River Thieves [Paperback]

Michael Crummey (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 335 pages
• Publisher: Canongate Books (August 29, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385658109
• ISBN-13: 978-0385658102
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,745,200 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Strong Debut for Michael Crummey, August 14, 2002

By 

taking a rest - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: River Thieves: A Novel (Hardcover)

Whether real or imagined I seem to be reading more work by writers and stories about Newfoundland. This is the first novel by Michael Crummey and, "River Thieves", is a very strong debut. The book has been compared to, "Cold Mountain", that I have not read, and to, "In The Fall", which I very much enjoyed. This work is not as sweeping a story as Jeffrey Lent's first book, however if you enjoy his writing you will enjoy this tale as well.

This story takes place primarily in the very early 19th Century although there are references to years that bracket the story. The atmosphere I take to be absolutely on point, as the author was borne and continues to live in the same settings on which his book takes place. This leap of faith is difficult to make when the reader has never been to the locale of the book, but Michael Crummey makes the presumption effortless.

The story is ostensibly about the demise of the, "Red Indians", or "The Beothuk". The reasons for the near extinction of these people is the result of the same effects felt throughout the Americas that settlers from Europe either brought with them, or practiced, disease or their desire to take the native population's land. Had the author restricted himself to this review of history, the book would have been too familiar. Instead the author gets deeply involved with a variety of players, and by sharing their stories reveals the fate of the Beothuk as well.

Included are settlers, criminals from England that have been transported, as well as the government officials that were the rule of law. The author also departs from attitudes and the people who hold and act on them. Governments have not been traditionally sympathetic to the indigenous people they found on new lands they claimed for King/Queen and country, Crummey changes that. He introduces, "Indians", which have become a part of the European community with a variety of results. And as he brings his tale to a close, it is not just governmental policy that shapes the fate of people and new nations, but often the people that hold a variety of positions, either governmental or in their communities, that can shape history as well.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Impressive Debut, August 23, 2002

By 

Charlotte Vale-Allen (CT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: River Thieves: A Novel (Hardcover)

The poet in Crummey is very much in evidence throughout this book. His prose (which makes use here of arcane words and expressions unique to Newfoundland, as well as some of the surviving nouns of the Beothuk language) is as strong and often bleak as the island itself in his narrative of the early 18th century inhabitants and their violent relationship with the (literally) red indians, the Beothuk.

Fact and fiction are seamlessly woven into a fascinating study of the bleak beauty of the place and the difficulties of the trapping/fishing lives of the residents--most of whom have found their way to the island from Great Britain. These "newcomers" are at great odds with the indigenous peoples: the Mi'kmaqs and the Beothuks; and the Mi'kmaqs consider themselves to be far superior to the Red Indians. The eternal pecking order.

What makes this book so fascinating, aside from its fully fleshed, very human cast of characters and the neverending labor of their daily lives (as well as the wretched weather), is the decimation and, ultimately, the complete eradication of the Beothuks. From the modern perspective, genocide is an ongoing horror. But for those arriving on foreign, North American shores, it was a matter of killing to stake a claim to the land, killing out of fear or contempt, but killing and killing until those with the most legitimate claim simply ceased to exist.

In dealing with many perspectives, the author gives us an insightful view of the rationales operating for every one of the characters in this book. It's a tour de force of collective viewpoints woven together to form an historical tapestry.

Beautifully written by a writer with great feeling for his characters and for history, wrenching and sad, River Thieves is a splendid book.
Most highly recommended.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars very suspenseful, June 20, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: River Thieves: A Novel (Hardcover)

I'm fascinated by Native American history, particularly that of the Beothuk people. I bought this book thinking that it would be a pretty straightforward novelization of the Beothuk, and was pleased to discover that it was a real page-turner. The characters were interesting and the landscapes well drawn. I would recommend it to fiction readers and scholars of Native American (or Native Canadian, I suppose) history.