The Way West by A. B. Guthrie, Jr.

[George]

Please comment here on ‘The Way West’ by A. B. Guthrie, Jr., 1950 Pulitzer Prize winner.

[Irene]

Is this the same as The Big Sky? That is the title that was in my email notification of upcoming group reads from GR and that is the book I have been reading. I am at the start of the final section.

[George]

‘The Big Sky’ is the first book is the ‘Sky’ series of six books. ‘The Way West’ is the second book in the series. I read ‘The Big Sky’ last week and enjoyed reading about the period 1830 to 1943. I am 50 pages into ‘The Way West’, which begins in 1853 with a group of men, women and wagons on a journey west to Oregon.

[Irene]

Not sure I will read the next book. I read the Big Sky. I thought that was the book we were reading. I thought the writing was excellent, but the attitudes voiced and embodied were repugnant. I can't read another 400 pages where I am told that a good woman should be silent, ready to serve her man and always sexually available. I can't take another 400 pages of racist comments about native peoples. I realize that it reflects the culture and attitudes of the time, but it is not a culture I want to spend long periods of time in.

[George]

I can understand your thoughts and reticence on reading 'The Way West' after reading 'The Big Sky'. In 'The Big Sky' I found Boone Caudill to be a most unpleasant character and women and Indians are treated appallingly.

So far I am a third of the way through 'The Way West'. The women on the journey are wives of mostly men who had been farmers. Whilst the women are not amongst the leaders and do not take part in the decision making, the leaders have issued rules around how they are to be treated with respect. Amongst the leaders is Dick Summers, who provides his pioneering experience. (Boone Caudill has not made an appearance yet).

The writing style is similar to 'The Big Sky', and after 100 pages, six Indians have been killed. In one scene, when the wife had said no to sex for a number of days, the husband ended up going off at night and killing an Indian.

'The Big Sky' is a very good read about the very early pioneering life. So far, I am enjoying 'The Way West' even more!

[Irene]

Well, that is somewhat encouraging. I would not expect that there would be no violence toward the native population. That would not be historically accurate. We can't white wash our history just to make current readers feel more comfortable. But the Big Sky just kept hammering and hammering away at the demeaning comments about women and natives. When Boon raped Nancy at the end of the book and saw no problem with his action, only criticized her for not understanding a man's needs, and the author let it stand as if that were acceptable, I was done. Having it end with Summer treating his wife so dismissively left the reader with the impression that a real man, one with the backbone and courage to settle the west, a real hero, was one that knew that white men are not only superior to all other creatures, but should dominate and exploit them all.

[George]

A well written novel about a group of Kentucky farmers, their families and some single men who decide to collectively travel to Oregon in the 1850s. The group consists of men, women, children, oxen, cattle, horses and wagons. A number of events occur along the way. It is quite a different book to ‘The Big Sky’ which is the first book in the ‘Sky’ series of six novels. ‘The Way West’ is the second book in the series and describes, amongst a number of issues, the effective, supporting role of women over the long arduous journey. The main male characters in this novel are more likeable than Boone Caudill, the main character in ‘The Big Sky’.

A great pioneering novel.

[Mary]

Just finished “The Way West” and found it very enjoyable. Have not read “The Big Sky”, but would like to read the third book in the trilogy.

Enjoyed this book as an audiobook — the narrator was great, especially his use of different inflections/tones for the various characters in the novel.

[George]

Thanks for your comments Mary. My book, ‘The Big Sky’ lists six books in the ‘Sky series’. I have since read in Wikipedia that the publication sequence is different from the chronological sequence. ‘Fair Land, Fair Land’ chronologically follows on from ‘The Way West’ and was published last of the six books. From a cursory reading of Goodreads reviews, ‘Fair Land, Fair Land’, is highly recommended. The other books in the ‘Sky series’, are ‘These Thousand Hills’, ‘Arfive’, and ‘The Last Valley’ and have received less favourable Goodreads reviews.

It is not necessary to read ‘The Big Sky’ prior to reading ‘The Way West’. ‘The Way West’ can be read as a stand-alone novel.

[Michael]

I’ll get to this one next month, I have two other Pulitzer winners to finish first! Enjoy!

[Irene]

Well, despite my lack of enjoyment with the Big Sky, I decided to read this one. I liked the characters more than Boon, but I think I liked the story less. It never felt like an organic narrative, but like a history lesson. It felt like Guthrie studied the experience of the mid 19th century wagon train with all their hardships, then plopped each one of them into the story as a history lesson for the reader: one rattle snake bite, one case of wagon fever, one dangerous river crossing, one buffalo stampede, one negotiation with Indians over a captive train member, one unwed pregnancy,.... I felt like this was like ordering off a menu at a Chinese restaurant: one from column A, one dish from Column B. Plus, you knew these families would make it to the west coast, would be the ordinary heros that settled this rugged land, so where was the tension?
Do the rest of the books in the series go through the remaining decades of the 19th century and the gradual settleing of the western half of the continent by whites?