East Of The Mountains

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Summary: A tribute to Papa
Review: Guterson is a marvelous writer. His first book contained elements of To Kill A Mockingbird and Moby Dick, an understandable point when you think of his experience as a high school English teacher. This, I think, contains Hemingway and Stegner: man faces nature, love, family, society, war, responsibility and himself in the most profound ways possible. I've been lonely since Stegner left us; here's a chance to pretend that he and Papa have returned. Don't miss it.

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Summary: I could smell the apples.
Review: I enjoyed this book very much. The detailed description of the area was great and the reflections on real war situations gave me insight into what it is really like. I like this guys writing.

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Summary: Recommended
Review: The pre-publicity blitz for "East of the Mountains" often seems to focus on the comparisons the book may or may not have with its predecessor, "Snow Falling On Cedars". I recommend the book as being of interest in itself. The plot did not interest me all that much and some parts I found much too contrived, but the prose is beautiful, the descriptions of rural life very observant, and Ben Givens is a well-crafted character. These qualities made it a pleasure to read. Go on - read it.

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Summary: I love it
Review: it was really good

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Summary: 'The Old Man and the C'
Review: Dr Ben Givens, seventy-three years old, has only killed one man in his life. Since that happened, in 1945 Italy during the closing stages of the Second World War, he has saved lives as a heart surgeon. Now, fifty-two years later, he makes plans to kill again - but this time the life he takes will be his own. Givens has advanced colon cancer and rather than burden his family and suffer extended pain he decides to embark on a last hunting trip with his two dogs, shooting birds east of the mountains, where he grew up. The plan is to hike, hunt and then shoot himself with his father's rifle. A simple plan...but harder to actually perform. ... the novel takes him through three dramatic days and nights where he is forced to reflect upon his life and reconsider his suicidal mood. East of the Mountains sounds like a morbid and depressing novel, and it is rather dark in places, but despite the sorrow and despair of Givens (his beloved wife died less than two years ago) it is ultimately a powerfully positive and life-affirming novel. Guterson's theme is the sacred and precious nature of life, and his character finds it hard to abandon the life-saving habits of a lifetime. During his journey east of the mountains Givens narrowly survives a car smash, battles coyote-hunting wolfhounds that kill one of his dogs and ministers to a sick man on a bus. As well as dealing with the issues of the present Givens' mind wanders back to the past. In two long flashbacks we see him working on his family's apple orchard, meeting his future wife and experiencing combat in Italy. During his war experience there's an extraordinary passage where a battlefield surgeon saves the life of a comrade by opening up his chest and massaging the heart. It has such a profound effect on Givens that he resolves to become a heart surgeon himself. Guterson is such an outstanding writer that other less-dramatic passages are just as memorable. Whether it's describing apple-picking, or hunting birds in the sagebrush, or just hiking through the mountains, the prose is tremendously powerful and drives the reader on. He writes long passages of lyrical description, especially when it comes to landscape. The times when other characters appear on Givens' present-day journey is when the narrative becomes both more staid and emotional, and he begins to learn that the reasons for killing himself aren't so clear-cut. For example, after hitching a ride with a lonely lorry-driver, Givens thinks about his own situation: "...the lean, spare life of the wanderer, which had held some attraction an hour before, held no attraction now. It was time, he thought, to head home, defeated. What in God's name was he doing out here, beaten the way he was? He tried to embrace some other end than the one he'd chosen for himself - he thought of dying in a hospital room, imagined languishing in one. He fell silent and stared out the window. There were no good answers to important questions." There are answers though, and Givens does his best to find them. As he battles his illness in an epic and unforgettable landscape he becomes an epic and unforgettable character himself.

Rating:
Summary: A tour de waste of time.
Review: A second book that is second rate, so disappointing after his great debut.It would have been so much better if Ben had taken the opportunity to have had a fatal car crash in the first 50 pages and saved me the time of reading the other 200.

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Summary: A WONDERFUL READ
Review: Guterson is a wonderful writer who made me care very deeply about his protaganist. I was so pleased that his novel is just as good as SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS while it is completely different. I actually have been thinking about the main character for weeks after finishing the book - That is a true testament to powerful writing. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

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Summary: I loved this book...
Review: Written beautifully with such a life affirming message. I could see the main character so clearly and he haunts me still. I loved this one and highly recommend it.

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Summary: Achingly Familiar Landscape and Character
Review: As a native Northwesterner, I am always suspicious about books written about this region. So many writers don't get it right, but five a quick gloss to Puget Sount, toss in a little Mt. Rainier and rhapsodize at entirely too much lengh about the San Juan Islands.

But Guterson's got the sense of place just right. The book opens with an aging and terminally ill Seattle physician's decision to return to the scene of his youth and end his life.

I found myself gasping with recognition in Guterson's account of the surprisingly long and difficult journey over Snoqualmie Pass to Eastern Washington. The landscape sings such a familiar song through Guterson's words.

His protagonist initially displays the contained stoicism so typical of the region's Scandinavian-American residents. And like them, he rises to complex challenges, spilling forth his humanity at every turn. The protagonist's achingly difficult night on the Columbia plateau was so real that it was painful to read.

The doctor has to be one of the best fictional characters I've encountered in a long time. In fact, he is so skillfully drawn that I find myself unable to decide whether Guterson's greater gift is for evoking character or landcape. In any case, this is defintely a five-star book.

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Summary: East of the Mountains- a full course meal
Review: I was utterly shocked when I saw that this book had only earned 3 stars (at the time of this review). It is hands down one of the best books I have ever read. My wife and I were about 2 weeks from relocating to the area where the book is set so that may have played a role in my enjoyment of the book

The travels of the protagonist lead him, and the reader, to consider life and death. I gave this book away after I read it only to go and buy another copy for myself. I will read it again and again.