Customer Reviews

The Way To Bright Star

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This is a story of a journey through Missouri, on to Bright Star, Indiana during the Civil War. But the story is really about the travelers and the people they meet along the way. The basic plot is that an Army captain has acquired two camels (brought from Egypt to test in the southwest deserts) and hires Johnny and Ben to take them to his farm in Bright Star.

There is a second, parallel plot line, narrated by Ben some forty years later, reflecting on his memories of the journey to Bright Star. It's an enjoyable read and definitely has a Mark Twain feel to it. There are constant troubles and setbacks, the goal seemingly never reached. They run into a variety of unique characters, many of whom illustrate the hostile attitudes caused by the Civil War. Overall, a pleasant, enjoyable story.

Comparisons to "Huckleberry Finn" or "Cold Sassy Tree" are apt. Like these other novels, "The Way to Bright Star" is an adolescent's journey through an America at war. The people met along the way are the book's greatest strength: soldiers, everyday farmers, a girl in disguise. The dialogue is great, and the settings evoke a time when our county was truly the new frontier.

But the jumps from the Civil War era to the early 19th century can be abrupt, and leave you with a sense of an unfulfillment. The ending in particular was very disappointing, both as flashback and in the narration. Is Mr. Brown planning to make this book a series? If so, the ending will leave you hungry for more. But if this is all there is, you're in a for a disappointing letdown.

"The Way To Bright Star" by Dee Brown. Recorded Books, Inc.1998.

The noted author and Historian of the West, Dee Alexander Brown, has branched out into fiction with this lengthy tale of delivering two camels from Missouri to Bright Star, Indiana. There are really two plot lines in this engaging novel. The first is the telling of the actual driving of the camels from war-torn (Civil War) Missouri to Indiana. It seems that Union Captain Solomon Lightfoot has dreams of a farming empire where camels would replace the horse and the ox. The good Captain "enlists" the services of Johnny Hawkes, young Ben Butterfield and a girl with the name of Jack Bonnycastle. With the aid of the Egyptian camel driver, Hadjee, this little group starts out towards Indiana. Their adventure allows Dee Brown to elicit the mannerisms, language and the simpler culture of a time long ago. This is told in the third person.

The second plot line, in the first person, presents the reminiscences of an older Ben Butterfield. It has to be some forty years later, since the characters discuss the assassination of William McKinley (1843-1901) and wonder if Pres. Roosevelt will be able to handle the office. (That's Teddy Roosevelt!) As the older Ben Butterfield remembers and relates, Dee Brown paints a picture of turn-of-the-century America, a simpler time when the telephone was becoming a jangling nuisance and rowing down a local river was considered a wonderful outing for the more adventurous in the town.

The novel comes to a nostalgic conclusion as the elder Ben Butterfield approaches his old circus that has come to town. He hopes to see his old friend, Jack Bonnycastle, who was really a girl, by the name of "Queen Elizabeth Jones". It seems that this girl had developed into a noted equestrian, who performed before the crowned heads of Europe. Due to a broken leg, Ben had been left behind as Queen Elizabeth and the circus had gone on to fame and glory. Ben Butterfield had always loved Queen Elizabeth Jones. The ending is rather sad but touching.

Tom Stechschulte does an excellent job in reading this book, nine full cassettes. The reader gives an unique and appropriate to the many different characters, ranging from wounded Southern soldiers to Hadjee, who has a little English and a little French. Well done. This presentation helped me to endure Boston Traffic.

This book certainly exposes the many untied knots in our lives. How many places have we been, how many people have we met that have only dissolved into our past? Dee Brown does a great job carrying his characters though an historical context. Like our own personal histories there are so many things that we only touched for a brief moment only to realize later that we can only dream about them later. Brown does an admirable job bringing the reader to this stark realization. All of us have traveling as Ben in our own ways. We will continue to do so. My hat is off to Dee Brown for writing such a memorable story.

While the characters are memorable and the story has plenty of dramatic and humorous moments, this was ultimately an unsatisfying book. After setting up numerous scenarios that beg for elaboaration, the author seems to lose interest and flatly conclude the situation.The fate of a main character and long lost love is summed up in one short statement. Several interesting affairs of the heart get started and are never resolved.A supposed orphan discovers a family member and no more is mentioned about the encounter. Even the main point of the titular journey, delivering the camels to Bright Star, abruptly ends with no resolution of their fate. In a way, the book does read like an older person's rememberances. it rambles, touches on points and finally, instead of coming to a conclusion, the author just stops talking. The book has its moments, but be prepared for some frustration.

If Hollywood is watching, this book is practically screen ready as it is full of absolutely fantastic dialogue. The characters in "The Way to Bright Star" add to the compelling tale. The author has conjured up a picaresque novel based on history and makes it oh so readable.