Black Rock: A Tale of the Selkirks

by Ralph Connor

The story of the book is true, and chief of the failures in the making of the book is this, that it is not all the truth. The light is not bright enough, the shadow is not black enough to give a true picture of that bit of Western life of which the writer was some small part. The men of the book are still there in the mines and lumber camps of the mountains, fighting out the eternal fight for manhood, strong, clean, God-conquered. And, when the west winds blow, to the open ear the sounds of battle come, telling the fortunes of the fight.
Because a man's life is all he has, and because the only hope of the brave young West lies in its men, this story is told. It may be that the tragic pity of a broken life may move some to pray, and that that divine power there is in a single brave heart to summon forth hope and courage may move some to fight. If so, the tale is not told in vain.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Classics

322 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1898

About the author

University of Toronto educated Charles William Gordon, ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1890. Under the pseudonym Ralph Connor, he published more than thirty novels, including The Man from Glengarry (1901) and Glengarry School Days (1902). These novels made him an internationally best-selling author.

Reviews

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Important historical insight into the life of immigrant workers in the lumber camps and mining camps of British Columbia in the 1800s. Inspiring tale of a Christian preacher and the lives he influences.

[John · Rating 1 out of 5]

terrible religious junk. of course this is the opinion coming from an atheist , me. My book was an original published in 1896 and each page fell from the binding as I turned it making a mess making its reading even more annoying to me. The leather binding was the only good thing about it, all in the trash now.

[Sarah]

This book is a Christian social justice message of its time. It's all about the evils of drink. It was to bad that Conner chose to spend all his time on this issue instead of using his skill with the pen just to tell a good story (which probably would have conveyed his point better)

[Jennifer Booth · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was good up to

It was not bad until the near end of the book. Then the plot got twisted. I felt cheated about this book

[Scotty · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was so confused the whole time. I did the part about the minstrel show though. that was interesting

[Amber]

I found an old old old copy of this at the library (one owner wrote "December 25, 1904" on the inside of the cover) so I bought it out of curiosity. I look forward to reading it soon.