. . 'active' : ''"> . Vanderhaeghe takes readers on an exhilarating journey from the ivy-covered towers of Oxford in Victorian England to the dusty whiskey trading posts of the nineteenth-century America and Canadian West.” –The Upper North Side “Guy Vanderhaeghe successfully captures the feelings of wonder and dread in the backcountry trading posts of the west during the nineteenth century. You can find our Community Guidelines in full here. This is a veritable Boy's Own tale of derring-do, rewritten for modern sensibilities. . The Last Crossing by Guy Vanderhaeghe Little, Brown £14.99, pp484. . And now, apparently famous too, after a fashion. Addington’s battle against syphilis, Custis’ near-fatal ailment, and the Indigenouss’ constant fight with smallpox show that appearances are deceiving. Thank you, Guy Vanderhaeghe.” –Edmonton Journal“The Last Crossing is a tale of lust, murder, revenge, shock and survival. . Start by marking “The Last Crossing” as Want to Read: Error rating book.

He is an idiot.

The writing becomes steadily more engaging as the story progresses. Independent Premium.

This is one of the best books I read in 2013, hands down (perhaps only behind Mitchell's 10,000 Autumns). I know what they are. What I found fascinating was the author's vivid descriptions and characterizations of cowboys, Indians, gunfights, Civil War battles, sickness, romance, murder, revenge, scenery and the motivations behind all the character's feelings and actions. The Last Crossing might be a “western,” but it is still one that tackles many of the psychological issues most of us face. The Last Crossing is a tale of interwoven lives and stories taking place in the last half of the nineteenth century, traveling from England to the United States and the Canadian west. Addington Gaunt, an insufferable disgraced military captain, leads the expedition along with his brother, Charles Gaunt, a disillusioned artist. Signed, Custis Straw.". Or is it really only Charles who feels bound to both Addington and Simon? Do you find the values between whites and Indians sharply contrasted? Now, I don't know whether it was because I was busy and didn't have a chance to pick it up more than I normally would, but I find even in that case if I'm enjoying a book enough, I'll make time for it. Do you have a feeling of inevitability about Simon’s fate? [His] characters. No kidding - I had to carry a dictionary around with me while reading this book - learned alot of new words like encomium, fice, destrier, peroration, toxophilite, etc. Cosgrave, with a picture dealer’s disdain for the truth, once described me to a dewlapped matron as a “court painter.” By that he meant I had doodled up a portrait of a demented claimant to the throne of Spain (of which there are legion), a sallow-complexioned fellow who sat in my studio morosely munching walnuts and strewing the floor with their shells. Are there other hints of happenings later in the novel? .

He wants to be “a Blackfoot, a Real Person” (Vanderhaeghe 106) but he is most commonly called by his white name, reminding the reader of his positions on both sides. . Completing the CAPTCHA proves you are a human and gives you temporary access to the web property. Readalikes | I beg you to come soon. Painstaking, ubiquitous research that adds nothing; language so stilted it topples off the page; unbelievable characters doing ludicrous things, but doing them -- importantly -- in period costume; overwrought British-accent narrative musings stretching to find some justifying meaning in the assinine shit-chimp plot. . . BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us. Newsletters, offers and promotions delivered straight to your inbox. Englishmen Charles and Addington Gaunt are ordered by their tyrannical industrialist father to find their brother Simon, who has gone missing in the wilds of the American West. Charles, a disillusioned artist, and Addington, a disgraced military captain, set off to remote Fort Benton, in the outreaches of the Montana frontier. Log in to update your newsletter preferences. . There is. Charles, a disillusioned artist, and Addington, a disgraced military captain, set off to Fort Benton in America and enlist the services of a guide to lead them north, where Simon was last seen. Simon Gaunt, disciple of the fanatical Reverend Obadiah Witherspoon, has disappeared in the Canadian west. For that reason, I am giving it the 4-stars I think it deserves, rather than the lower-3 stars that was my reading of it. It’s the pacing and wagonloads of vivid description that make it a keeper.” –Erik Spanberg, Creative Loafing‘sharp and eloquent. The search for a missing brother adds a mythic dimension to Vanderhaeghe’s complex plot. These items jolt his memory, and he finds himself revisiting the events of a quarter-century back, when he had last crossed the Atlantic. I'm talking specifically about the US-Canadian borderlands between Fort Benton, Montana and Fort Whoop Up, Alberta. What are examples of its redemptive power?13.

Consider Charles, Simon, Addington, Lucy, and Custis, as well as Harkness. Got a little lost in the battles but I'll say no more about that. IMHO, it is an excellent book. See 2 questions about The Last Crossing…, Bryan Washington on Father Figures and Other Complicated Relationships.

For a tragicomedy at the turning point of the taming of the frontier, this does not attain the heights of McMurtry’s “Lonesome Dove”, but it taps the same vein of pleasure. It’s been years since I picked up a fat, lurid bodice ripper, and I embarked on The Last Crossing–full of period costumes and mannered, flowery prose–buoyed by waves of nostalgia. . Inside, I discover a newspaper clipping already a month old.The Macleod Gazette July 17, 1896JERRY POTTS DEADAN HISTORICAL LANDMARK GONEJerry Potts is dead. The Last Crossing by Guy Vanderhaeghe was a tougher read for me. Sex is sometimes lust, pure and simple, in the novel. Subscribe to receive some of our best reviews, "beyond the book" articles, book club info, and giveaways by email.
Aptly named since it was a trading post that specialized in trading illegal whisky with the local Indian tribes. Billy is a cowboy type kid in the 1940's living in the desert right along the Mexico border. . .

. However, I suggested this excellent book to my book group and was fascinated by the wonderful writing, finely developed characters and a thoroughly engrossing plot. Overview. I liked this book quite a bit, despite its bearing a cover photo taken by Edward S. Curtis and a jacket summary that uses silly words like "frontier", "American West" and "epic masterpiece". Queer old Charlie Gaunt has become a minor, middle-aged bachelor celebrity. . . . It would be wonderful to say that it lived up to all the crescendos of euphoria on the covers and the first few pages by various authors and newspapers from the U.S., Canada and the U.K., but it didn’t. The other passengers had gone to dress for dinner. They are joined by Lucy Stoveall, a woman filled with rage and sorrow over the loss of her young sister Madge who was brutally murdered. Did the letters further expand your grasp of the characters? The majority of the plot is spent wandering around the Montana prairie, and the various characters ruminate on things like stars, grass, and each othe...and yet you want to keep reading to find out what the others think. The Last Crossing, thematically, is as big as the wide-open spaces of Saskatchewan and the Big Sky country that serve as the novel’s backdrop. It is not too much to call Vanderhaeghe’s vast canvas magnificent.” –Anthony Day, The Los Angeles Times“Big, satisfying . By the end, the right folk are paired off, returned home or eaten by bears. There is an Indian village wiped out by smallpox, a bear hunt in which the bear slays the hunter, three constipated Englishmen, all stereotypes, and in his own strange way the very model of a Boy's Own hero. -Two brothers go The only one I was unsure of was the man the novel starts with, but by the final chapters, he has emerged as a worthy, complex, beat-down, raised-up, hero.

Guy Vanderhaeghe’s The Last Crossing is a Western of subtly crossed borders. .

Guthrie Jr., Mari Sandoz, and H.L. I had no reason to like any of these cliche but flawed characters, who kept bad decisions I didn't care about. If “excellence” means anything, this novel is excellent.” –Martin Levin, Toronto Globe and Mail“The Last Crossing is an enormously rich and complex work, spanning time and place. . . The Last Crossing, by Guy Vanderhaeghe A Boy's Own tale of the Canadian west. Is this a one-time event in the novel, or does he undergo successive discoveries?12. . Everyone in this novel is interesting and even those few despicable individuals still manage to draw you in and make you care about them before the end. to go into much detail would spoil the pleasures of losing yourself in this high-minded and compulsively readable novel. Vanderhaeghe has such a talent for writing vastly different characters while making them equally fascinating, equally worthy of having his or her own story told. . Simon, the spiritual dropout, in one sense? That ambiguity alone. . Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate? Great cast of characters with interesting, intersecting lives. Does Charles somehow represent a mean between the extremes of his two brothers?

Title by Abacus Software. Charles and Addingto. Most liked, -1) ? They hire a half breed (Blackfoot/Scotsman), Jerry Potts, to guide them. The plot grabs you in such a fierce, determined way that it is impossible, once started, to set the book aside.” –Ottawa Citizen“The Last Crossing‘s epic sweep, historical scope, unforgettable characters, thematic complexity, compelling narrative and mythic underpinnings make it a hugely satisfying read.
Oldest first, -1) ? try again, the name must be unique, Please

However, it is difficult to root for a man who, like Custis, has an erotic dream about Lucy’s fourteen-year-old sister who has recently been found raped and murdered. Please .

Reader Reviews. It is a novel of staggering literary achievement and immense emotional power that brings Canadian history to life.” –The Record (Kitchener-Waterloo)“The American frontier comes to life, as does the Civil War…and any other events that affect the lives of Charles and Addington Gaunt. An unforgettable epic shortlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize, and named a best book of the year by the New York Times. Master storyteller Guy Vanderhaeghe–hailed by Richard Ford as ‘simply a wonderful writer” –takes us on an exhilarating journey from the gleaming spires of Oxford in Victorian England to the dusty whiskey trading posts of the nineteenth-century American and Canadian West. continue to respect all commenters and create constructive debates. . How do characters achieve satisfaction or resolution? .

. Are we led to consider not only differences among the white people but also characters who are amalgams between the two? I would have to say that it was a very satisfying ending. . .


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