Scan barcode
arfox2's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Listened to the audiobook which I think detracted from the storyline. Terribly slow. Did not hold my interest. Characters not relatable or ‘lovable’.
soniapage's review
3.0
The book held my interest to begin with because of the author's beautiful descriptive writing and the historical setting. But, it would have been so much better without Will's obsessive "romance" with Clair and his womanizing, especially his predatory pursuit of nannies, which seemed to become the main focus of the book or at least took up too much of the action of the story.
ireitlitam's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
mawalker1962's review against another edition
3.0
It took me a bit to get into this book, but I'm falling in love with the narrator's voice.
rachemorre's review against another edition
3.0
I didn’t get my happy ending but I enjoyed bits and pieces of the journey, I am a dialogue girl to my core so reading a 400 page book with so little was definitely a challenge.
I also feel that with indigenous history being so rich, it felt shallow to read such a long story about a white man who rescues (meh) and betrays (horrifying) every one of them and still ends up rich in the end (typical).
I also feel that with indigenous history being so rich, it felt shallow to read such a long story about a white man who rescues (meh) and betrays (horrifying) every one of them and still ends up rich in the end (typical).
jdintr's review against another edition
Thirteen Moons is an epic love story set against the removal of the Cherokee from the Smoky Mountains of eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina. Frazier's prose is a fluid and beautiful as the mountain streams of Appalachia. It's a pleasure to read.
With that said, there were some major problems with this book. The book should have ended with Will's trip out to Oklahoma, but the reader gets bogged down in real estate transactions, an inexplicable removal to a mountain resort, and an ending as strong and memorable as a sigh. Still, the good parts of this book are great, great, great. Worth reading.
With that said, there were some major problems with this book. The book should have ended with Will's trip out to Oklahoma, but the reader gets bogged down in real estate transactions, an inexplicable removal to a mountain resort, and an ending as strong and memorable as a sigh. Still, the good parts of this book are great, great, great. Worth reading.
silentcat7135's review against another edition
4.0
3 1/2 stars rounded up. 3 stars for story, 4 stars for writing style.
Charles Frazier's Thirteen Moons reads like a cross between Larry McMurtry and Louise Erdrich, leaning more towards McMurtry in plot and Erdrich in style.
The main character, Will, looks back over his colourful life in rambling fashion from the vantage of old age, beginning with being an orphan sent as a bound boy at the the age of 12 to run a remote store. Featuring prominently in his memories are Bear and Featherstone, two men who become very different father figures to Will, and Claire, who becomes the love of his life.
Frazier allows Will a great deal of latitude in his tale. Memory, being what it is, is flawed, especially when the one doing the remembering enjoys storytelling as much as this narrator. My favorite example of this comes when Will describes a duel he fought with Featherstone. Rather than describing his own memory of events, he relates three vastly differing versions that were told by others in years to come. Choose to believe any or none of them.
The book is set in a time period of American history I know little about - the expansion of American territory west of the Mississippi, the dislocation of the Cherokee, the Trail of Tears - and these events deeply impact the characters.
I started by comparing the book to Larry McMurtry and Louise Erdrich. The story is certainly not as epic as the cattle drive in Lonesome Dove, but Will would not be out of place sitting around a fire with Gus and Woodrow shooting the breeze. Featherstone could also make a creditable villainous appearance in a McMurtry book. (Although Will's horse Waverly, while an estimable horse, is nowhere near as memorable as Hell Bitch.) Bear would be at home in Erdrich's novels, and Will's ponderings on life are expressed with the poeticism I associate with Erdrich's writing.
Worth reading, but not a classic.
Charles Frazier's Thirteen Moons reads like a cross between Larry McMurtry and Louise Erdrich, leaning more towards McMurtry in plot and Erdrich in style.
The main character, Will, looks back over his colourful life in rambling fashion from the vantage of old age, beginning with being an orphan sent as a bound boy at the the age of 12 to run a remote store. Featuring prominently in his memories are Bear and Featherstone, two men who become very different father figures to Will, and Claire, who becomes the love of his life.
Frazier allows Will a great deal of latitude in his tale. Memory, being what it is, is flawed, especially when the one doing the remembering enjoys storytelling as much as this narrator. My favorite example of this comes when Will describes a duel he fought with Featherstone. Rather than describing his own memory of events, he relates three vastly differing versions that were told by others in years to come. Choose to believe any or none of them.
The book is set in a time period of American history I know little about - the expansion of American territory west of the Mississippi, the dislocation of the Cherokee, the Trail of Tears - and these events deeply impact the characters.
I started by comparing the book to Larry McMurtry and Louise Erdrich. The story is certainly not as epic as the cattle drive in Lonesome Dove, but Will would not be out of place sitting around a fire with Gus and Woodrow shooting the breeze. Featherstone could also make a creditable villainous appearance in a McMurtry book. (Although Will's horse Waverly, while an estimable horse, is nowhere near as memorable as Hell Bitch.) Bear would be at home in Erdrich's novels, and Will's ponderings on life are expressed with the poeticism I associate with Erdrich's writing.
Worth reading, but not a classic.
ardaigle's review against another edition
Only made it halfway through. Just not my cup of tea.
joannag101's review against another edition
3.0
It took me quite a while to get into this book. I wasn't until about halfway through that I really started to enjoy it.
tammys_take's review against another edition
5.0
As with his first novel Cold Mountain, this book was a stunning portrayal and homage to the land and people in the 1800s. Frazier has a way of describing this bygone world with reverence, awe, and respect. I feel that I am transported to this time and place when I read his novels.
This story follows Will Cooper, abandoned by his blood relatives and sold to man a solitary outpost on the fringe between the known Americas and the Cherokee Nation, he is later adopted by the local Cherokee Chief, Bear. Here begins his unending loyalty to a people who called him their own, and here he falls in love with Claire, a mixed race girl with means. A coming of age story, a tribute to the Cherokee Nation, a saga about life, death and in between this novel is beautiful and melancholy.
I found myself digging into historical events and people, relearning historical events in different contexts and loved every moment.
This story follows Will Cooper, abandoned by his blood relatives and sold to man a solitary outpost on the fringe between the known Americas and the Cherokee Nation, he is later adopted by the local Cherokee Chief, Bear. Here begins his unending loyalty to a people who called him their own, and here he falls in love with Claire, a mixed race girl with means. A coming of age story, a tribute to the Cherokee Nation, a saga about life, death and in between this novel is beautiful and melancholy.
I found myself digging into historical events and people, relearning historical events in different contexts and loved every moment.