According to Ondaatje, this book ranks as first-tier Americana, but for some reason, has faded into obscurity as the decades have progressed from its original publication date in 1964. Despite what one might think, the style is quite unlike anything written by the Canadian author. The narrative is straightforward and encompasses 4 or 5 years in the development of a community on a plateau in West Virginia. A very successful novel in my view. tAll the characters are written naturalistically; Ehle does a great job giving enough definition to each character so that they don’t become stereotypes. In fact, since the novel spans a few years, we get to watch various characters grow up, and grow old, and change in various ways as they negotiate each other and the untamed land around them. Nature, as one might expect, is a central character in this novel and a Canadian like myself can’t help but recall Atwood’s Survival in this context, namely the thesis that survival was, for Canadians for a long time, a literary obsession. Granted, she characterizes the frontier to be the American literary obsession, and that certainly figures into The Land Breakers. Yet one can’t help but note their interconnections here – the episode with the bear jumps out (pun). tThe reader gets a very real sense of the deep, deep hardship of arriving on a piece of land with the intention of creating a livelihood. A particular idiosyncrasy of the novel was the relationship between men and women. Mooney’s relationship with all three women reveals the complex considerations of a romantic life prior to the entrenches notions of romanticism we see around us today. The practicality of everyday life trumps all. tOne missing component of the novel is the lack of religiousity. I would have expected that religion would play a central defining role amongst a group of uneducated pioneers in the 18th century, but we see scant evidence of this. This may be Ehle’s 20th century secularism creeping in, but it doesn’t take away from success of the survival narrative, which is center stage throughout the entire book. -March 2010.
Between 4 and 5 stars, and I'm rounding up for this tremendous saga set between 1779 and 1784 in the Appalachias of North Carolina. I bristle at the GR reviewers who blithely describe this as the Little House books for grown-ups (hello! wrong century and wrong geography!). But, yes, if you're looking for characters trying to make something from not much more than their own strength and will, this is the book. With the perfect title. Because they're not settlers. They're trying to be settlers. But when you live on a roadless mountain with bears and panthers, settling comes later.Ehle comes from these parts (and funny to think of his daughter later playing Lizzie Bennet in P&P) and knows how to write dialogue. I don't think anyone who has seen Coal Miner's Daughter will be able to read the Mina sections without seeing and hearing a young Sissy Spacek. My copy is feathered from all my favorite passages. Just a few:"Lorry felt like weeping to think of the hurt heart of the girl. Life seemed to fashion such painful shapes sometimes.""Now he was in the world of mountain secrets, of lost ways and weasels."And two from Florence, who was a favorite of mine and reminded me of a rougher but gentler Mrs. Rachel Lynde:"'I'd be pesty, too, if that bunch of you from Watauga kept a shooting at me all the time. If you'd let them Injuns alone, you might a come out better.'""'I'm not finished. The bread's not browned. I ain't served brownless bread yet, and I'm not going to take up shiftless ways.'"The book is dedicated to Betty Smith and, given that they both have University of North Carolina connections, I think it's our Betty Smith.
Do You like book The Land Breakers (2006)?
I doubt anyone will bother reading my reviews, but if they do, I imagine they'll think I never read a book I didn't love based on my last batch. Regardless, I'm sincere when I say that The Land Breakers is one of the most beautiful yet plainly-written novels I've ever read. I feel like I learned more about American history from reading this book than I have gained from years of history classes, and quite honestly, I think I gained more insight into the true meaning of living off the land than I ever did trying to muddle through Thoreau. There are so many highlights that it's hard to single one out, but I must say that the epic bear hunt near the end moved me to tears.
—Jacob
Up to the moment I opened to the first of this book, I was a stranger to John Ehle. Where have I been? Not only have I just completed reading a fantastic novel, but I have found that there is more of the story waiting for me to discover. This is book #1 in the so-called "Mountain Novels". I am anxious to begin the next in the series, "The Road".This is a tale of how the mountains of North Carolina came to be settled. It's the story of a young couple who finally, after a few years of wandering, come to a valley in the mountains. The year is 1779. They are first to settle in this remote location. Others soon follow, but not all is pastoral and nature is not kind at times. The first year, Mooney Wright, 21, loses his young wife. During his grieving, he questions his willingness to continue his efforts to carve out a life in such a hostile place. Another family arrives, one with all daughters. He begins to have feelings for the oldest, the innocent 16-year-old, Pearlamina.Mina is the Eve-like symbol. Here in this seeming paradise, Mooney must make a choice for there is another woman he also had seen move into the valley.You'll have to read the book to follow that plot line. But, in the end, the book is about dreams and new beginnings. It is also about survival, where an indifferent god of nature can strike down anyone without reason or warning.One could compare this novel to a typical pioneer story of the west. The only difference is that in 1779, the frontier was the Appalachian Mountains. From these early settlers, we have the history of the stereotypical "mountain men", fiddling the old Scots-Irish tunes we can still hear today.
—Patrick
This a profound book, beautifully written. The themes of humanity, community, life and it's ultimate meaning are richly explored in vivid prose against the harsh, savage yet sublime backdrop of the mountains of frontier America.Like Cormac McCarthy, the author often defies the rigid rules of English that restrict so many authors. This may be dizzying for limited minds, but don't let the philistines put you off. This is a rare treat. Replete with insight into the human condition and the laws of nature, this book also proffers myriad accounts of lost traditions of domestic and agricultural endeavour, all portrayed through a variety of well-written characters.
—Darren O'keefe
