The Big Sky by A. B. Guthrie Jr. Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Big Sky
Book Review: A great, and fairly accurate, story of the mountain men
Summary: 5 Stars
This is historical fiction as it should be. All the main characters are fictional, and actual people (like Jim Bridger and Jedediah Smith) are either only mentioned in passing or play a small enough role so as to not conflict with actual history. In fact, the whole story is fictitious, and only the setting and some of the main events are real. But that is what gives this story its power--the ability to see, through the eyes of the characters, the American west as it would have looked through the eyes of a mountain man.The novel centers on Boone Caudill, a young Kentuckian who sets out for the west and becomes a true mountain man. The story follows Boone through thirteen years of Indian fights, beaver trapping, and winters of near-starvation. Boone, along with his companions, lives a life that is representative of the one many true mountain men actually led, and there is very little attempt made by Guthrie to romanticize it. The life was a hard one, a cruel one, and Guthrie does not make it seem more glamorous than it actually would have been. Despite this, however, we can still feel Boone's pull toward the West, and we are able to feel longing for the solitude of the mountains through his eyes.
This novel is, for the most part, pretty historically accurate. The Rendezvous of 1837, the smallpox epidemic among the Blackfeet that same year, the greenhorns swarming to Oregon--all these are things that are very real. These events are woven nicely within the narrative, giving the reader a true feel of the disappearing west such as could scarcely be gleaned from a history text.
Granted, this book should be taken with a grain of salt. It is not a romanticized view of the west, but then it is not a historical text either. It would be wrong to see it as anything more than one man's interpretation of how it was to be a mountain man. Still, for all that, it is a wonderful and compelling story, very well-told. And don't be surprised if you learn a little bit of history while reading it.
Book Review: A truly marvelous and inspiring work of literature.
Summary: 5 Stars
The Big Sky is without a doubt one of the top 3 greatest novels that I have ever read. This, Quo Vadis, and Victor Hugo's Ninety-Three are my all around favorites.
I really don't have anything more to say beyond that...
Book Review: Awesome
Summary: 5 Stars
It's so difficult to capture the spirit and beauty of the West, but this book does an outstanding job of doing so. Also loved the character development.Book Review: Beautifully written Western tragedy
Summary: 5 Stars
Fleeing an unhappy home life, young Boone Caudill heads west and meets up with Jim Deakins, an easy-going wanderer. In the company of seasoned trapper Dick Summers, they become mountain men, living a hard, cruel life that suits them because of their need for freedom and appreciation of nature's beauty. A.B. Guthrie, Jr. evokes the landscapes of the Old West so well that I could see them clearly as I read; he is equally skilled at evoking a sense of loss as we see this world disappearing before the pressure of the Westward Expansion.
But lest this description make the novel seem too romanticized, let me add that this is primarily the story of Boone's slide into savagery, a state in which he is unfit for human society. He emerges as a truly tragic figure, mourning his sins but prevented by his nature from acting in any other way.
Book Review: Big Sky Decent book OK movie.
Summary: 4 Stars
Some of the terms in the book are not PC now, and a little hokey when he tries to write about "romance".
But I still remember how "un-Hollywood" Gutherie's writing was when I first read it in the 50,s. The film sort of sucks, Kirk Douglas was too old for the roll, but Arthur Lee Hunnicut the actor who tells the story just sounds like the salt of the earth, although I think he was trained on the east coast Then there is the black and white, the film crew goes on location in a great place and shoots in back & white.
If you go to upper Montana, along the Missouri, (where the tourists don't go), you'll find a little town with the original boat on display in the park. Read the book, then see the movie if you must.
If you like this kind of book you may be interested in "The Revenant" by Michael Punke, "based" on a true story.