Customer Reviews

Shepherd of The Hills, The

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book was so good. I first read it when I seven and have read it a million times since. My parents have gone to see the play of it and they say the book is better. This book is truly better than any one of the many books I had to read in school. I wish they would make it part of the reading list in schools. Kids would enjoy it so much. If you are looking for a great all around book. This one is it. It has action, suspense, love, comedy, and of course drama. It is neither too long of a novel or too short.

Once I read this book a few summers ago, it quickly became my all-time favorite book. I had seen the play, which is spectacular, and I had seen the movie (a bit disappointing to me), but nothing could prepare me for the book.
Harold Bell Wright creates a masterpiece. And that is an understatement. Several plots develop throughout the story, each one seeming irrelevent when compared to another, yet they are all interwoven masterfully by the end of the book. There is the lonely stranger, who wanders into the hills, and changes the community and then learns something about himself and the meaning of life. Readers then watch Sammy Lane struggle to become a "sure 'nough lady," and will most likely cheer on Young Matt as he fights to steal Sammy's heart from Ollie Stewart, though he knows Ollie promises Sammy a rich city life. Readers are also involved in Young Matt's and Wash Gibb's struggles to the title of "Strongest Man in the Hills." And Old Matt, Aunt Mollie and the Shepherd are forced to relive the past and learn from it, no matter how strong the pain is.
In conclusion, I just want to recommend this book to all people looking for some quality summer reading. The book may seem somewhat long, but it is hard to put down and you'll go through it quickly, wishing it would never end. Read this book and enjoy!

This is an inspirational message. I recently visited Branson, Missouri and picked up a copy of this book. Branson residents assure me this book is true and is based on Wright's visit to this region in the late 1800s. At the end of the story, Wright's image appears as the artist painting the Ozark mountains. I saw the cabin where much of the story takes place.
For those interested in a book that is as lively as Tom Sawyer or Huckleberry Finn, this is a good addition. Why, because the language is much the same as what Twain uses in his book. The author was once a minister, and the main character in the book is a former minister working as a shepherd of a flock of sheep.
The reader should understand there are plenty of references to God in this book, but this is not the main tenet of this book.

This is a pleasant read and there is an inspirational message in the story. I read this 250 odd page book in less than a day, so the reading is light and at first difficult due to the language used. However, I would recommend this book to anyone desiring to read about the endless conflict of right versus wrong. This book is based on true events.

Michael R. Phillips' edition of Harold Bell Wright's The Shepherd of the Hills accurately traces the story line.

In his attempt to create a readable version of the novel for contemporary readers, presumably school children, Phillips has omitted lines and references to characters, rewritten Wright's awkward sentences, and omitted Ozark vernacular still spoken today.

The 1907 edition, reprinted by the Shepherd of the Hills Historical Society in 1987, serves as a basis for my comments. Phillips omits the Wright's dedication of the book to his wife as well as the quotation from Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida, both of which give insight into Wright's insipiration for his novel.

Future literary historians and linguists will not glean the richness of the Ozark dialect because Phillips omits phrasing peculiar to the region. For example, "I don't guess" which is used today by people in southern Missouri and northern Arkansas is rewritten as "I don't think" on page 23.

Similarly Colonel Dewey's "Bal'" is rewritten as "the mountain up there." Indeed, "Bal'" is not recognizable as mountain; but "Bal'" is the pronunciation of "Bald," which refers to the clear-cut top of the mountain.

The vigilante group, known as the "Bald Knobbers," would meet at night on the top of such mountains devoid of forest.

"Dod durned" is changed to "hog tied" on page 25; the former is a mild expletive, the latter is vapid.

"You can't see much of it though on account of the fog," page 32, is actually "mists." Mountain mists are not exactly the same as fog; moreover, the sadness of the conversation is one of mists artistically.

Phillips omits the comparison of Young Matt's strength to that of Wash Gibbs,page 31; the reference is a foreshadowing of things to come and the fearsomeness of the baldknobbers.

In my opinion, Phillips would have done better by providing footnotes to explain Ozark words and phrasing. Eliminating speeches and references to characters eliminates the flavor of the Ozark dialect, mars Harold Bell Wright's craft, and eliminates many linguistic and artistic fossils which future readers and scholars might cherish.

If you want to see the Ozark Mountains and their inhabitants painted in brilliant colors, this is the book to read. There is no other way to describe this timeless story of simple yet wise and loving people who move their lives with such dedication to that which is best in mankind. Harold Bell Wright shows us the world not only through the good times, but through the hardships that make us who we are. By the last chapter, you are completely involved in these gentle people and want them to continue to be a part of your life. You experience the pain, the mystery, and the wonder of life itself. Thank goodness for the sequel, "The Calling of Dan Matthews" so that you can continue the journey with these wonderful friends.

A wholesome classic novel written about the beauty of the Ozarks and the spiritual meaning found in a life lived in simplicity. The story centers around "The Shepherd", a man from the city who chose to live and share his life with the simple country-folk of Mutton Hollow. His fine education as well as his life-long lessons are shared with all those who will listen. The reader will enjoy multiple character developments and subplots that are intricately woven together throughout the book. A very peaceful, yet challenging story.

The sense of time and place, of the Ozarks and its people in the late 19th century, rings so lifelike that the book makes a compelling "history" as well as a superb story. Even today, some 90 years after this book was written, I can still hear the voice of character Old Man Matthews speaking as if through my 70-year old father-in-law, who was raised in the Ozarks. Reading the book, I can hear the rain water dripping from the mountains leaves, the terror of horse hooves pounding the hill trails at night, the whisperings of the wind through the pines. It's moody, beautiful, frightening, and full of splendor, all at once.

Wright's most notable book, the Shepherd of the Hills, is a story of mystical happenings in the Ozarks at the turn of the century. A small group of country-folk live there in relative peace. A stranger arrives one day and hires on as a shepherd at an abandoned and supposedly haunted ranch. Dan, the shepherd, changes everyone's lives.

There are many players in this tale. One family is seeking retribution/peace against a man who left the area after taking up with their daughter. Another wants the love of a young woman who is in love with a person going to the city. The young woman wants to learn what it takes to be a "woman" from the shepherd All in all, many different activities are happening here and all are interrelated.

Wright demonstrates what strength of character is. The woman, does indeed learn that what makes a woman. She learns it is not what she wears or how much jewelry she has, but what she is made of. Her unrequited lover also learns what it takes to be a man and demonstrates it over her weak willed lover. The hurt family also learns forgiveness and the shepherd learns that God can be found in nature.

This was a good book (and later made into a movie starring John Wayne). It is a bit of a western tale with typical Wright sermonizing on morals. However very entertaining except the end. I didn't care for it and thought it was a bit too neat and too coincidental. However, it wasn't a bad book and it was worth reading this tale of classic American literature.

I have read this book some six times and each time I enjoy it as much as if I had read it for the first time. Being from the Ozarks, I find a special attraction to the charm of the natives and the descriptions of those beautiful hills. Harold Bell Wright weaves a mysterious tale that keeps you spellbound from chapter to chapter. This book is a classic.

Michael R. Phillips' edition of Harold Bell Wright's The Shepherd of the Hills accurately traces the story line.

In his attempt to create a readable version of the novel for contemporary readers, presumably school children, Phillips has omitted lines and references to characters, rewritten Wright's awkward sentences, and omitted Ozark vernacular still spoken today.

The 1907 edition, reprinted by the Shepherd of the Hills Historical Society in 1987, serves as a basis for my comments. Phillips omits the Wright's dedication of the book to his wife as well as the quotation from Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida, both of which give insight into Wright's insipiration for his novel.

Future literary historians and linguists will not glean the richness of the Ozark dialect because Phillips omits phrasing peculiar to the region. For example, "I don't guess" which is used today by people in southern Missouri and northern Arkansas is rewritten as "I don't think" on page 23.

Similarly Colonel Dewey's "Bal'" is rewritten as "the mountain up there." Indeed, "Bal'" is not recognizable as mountain; but "Bal'" is the pronunciation of "Bald," which refers to the clear-cut top of the mountain.

The vigilante group, known as the "Bald Knobbers," would meet at night on the top of such mountains devoid of forest.

"Dod durned" is changed to "hog tied" on page 25; the former is a mild expletive, the latter is vapid.

"You can't see much of it though on account of the fog," page 32, is actually "mists." Mountain mists are not exactly the same as fog; moreover, the sadness of the conversation is one of mists artistically.

Phillips omits the comparison of Young Matt's strength to that of Wash Gibbs,page 31; the reference is a foreshadowing of things to come and the fearsomeness of the Baldknobbers.

In my opinion, Phillips would have done better by providing footnotes to explain Ozark words and phrasing. Eliminating speeches and references to characters eliminates the flavor of the Ozark dialect, mars Harold Bell Wright's craft, and eliminates many linguistic and artistic fossils which future readers and scholars might cherish.