What do you think?
Rate this book
River's End: A New Story of God's Country
James Oliver Curwood (1878-1927) was an American novelist and conservationist. He was the author of over thirty wilderness adventure novels.
307 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1919
34 people are currently reading
102 people want to read
About the author
James Oliver Curwood
949 books120 followersBorn in Owosso, Michigan he left high school without graduating but was able to pass the entrance exams to the University of Michigan where he studied journalism. In 1900, Curwood sold his first story while working for the Detroit News-Tribune. By 1909 he had saved enough money to travel to the Canadian northwest, a trip that provided the inspiration for his wilderness adventure stories. The success of his novels afforded him the opportunity to return to the Yukon and Alaska for several months each year that allowed him to write more than thirty such books.
By 1922, Curwood's writings had made him a very wealthy man and he fulfilled a childhood fantasy by building Curwood Castle in Owosso. Constructed in the style of an 18th century French chateau, the estate overlooked the Shiawassee River. In one of the home's two large turrets, Curwood set up his writing studio. Curwood also owned a camp in a remote area in Baraga County, Michigan, near the Huron Mountains.
An advocate of environmentalism, Curwood was appointed to the Michigan Conservation Commission in 1926. The following year, while on a Florida fishing trip, Curwood was bitten on the thigh by what was believed to have been a spider and had an immediate allergic reaction. Health problems related to the bite escalated over the next few months and infection set in that led to his death from blood poisoning.
Interred in the Oak Hill Cemetery in Owosso, his Curwood Castle is now a museum. During the first full weekend in June of each year, the city of Owosso holds the Curwood Festival to celebrate the city's heritage . Also in his honor, a mountain in L'Anse Township, Michigan was given the name Mount Curwood, and the L'Anse Township Park was renamed Curwood Park.
By 1922, Curwood's writings had made him a very wealthy man and he fulfilled a childhood fantasy by building Curwood Castle in Owosso. Constructed in the style of an 18th century French chateau, the estate overlooked the Shiawassee River. In one of the home's two large turrets, Curwood set up his writing studio. Curwood also owned a camp in a remote area in Baraga County, Michigan, near the Huron Mountains.
An advocate of environmentalism, Curwood was appointed to the Michigan Conservation Commission in 1926. The following year, while on a Florida fishing trip, Curwood was bitten on the thigh by what was believed to have been a spider and had an immediate allergic reaction. Health problems related to the bite escalated over the next few months and infection set in that led to his death from blood poisoning.
Interred in the Oak Hill Cemetery in Owosso, his Curwood Castle is now a museum. During the first full weekend in June of each year, the city of Owosso holds the Curwood Festival to celebrate the city's heritage . Also in his honor, a mountain in L'Anse Township, Michigan was given the name Mount Curwood, and the L'Anse Township Park was renamed Curwood Park.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
January 3, 2016
John Keith has been hunted like a fox for the last three years by a man named Derwent Conniston, a Monty hunter. Three long years of cold, starvation and abject misery. He camped with Eskimos who were themselves in dire straits and was only stopped from going mad by being caught by Conniston.
In the weeks that follow however, Keith and Conniston bond in a friendship stronger than death. The two have more in common than just being the same age minus a few weeks, they look enough alike to be twins. Conniston has a frostbitten lung and a short time to live so Keith 'dies' and a 'new' Conniston is born. But Conniston dies before he manages to utter one final important message about his past, and Keith must bluff his way either to a new life or the hangman.
A great many complications come up, Keith fools most, but can he pull the wool over the discerning eyes of Shan Toug? And whatever will he do when Conniston's sister shows up? Worse, blackmail, murder and a sinister plot unfold from Shan Toug's kimono. A sweet love story is also part of the plot, but what does one do when the girl believes you are her brother? And will she want a murderer?
PG One or two swears. Some fisticuffs, murder etc.
In the weeks that follow however, Keith and Conniston bond in a friendship stronger than death. The two have more in common than just being the same age minus a few weeks, they look enough alike to be twins. Conniston has a frostbitten lung and a short time to live so Keith 'dies' and a 'new' Conniston is born. But Conniston dies before he manages to utter one final important message about his past, and Keith must bluff his way either to a new life or the hangman.
A great many complications come up, Keith fools most, but can he pull the wool over the discerning eyes of Shan Toug? And whatever will he do when Conniston's sister shows up? Worse, blackmail, murder and a sinister plot unfold from Shan Toug's kimono. A sweet love story is also part of the plot, but what does one do when the girl believes you are her brother? And will she want a murderer?
PG One or two swears. Some fisticuffs, murder etc.
December 30, 2015
Curwood knows how to write a rollicking good tale! I've reread this more times than I can count.
September 3, 2016
So I stayed up until eleven thirty last night, just to finish this, and the ending made me deliriously happy-in fact, I think I almost cried!
convict John Keith and Constable Durand Conniston share a secret-they both look alike. After chasing Keith across the frozen wasteland of the frozen Canadian North for four years, Conniston isn't going to be able to make it back-*sob*-and he has come to greatly admire and like this man he hunted down. For Keith, though he murdered a man, was not an intentional murder, and really quite an upright and honest man. Conniston talks him into trading identities, and after a few days coaching, he steps forth as Conniston, Royal Mountie.
But his biggest obstical turns out to not only be getting past the Head Commander, but Shan Tung, a Chinaman known for his photographic memory, and a horribly confusing surprise from Conniston's past that he neglected to tell Keith about.
The struggle for honor , truth and life is played out against a stunning background of wilderness.
Two thumbs up!
convict John Keith and Constable Durand Conniston share a secret-they both look alike. After chasing Keith across the frozen wasteland of the frozen Canadian North for four years, Conniston isn't going to be able to make it back-*sob*-and he has come to greatly admire and like this man he hunted down. For Keith, though he murdered a man, was not an intentional murder, and really quite an upright and honest man. Conniston talks him into trading identities, and after a few days coaching, he steps forth as Conniston, Royal Mountie.
But his biggest obstical turns out to not only be getting past the Head Commander, but Shan Tung, a Chinaman known for his photographic memory, and a horribly confusing surprise from Conniston's past that he neglected to tell Keith about.
The struggle for honor , truth and life is played out against a stunning background of wilderness.
Two thumbs up!
February 21, 2023
As I binge-watched movies featuring Lon Chaney, a.k.a. the Man of a Thousands Faces, I discovered the author of Nomads of the North and this other forgotten jewel.
This novel is genre-defying, partly outdoor adventure, mystery, and romance. The propulsive plot is dotted with lyrical descriptions of grand nature, on par with Jack London. The identity switch premise and mistaken identities provided frequent cliffhangers and food for thought. It's a window into a not-so-distant past when genre literature contained philosophical insight and a literary bent so conspicuously absent from today's cookie-cutter novels written with identical templates.
I'll definitely read the rest of his novels.
The only off-putting element is the blatant racism, not conveyed through the point of view characters but by the narrator's omniscient POV. It's really beyond the pale.
This novel is genre-defying, partly outdoor adventure, mystery, and romance. The propulsive plot is dotted with lyrical descriptions of grand nature, on par with Jack London. The identity switch premise and mistaken identities provided frequent cliffhangers and food for thought. It's a window into a not-so-distant past when genre literature contained philosophical insight and a literary bent so conspicuously absent from today's cookie-cutter novels written with identical templates.
I'll definitely read the rest of his novels.
The only off-putting element is the blatant racism, not conveyed through the point of view characters but by the narrator's omniscient POV. It's really beyond the pale.
November 11, 2019
Had a little bit of Mark Twain's Prince and the Pauper vibe to it in the basic sense. The story felt like it was going to be a great read but then it turned into the overused plot of the evil foreign man that is obsessed with one girl and she is in love with another and now our main protagonist is in a situation where he cannot declare his love for the girl who is believed to be his sister otherwise his whole identity is ruined! Oh my!
It really had the potential of being something I would really enjoy but felt like it twisted into a dime novel type of story.
It really had the potential of being something I would really enjoy but felt like it twisted into a dime novel type of story.
June 23, 2020
Great story about a fella being pursued by a Mountie; the Mountie dies of an illness. The man being pursued assumes the Mountie's identity and returns to their home base. The two men did look a lot alike and with a beard no one could tell the difference so he gets away with it. Of course there is a girl involved and a bit of a surprise ending but all goes well.
June 17, 2018
I would have rated this book higher if not for the racism. It is a swashbuckling adventure tale.
January 15, 2023
Curwood has been on my "to read" list since grade school. After finishing The River's End, I am eager to dive into his other works.
July 21, 2015
This book was enough of a mixed bag that I gave it stars, but not many. The driving thrust of the weird aspect of the story- a righteous white anger at a chinese man for his really especially weird plans for forcibly and possessively 'claiming' a 'golden goddess' of a white woman- set me off and really tested my patience. I totally get that old books often have their racial perspectives that aren't the same as ours, but dang, this one was driven and driven, as if it didn't have anything to do with a white man finding a Chinese repulsive, but to emphasize the impending assault of a white woman as some sort of fascinating horror for the reader. It stuck in my craw and felt yucky. But at the same time, the stunning reflections on being in the wild, of nature, and that especially gorgeous piece where the moon rose and lit up the camp, lake, and mountain...it just made me sigh at its exquisiteness. That almost got the book three stars.
The beginning was spelled out for us so the author could get to the bigger story, so while I was reading the first few chapters I didn't enjoy the overdependence on telling us everything. Few chances for depth for the characters happened that way and it took me longer to care about any of them.
But then I remembered this weird yucky feeling from some of Burrough's Tarzan books, those fascinated horrors for the sex drives of exotic savages and their mental flaws, yeah, that's what the whole Shan Tung thing in this book reminded me of. It's as if the book depends upon the titillating racism of the reader to add that extra oomph to the horror of the plot. And since I didn't want to remember certain of those weird and oppressive follow up books that came after Tarzan, I went a little punitive and dropped this one down a star.
But I will probably read more Curwood. I'll be cautious if more of his fanatical mystics appear again, but I truly love his love of Nature.
The beginning was spelled out for us so the author could get to the bigger story, so while I was reading the first few chapters I didn't enjoy the overdependence on telling us everything. Few chances for depth for the characters happened that way and it took me longer to care about any of them.
But then I remembered this weird yucky feeling from some of Burrough's Tarzan books, those fascinated horrors for the sex drives of exotic savages and their mental flaws, yeah, that's what the whole Shan Tung thing in this book reminded me of. It's as if the book depends upon the titillating racism of the reader to add that extra oomph to the horror of the plot. And since I didn't want to remember certain of those weird and oppressive follow up books that came after Tarzan, I went a little punitive and dropped this one down a star.
But I will probably read more Curwood. I'll be cautious if more of his fanatical mystics appear again, but I truly love his love of Nature.
August 10, 2011
Yet another chapter in the popular genre of the time where two strangers look enough alike to switch identities. A man is accused of murder and takes off to the Great White North. He's pursed by a RCMP who ends up catching up to him, realizing the suspect is innocent, also realizing they look incredibly alike, and then conveniently dies. The hero takes on the RCMP's identity so he can return to civilization and clear his/suspect's name and find the real criminal.
December 28, 2012
This is the second novel that I have read by James Oliver Curwood and I really enjoy his writing. His work is rather difficult to find but I have been able to locate several on Kindle, many are free. Curwood's writing style is very reminiscent of Zane Grey, it was also written in the same time period. If you are a fan of Zane Grey, Louis Lamour, or Tom Gill, you should give a look at Curwood's work, I think you will enjoy it.
January 3, 2012
Good read! When I was younger I read several of James Oliver Curwood's books. I'd almost forgotten him. I found this one as a free Kindle book and decided to give it a shot. Quite dated, and no longer politically correct of course, but still a basically great read! Bless Amazon, Gutenberg, et al for making all these older classics available.
March 26, 2013
Kind of a huck finn vs the pirates tale. I LOVED IT! Had to read this one carefully since my copy was over 60 years old and falling apart.
July 24, 2020
Was incredibly racist and sexist, but I enjoyed the beautiful imagery and interesting plot. Gives the reader a glimpse into life at that time.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews