Customer Reviews

Tom Wedderburn's Life

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Tom Wedderburn has every opportunity to have a full life. Although he is born into a poor family and grows up in the early 20th-century Wyoming wilderness, his early ambitions take him to other parts of the world. He fights in World War II as a Marine Raider on Guadalcanal, leads men during the invasion of Iwo Jima, captures the heart of a beautiful nurse, and becomes a wealthy man in his later years. Yet Tom Wedderburn dies an unmarried, childless, and nearly penniless man.

Why? Because Tom Wedderburn is a pessimistic man. He contends that early in his life, he "over emphasized the power of thinking positive thoughts." He believed that "to admit a single moment of doubt and to see an alternative future in which the worst occurred was to bring the full catastrophe." During the war, he refuses to show any measure of friendship toward the men who serve with him after witnessing the deaths of several members of his first troop. He does not want to suffer any grief just in case any of them are killed in action. While in the hospital recovering from injuries he suffers in the war, he becomes attracted to a young nurse who eventually lets him know she has feelings for him. But just when the relationship turns serious, he runs away for no other reason than fear. The nurse offers him everything he wants in life, yet his doubts make him believe the worst will somehow come of it.

Tom's other lifetime problem is a girl named Julia. He falls in love with her when they are just children. But just like Forrest Gump's Jenny, Julia doesn't even consider spending her adult life with a small-town boy. Still, Julia also returns to Tom as a down-and-out adult, but where Jenny gave Forrest a son, Julia only gives Tom more reasons to remain a doubtful man.

Author Theodore Judson creates a character who is unfortunately believable. Unfortunate because, like so many of us, Tom lives a life of missed opportunities and bad decisions. Tom's story is told in his own voice, a wise decision on Judson's part since simply relaying the highlights of such an unproductive life without offering up personal reflections would border on the humdrum.

Much like Tom's life, the book Tom Wedderburn's Life is a so-so story that leaves the reader shaking his head, quite sure that given the opportunity he would do things differently. But perhaps that's the whole point author Judson is trying to make. We make the decisions in our lives based on our own beliefs and situations. We also judge others accordingly. So who are we to say that Tom Wedderburn did not live a full life? If a full life means having a family and money in the end, than Tom's life doesn't measure up to one. But, if like Tom, we live a life honest to our nature, then we can go to our graves with some measure of satisfaction.

by April Galt for Curl up with a Good Book, 2002

Adroitly written by Theodore Judson, Tom Wedderburn's Life is the story of a rural man who grew up with traditional nineteenth-century values, only to find himself thrust into a continually conflicting twentieth century world. From lost love with a woman he cannot understand, to enduring the hell and horror that was the World War II battlefield, to facing the ravages of old age alone with little more than his dignity, Tom Wedderburn's Life is the memorable and highly recommended saga of a man's experience and also of the pursuit of happiness, a chase that is not necessarily futile.

For a little known writer from a little known publisher to write such a delightful and polished book seems little short of a miracle. I LOVED this book from the first page to the end. The narrator, the eponymous Tom Wedderburn, stands with other great narrators like Jake Barnes. The first part of the book was my favorite recounting the narrator's childhood in Wyoming. Parts were so lyrical they could have been written by Twain or Faulkner. The summer spent in Julie's shadow was for me the best part of the book. Then comes the coming of age as the narrator heads off to the marines and eventually to Iwa Jima. This was a great war account, reminscent of The Things they Carried. Except for a few small typos, the book is incredibly rich and powerful. I admit I was sad when I turned the last page. Let's hope this writer is "discovered" so he can gain more exposure for his excellent writing.

In "Tom Wedderburn's Life" you can hear the bright song of the meadowlark, smell the tang of the sage brush and see the fat sheep grazing on a Wyoming hillside. You can also hear the screams of the dieing on Iwo Jima, smell the fear and see the look of horror in their eyes. The ability of this author to paint pictures with words and to draw you into Tom's life is true poetry. The accounts of life in early Wyoming are funny and sad and true. An innocent time when many were poor in worldly goods but rich in family, friends and love of the land. It is also the story of young men and war and of a generation that came home maimed in body and mind. Having recently returned to live in the Valley of the Wind, in the shadow of "the lady's right arm", I understand Tom's driving need to return regardless of the cost. This is a haunting first novel that touches close to your heart, it awakens old memories and opens new insights. I look forward to more from this excellent author. On still nights, when the Wyoming sky is alive with stars, I can almost hear the sweet notes from Tom's violin.

This was one of the best reads I have had in a long time. Tom Wedderburn is as engaging a hero as one could hope for. And make no mistake, he is a hero despite his own claims to the contrary. At various times he made me laugh, cry and feel a myriad of feelings in between. I swear that at times I could even feel the Wyoming wind and hear the music that Tom played and sang. My only real regret was that the end came too soon. I wanted more, much more. Hopefully Mr. Judson will give us more in the near future.

This book can stand beside the Virginian in its view of Wyoming in the last century. I have lived here for over 50 years and find his, Theodore Judson's,description of our country and peoples. It is also a moving description of one man's view of the war in the islands during World War 2. I was moved by the line "I was here when the beast was born, it was an ugly baby and it grows more ugly still."

This interesting novel by a new writer intrigued me. It is a story of frustration, humiliation, hunger, and horror set in of all places, central Wyoming and the Pacific theater of World War II. Tom Wedderburn is a survivor, simple and uncomplicated by definition, but complex and deeply introspective in reality. I'm still not sure I understand all of his motives and reactions, but I admire him and believe he is worth knowing. His ability to subjugate his desires and ambitions baffled me until I came to know him at the end of the novel as a fulfilled, satisfied man . I may take up sheep herding myself. The story is good; the language is beautiful.

Holy crap this is a great book! I know, I sound like Raymond's father; but I just wanted to be sure I adequately conveyed my enthusiasm for this novel. I cannot recommend it highly enough. How's that? Tom Wedderburn is a character I will not soon forget. I will place him up there with Stoner, a character created by another fine western writer, the late John Williams. Like Wedderburn, Stoner was a largely solitary and absolutely honorable man whose life was not particularly happy. The fact is, TWL reads like a memoir, like a very good memoir. I was hooked from the book's opening line: "My dad warned me early on that other people would not be interested in my story." I was still hooked at the last page and wished there were more, as Tom Wedderburn finally says: "...somehow happiness had survived as long as we had. I cannot write anything more true than that. I will miss the moments of happiness when I am gone from the earth, and I hope God grants me more of them in the place I'm going." While this is a serious book about an honorable man, the way Judson often slips in some subtle humor makes the story even richer. His description of a Marine drill sergeant at Parris Island and the DI's dead-on accurately obscene haranguing of the new recruits is simply classic and made me laugh out loud. I will say it again. Tom Wedderburn is as real as any fictional character can get and this is a wonderfully human, funny and moving story. Having said all this, I must warn you of one niggling fault with this book. It was published carelessly by a company apparently only interested in getting paid; and it is simply riddled with dozens of typographical errors. A good editor would have fixed this. But IN SPITE of this problem, this is still a TEN-STAR memorable read. I can't believe that this was Judson's first book, or that a NY publisher didn't snatch it up. Well, enough raving, I suppose. Loved this book! - Tim Bazzett, author of Soldier Boy: At Play in the ASA

This book pulled on every emotion--my definition of a great book. You walked away feeling a little sorry for Tom but also maybe a little envious of his ability to find peace in simplicity.