Rating: 
Summary: Shared Humanity
Review: This beautifully written story describes the experiences of the Donner Party travelling west to live in California. The extreme solution for hunger that they used and for which they are primarily known is a small part of the story. Rather, the enormity of the decision to lift up roots and move family and possessions by horse and wagon into a rugged and unknown wilderness is what is so powerfully described. James D. Houston has the ability to dramatically portray many different personality types interacting with each other. He brings out the best and worst traits in his characters; traits that happen to be readily identifiable for most readers. His technique of using an 82 year old woman's recollections of when she was the 8 year old daughter of Jim Reed, one of the main characters, adds realism and pathos to an already emotional and sad story. This novel is highly recommended for those who want to reflect upon our shared humanity with the American pioneers who preceded us.
Rating:
Summary: Loved it!
Review: This book hooks you from the beginning, drawing you into the characters and their plight. As close to feeling apart of the Donner party as anybody would ever want to come.
Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece
Review: This book hooks you from the beginning, drawing you into the characters and their plight. As close to feeling apart of the Donner party as anybody would ever want to come.I couldn't put this book down and would recommend it to anybody.
Rating: 
Summary: fascinating story
Review: This book tells the story of the 87 stranded emigrants in the ill-fated Donner party, stuck in the Sierra Nevadas during the winter of 1846-1847, the worst winter on record in those mountains. The story is told from the perspectives of 8-year-old Patty Reed and her father James Reed, who was actually a far more prominent figure in the wagon party than either of the Donner brothers, for whom the tragedy, the lake, and the mountain pass are all named. While the Reed family is stranded with their fellow emigrants just short of the mountain summit, James Reed (who made it out of the mountains ahead of his family, and barely in time before the worst of the blizzards hit) is gallavanting around California, simultaneous fighting the ongoing war there and trying to drum up support for a rescue party to go in and get his family out of the mountains. This part of the story gets quite dull at times, especially since the author spends too much time describing the California landscape and not enough time describing action. Far more time is spent following Reed's journeys criss-crossing California than is spent on Patty's "trail notes" that describe what's going on at the emigrant's mountain camp. Still, it's a fascinating story, not for the traditional canibalistic slant that is always attributed to the tale (and in fact there's very little description of that in Houston's book), but because of the fact that despite the horribly difficult hardship those 87 people suffered that winter, 48 of them still managed to survive three months of slow starvation and bitter cold before they were finally rescued. This book will instill a healthy respect for mother nature as well as admiration for the tough spirit of those pioneers.
Rating:
Summary: Couldnt Put It Down
Review: this book was a total surprise as far as sspense factor. It was compelling and kept my attention, I was so absorbed in this that I was unable to put it down, the depth of each character and the consequences of each members actions are fully explored. what a work! heart pounding and terrifying!
Rating:
Summary: More than Gore
Review: Through the eyes of eight year old Patty Reed and her father, Jim, the story of the Donner Party is told. While most equate this devastating event to cannabalism, the rewards of this beautifully told historical novel will forever replace that focus to one of remarkable human endurance and love. Jim Reed was captivated by writings of others who had immigrated to the West. Tales of plentiful land, resources and healthy climate gradually convinced him to take his family and his sickly wife in search of such promises. A book written by attourney Lansford Hastings, _The Emigrant's Guide_ especially influenced him. He trusts the claims of a disease free life and a purity of atmosphere in California and he also trusts that the writer traveled the trails of which he wrote. His neighbors and friends were soon captivated by the possibilities and ultimately agreed to travel west together. Loaded with their belongings, hundreds of stock and high hopes, they set off for California. Human frailties eventually prevailed. What began with high spirits soon were dampened by the inevitable conflicts and confrontations which occurred on the trail. Stress, physical and mental exhaustion, lack of food and water mixed explosively with family jealousies, infighting, religious and cultural differences. One day, Mr. Reed is confronted by another trailsman. Angry and frustrated, he is literally beating to death his own oxen and Jim's animals. Sensing the stupidity of the man's actions, Jim attempts to intervene but the delirious man lashes out at Jim's wife and then Jim. He continues his rage, lashing open the entire forehead of Jim. Stunned, Jim falls to the ground but the man again comes at him and Jim pulls a knife reluctantly to protect himself. The man is accidently killed, but to his family and others the event causes a furor. Men with past grudges want justice and Jim's life. A rope is found for the purpose of hanging. It becomes a turning point for the party. A decision is made that Jim must leave the party immediately. Protesting, his wife begs him to leave so his life is spared. No one can be trusted, now. It caused the birth of the doom that was to befall the Donner Party. The summit and the early winter snow was the final insult. As Patty recounts her experiences, it is the words of a grown woman looking back and benefiting from the years of reconstructing the events that happened so long ago. The humble appreciation for those that gave their lives so she lived makes for an incredibly beautiful story. The horrors that one so young experienced is tempered by the years and acceptance that life is never fair. Her recollection of the nights and days that 84 men, women and children shared are beyond comprehension. The strength that these families had is more than obvious as Jim Reed and others sacrifice their lives and limbs to mount multiple rescue attempts in repeated efforts to bring out not only his family, but the very ones who banished him from the party months before.
Rating:
Summary: More than Gore
Review: Through the eyes of eight year old Patty Reed and her father, Jim, the story of the Donner Party is told. While most equate this devastating event to cannabalism, the rewards of this beautifully told historical novel will forever replace that focus to one of remarkable human endurance and love. Jim Reed was captivated by writings of others who had immigrated to the West. Tales of plentiful land, resources and healthy climate gradually convinced him to take his family and his sickly wife in search of such promises. A book written by attourney Lansford Hastings, _The Emigrant's Guide_ especially influenced him. He trusts the claims of a disease free life and a purity of atmosphere in California and he also trusts that the writer traveled the trails of which he wrote. His neighbors and friends were soon captivated by the possibilities and ultimately agreed to travel west together. Loaded with their belongings, hundreds of stock and high hopes, they set off for California. Human frailties eventually prevailed. What began with high spirits soon were dampened by the inevitable conflicts and confrontations which occurred on the trail. Stress, physical and mental exhaustion, lack of food and water mixed explosively with family jealousies, infighting, religious and cultural differences. One day, Mr. Reed is confronted by another trailsman. Angry and frustrated, he is literally beating to death his own oxen and Jim's animals. Sensing the stupidity of the man's actions, Jim attempts to intervene but the delirious man lashes out at Jim's wife and then Jim. He continues his rage, lashing open the entire forehead of Jim. Stunned, Jim falls to the ground but the man again comes at him and Jim pulls a knife reluctantly to protect himself. The man is accidently killed, but to his family and others the event causes a furor. Men with past grudges want justice and Jim's life. A rope is found for the purpose of hanging. It becomes a turning point for the party. A decision is made that Jim must leave the party immediately. Protesting, his wife begs him to leave so his life is spared. No one can be trusted, now. It caused the birth of the doom that was to befall the Donner Party. The summit and the early winter snow was the final insult. As Patty recounts her experiences, it is the words of a grown woman looking back and benefiting from the years of reconstructing the events that happened so long ago. The humble appreciation for those that gave their lives so she lived makes for an incredibly beautiful story. The horrors that one so young experienced is tempered by the years and acceptance that life is never fair. Her recollection of the nights and days that 84 men, women and children shared are beyond comprehension. The strength that these families had is more than obvious as Jim Reed and others sacrifice their lives and limbs to mount multiple rescue attempts in repeated efforts to bring out not only his family, but the very ones who banished him from the party months before.
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Story at Many Levels
Review: While the topic of the Donner Party can sound ghoulish this book is primarily focused on the events leading up to it from the perspective of a single family. The story them moves to follow the journey of the families father who is trying to return and save them from their snowbound issolation. This is the book that Cold Mountain should have been. I can't rate it more highly.
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