Scan barcode
kbebo's review against another edition
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
lisawreading's review against another edition
4.0
Snow Mountain Passage is a top-notch historical novel, sharply bringing to life the tragedy of the Donner Party. Alternating chapters vividly portray the struggles of the stranded travelers and the determination of the exiled James Reed to find a way to save his family from certain death. The characters are vivid and memorable, and the author does a masterful job of taking a well-known story and imbuing it with humanity.
rachelgertrude's review against another edition
2.0
I was drawn to this book because it is a fictionalized account of the Donner Party, and I think the history of Westward expansion is fascinating.
Houston alternates between telling the story of the mountain-bound Donner Party in the "Trail Notes of Patty Reed", and narrating the tale of Patty's father, Jim Reed, who was initially expelled from the wagon party for killing a man, and who later returned from California to rescue his family and those they traveled with.
I found myself skipping over the long chapters that focused on Jim Reed's travels back to his family, looking for the less-frequent but far more interesting Trail Notes excerpts. Who really cares what small adventures Jim Reed faced compared to the haunting experiences of those in the Donner Party? I can understand Houston's desire to explore the intriguing character of Jim Reed, but his story still couldn't possibly compete with that of the Donner party.
This book was thought-provoking, articulating quite well the joys and difficulties of living with others. The Reed family faced enormous trials on their way to California. The head-strong mistakes Jim Reed made on the journey West were paid for dearly by his wife and children; yet, in the end, it was the same headstrong nature that drew him to return in very difficult conditions to rescue them. This is an inspiring tale of courage and perseverance.
Houston alternates between telling the story of the mountain-bound Donner Party in the "Trail Notes of Patty Reed", and narrating the tale of Patty's father, Jim Reed, who was initially expelled from the wagon party for killing a man, and who later returned from California to rescue his family and those they traveled with.
I found myself skipping over the long chapters that focused on Jim Reed's travels back to his family, looking for the less-frequent but far more interesting Trail Notes excerpts. Who really cares what small adventures Jim Reed faced compared to the haunting experiences of those in the Donner Party? I can understand Houston's desire to explore the intriguing character of Jim Reed, but his story still couldn't possibly compete with that of the Donner party.
This book was thought-provoking, articulating quite well the joys and difficulties of living with others. The Reed family faced enormous trials on their way to California. The head-strong mistakes Jim Reed made on the journey West were paid for dearly by his wife and children; yet, in the end, it was the same headstrong nature that drew him to return in very difficult conditions to rescue them. This is an inspiring tale of courage and perseverance.
alexctelander's review against another edition
4.0
Anyone who took high school American history is familiar with the Donner party and the great tragedy that befell them when they attempted the monumental crossing from Illinois to California; they got snowed-in in the Sierra Nevadas and had to resort to cannibalism to survive starvation.
Everyone is familiar with the grisly details of this doomed journey. In James D. Houston’s Snow Mountain Passage, new insights are brought to life, and the reader is taken on a journey quite different from the one they learned about in American history 101.
“I gaze down from the summit at the icy ring of Truckee Lake, the one they now call Donner,” recounts Patty Reed, one of the survivors, in her diary some 75 years after that cruel winter, “an it’s odd to think that neither George nor Jacob ever got anywhere near the lake that is named for them . . . It tells you something about the way things get remembered.”
Our main family is not the Donners but the Reeds, our narrator is Jim Reed (and Patty Reed through her diary), who is forced to leave the party after an erratic act of promoted violence that leaves one of the 80-member party dead. Ahead he goes and makes it to the wonderful land of California, which is currently – in 1846 – in turmoil. There are the Californians, who are the natives, the Mexicans, who still hold rights to the country, and then there are the Americans trying to take California from the Mexicans.
Jim Reed is thrown headfirst into this tumultuous struggle, while at the same time his very soul aches to take out a rescue party and help those in need, stranded in the icy mountains.
Meanwhile, the reader is given an alternate view, through Patty Reed’s diary, of how helpless the party is in in the mountains, with little food left to keep them alive. They now have to resort to boiling animal skins and scraping the resulting gray gelatin and using it as sustenance.
Hunger is the poignant metaphor in this book that is never forgotten: hunger for those who have nothing to eat; hunger for those who wish to rescue them; hunger for those who wish for land in California, and intend to fight for it; hunger for those who wish for independence, be they American, California, or Mexican; and hunger for those who wish to make it to the soft warm hinterlands and finally settle down.
At some points Houston takes the read on too deep a journey into the fight for freedom taking place between the different peoples of California; nevertheless it serves as an interesting history lesson, letting the reader know such ditties as why San Francisco and Truckee received the names they did. (One was named after an Indian chief, and the other was named after the large bay, which was in turn named after Saint Francis of Assisi.)
The book serves as an interesting and most illustrative dark chapter in California’s history, not dwelling on the gory details, but still revealing them in a factual sense that abhors the reader – from the story but not from the book. Snow Mountain Passage stands as a useful history book on any shelf, even though it is a work of fiction.
Originally published on October 8th 2001
For over 500 book reviews, and over 40 exclusive author interviews (both audio and written), visit BookBanter.
Everyone is familiar with the grisly details of this doomed journey. In James D. Houston’s Snow Mountain Passage, new insights are brought to life, and the reader is taken on a journey quite different from the one they learned about in American history 101.
“I gaze down from the summit at the icy ring of Truckee Lake, the one they now call Donner,” recounts Patty Reed, one of the survivors, in her diary some 75 years after that cruel winter, “an it’s odd to think that neither George nor Jacob ever got anywhere near the lake that is named for them . . . It tells you something about the way things get remembered.”
Our main family is not the Donners but the Reeds, our narrator is Jim Reed (and Patty Reed through her diary), who is forced to leave the party after an erratic act of promoted violence that leaves one of the 80-member party dead. Ahead he goes and makes it to the wonderful land of California, which is currently – in 1846 – in turmoil. There are the Californians, who are the natives, the Mexicans, who still hold rights to the country, and then there are the Americans trying to take California from the Mexicans.
Jim Reed is thrown headfirst into this tumultuous struggle, while at the same time his very soul aches to take out a rescue party and help those in need, stranded in the icy mountains.
Meanwhile, the reader is given an alternate view, through Patty Reed’s diary, of how helpless the party is in in the mountains, with little food left to keep them alive. They now have to resort to boiling animal skins and scraping the resulting gray gelatin and using it as sustenance.
Hunger is the poignant metaphor in this book that is never forgotten: hunger for those who have nothing to eat; hunger for those who wish to rescue them; hunger for those who wish for land in California, and intend to fight for it; hunger for those who wish for independence, be they American, California, or Mexican; and hunger for those who wish to make it to the soft warm hinterlands and finally settle down.
At some points Houston takes the read on too deep a journey into the fight for freedom taking place between the different peoples of California; nevertheless it serves as an interesting history lesson, letting the reader know such ditties as why San Francisco and Truckee received the names they did. (One was named after an Indian chief, and the other was named after the large bay, which was in turn named after Saint Francis of Assisi.)
The book serves as an interesting and most illustrative dark chapter in California’s history, not dwelling on the gory details, but still revealing them in a factual sense that abhors the reader – from the story but not from the book. Snow Mountain Passage stands as a useful history book on any shelf, even though it is a work of fiction.
Originally published on October 8th 2001
For over 500 book reviews, and over 40 exclusive author interviews (both audio and written), visit BookBanter.
kcourts's review against another edition
http://www.43things.com/entries/view/1678342
cdcsmith's review against another edition
3.0
This book is told in two different ways. There are the journal entries giving it a feel of nonfiction and then the rest of the story being told be the writer. I raced through the first half of the book and the journal entries were compelling. The second half of the book (or rather part 2 since I think it isn't actually half way), I found myself skimming over it at times. I cared less about what Reed was doing when he was riding off with the other men. I would've been good if that part was shortened up.
I'm settling on a 3 star review, but there were parts of it that were a solid 4.
Historical fiction or not, I did get a better sense of what happened up there than I had with my brief history lesson in school.
I'm settling on a 3 star review, but there were parts of it that were a solid 4.
Historical fiction or not, I did get a better sense of what happened up there than I had with my brief history lesson in school.
alexctelander's review
4.0
Anyone who took high school American history is familiar with the Donner party and the great tragedy that befell them when they attempted the monumental crossing from Illinois to California; they got snowed-in in the Sierra Nevadas and had to resort to cannibalism to survive starvation.
Everyone is familiar with the grisly details of this doomed journey. In James D. Houston’s Snow Mountain Passage, new insights are brought to life, and the reader is taken on a journey quite different from the one they learned about in American history 101.
“I gaze down from the summit at the icy ring of Truckee Lake, the one they now call Donner,” recounts Patty Reed, one of the survivors, in her diary some 75 years after that cruel winter, “an it’s odd to think that neither George nor Jacob ever got anywhere near the lake that is named for them . . . It tells you something about the way things get remembered.”
Our main family is not the Donners but the Reeds, our narrator is Jim Reed (and Patty Reed through her diary), who is forced to leave the party after an erratic act of promoted violence that leaves one of the 80-member party dead. Ahead he goes and makes it to the wonderful land of California, which is currently – in 1846 – in turmoil. There are the Californians, who are the natives, the Mexicans, who still hold rights to the country, and then there are the Americans trying to take California from the Mexicans.
Jim Reed is thrown headfirst into this tumultuous struggle, while at the same time his very soul aches to take out a rescue party and help those in need, stranded in the icy mountains.
Meanwhile, the reader is given an alternate view, through Patty Reed’s diary, of how helpless the party is in in the mountains, with little food left to keep them alive. They now have to resort to boiling animal skins and scraping the resulting gray gelatin and using it as sustenance.
Hunger is the poignant metaphor in this book that is never forgotten: hunger for those who have nothing to eat; hunger for those who wish to rescue them; hunger for those who wish for land in California, and intend to fight for it; hunger for those who wish for independence, be they American, California, or Mexican; and hunger for those who wish to make it to the soft warm hinterlands and finally settle down.
At some points Houston takes the read on too deep a journey into the fight for freedom taking place between the different peoples of California; nevertheless it serves as an interesting history lesson, letting the reader know such ditties as why San Francisco and Truckee received the names they did. (One was named after an Indian chief, and the other was named after the large bay, which was in turn named after Saint Francis of Assisi.)
The book serves as an interesting and most illustrative dark chapter in California’s history, not dwelling on the gory details, but still revealing them in a factual sense that abhors the reader – from the story but not from the book. Snow Mountain Passage stands as a useful history book on any shelf, even though it is a work of fiction.
Originally published on October 8th 2001
For over 500 book reviews, and over 40 exclusive author interviews (both audio and written), visit BookBanter.
Everyone is familiar with the grisly details of this doomed journey. In James D. Houston’s Snow Mountain Passage, new insights are brought to life, and the reader is taken on a journey quite different from the one they learned about in American history 101.
“I gaze down from the summit at the icy ring of Truckee Lake, the one they now call Donner,” recounts Patty Reed, one of the survivors, in her diary some 75 years after that cruel winter, “an it’s odd to think that neither George nor Jacob ever got anywhere near the lake that is named for them . . . It tells you something about the way things get remembered.”
Our main family is not the Donners but the Reeds, our narrator is Jim Reed (and Patty Reed through her diary), who is forced to leave the party after an erratic act of promoted violence that leaves one of the 80-member party dead. Ahead he goes and makes it to the wonderful land of California, which is currently – in 1846 – in turmoil. There are the Californians, who are the natives, the Mexicans, who still hold rights to the country, and then there are the Americans trying to take California from the Mexicans.
Jim Reed is thrown headfirst into this tumultuous struggle, while at the same time his very soul aches to take out a rescue party and help those in need, stranded in the icy mountains.
Meanwhile, the reader is given an alternate view, through Patty Reed’s diary, of how helpless the party is in in the mountains, with little food left to keep them alive. They now have to resort to boiling animal skins and scraping the resulting gray gelatin and using it as sustenance.
Hunger is the poignant metaphor in this book that is never forgotten: hunger for those who have nothing to eat; hunger for those who wish to rescue them; hunger for those who wish for land in California, and intend to fight for it; hunger for those who wish for independence, be they American, California, or Mexican; and hunger for those who wish to make it to the soft warm hinterlands and finally settle down.
At some points Houston takes the read on too deep a journey into the fight for freedom taking place between the different peoples of California; nevertheless it serves as an interesting history lesson, letting the reader know such ditties as why San Francisco and Truckee received the names they did. (One was named after an Indian chief, and the other was named after the large bay, which was in turn named after Saint Francis of Assisi.)
The book serves as an interesting and most illustrative dark chapter in California’s history, not dwelling on the gory details, but still revealing them in a factual sense that abhors the reader – from the story but not from the book. Snow Mountain Passage stands as a useful history book on any shelf, even though it is a work of fiction.
Originally published on October 8th 2001
For over 500 book reviews, and over 40 exclusive author interviews (both audio and written), visit BookBanter.
More...