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Crossing Purgatory
In spring of 1858 Thompson Grey, a young farmer, travels to his father’s estate seeking funds to expand his holdings. Far overstaying his visit, he returns home to find that his absence has contributed to a devastating family tragedy. Haunted by remorse, Thompson abandons his farm and begins a westward exile in the attempt to outpace his grief.Unwittingly, he finds himself at journey’s end in the one place where his strongest temptations are able to over take him and once again put him to the test. Set against the backdrop of the frontier during the years just preceding the Civil War, Crossing Purgatory tells a story of unprincipled ambition, guilt, and the price one man is willing to pay for atonement.
293 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
August 3, 2013
Several years ago I read and enjoyed Migration Patterns, Gary Schanbacher's collection of short stories. I had been told that his writing would remind me of Ron Carlson's. It did. The stories involve colorful characters and unusual situations, and most of them are leavened with wry humor and light satire. So I recall the collection with a smile.
Schanbacher's perfectly titled debut novel, Crossing Purgatory, is different: It starts dark and ends up maybe hopeful, but the net effect, even month's later, is "haunting."
While his short stories are set in contemporary Tidewater Virginia, Kansas and Colorado, his novel takes place in the 1860s in frontier America just prior to the Civil War. The plot follows the trials and attrition of a wagon train clawing its way west on the Santa Fe Trail, and is peopled with characters of the sort desperate enough to attempt such a crossing.
By the time the final four of them make it to the Upperdine Homestead in Colorado, I was deeply involved in these four and their relationships, and then -- at roughly a third of the way into the book -- fresh and more sympathetic characters are introduced, and stakes become more complex, and richer. And from that point I ripped on through the rest of the book in an afternoon and into the evening, missing the sunset insect hatch on the Frying Pan. The woman in the fly shop said I should've been there -- trout taking dry flies in the riffles, gorging themselves. I told her about the book. She thanked me later; said her book club loved it.
The reason the book haunts me is that you and I are confronted daily with evidence of the cost of character flaws associated with unrestrained ambition. The fruits of such ambition are unlikely to be fulfilling, surely, but throw hubris and lack of moral compass into the mix and the outcome too often includes collateral damage to innocents. Universal stuff, unfortunately, and timeless. Pick up any newspaper, any day, anywhere.
I came to a point in my own life where I questioned the acquisitive trajectory of my journey, asking myself: "When is enough, enough?" It was then that I quit Manhattan and repotted myself in Colorado. (So maybe my own circumstances pushed me to rate this book a "five," but, hey -- the woman in the fly shop said she'd give it a real solid "four"). In the end, the lessons that the novel's protagonist, Thompson Grey, takes from his relationship with the subsistence farmer, Benito, sets his life on a course more based on humility and character. In this, there is hope.
Schanbacher's perfectly titled debut novel, Crossing Purgatory, is different: It starts dark and ends up maybe hopeful, but the net effect, even month's later, is "haunting."
While his short stories are set in contemporary Tidewater Virginia, Kansas and Colorado, his novel takes place in the 1860s in frontier America just prior to the Civil War. The plot follows the trials and attrition of a wagon train clawing its way west on the Santa Fe Trail, and is peopled with characters of the sort desperate enough to attempt such a crossing.
By the time the final four of them make it to the Upperdine Homestead in Colorado, I was deeply involved in these four and their relationships, and then -- at roughly a third of the way into the book -- fresh and more sympathetic characters are introduced, and stakes become more complex, and richer. And from that point I ripped on through the rest of the book in an afternoon and into the evening, missing the sunset insect hatch on the Frying Pan. The woman in the fly shop said I should've been there -- trout taking dry flies in the riffles, gorging themselves. I told her about the book. She thanked me later; said her book club loved it.
The reason the book haunts me is that you and I are confronted daily with evidence of the cost of character flaws associated with unrestrained ambition. The fruits of such ambition are unlikely to be fulfilling, surely, but throw hubris and lack of moral compass into the mix and the outcome too often includes collateral damage to innocents. Universal stuff, unfortunately, and timeless. Pick up any newspaper, any day, anywhere.
I came to a point in my own life where I questioned the acquisitive trajectory of my journey, asking myself: "When is enough, enough?" It was then that I quit Manhattan and repotted myself in Colorado. (So maybe my own circumstances pushed me to rate this book a "five," but, hey -- the woman in the fly shop said she'd give it a real solid "four"). In the end, the lessons that the novel's protagonist, Thompson Grey, takes from his relationship with the subsistence farmer, Benito, sets his life on a course more based on humility and character. In this, there is hope.
September 23, 2017
This is an amazing book, one that, after you read the last sentence, you close it slowly and hug it to your chest. It's a steady, quiet story with strong ties to the landscape. It’s often categorized as a Western, but it’s so much more than that.
Set in the 1850s on the border of the frontier, Thompson Grey is walking west from Indiana to start a new life. He is burdened with grief from a recent tragedy for which he blames himself. It's unclear if he's leaving his home because he has no where else to go and nothing to stay for, or if he's trying to outrun his memories. Along the way he encounters a wagon train also traveling west to find new land. The leader is Captain Upperdine, who’s interested in establishing commerce and trade in new towns popping up in the west.
Crossing Purgatory captures the harshness of the land, the cruel unpredictability of farming, the near-starvation in the fierce winters. The characters are stoic and taciturn, and the prose is sparse. There is a storm of grasshoppers, unrelenting danger of natives and thieves, and drought. The characters are trying to scrape by, and at the same time trying to overcome their pasts while planning for the future. Eking out a living on the Purgatoire River is test of faith and character.
Crossing Purgatory reads like a melancholy Steinbeck or a more coherent Faulkner. If you like introspective novels with strong character development and superbly-crafted writing, I recommend it highly.
Set in the 1850s on the border of the frontier, Thompson Grey is walking west from Indiana to start a new life. He is burdened with grief from a recent tragedy for which he blames himself. It's unclear if he's leaving his home because he has no where else to go and nothing to stay for, or if he's trying to outrun his memories. Along the way he encounters a wagon train also traveling west to find new land. The leader is Captain Upperdine, who’s interested in establishing commerce and trade in new towns popping up in the west.
Crossing Purgatory captures the harshness of the land, the cruel unpredictability of farming, the near-starvation in the fierce winters. The characters are stoic and taciturn, and the prose is sparse. There is a storm of grasshoppers, unrelenting danger of natives and thieves, and drought. The characters are trying to scrape by, and at the same time trying to overcome their pasts while planning for the future. Eking out a living on the Purgatoire River is test of faith and character.
Crossing Purgatory reads like a melancholy Steinbeck or a more coherent Faulkner. If you like introspective novels with strong character development and superbly-crafted writing, I recommend it highly.
July 8, 2013
3.5 Forgot how much I used to like Westerns, they went out of fashion for a while. I am glad to see they are making a comeback. Thompson Grey is a young man, has a homestead in Indiana, two sons and a wife. After a tragedy leaves him with nothing, he takes his guilt and makes the journey west.
With others he meets on the trail he hopes to find some redemption as he travels and unwillingly takes on the responsibility for others. As immigrants therelives were certainly tough, but this was a little different story than those about the homesteaders on the trail who froze to death, or starved to death or were attacked by Indians.
It is the differences in this story that I liked, a story about a man who cannot forgive himself, about the responsibility we bear for others and love of the land. There is tragedy for sure, no one back than had it easy, but it is these circumstances that built strength, of character and body. Sometimes I have a tendency to romanticize things in the past, books like this remind me of how hard lives were back than. Not sure anyone alive today could cope with all that these early settlers did.
With others he meets on the trail he hopes to find some redemption as he travels and unwillingly takes on the responsibility for others. As immigrants therelives were certainly tough, but this was a little different story than those about the homesteaders on the trail who froze to death, or starved to death or were attacked by Indians.
It is the differences in this story that I liked, a story about a man who cannot forgive himself, about the responsibility we bear for others and love of the land. There is tragedy for sure, no one back than had it easy, but it is these circumstances that built strength, of character and body. Sometimes I have a tendency to romanticize things in the past, books like this remind me of how hard lives were back than. Not sure anyone alive today could cope with all that these early settlers did.
March 2, 2016
“Crossing Purgatory” – written by Gary Schanbacher and published in 2013 by Pegasus Books. In 1858 Thompson Grey leaves his Indiana farm behind following a family tragedy and strikes out for parts unknown to the west. “He despaired time lost to foraging and rest, yet had not an inkling of his destination, a wanderer rather than a pilgrim.” This is a well-told story filled with lyrical descriptions of American landscapes, the mundane, day-to-day tasks of survival, and Thompson’s interactions with the pioneers he meets along the way. He “felt no curiosity about the world outside his range of vision, no need for companionship.” I’d say this was a quiet story, Thompson’s days fall into a comfortable farming rhythm, but there were also moments of terror, sorrow and poignancy stemming from the realities of frontier life just before the Civil War. In the end, perhaps Thompson has begun to make peace with his demons and has found a place to call home in the New Mexico Territory.
June 15, 2015
Outrunning guilt and shame never seems to be a good plan. The torment and difficulties faced by a man on the run from himself make for difficult reading. Still, it was all too easy for me to feel, in Schanbacher's stark and compelling descriptions, the heavy burden carried by Thompson Grey in his westward journey out to the forbidding wilds of Colorado. I was drawn into the harsh environment with its miserable extremes of weather, unforgiving terrain, a plague of grasshoppers, unrelenting disease taking loved ones, impassive judgments by dangerous strangers, and so many forms of bitter-pill swallowing along the way. At the same time, familial bonds are stretched and explored as trust is won or lost with abiding conviction and life-or-death consequence. The characters are well-developed, and they hold their judgments --and grudges -- deeply. The book is a haunting read and I expect it will stay with me over the years.
February 3, 2014
http://www.hcn.org/issues/46.2/storm-...
High Country News, February 3, 2014
Storm and stress on the frontier
Thompson Grey abandons his Indiana farm in 1858 and joins a caravan of pioneers trekking west along the Santa Fe Trail in Gary Schanbacher's accomplished new novel. Crossing Purgatory is a moral Western that questions what any decent human being owes another amid the harsh conditions of the American frontier.
Thompson's wife and sons died of diphtheria while he was away on a fruitless mission to seek an advance on his inheritance, and he plunges into deep mourning, blaming himself for being absent when his family became ill.
In grief and guilt, he tramps west, a man with his "spirit out of fix," and with no plan in mind until he encounters a caravan led by Captain Upperdine, a shrewd businessman who guides groups of potential settlers across pioneer trails and trades with Indians, homesteaders and prospectors along the way. Upperdine sees the taciturn wanderer as an asset, a competent and honorable man who can assist his current group of travelers.
When violence strikes along the trail, Thompson feels responsible for the pregnant wife and teenage son that the murdered man leaves behind. The one-time farmer, in his harrowing grief, would rather drift across the prairie like a tumbleweed, but that kind of behavior is not in his nature. He painstakingly fulfills both real and self-imposed obligations, and as a natural farmer, can't shake his dream for his own land, a yearning that sometimes leads him to act in unexpectedly rash ways.
When the group arrives at Upperdine's homestead north of New Mexico near the confluence of the Arkansas and Purgatoire rivers, Thompson settles in to help the folks he met on the trail, as well as the family of Benito Ibarra, Upperdine's brother-in-law. At this point, Schanbacher switches to Benito's perspective, hinting that Thompson may not be as pure in his aims as he appears. "Is this a place of banishment or of second chances?" Benito wonders when he looks at the land they now farm together.
Through clear, lyrical prose, and convincing historical detail, Schanbacher examines the moral dilemmas facing Thompson and Benito, men trying to lead upright and useful lives in a place ruled by lawlessness and the punishing caprices of nature. Crossing Purgatory is an especially thoughtful frontier story that will leave readers thinking about its characters long after the final page.
Crossing Purgatory
Gary Schanbacher
292 pages, hardcover:
$25.95.
Pegasus Books, 2013.
High Country News, February 3, 2014
Storm and stress on the frontier
Thompson Grey abandons his Indiana farm in 1858 and joins a caravan of pioneers trekking west along the Santa Fe Trail in Gary Schanbacher's accomplished new novel. Crossing Purgatory is a moral Western that questions what any decent human being owes another amid the harsh conditions of the American frontier.
Thompson's wife and sons died of diphtheria while he was away on a fruitless mission to seek an advance on his inheritance, and he plunges into deep mourning, blaming himself for being absent when his family became ill.
In grief and guilt, he tramps west, a man with his "spirit out of fix," and with no plan in mind until he encounters a caravan led by Captain Upperdine, a shrewd businessman who guides groups of potential settlers across pioneer trails and trades with Indians, homesteaders and prospectors along the way. Upperdine sees the taciturn wanderer as an asset, a competent and honorable man who can assist his current group of travelers.
When violence strikes along the trail, Thompson feels responsible for the pregnant wife and teenage son that the murdered man leaves behind. The one-time farmer, in his harrowing grief, would rather drift across the prairie like a tumbleweed, but that kind of behavior is not in his nature. He painstakingly fulfills both real and self-imposed obligations, and as a natural farmer, can't shake his dream for his own land, a yearning that sometimes leads him to act in unexpectedly rash ways.
When the group arrives at Upperdine's homestead north of New Mexico near the confluence of the Arkansas and Purgatoire rivers, Thompson settles in to help the folks he met on the trail, as well as the family of Benito Ibarra, Upperdine's brother-in-law. At this point, Schanbacher switches to Benito's perspective, hinting that Thompson may not be as pure in his aims as he appears. "Is this a place of banishment or of second chances?" Benito wonders when he looks at the land they now farm together.
Through clear, lyrical prose, and convincing historical detail, Schanbacher examines the moral dilemmas facing Thompson and Benito, men trying to lead upright and useful lives in a place ruled by lawlessness and the punishing caprices of nature. Crossing Purgatory is an especially thoughtful frontier story that will leave readers thinking about its characters long after the final page.
Crossing Purgatory
Gary Schanbacher
292 pages, hardcover:
$25.95.
Pegasus Books, 2013.
June 1, 2013
Given my policy of saving 5 stars for books that change my life, I'm going to say this is 4 to 4.5 stars, but if it lingers in my mind (like one story especially from Schanbacher's first book, a story collection), I reserve the privilege to upgrade it later.
I think of Schanbacher as a Western writer, but not necessarily a writer of Westerns, but this novel felt outside my comfort zone a little bit because it felt like a Western, certainly. That said, it is a beautiful book that gets better and better the longer I think about it. I picked it up as soon as it hit our local bookstore in late May and read through it less quickly than I might have, because I was savoring the language and landscapes, which are familiar to me as a Coloradan but new through the book. In fact, as I read, I found myself literally dreaming of the landscapes of the novel.
The story itself moves quietly but deliberately, telling of a man's grief and guilt in a heartbreaking way that nevertheless doesn't take pity on the characters or the reader. And though the idea of the story -- moving west -- is familiar, Schanbacher takes it on with what was to me a new approach, looking at the contemporary issues of the westward-bound trails and filtering the story's events through a lens of human vulnerability. In a couple of spots, especially toward the end of the book, I was genuinely moved by the events, and I admired the pacing as it develops into a resolution for the protagonist and the reader.
My husband has now begun reading the book and says it is exactly up his alley, as a fan of "The Sisters Brothers" and "Hell on Wheels."
I think of Schanbacher as a Western writer, but not necessarily a writer of Westerns, but this novel felt outside my comfort zone a little bit because it felt like a Western, certainly. That said, it is a beautiful book that gets better and better the longer I think about it. I picked it up as soon as it hit our local bookstore in late May and read through it less quickly than I might have, because I was savoring the language and landscapes, which are familiar to me as a Coloradan but new through the book. In fact, as I read, I found myself literally dreaming of the landscapes of the novel.
The story itself moves quietly but deliberately, telling of a man's grief and guilt in a heartbreaking way that nevertheless doesn't take pity on the characters or the reader. And though the idea of the story -- moving west -- is familiar, Schanbacher takes it on with what was to me a new approach, looking at the contemporary issues of the westward-bound trails and filtering the story's events through a lens of human vulnerability. In a couple of spots, especially toward the end of the book, I was genuinely moved by the events, and I admired the pacing as it develops into a resolution for the protagonist and the reader.
My husband has now begun reading the book and says it is exactly up his alley, as a fan of "The Sisters Brothers" and "Hell on Wheels."
September 7, 2013
3.5 stars. "Crossing Purgatory" is a historical fiction story about one man's struggle to try to atone for the sins he feels he committed against his family. This isn't a big, flashy novel. It's more quiet and subtle but still very powerful.
I really felt for the main character, Thompson. We don't get a lot of direct insight into who he is but through his actions, we, the readers, are able to understand how he leaves his farm, which provides a constant if not humble source of living, to venture to parts unknown out on the trail to go out west. This is a man who is aching. I did wish that we got a little more insight into exactly why what happened to his family affected him in this way. I wanted to be able to understand more about his motives to basically create a new life in a place that he never knew before. This story kind of keeps you at arm's length though.
Most of the book is focused on Thompson dealing with the loss of his family as well as how he makes his new life. We get to see the people he meets along the trail and how he becomes a farmer out west. His life is very different now and it was fascinating to read about how he dealt with the changes.
The writing in this book was pretty good. Like I said, this book is a very quiet book and it has quiet writing to go along with that. This is a book that you definitely think a little bit about after you've turned the last page. I wish the ending had been a little less ambiguous. The end came quickly and was over just as fast and I wasn't really sure what to make of it.
Overall, I liked the story for the characters and the scenery!
I really felt for the main character, Thompson. We don't get a lot of direct insight into who he is but through his actions, we, the readers, are able to understand how he leaves his farm, which provides a constant if not humble source of living, to venture to parts unknown out on the trail to go out west. This is a man who is aching. I did wish that we got a little more insight into exactly why what happened to his family affected him in this way. I wanted to be able to understand more about his motives to basically create a new life in a place that he never knew before. This story kind of keeps you at arm's length though.
Most of the book is focused on Thompson dealing with the loss of his family as well as how he makes his new life. We get to see the people he meets along the trail and how he becomes a farmer out west. His life is very different now and it was fascinating to read about how he dealt with the changes.
The writing in this book was pretty good. Like I said, this book is a very quiet book and it has quiet writing to go along with that. This is a book that you definitely think a little bit about after you've turned the last page. I wish the ending had been a little less ambiguous. The end came quickly and was over just as fast and I wasn't really sure what to make of it.
Overall, I liked the story for the characters and the scenery!
January 31, 2019
This book is divided into three sections. I loved the first third, which essentially follows the inner & outer journey of a man who's RIGHT at the cusp of a revenge story, but it's more of a grieving story. But frustratingly, once it hit part two, which was where I felt the natural endpoint for the story was, we're introduced to more characters and a kind of permanent residence, rather than being on the road.
My main problem isn't with the new characters, who are ... fine, I guess, though I found them difficult to care about. My main issue is that the book suddenly swerves into "this is symbolic; this MEANS something" territory. At one point a character who's been through as much hardship as our main character gives birth to a child, and the housemates ask her what the child's name is. "Destiny," she replies, and instead of snorting with laughter and asking, 'no, but seriously,' everyone is like IT WAS FITTING. Uuuuuugh.
Beyond that I don't have much to say. I liked it well enough to finish it, but it was more because I'd enjoyed the first section so much, not because I really cared about anything by the end.
My main problem isn't with the new characters, who are ... fine, I guess, though I found them difficult to care about. My main issue is that the book suddenly swerves into "this is symbolic; this MEANS something" territory. At one point a character who's been through as much hardship as our main character gives birth to a child, and the housemates ask her what the child's name is. "Destiny," she replies, and instead of snorting with laughter and asking, 'no, but seriously,' everyone is like IT WAS FITTING. Uuuuuugh.
Beyond that I don't have much to say. I liked it well enough to finish it, but it was more because I'd enjoyed the first section so much, not because I really cared about anything by the end.
September 7, 2017
I enjoyed the descriptions of pioneer life, in this book. Lovely prose. Characters that will stay with me.
But there seems to be a theme here, that reaching to invest in the future and expand your wealth through honest means is somehow a bad thing. I just don't agree with it. What's so wrong with wanting to increase the productivity of land? What's wrong with borrowing capital for a solid investment opportunity? Twice in the book really bad things happen when a character tries to expand his family's farm. I disagree that it is inherently noble to be satisfied with a life where you are just barely getting by, instead of working toward a bigger role in the world.
But there seems to be a theme here, that reaching to invest in the future and expand your wealth through honest means is somehow a bad thing. I just don't agree with it. What's so wrong with wanting to increase the productivity of land? What's wrong with borrowing capital for a solid investment opportunity? Twice in the book really bad things happen when a character tries to expand his family's farm. I disagree that it is inherently noble to be satisfied with a life where you are just barely getting by, instead of working toward a bigger role in the world.
July 28, 2021
Crossing Purgatory at times reminds me of the TV series, "Little House on the Prairie," which I loved. The challenges the main character, the farmer Thomas, faces are many of the same challenges faced by Charles Ingalls, although set in time a couple of decades earlier. Thomas endures tragedies and travels by foot far from home to escape, or try to escape, his memories and his depression. He has encounters with gold miners, murderers, Indians, pioneer travelers and Mexican Americans.
The first half of the book is much more interesting than the rest of the book, but I still feel comfortable recommending Crossing Purgatory to readers interested in novels in the Western genre.
The first half of the book is much more interesting than the rest of the book, but I still feel comfortable recommending Crossing Purgatory to readers interested in novels in the Western genre.
June 21, 2020
A western worth reading
This book explores the rugged frontier with language deeply embedded in the textures of the land; its harsh, unforgiving nature being tamed by the strong people exploring it. It follows the rhythms of the seasons and harvests, investing deeply in the emotions of the main characters. It tames them, but also reflects their desperation and angst in times of trial. This is a very satisfying read.
This book explores the rugged frontier with language deeply embedded in the textures of the land; its harsh, unforgiving nature being tamed by the strong people exploring it. It follows the rhythms of the seasons and harvests, investing deeply in the emotions of the main characters. It tames them, but also reflects their desperation and angst in times of trial. This is a very satisfying read.
January 30, 2018
I read this novel for our reading group discussion. I enjoyed the novel for the most part. I did like the easy writing style and the character development of the major players in the story. The plot seems to be a study in guilt and suffering through a sort of purgatory. I thought the end fell flat, like the author did not know how to end the story.
May 15, 2018
I was looking forward to this one, had it sent over to my library from another library. Then I started reading it and just couldn't connect to it. I'm not sure why...the writing wasn't bad and the characters were okay, but I just couldn't get into it.
November 22, 2018
This concisely portrays life and it's problems for explorers, miners, and farmers in the California region not long before our Civil War . It beautifully expresses the emotions of those who have to hold on even after loss of all their loved ones. I recommend it for teenagers and older.
May 21, 2023
I enjoyed the first part of the book but as for the next two sections it felt unfinished. Thompson failed to redeem himself with every decision he made. If redemption was the point of the book then I felt underwhelmed by what the author chose to do for all his characters.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 8, 2019
Could not finish; this brings nothing new to the genre.
December 11, 2014
I love books about the Old West, but sometimes they just don't seem authentic to me. However, Crossing Purgatory, by Gary Schanbacher, is thrillingly authentic, as it chronicles a man who leaves his life behind in Indiana in the 1850s and heads west.
Thompson Grey is our hero. He had gone east to ask for a loan from his father, as he had big ideas for his farm. Refused, he goes back home to find his wife and sons in the grip of a disease. They all die, so he buries them and just starts walking west.
He is all the way in Missouri before joining a wagon train. The captain, named Upperdine, likes Grey's work ethic, and hires him to continue on across Kansas. There have been a lot of books and films about the westward migration, but this one really was effective, capturing the fear and the boredom: "Much of the walking was spent in silence, the creaking of wheels, the squeal of the brake lever on steeper downgrades, an occasional shouted command. They made good time, twelve, fourteen miles a day, dust always with them, coating their clothes, hair,"
Grey becomes friendly with a family from Ohio, the Lights. Tragedy strikes, though, and he is left feeling responsible for the surviving family members. He and the Lights head to Upperdine's spread near the Purgatoire River (I did some figuring and this appears to be southeastern Colorado). Grey works the land, and then they are joined by Upperdine's partner, Benito, who has left behind his placita in New Mexico with his family to try to make it on this new land.
There have also been a lot of books about new land, and the attraction to it. This book is also exceptional in expressing that concept. The oddly configured family deals with various obstacles--locusts, freak snow storms, bandits, and a badly timed broken leg, but they endure. Grey, still haunted by what he left behind, can't decide if he wants to push on or stay and realize his dream. "He felt as ease in his labor, a liberation to be lost in motion unforced and effortless and so closely part of his nature. But, occasionally, that same movement triggered memory, and his mind would wander back to other reaping, other fields, and his rhythm would break, the scythe moving with an uneconomical jerkiness, and he'd find himself hacking at the ground. He'd stop, drop the tool, move his hands to the small of his back, stretch, knead flesh on muscle, attempt to return to the here-and-now, his breath, taking in this air in this place at this time, and after a while, he'd take up the scythe and continue on."
Crossing Purgatory is beautifully written, and I appreciated that while Schanbacher can certainly be lyrical, he exercises restraint and doesn't go overboard. This is especially true of the dialogue--these people are not verbose, and say exactly what they mean and no more. I find some Westerns (I'm looking at you, Deadwood) have their characters sound like they swallowed dictionaries. This book is a refreshing change.
I would actually like to know more about the fate of these characters, so perhaps a sequel or two is in order. I was particularly fascinated by Upperdine, who can't stay still long, and repeatedly returns to the trail, where he likes to make deals, but isn't hesitant about using a gun.
February 17, 2017
I read this book because I have an affinity literary novels set in Nineteenth Century American. Such as "Blood Meridian" by Cormac McCarthy, "In the Rogue's Blood" by James Carlos Blake and "Tentmaker" by Clay Reynolds.
This novel, I felt held much promise: The outlook in traveling west, the encounter with Indians, violence due to beliefs which brought on the Civil War, death mourning, the portrayal of Hispanics, etc. I do not mind bleak endings, but the protagonist sacrificing himself and his future for others without repayment was too much for too little. It seems that the antagonist turned out to be a combination of the protagonist himself and the man whom he worked his tail off for.
This novel, I felt held much promise: The outlook in traveling west, the encounter with Indians, violence due to beliefs which brought on the Civil War, death mourning, the portrayal of Hispanics, etc. I do not mind bleak endings, but the protagonist sacrificing himself and his future for others without repayment was too much for too little. It seems that the antagonist turned out to be a combination of the protagonist himself and the man whom he worked his tail off for.
February 15, 2014
This was a book club selection. I wasn't enthusiastic, but often in book clubs I am surprised. This book reads like a diary written by a laconic man. As you read along, you can understand the muted tone, and the struggle. I was also reminded that in our generation, we bare it all, but in this much earlier period in the US expansion to the west, people were more reticent and less open emotionally. People had hard lives, and had to learn to deal with huge difficulties, things like starvation and marauders. Death was a familiar presence out on the prairies where a broken leg might fester and there wasn't a doctor for miles, where an unexpected storm could kill off the next season's crops, leaving a family without resources. I wasn't enthusiastic about this book, but it might be a book that sticks with me.
September 7, 2014
Fleeing tragedy at his family homestead in Indiana, Thompson Grey joins a wagon train moving west on the Santa Fe trail. Along the way he meets people that need his help--a family attacked by bandits, a Mexican emigrant family hoping to build a new life along the Arkansas River. Will he re-connect with human society, or continue fleeing his demons? That is the dilemma raised in Gary Schanbacher’s Crossing Purgatory, a terrific new historical novel my wife and I just finished reading. The book is exceptionally well researched, but the author doesn’t hit you over the head with it. Instead, you feel transported to a different time and place, fully real, and are caught up in the characters’ stories. A great combination.
July 23, 2013
The story is interesting and exciting enough to carry this book, but the confrontation with "questions of unprincipled ambition and guilt" and the discussion of guilt and atonement in the book was muddled. I found it hard to understand the protagonist's extreme sense of guilt he felt for deaths that he in all likelihood could not have prevented even if he had made other decisions. The protagonist's continual punishment of himself for the wrongs he felt he had committed and his constant debate over what to do with his life was distracting and at time annoying. So too, the ending was abrupt and ambiguous. Expect to be left hanging regarding the fate of this character.
June 8, 2015
Enjoyed this historical novel by a Colorado author. Told of a period 150+ years ago and had similarities to another book I recently read, Pioneer Women, Voices from the Kansas Frontier. Fiction vs. recorded real life. Was interesting reading of our part of the country in developmental stage and the hard life people had in building their homes, growing crops on a more challenging land, and the challenges such as grasshopper blitz of everything outside at the time. The main character was running from tragedy in his past and there are other hard realities in this story which characters deal with as well as having caring individuals who maintain the balance needed. An enjoyable read.
February 4, 2017
This story follows a young man (Thompson) whose family died during an illness and he is so devastated he leaves behind his land, house, everything to join the settlers setting out west. While he set out alone, he ends up joining a wagon group that is traveling together. They face many hardships while traveling and he ends up feeling obligated to help a young widow whose husband is murdered while on the trail. When he left his farm, he vowed to never farm again, but the land is calling him back. The group settles at the Purgatoire River and Thompson is faced with what to do with his future. I like westerns but I love frontier stories, and if you do as well, you will love this book.
September 15, 2016
3* A couple years ago I tried this book (see below). This time I finished it. I have to say that I found it to be one serious, heavy, depressing story. There are some more uplifting parts, but it is definitely not light entertainment. I imagine it portrays a harsh life and harsh period of time fairly accurately, and the reality ain't always purdy. So, although it wasn't much fun, I think it did show me a picture of life and I appreciate that.
2014 Reading: hmmm, this is nasty, ugly, depressing, and hard for me to get into.
No, it's not for me right now.
2014 Reading: hmmm, this is nasty, ugly, depressing, and hard for me to get into.
No, it's not for me right now.
February 5, 2017
This novel is beyond the 5 star rating I gave it, because it deserved much more.
Thompson Grey in 1858 begins his journey west. He has just experienced the deepest grief a person can experience, and along with his grief, comes guilt, and shame. He leaves what he has left of his worldly possessions, his home and his farm, and a life he loved, and simply walks away. He only takes what he can carry, and seeks solitude. He can barely live with himself....he just walks.
This is a story of hopeful redemption ... and can he find it?
This book is beautifully written and touched my soul.
Thompson Grey in 1858 begins his journey west. He has just experienced the deepest grief a person can experience, and along with his grief, comes guilt, and shame. He leaves what he has left of his worldly possessions, his home and his farm, and a life he loved, and simply walks away. He only takes what he can carry, and seeks solitude. He can barely live with himself....he just walks.
This is a story of hopeful redemption ... and can he find it?
This book is beautifully written and touched my soul.
July 24, 2013
Thompson Grey, due to an error in judgement, is away from home when his wife and young sons die in their Indiana cabin. Distraught and guilt-ridden, he leaves, and by walking, slowly makes his way west. He joins up with a wagon train on the Santa Fe trail and this story is of the people he met, and his slow return to a normal life. Set in the west just prior to the Civil War, this is an excellent tale of American life and all it's hardships during the way west.
July 5, 2015
Crossing Purgatory (CP) gets off to a strong start. It has me wanting to read his first book, now, too.
Strong finish ... CP deserves nomination (as a potential Spur Award) for this year's best historical fiction novel of the American West. It isn't a Western. It is a novel set in the American West a few years before the Civil War erupts, when Kansas is not yet a state. A novel that deserves mention along with Lonesome Dove and Riders to Cibola.
Strong finish ... CP deserves nomination (as a potential Spur Award) for this year's best historical fiction novel of the American West. It isn't a Western. It is a novel set in the American West a few years before the Civil War erupts, when Kansas is not yet a state. A novel that deserves mention along with Lonesome Dove and Riders to Cibola.
May 30, 2016
Wonderful book
I read many books. Being an artist and prone to write poetry and prose I am drawn to the written word and how it draws you a picture and takes you out of this present time into another.
Eloquent and moving, joyful and sorrowful this was one book I could have continued reading for many more hours and days. I was moved to tears by the end yet satisfied with it. Outstanding book. Outstanding author. It was a pleasure from beginning to end.
I read many books. Being an artist and prone to write poetry and prose I am drawn to the written word and how it draws you a picture and takes you out of this present time into another.
Eloquent and moving, joyful and sorrowful this was one book I could have continued reading for many more hours and days. I was moved to tears by the end yet satisfied with it. Outstanding book. Outstanding author. It was a pleasure from beginning to end.
August 28, 2013
Atonement and redemption - Thompson Gray, post-civil-war era farmer, abandons his farm after his young family dies, and heads west, accidentally falling in with a wagon train of abolitionists. Things go wrong at every turn and bad men are everywhere, but Thompson keeps trying to help people and set things right. Powerful story-telling, skillfully written.
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