Customer Reviews

The Way West

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Rarely is a sequel, whether it be a movie or book, as good as the original. But, rest assured that this is not the case of "The Way West," A.B. Guthrie's follow-up to "The Big Sky," and the second of six books in The Big Sky series. How good are these two volumes? Well, the first has been designated "the best novel of the American West" by the Western Literature Association. "The Way West" won the Pulitzer Price for fiction in 1950. Which is the better book? Impossible to tell, they're almost like two books in one. "The Way West" begins where "The Big Sky" ends in 1846 as Dick Summers, a true mountain man introduced in the original, is living as a farmer in Missouri. His sickly wife has just died and he is urgently asked to be the guide for a wagon train departing from Independence to Fort Vancouver in Oregon. What follows next are months of exciting adventures among the Indians, rattlesnakes, stampeding buffalo, raging rivers, and other obstacles they have to surmount in the quest to the west. The pacing of "The Way West" is similar to "The Big Sky." Quiet passages wherein we get to really know the many principal characters of the book interspersed with tension filled episodes of action. The details of the trek, the dialogue, the characters are so real that this book compels the reader to keep turning pages late into the night. It's amazing to discover and reflect on what these settlers went through to expand our country from sea to sea. I can't say enough good things about these two books, and once I take a breather, I'll move on to the next book in the series.

This book changed the way I read novels. I used to read mostly fast-paced books with lots of excitement, "page-turners" that propel you towards the ending. Although The Way West has a good story line, it did not develop in the way I expected. I kept waiting for the Indian attacks and shoot-outs, standard fare for a novel about a wagon train, but they never quite came. In the meantime I started to appreciate the way the author got into the minds of the characters, how well he described their lives and journeys.
This book is not so much about telling a story about a wagon train as telling the individual stories of the people in it. The book describes their day-to-day lives, their attitudes and motivations, and gives insight into the times in which they lived. The landscapes of the early west are painted beautifully. Guthrie does all of this in a writing style which is very readable.
Most novels today use techniques to keep you on the edge of your seat, so that when you finish a chapter you want to dive into the next. They manipulate the reader and compel you forward to the finish line and - if the author is crafty enough - to the next book in the series. This is much more about selling books than creating art.
I found that when I reached the end of a chapter in The Way West, I was often inclined to return to the start of the chapter and read it again. After reading this book, I started looking for books of greater substance, that create lasting images. Guthrie's other books fit the bill nicely.
The Way West is a beautifully written book. Slow down and enjoy it.

This sequel to The Big Sky continues the story of Dick Summers. It would be very beneficial to first read The Big Sky. I actually found The Big Sky more interesting and if possible, better-written, than The Way West. Both books are extremely interesting and hard to put down. The Way West tells the story of a wagon train on its way to Oregon. Dick Summers, an experienced mountain man, agrees to lead the group to Oregon. This takes place in the early days of the Oregon Trail when men were still working out the exact route they would take. There are six Big Sky novels of which The Way West is the second. I am currently reading the third book in the series, Fair Land, Fair Land. It is every bit as good as the first two. All of these books are historically accurate and, once again, very hard to put down. I highly recommend The Way West!! Enjoy!!

Basic Review

I was told to read the way west as a highschool [kid]. I'm glad I did! I havn't read The Big Sky the first in the series I only knew that is was a series after I read the way west but I still eaisly followed. Guthrie is an author that convey feelings and messages is little words a compelling gift. He also has a way with discription and makes understand the characters personality and way of thinking completely. I have long since been interested in the Oregon Trail and life of the pioneers and will gladly read the whole series. This book tells the harsh truth but without sentiment meaning it didn't bring tears to my eyes but made me stop and think. By the end of the book I was thankful for modern times though it made me reflect on modern families.

About the Book

The book starts out telling the story of Lije and Becky Evans and son Brownie after they get "the fever". They decide to go west to Willamette Valley Oregon to help settle the territory for America (joining a wagon train with people of different backgrounds and storys). Dick Summers and ex-mountain man agrees to go along and piot the train it encreasingly becomes his story. He falls in love with the mountains and old trails once more they don't understand it is part of him and at first envy how he knows and can do everything with little. If it were not for him the train would of gone through more trials and hardships than it did. He becomes best friends with them and there is a sence of loss when the mountains reclaim him. I want to know what happens the Evans family Guthrie wrote it that way and I was amazed I would like and appreciate a book written in 1950. I recomend this to everyone and history buffs finding it hard to get good books on the Oregon Trail before 1850+. The Way West had found a place in my heart and I declare it a classic by my standards for teens to adults. I know that everyone will approve and enjoy this book. It took me a while to read but once I got started I couldn't put it down!

I read this book because I so loved Guthrie's' first book, "The Big Sky". This is the one that won the Pulitzer though.

I have never been taken into a persons impression of the country around them or the grief at losing a loved one or any other emotional high or low place the way Mr. Guthrie could in this story.

In fact, if you are a writer or student of good writing or have any kind of appreciation for amazing prose like I have never found it anywhere in my life, then you simply must read this book. It's amazing that he can capture the wandering mind; the guilt and isolation, brotherhood and comradery, the follies of the heavy mind through lack of experience vs. the been there done that of the seasoned individual in an idiom unmatched.

So why the 4 stars you ask? Well should it be 4.5 stars? Frankly I wanted a touch more action. I loved the writing style . It was an experience and should be part of a true connoisseurs bookshelf. The writing was slightly better in this tome, but The Big Sky was a better story in my humble opinion.

The Way West is the second in the series of great Western novels by A.B. Guthrie. The story picks up in 1846 in Independence, Missouri, jumping off point for the Oregon Trail.

Former mountain man Dick Summers is coaxed out of farm life and back in to the saddle as the pilot of an early wagon train bound for the Willamette Valley. Summers is an American archetype - doesn't say much, doesn't get excited, knows how do the important outdoor things, he's beyond mere competence, but not braggy, even-tempered, yet underneath it, a compassionate man. Elijah ('Lije') Evans, the main new protagonist, becomes an unlikely leader of the cavalcade.

Guthrie introduces the characters that populated the Old West - big and small, courageous and cowering, mostly ordinary people. The book is excellent in historical detail - you feel like you are climbing Independence Rock along with Brownie Evans or crossing the Snake. The reader gets a real sense of the extreme difficulty of these early wagon train trips. To quote Dick Summers, "It ain't easy, but it ain't beyond doin' either."

Highest recommendation for anyone interested in the American West.

A.B. Gutrhrie has a mastery of the days of the mountain men and the first pioneers to cross the great divide to settle the far west. The feeling of being along the trail, the trails and joys of the people, and the land they crossed, can not be presented in a more expressive manner than by Guthrie. Most of all, understanding Dick Summers and his love of the untaimed land, wildlife, and people, wanting it not to change, but knowing his is part of the reasons in will, brings a deep feeling of sorry to anyone who feels as he did.

The Way West is the "epic saga" of a wagon train heading west to Oregon and although The Way West was a bit hard to get into, it was a real page-turner. At the beginning of the novel, the characters all blend together and it was hard to differentiate between them all. However, after the wagon train `hits the trail', A.B. Guthrie does a fantastic job at portraying the individuality of all of the pioneers through tone and imagery. The McBees, the 1800s equivalent to `trailer-trash', are represented as such when Guthrie makes Hank McBee out to be an arrogant, hot-headed, ignoramus. Likewise, I almost cried when the Fairman's sick boy Tod gets bitten by a rattlesnake and dies. Guthrie does a brilliant job at characterization throughout the entire novel.
In fact, it is Guthrie's characterization that portrays the prominent (in my opinion) theme of the novel, that morality is subjective and cannot be used to effectively judge character.
When I first picked up this book, I expected it to be a stereotypical western, complete with hostile Native Americans and disease-ridden pioneers. However, I found that Guthrie was very realistic about his wagon train and stayed away from typical motifs often found in westerns. Although I would probably not read it again, The Way West was an enjoyable novel and I recommend it to anyone who is looking for a quick read.

An outstanding story of American pioneers. This book is timeless. You feel like you are part of the wagon train on this incredible journey over the Oregon trail in 1845. This isn't some light Hollywood yarn. It is an immensely satisfying story rich in character development. You just don't want it to end. A classic.

I read The Big Sky two decades ago and was enthralled. Because I thought it impossible to top, I shied away from the sequel. But, while vacationing with my now adult daughter in Durango a week ago,I saw this title, and unable to buy her The Big Sky due to lack of inventory, I bought this for myself and had it completed in three evenings. It is a taut, moving, unromantic, yet inspiring account that brings the necessary humanity to our ancestors. While so many of us sit passively in awe of the pioneer achievements, books like this, with it's overriding realism avoiding angel and devil stereotypes, make me realize that there go you and I in another era. The heroism, strength and weaknesses of these characters is within and around us. Keep your map handy, especially if you are from and familiar with the West. You will travel right with them.