should be reprinted, again and again, as they were when they were first published (check the frontispieces to see how many times his novels have been re-printed over the years --- it's astounding!). Every person who reads Roberts becomes a devotee and a reader for life, and every one to whom you loan a copy of any of his novels will then be someone with whom you can share the pure pleasure of having read a Kenneth Roberts novel, and there are many of us out there. Welcome to the astounding, incredible world that will soon be at your fingertips!

Northwest Passage:

Kenneth Roberts was the premier historical fiction author of his day. What starts out as a simple French and Indian War tale of a daring raid on the St. Francis Indian village by Major Robert Rogers, eventually spans North America, Europe and the Mediterranean. Roberts' descriptions of wilderness warfare and survival bespeak his excruciatingly thorough research and knowledge of eighteenth century America, to the point where you might wonder if he was actually there. His battle scenes are unsparingly violent and brutal, even by today's standards, but the whole novel is infused with a quaint romanticism, that is usually avoided in modern literature. In Robert's works, warfare is bloody, and politics unsavory, but noble spirits and strong hearts prevail. Anyone who likes historical fiction, art history, or adventure travel, would do well to start with Northwest Passage.

Kenneth Roberts is my favorite novelist so this review may be somewhat biased, but Northwest Passage truly is a book people should read. It is gripping, a book I had a difficult time setting down. Roberts had a style that was unique in that the reader can many times feel the sensations he is describing. When the soldiers were hungy and were failing at hunting, Roberts could create a sensation of hunger and frustration. When he described the streets of London, the reader feels like he/she is actually there.

This book is wonderful. It's full of lively, intelligent characters and solid story plots. It is as good a represtation of colonial America as was ever done in the form of a novel. Hopefully it will remain a timeless classic forever.

As a history buff, Revolutionary War reenactor and New Englander, I was interested in reading about this author who I'd never heard of from my area. Although this story is historical fiction, the events mentioned (and many of the characters) are real. The amount of detail the author was able to put in this book is staggering. Once you start reading this story you will be dragged into the daily struggles of the many characters. In addition, you'll better understand the trials of the native Americans and how they suffered and were taken advantage of. There was a 1940 movie by the same name starring Spencer Tracy which follows the book pretty closely. Unfortunately the movie only takes in the first half of the book. Since reading this book, I have read 4 other historical novels by Kenneth Roberts and enjoyed each one. He is a prolific writer and has taken great pains to portray the events and their details in an easy reading style. Sit down with this book on a snowy evening in front of your fire and be transported back to the 18th century. You won't want to put it down.

I've spent a lot of time on the history surrounding the actual events of Rogers Rangers raid on the Abenaki village of Odanak in 1758. But here is a book that throws back the curtain and hurls us out the window into the midst of 18th Century America and Britain.
This is simply one of the finest historical novels out there; closely rivalling LeGrand Cannon's Look To the Mountain. Good historical escapist fun and drama.

Somehow I only recently got around to reading Northwest Passage, even though it is better known and deals with an earlier period in American history than than the Roberts novels on which I started, such as Arundel and Oliver Wiswell. I'm glad I waited.

Other reviewers have commented on the differences between the first and second halves of the novel. Not only are they stylistic, but the scope of the story widens dramatically in part 2. Here's where reading NWP out of order helped, though, because the other novels created a context that made the dramatic shifts more understandable than they might have been otherwise.

Without giving any spoilers, all of Roberts' usual themes are here, including betrayal, corruption, and a fairly cynical attitude towards women.

All in all, great, thrilling stuff, of a type that isn't really done any longer. Enjoy.

I was fourteen years old when a family friend gifted me on my birthday with Rabble in Arms in Hungarian translation. It took no little trouble and risk to locate other works by Roberts in Communist controlled Hungary. Northwest Passage was the second book by Roberts I read and this as well as all other works in Roberts 'Chronicles of Arundel' series sold me on the US. Northwest Passage is the story of revenge within the framework of the French and Indian War, a fantastic account of courage, endurance and heroism. It is also the story of one man, Major Robert Rogers; one man's life at its zenith, as he relentlessly inspires his men to superhuman performance; also at its nadir, as he descendes into debauchery, debt, and succumbs to disease. The narrator, Langdon Towne, aspiring artist, only matters insofar as he is the one,(in first person, as many of Roberts' protagonists do,) who tells the story. His viewpoint is that of a participant, not an outside observer, and this makes the story come alive even more than it otherwise would have.
It is one of Roberts' masterful works. It lost nothing in translation although I consider myself fortunate to have many of Roberts' works in their first editions.
It is my uderstanding that Roberts' works had been translated into over 52 languages. If any of those translation are as well done as the Hungarian version Roberts should be a universally celebrated and rewarded author.
Northwest Passage is true classic. Even though the movie with Spencer Tracy now seems obsolete this deserves a remake that should closely follow the book. I wouldn't recommend changing anything just go by the book. I sure would go and see it. As it is I have the book and have enjoyed reading and rereading it over the many years.