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By Sorrow's River: The Berrybender Narratives, Book 3 (Mcmurtry, Larry)
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Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
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In this tale of adventure, at once high-spirited and terrifying, set against the background of the West that Larry McMurtry has made his own, By Sorrow's River is an epic in its own right with an extraordinary young woman as its leading figure.
At the heart of this third volume of his Western saga remains the beautiful and determined Tasmin Berrybender, now married to the "Sin Killer" and mother to their young son, Monty, who, although Tasmin intends him to be an English gentleman like his grandfather, is at the moment living the childhood of a savage.
By Sorrow's River continues the Berrybender party's trail across the endless Great Plains of the West toward Santa Fe, where they intend, those who are lucky enough to survive the journey, to spend the winter. Along the way, Tasmin, whose husband, Jim Snow, has vanished off to scout ahead of them, falls in love with Pomp Charbonneau, only to see him killed by the ruthless commander of Spanish troops, while her father, Lord Berrybender, now reduced to limping along on one leg and a pair of crutches, increasingly makes a fool of himself by falling in love with his own mistress. They meet up with a vast cast of characters from the history of the West: Kit Carson, the famous scout; Le Partezon, the fearsome Sioux war chief; The Ear Taker, an Indian whose specialty is creeping up on people while they are asleep and slicing an ear off with a sharp knife; two aristocratic Frenchmen whose eccentric aim is to cross the Great Plains by hot air balloon; a party of slavers led by the cowardly but bloodthirsty Obregon; a band of raiding Pawnee; and many other astonishing characters who prove, once again, that the rolling, grassy plains are not, in fact, nearly as empty of life as they look. Most of what is there is dangerous and hostile, even when faced with Tasmin's remarkable, frosty sangfroid. She is one of the strongest and most interesting of Larry McMurtry's women characters, fairly resistant to shock, whether at bloodshed, the behavior of children, or sex, and at the center of this powerful and ambitious novel of the West.
PRODUCT DESCRIPTIONS:
Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780743233040
ISBN: 0743233042
Label: Simon & Schuster
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 368
Publication Date: 2003-11
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Release Date: 2003-11-04
Studio: Simon & Schuster
SIMILAR ITEMS:
• Folly and Glory: A Novel (The Berrybender Narratives)
• The Wandering Hill: A Novel (The Berrybender Narratives)
• Sin Killer: A Novel (The Berrybender Narratives)
• Telegraph Days: A Novel
• Dead Man's Walk (Lonesome Dove)
CUSTOMER REVIEWS:
Gripping scenes and emotionally sensitive -
Unlike some of McMurtry's other books, which often present events objectively with a kind of emotional disconnect that makes the reactions of the people seem cavalier, By Sorrow's River reaches an emotional depth that goes beyond the story itself and delves into the psychology of the characters. Indeed, the adventures, the actions, the wilderness, the struggles against nature, against each other, and against normal human desires, all come together to create a book that moves smoothly through the pages at a pace that allows the reader to absorb the joys and fears of the people. Yet, there is a depth within the book that touches deeply and gives the story an artistry and sensitivity not often found in books of this type.
The humor of the people is found in their often absurd but not unrealistic reactions to the various incidents that accompany their travels. At times hilarious, other times tense, we find ourselves identifying with the mountain men, the Indians, and the English people, and in some ways, we desire good things for most of the people we meet. The complex and amatory Tasmin is the center of the story replete with her confusion over who she loves, her role as a mother, and her ambivalence toward her upbringing versus her current situation.
This book did have an ending, an ending that was projected in different ways throughout the story, but, nevertheless an ending that leaves the reader both broken and reflective. In a strange way, the emotional impact of By Sorrow's River is strong and not easily dismissed. Aside, from his almost maddening lack of thorough description of who these people are, and his tendency to make us understand them through their reactions rather than knowing ahead of time, I found this to be one of McMurtry's stronger works of fiction and characterization. A thoroughly enjoyable and gripping read.
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A Wild Saga - Part 3 -
By Sorrow's River is part three of a four-part series chronically the adventures of the aristocratic, English Berrybender family exploring the American West in the 1830's on a steamship on the Missouri River. Lord Berrybender is accompanied by his gluttonous wife and six of his 14 legitimate children. The series is historical fiction in that it incorporates actual people such as Kit Carson and Jim Bridges, yet the tales are so fanciful that history is left in the dust.
Outrageous is the best general characterization of these stories. The adventures and their characters seem larger than life and more colorful than neon. Not for the faint of heart, unexpected, random, senseless and disturbing atrocities, injuries, and deaths litter these tales, with a side of lots of "rutting." The majority of the initial primary characters do not survive to see book four4 of the series.
Yet, the stories grabbed me. I went through the series like popcorn, wanting to see what amazing events would occur to the crazy Berrybenders and their growing entourage. The series is intense, rollercoastering through every facet of human emotion and many aspects of abnormal psychology. Nothing dull in these books. The frequent connections to actual historical persons and events keep the tales interesting and grounded, despite the continuum of bizarre incidents. Not for everyone, but I liked it.
Not the Strongest in the Series -
Although much fun to read, as were the first two books in the Berrybender Narratives, "By Sorrow's River" is the weakest link. Maybe because there is less action and more introspection, namely, willful, beautiful and impossible Tasmin Berrybender's increasinbly deep infatuation with Pomp Charbonneau, who seems indifferent to her considerable charms.
As we know from previous books, Tasmin impetuously married mountain man Jimmy Snow, "The Sin Killer," much feared by the Indians. Although he satisfies her on a very primal level and has already fathered a son by her, Jimmy is taciturn to the point of obsession, while Tasmin never shuts up. Jimmy is an unschooled frontiersman, while Tasmin is a cultured and spoiled upper-class Englishwoman. We know all this...it's old news. So why is it so annoying when she sets her sights and considerable will upon cultured and quiet Charbonneau? Maybe it's because he really doesn't want her, even up to and including her rash seduction, where she has to do just about everything herself (McMurtry is hilarious in this description, as he always is in this series). Or maybe she has become as tiresome to us as she has to most people around her.
At any rate, there are still plenty of gory deaths, outrageous selfish acts by Lord Berrybender, some unexpected weddings and couplings, and a new influx of Mexican characters who people a thriving trading post.
Still fun to read, but not the strongest in the series. Looking foward to "Folly and Glory," the next of the Narratives.
Addicted to an odd series -
I was hooked on the Berrybender series because of the hysterical humor in Sin Killer, so I bought the other three books in the series. I'm reading the series as one long book, and I see no other way to read it. It is, after all, just one continuous story about the same characters on the same journey. It is as continuous as Lord of the Rings or Remembrance of Things Past, both of which were published as a series of separate books. In this regard it isn't like the Kushiel series by Jacqueline Carey, because the three books in that series can each stand alone and involve completely separate adventures, though with the same characters.
This, the third book in the four-book series, is not funny at all. Okay. I got hooked on the humor, and it's gone. But I'm still hooked on the characters, and in particular Tasmin Berrybender. Her stupid father I can do without. Her sisters play diminishing roles as the story unfolds. Her husband Jim Snow, Sin Killer, also has a diminishing role in this book. Pomp Charboneau is elevated to stardom, though he is a boring star, a man who doesn't really want to be alive, a man who will avoid Tasmin's advances almost all the time, but will submit passively to them when cornered. He's not much of a character.
One surprise star in this third book is Clam De Paty, the French journalist with the garish red pants. He has an adventure or two. Then there's a pair of lively and wealthy Mexican girls who are pretty interesting, and one is in love with young Kit Carson, one of Tasmin's conquests.
The terrifying Partezon becomes very human, and we are told what makes him tick. History proved him right. No wonder he was killing off all those white men. That was the Indians' only chance, and he was the only Indian in this book who knew it. But he peters out. So does Lord Berrybender. Sometimes McMurtry's characters just peter out.
In Lord Berrybender's case, he doesn't seem like the same man who was introduced to us in Sin Killer. I don't recognize him in this book. Perhaps "continuity of character" isn't McMurtry's strongest suit in this series. He makes things happen to his characters, and the characters don't seem to be who they started out as. I suspect it is a weakness in the writing, but nobody's perfect. This series is tremendous.
Pomp is a disturbing character. Why is he avoiding Tasmin? We kind of think it is because she's married to his buddy. But if that is the case, why is he having sex with her? I don't get Pomp. I think he's being painted as a broken man, broken by his removal to Europe after growing up in the American frontier. If that is the whole Pomp story, that he is an illustration of a man who was broken by civilization, then I think it is a poor choice on the author's part. I don't think people break like that. I don't think that they become apathetic vegetables because of that. It's a weakness of the story. Yay wilderness, boo civilization. Whatever. I don't buy it.
This author is far more cold blooded than most. He constantly kills off his main characters. It reminds me of Dungeons and Dragons, where you can be playing with a character for months, and then he's dead, and that's that. The mortality rate on this Berrybender excursion is just a little higher than the mortality rate among terminal AIDS patients too weak to stand.
The mortality rate forces this to be a comedy, because nobody in his right mind would continue this journey, as Berrybender does, for sport, after all of this tragedy. This has to be a comedy because one of Berrybender's children disappeared, died, and was never remarked again, like the child was nothing. That happened in an earlier book. Remember, he had brought two of his "numbered" children with him, one was found as a silent stowaway, and the other was never heard from again. This has to be a comedy, no? Why else would nobody in the family give a damn that baby sibling is missing, abandoned, and dead?
This series walks a very queer line between comedy and adventure. But when a series has me, it has me.
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Tasmin Shows Her Berrybender Roots -
If you haven't read either The Sin Killer or The Wandering Hill, I suggest you read at least The Sin Killer to get a sense of the characters before reading this book. Otherwise, this will probably seem like a dull two star book.
By Sorrow's River is a reference to the way that Pomp Charbonneau was described by his mother, Sacagawea - the famous guide for Lewis and Clark, when he was born. In this series, Pomp serves to make the point that Larry McMurtry centers this series on: The Old World is done and you'd better adapt to the new. Pomp, although an American who is half Native American, was raised in Europe and can appreciate both cultures. Pomp clearly favors the Wilderness of the West.
At the end of The Wandering Hill, Pomp was seriously wounded in an attack. Only careful surgery and insistent nursing kept him alive to reach this story. Tasmin had been falling in love with Pomp in The Wandering Hill, but now she determines to have her way with Pomp whether or not her husband, Jim Snow (the Sin Killer), is around. Tasmin's pursuit of Pomp is the main story line for By Sorrow's River.
Monty, Tasmin's and Jim's son, and the other two boys continue to grow nicely. Little Onion, Jim's remaining Native American wife, continues to serve as unpaid nanny while Tasmin nurses her hungry son.
Overall, the women show that they are the stronger sex and gain a stronger hand in their battles of the sexes with the men.
The comic relief in this story is the arrival of two journalists who bring a hot air balloon with them. On the sinister side, the Partezon is once again involved in the story in a threatening way while the travelers learn about the Ear Taker the hard way. The balance of power among the whites and the Native Americans shift was a smallpox epidemic devastates some of the tribes.
The travelers leave the relative security and comfort of the trading post near the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers to travel toward Santa Fe across parched lands to face new dangers.
The book ends on a tragic note as fate seems to once again take a hand on determining who will live and who will die on the frontier.
I enjoyed this book more than The Wandering Hill, but I would have liked the story if it had less of Tasmin's obsession with controlling men.
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