Customer Reviews

Texicans

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
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This is a view of Texas we're not used to. An exciting story of outcasts and misfits and unexpected Western heros(and heroines). Every persecuted ethnic group is represented and the usual good guys (like Texas Rangers) aren't good. With a cowboy in the White House and the Mexican border an immigration battleground, this book gives the historical background for Texas' current events. But best of all, it's a surprising and fascinating tale.

I loved this book. It's not Hollywood's Texas - it's the real deal - full of characters that leap off the page & stay with you. It's a wonderful mix of Indians, runaway slaves, a Jewish cowboy, vicious renegade rangers, a young Alsatian immigrant girl and a Mexican bruja (witch) with healing powers, among others. Besides which, the writing and detail are astonishing.

The Texicans, by Nina Vida, is a novel of historical fiction, which takes place on the frontier of Texas, and spans the years between 1843 and 1855.

Although Joseph Kimmel was a quiet, simple man who loved to read, and keep to himself, he was also a tough, rugged individualist. In his twenties he had been a mountain man and fur trapper, but was now a teacher of Greek, Latin, and math at the Independence Missouri Boys School. It was a job that seemed to suit him.

Just before the end of the school term, Joseph receives a letter saying his brother, Isaac, a shopkeeper, has died in Texas, and that Joseph should come to the frontier to receive any profits that may be left from his business.

Joseph has decided to make the trip alone on horseback and knows the trek will be difficult, at best. Having been an outdoorsman, he's sure he can take care of himself and in fact, he looks forward to the solitary life he will experience as he travels across the plains.

If Joseph thought he was going to have a peaceful journey, he was sadly mistaken. Not only is riding alone in Comanche country fraught with the constant danger of being brutally slain, but he, unfortunately, finds a variety of rag-tag strangers who desperately need his help to survive.

The author weaves an exciting story of danger, incredible hardship, sacrifice, and unrequited love.

This is absolutely one of the best books I have recently read. I highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a remarkable Texas adventure story.

This is one exciting historical novel about the people involved in the birth of Texas. Not armies. No soldiers. No tales of war. It's about regular folk settling the land & building ranches & towns. A restless Polish born Jew, a runaway slave, immigrants from Alsace, a French-born Jewish visionary, Native Americans (Comanches & Tonkaways), Mexicans, & renegade bands of Texas Rangers all roam through the pages of this novel.

Most of the action takes place in the planned unsuccessful community of Castroville, Texas & the land & area that later gives birth to both the Kimmel ranch & the unplanned successful town of Kimmelsburg. This is Vida's seventh novel. She's able to take a little known & even less depicted chapter of true Texas history & weave a novel around it.

Joseph Kimmel is the Polish-born Jew who is the protagonist of this novel. His growth from an isolated & self-contained schoolteacher in Independence, Missouri to a loyal friend & husband & caretaker for the folks who settle around his lands is the main story-line of this book. There are a number of minor threads to this main plot-line. Vida seamlessly handles them all. This book is about acceptance, self-acceptance, loyalty, diversity, abolition, violence, justice, vengeance, fate, coincidences, religion, love and friendship. It's well worth the time to give it a good read.

Reason for Reading: I love reading about the time period and the subject matter.

This is an epic drama of settlers struggling to settle in Texas during the years 1840 to 1854. What makes this book stand out from the rest is the characters. Rather than the usual group of white European settlers Vida has cast her tale with peoples who make an unusual yet enthralling story. Each having their own story, until they come together as a group of settlers, are a Polish Jew, an Alsace German, a runaway slave, a paid for slave family, a Mexican woman who may be a witch and her half white daughter. This group of people join and grow together in an emotionally strong bond and face the brutality of the Comanches, Rangers, weather and racism.

I was truly hooked with this book from the first chapter. Each character is introduced separately before becoming part of the group and while the story is told in the third person we are shown the story from various character's perceptions along the way. This is one of the most amazing group of settlers I have read about and I appreciate the insight into the story of the peoples often overlooked in telling of the settling of Texas. Character was everything for me in this book. I felt as if I knew them and certain events were emotionally disturbing because of that.

The plot itself is tremendous. What starts out as one man's journey, and a selfish man at that, turns into an almost Christian allegory of the downtrodden following the Jew believing he will save them and lead them home. He does ... partially, but he is *not* the Saviour. Instead it becomes a voyage of many souls and it is the weak and downtrodden that bring the selfishness out of the man, though unbeknownst to him, and very slowly, by the end of the book, he has been changed, just enough, by the events of his journey and by the people who love him, those whom he met along that journey. I could not put this book down! I even read at the table! Ultimately, a fierce new version of the Western with a bittersweet ending.

The Texicans by Nina Vida

Nina Vida's book is a character study of the variety of people who emigrated to Texas and formed the state. She shows the disparity between the newly arrived, the native Americans and the Mexicans. It is a tale of prejudice and perseverance.

I enjoyed the book. The central character Joseph Kimmel shows the strengths that define Texas and the flaws the define human nature. Kimmel's basic dissatisfaction with life and his unrequited desires for a life that might have been are central to the books theme. Each major character is totally humanized by Vida. They don't seem like characters in a book, they seem like real, live people. Katrin's desire to be the best she could be was both inspiring and sad. It seems like a sequel is necessary to track the further lives of these people. It was compelling voyeurism.

This book is very well written and seems to be well researched. Though really, how would I know? I am no expert on life in Texas in the 1800s. Each of the lead characters are well developed and have their own strengths and weaknesses, I truly love a well rounded character. By the end, I found myself falling in love with the character for 200 pages I hated. Vida has a way of writing so it seems to be going slowly like a hot summer day, but before you know it the book is finished.

In all honesty I found that this is a book is about the art of being human. While there is intrigue in the journey to discover the land of Texas and the hardships that are faced, each hardship is centered around human interaction. The acceptance, and/or lack there of, of the Jewish people, Mexicans, Black Slaves and Native Americans by the white settlers. Also the relationship of men and women is explored, especially the sanctity of marriage and how each character views it.

Who would like this book? Anyone interested in the journey to discover the west. Also those that are interested in delving into the relationships that people find themselves getting into. The subject matter is heavy and not to be read when in low spirits.

This is a good historical fiction about a forgotten group that settled Texas in the 1800's

This is a passage of what I wrote to my brother, encouraging him to read the book: "Its not a romance novel. The "love" story is certainly a thread through the novel and what binds the historical detail, but the historical detail was what really won me over and kept me listening (CD version). I was amazed and horrified and disgusted by the things the book describes. It was a tough time for everyone, but especially if you were black or Mexican. The marriage to Katrin was an amazing act of selflessness, but really short sighted because he was miserable as a result of it. It is personally interesting for us to read because you will read familiar names and places all through the book. So much of it takes place in and around San Antonio. The Texas Rangers come off very badly, but somewhat more believable considering the lawbreaking background that so many came from. The only geographical detail that continued to puzzle/bug me was the reference to the Guadalupe Mountains as being way too close to San Antonio and near the Medina River. Maybe the hill country west of the Medina used to be referred to as the Guadalupe mountains. Loved understanding hearing about San Antonio during this period, and "Laredito", the apparent name for the area around the missions where the Mexicans all resided.

Not sure if I would have enjoyed the book as much if George Guidall had not read it; in other words, I'm not sure what kind of read it is, but to listen to it is to become engrossed by it. I still dislike the name as dull and uninteresting. I was constantly think of a new more interesting name, though I haven't come up with one which fully and accurately encompasses the story."

The wide open skies and sweeping plains of Texas are the backdrop for this Western fiction saga that tells of one man's journey through life and the impact of those he meets along the way.

In an effort to diversify my literary diet, I recently accepted Nina Vida's seventh novel, The Texicans, for review. I'd never read much, if anything, in this genre and had some misgivings. My tally sheet of Western History authors was skimpy at best-one Louis L'Amour novel-The Last of the Breed-which was set in Siberia and had nothing to do with the wild American frontiers of the 1800s, and no Larry McMurtry (of Lonesome Dove fame). Happily, this book was a pleasant surprise!

The Texicans tells the story of Joseph Kimmel, former trapper and school teacher, traveling from Missouri to Texas during the 1830s to settle his recently deceased brother's affairs. Along the way, Kimmel is waylaid by myriad obstacles. After an escaped slave rides off on his horse, Kimmel struggles to survive, eventually finding himself caught up in the development of a new settlement.

Perceiving mismanagement in Castroville, a restless Kimmel sets off without a true course, encumbered by a new (and unwanted) bride. As they travel, the wagon fills with a cast of disenfranchised characters. Kimmel is helpless to resist the tears of one young Mexican woman who is rumored to have a bit of magic in her. Aurelia and her young daughter ride along with Kimmel's wife Katrin, and three adult slaves and their two children. The motley crew continues on, under constant threat of attacks by Indians and rogue Texas Rangers.

Finally, the group finds a parcel of land and they create their own ranch. Before long, conflicts with Comanches and Rangers shatter their peace. The second part of the novel focuses on Kimmel's internal conflicts-his unrequited obsession with Aurelia and his desire for revenge on a Texas Ranger who brought pain and suffering to his front door.

Character development was strong and even minor characters were well-developed. The characters were realistic because of their flaws, but I had trouble with the Kimmel-Aurelia angle of the story. Kimmel's wife was desperate to please her husband but he was so enraptured by mere thought of Aurelia that he couldn't appreciate what he had. Additionally, a large cast of minor characters were a bit challenging to keep straight.

Nina Vida's use of language helped provide vivid imagery and the struggles of early settlers came to life. Her attention to detail helped me picture a world that I knew little about. If you're looking for an introduction to the Western Historical fiction genre, this might just be the book for you.