The Pioneers--McCullough Aces it Once More!

The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West by David McCullough
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It seems impossible that the Westernmost boundary of the US was ever the Ohio River--the same one on which Wheeling, W Virginia, Cincinnati, Ohio and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, among others ,have grown into major cities of our time. Yet, back in the late 18th through mid-19th century, the Northwest Territory grew from the Indian wilderness to something beginning to resemble the New England home of many of its earliest settlers. Here is the story of how Ohio became a State without slavery and with a highly developed educational system from the earliest lessons to collegiate degrees. Most of the characters are male since the women of the time left so little in the way of tangible sources. Still, many of them are included through the commentary of the men with whom they were so intimately involved as wives, mothers, sisters. Also, for some who were married to men who traveled much for their work as legislators or doctors, there is their correspondence to include.

As time passed and civilization grew, tourists from all over the world, including Charles Dickens, came to the area. The commentary of these travelers on the locals and their customs they encountered is enlightening. Not many found these Americans attractive, interesting or very well educated. Still the endurance, ingenuity, community spirit of these pioneers that helped them survive and thrive in this heavily forested land in which the Natives were not friendly nor welcoming is inspiring.
Having driven on Interstates from Vermont to Ohio and then traveled the banks of the Ohio along its curvy roads, the description of the same journey in the 1800s boggles the mind. I cannot imagine topping a summit in a riverboat hauled up one side by five winches stepped at intervals, having dinner at the top and then being lowered down the other side by another five winches. Terrified of height as I am, it made me dizzy to read of it.

Loving bridges, as I do NOT, imagining getting out of a carriage to retrieve the plank from a raging river, reattaching it and anchoring it with stones so that the carriage might cross, also made me happy that I didn't live in Ohio then.

If these types of historical stories are your cup of tea then read McCullough--any of his books, but this one is short and maybe, if new to his work, a good place to start. If, like myself, you've been a fan and read all of his books, this one will not disappoint!

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Where the Light Enters

Where the Light Enters by Sara Donati
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

To begin, do not read this book unless you have read the first book of the series. You will soon find yourself lost trying to keep all the characters and their relationships straight. Next, the book is outrageously long--the author claims to like long books and she has produced one--652 pages! If not loaded with too many issues--racism, feminism, poverty, mental illness, abortion, 19th century morality--a book this long is not a bad thing. This book is loaded with issues that become overwhelming. Life fraught with so many things to worry about seems to lose the importance of comparatively smaller issues such as widowhood, marriage, pregnancy and the treatment of orphans, who are part of the extended family of the two women about which the story revolves.

It took forever to get into the book, forever to finish it and less of an enjoyment than a chore, Do not know if reading the Gilded Age before this would make it any more satisfying. This is a review of a copy provided by Book Browse for discussion in their book club.

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