The Trees by Conrad Richter

[Sara, Old School Classics]

This is the thread for the July discussion of The Trees. It is the first of three books in The Awakening Land: The Trees, The Fields, & The Town series.

[Terry]

Great! I am in for these books, starting with The Trees!

[Lori]

Me too! My July is filling up fast! I definitely will put this at the top!

[Connie]

I picked up "The Trees" at the library, and am looking forward to reading it in July.

[Sara, Old School Classics]

I started this today. Only 32 pages in and already amazed. It is so authentic. (view spoiler)[The mother's death was so poignant and Richter did not spare any of the details. After how hard it was to trek all that distance, waiting for the cabin, putting up with the Indians coming as they please, then to die so young and so worn out. What on earth would those children do without Seyward? (hide spoiler)]

[Sara, Old School Classics]

Chapter 8: Settlement - (view spoiler)[I find animal cruelty so distressing, and yet I know such ruthless behavior existed in these wild and untamed places. Sayward seems to feel safer with people around, but I believe I would feel less safe with it being the kind of people Wyitt encountered at the post. (hide spoiler)]

[Sara, Old School Classics]

Widely worn throughout the United States, the short gown was easy to make and comfortable to wear. The short gown was worn by women of nearly every class, from enslaved women and servants to rural and well-to-do women for everyday informal wear. Easily adjusted and front-fastening, the short gown was also ideal for pregnancy and breastfeeding, which took up a large part of many women’s lives. A turn of the century woodcut with a baby on the lap of a woman wearing a high-waisted, hip-length short gown implies this uses follow fashion: many extant examples are clearly from the turn of the 19th century with fashionable high waists.

[Savita]

I am putting in a comment so I can follow the conversation . I will be joining for The Fields .

[Sara, Old School Classics]

This is the closest we have come to The Way West, where we started. I am loving this book and excited to hear what all of you think of it. I hated to start early, but July is an impossible month on my calendar and I didn't want this one to get pushed to the end of the month.

[Brian E]

Sara wrote: "This is the closest we have come to The Way West, where we started.."

After reading the Awakening Land trilogy I hope to read the Big Sky Trilogy sometime within the next year. I've purchased all 3 volumes of that one too. I think reading The Awakening Land before the Big Sky trilogy is the more accurate way, in both chronological and geographic terms, of reading the two trilogies. Basically, the awakening land is on the way west to the big sky land.

Actually, that is hogwash and a bunch of hooey, I'm reading the two trilogies in this order only because I missed out on the CUOC buddy read of it last year and have regretted it since. Books such as these are more enjoyable when read in concert with a vibrant discussion group. It helps that I still have the group's discussion to refer to when I do my read of Big Sky, so I can check on how others felt about events and characters in the stories.

[Sara, Old School Classics]

And if you post to the thread, the rest of us will just join in and discuss it all over again. The Way West books really have stuck with me in detail.

I love the contrast between the people who cannot stop pushing themselves further west and the ones who come to settle and stay put. It really takes both to have the outcome we have. But, Worth would fit in beautifully with Dick Summers.

[Terry]

Brian, I look forward to your comments on both series. The Big Sky series was very impactful for me, so I want to start this one and have high hopes. I have been reading The Lincoln Highway and I am almost done, so The Trees is next up!

[Rosemarie]

I read this book in January of 2021 and it has stayed with me. It has real feel of authenticity-and Sayward, of course.

[Sara, Old School Classics]

Please feel free to join this conversation, Rosemarie. I'm holding off on making any further comments until others have read it, but I expect we will have a good conversation as we usually do.

[Rosemarie]

Thanks, Sara.

[Terry]

You might want to watch this video about the First 48, the original settlers who went to Ohio. It is punctuated with pictures.

https://www.ideastream.org/programs/n...

[Terry]

Some historical background:

“In the Treaty of Paris that ended the Revolutionary War, Great Britain handed the newly minted United States a huge package of land—a region that includes the current states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin. With the passage of the Northwest Ordinance in 1787, Congress opened up this swath of wilderness for cheap to compensate underpaid Revolutionary War veterans. That ordinance, championed by Massachusetts minister Manasseh Cutler, also set three sweeping conditions for the territory: religious liberty, free universal education and the prohibition of slavery.“

(From a Smithsonian post about a book written by David McCullough.)

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/histor...

[Terry]

From the Yankee side of my family, my step fraternal grandmother descended from Reverend Ichabod Temple who settled in Clermont County (near Cincinnati) in 1816 and founded a church in Lindale, Ohio.

He was a Baptist minister who had previously started a religious society in Webster, Maine. In 1816, his first wife died in Maine and he made the trip from Maine to Ohio. He had a lot of children, by his first wife, many of whom lived in Clermont County and raised families. He is listed as a proven founding pioneer of Clermont County, Ohio.

I think his trip to Ohio probably occurred somewhat after the time frame in The Trees, but I imagine it was still a pretty rugged trip.

[Connie]

Excellent Smithsonian article, Terry! It's making me excited to start the book.

[Terry]

From p. 44 of my book - “gandersnipe. “ A gandersnipe is an old fashioned name for a great blue heron.

[Savita]

Interesting information you have posted , Terry ! Thanks !

[Rosemarie]

McCullough's book sounds interesting as well.

[Graham]

Count me in on the buddy read, too!

I tried to read The Trees about two years ago and, for whatever reason, struggled to get into it. However, since I am a strong believer and practicer of giving books second chances, I thought this would be an excuse for me to give this book another chance.

I was recommended by a user on another one of this group's threads to look into the historical background of this book. I thought this to be an interesting idea but I'm wondering what kind of historical background I need for this book. What is valid background info and what info would interfere with my reading experience?

As for the book itself, the blurb on Goodreads has lured me back into being interested in the book. I'm excited to give it another go around!

[Sara, Old School Classics]

Nice to have the personal background to relate to, Terry. I also looked up gandersnipe, although I knew it was either a heron or an egret from the description of the legs. The historical background you have given us is very interesting, and I love McCullough, so I will have to add the book.

Welcome to the read, Graham. I don't think you particularly need to acquire any historical background to read and understand the book, it is just a fun element to explore.

[Brian E]

I did read The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West and remember thinking it was just okay. In looking back at my 3-star review from July 11, 2020, I see that there is not much illuminating in it, except that I did end it by saying

"... This book also influenced me to add the three books of Conrad Richter’s The Awakening Land trilogy to my future Amazon order list. So, even if not one of McCullough's best, this was a worthwhile read."

Two years later and I'm finally reading the trilogy. I expect it to give me a better feel for the pioneer experience of settling Ohio than McCullough was able to do.

[Sara, Old School Classics]

It certainly did that for me, Brian. I felt like I was with them, standing in that dense forest that choked off the sky.

[Sara, Old School Classics]

So, Terry are you past Chapter Six, "Riddledy Me"? I want to know if my interpretation of the riddle is correct. (view spoiler)[ As I was walking down the lane
Out of the dead the living came.
Four there were and five to be
Now tell me this riddle or set me free.

So, are the "living" exiting a graveyard? And is one of the four expecting a child? - or - is this "living" coming out of the "dead" a religious reference and are they about to lay a fifth body into the grave plot where four already lie?

I'm not very good at these things and couldn't find anything at all about it online (darn--hate when Google fails me).

This is the chapter about the burying of Jary but also the one in which Genny tries to conjure whether she will marry. (hide spoiler)]

[Terry]

I am passed Chapter Six. I don’t know the answer to the riddle, but I will say this and hope I am not spoiling anything.

This goes to my background in horticulture. When a tree dies, frequently several will frequently sprout up from the base of the tree because the roots are sometimes still alive and they have all this energy, stored carbohydrates, that have to be expressed somehow. A metaphor for what just happened?

You might be able to answer the riddle several ways. Is there a more literal way?

[Terry]

Brian, while I am sometimes tempted to read non-fiction, I find that fiction is much more satisfying to me, so I will probably forego that book. I can usually look up the facts, but I always long to feel the experience of the history, and to do that, a novel gets there more easily.

[Sara, Old School Classics]

Terry wrote: "I am passed Chapter Six. I don’t know the answer to the riddle, but I will say this and hope I am not spoiling anything.

This goes to my background in horticulture. When a tree dies, frequently s..."

Like that thought, Terry!

[Terry]

Glad to have you joining us, Graham! After catching up with the thoughts and information posted here, I just let my muse dictate what else I research to enrich my experience. As a visual person, I appreciate images as well as words.

[Lori]

Sara wrote: "I started this today. Only 32 pages in and already amazed. It is so authentic. [spoilers removed]"

I just reached page 32 after taking a break from my read of Sophie's Choice to start this one tonite. I am also loving the authenticity.

Sara's spoiler(view spoiler)[Jary's death after such a journey was so sad but they had no choice but to leave Pennsylvania since their means of sustenance was depleting the woods there. Seyward has been a Godsend to her siblings so far. I can only imagine what's to come. (hide spoiler)]

[Terry]

Glad you are joining us, Lori! And I hope you like Sophie’s Choice as much as I did.

[Connie]

The setting was dark with so many towering trees that they could not see the sky, and only an occasional ray of sun peaked through. I read that Ohio was 90% forested in 1800. When autumn came and the leaves fell, the mother perked up for a day just to see some sunshine.

Sayward Chapter 8
(view spoiler)[Sayward is such a competent young woman - cooking, sewing, and taking care of the younger children when her mother died. When the family first arrived, there were no other people to turn to for help. Sayward just stepped up and kept things together, even when her father went off in the woods for days. (hide spoiler)]

[Sara, Old School Classics]

Glad you have started, Lori. Sophie's Choice is another great book. You have two good ones going at the same time.

Connie - (view spoiler)[Think how young she was to be taking on so much responsibility. (hide spoiler)]

[Sue]

Brian wrote: "Sara wrote: "This is the closest we have come to The Way West, where we started.."

After reading the Awakening Land trilogy I hope to read the Big Sky Trilogy sometime within the nex..."

You are so funny, Brian! I think you will enjoy them as much in the opposite order we did them.

[Sue]

I won't be able to start this for awhile. There was only one hard copy at my library which is The Awakening Land version that includes all three. I ordered via intra among the 3 libraries in my city 5 days ago and it usually only takes a day. I called today and the copy was damaged. I ordered The Trees through inter library but that can take up to a couple weeks so I also ordered The Fields also.

My library has audio but I gave it a try and can tell that I won't like that nearly as much so I'm waiting.

[Sara, Old School Classics]

Sue, I don't know if you mind reading online, but this is available at archive.org . Just in case it is something you might consider.

[Brian E]

I have just started, read 42 pages and am definitely enjoying it. I have been trying to place the story setting as most summaries only mention it as central Ohio. Being anal, I like more specifics on the location than the reader really needs.
To me, the setting must be more in southeastern Ohio as the book describes the Luckett's hiking away from the Ohio River, but they can't have gone too far in the amount of allotted story-time.
McCullough's book is about the settling of Marietta, Ohio, which can still be located on the Ohio River in southeastern Ohio. My guess is that this story is set somewhere more inland, either northwest on the way to Athens or more northerly. Athens is where Ohio University is, an institution that McCullough also talks about in his book.
My guess is consistent with another amateur reader's guess made when he attempted to read his way across the U.S.: https://readingmyway.blog/2020/03/06/...

[Sara, Old School Classics]

I think you have approximately the right area. I was thinking right around where Canton is. I think Marietta is definitely too southerly. They walked in from Pennsylvania and I thought there might have been a mention of Fort Henry, which is in what is now Wheeling, W VA. Hard to nail it exactly, but you definitely have it close.

[Sam]

I am reading this though I have not been reading much yet and have not made any comments.

[Terry]

Glad you can join us, Sam!

[Sara, Old School Classics]

Yes, glad you are here. Hope you are enjoying it, Sam.

[Lori]

Brian, I am exactly the same way about settings especially if I have a connection to the place. My mind focused on the Ohio River Valley and the Scioto River (which runs perpendicular to the Ohio River) mentioned in the first chapters. It begins in Portsmouth, OH (this would be the southern middle of the state bordering KY) and runs north for over 200 miles through Columbus. I grew up in Kentucky about an hour from Portsmouth and right where the Ohio River meets KY, W Va and OH. So I was excited at first thinking that the family was settling close to where I grew up. But they are definitely more north central if Canton is what we are thinking.

[Terry]

Here is an image of the forest at Scioto State Park.

https://trekohio.com/wp-content/uploa...

[Brian E]

Lori, that is consistent with something I had just read about The Fields. I will put it in spoiler since it is about where Book #2 is set: (view spoiler)[ Wikipedia states that "The Fields is set on the frontier in a fictional county near what is now Ross County, Ohio." The county seat of Ross County is Chillicothe, which looks to be on the Scioto River halfway between Portsmouth and Columbus. How they could have gotten there from Pennsylvania, I don't know. (hide spoiler)]

[Lori]

Yes, Brian, I’ve travelled that area many many times. When I fly home to visit family, I land in Columbus and drive straight south on US 23 through there. It definitely would have been wilderness.

Terry, this is the spot you’ve posted a picture of. This is a very beautiful area.

[Sara, Old School Classics]

It is still such a beautiful wilderness.

[Brian E]

FINISHED CHAPTER 8 (PAGE 97) - MINOR SPOILERS
While I have enjoyed the set-up so far, and appreciate seeing the Lucketts interact, I have to admit I feel happy that other settlers have arrived. I look forward to more interactions like the one with "Little Mathias" and the resulting Worth/Sayward exchange.

One problem with starting this book so early in July that it was actually still June is that, since I will finish fairly soon, I foresee myself having trouble being patient enough to wait until August 1st to read The Fields.

[Savita]

Terry wrote: "Here is an image of the forest at Scioto State Park.

https://trekohio.com/wp-content/uploa..."

Lovely !