The horror of prairie life v the will to survive
923701
Maltman's novel uses a complex plot to share the equally complex interaction of families isolated by geography doomed by the dismal demographics of economic change. The prose is often dreamy; the stories told by characters with differing points of view.  Good use of figurative language. Should have had an editor check for internal consistency and rural cultural literacy. A worthwhile read, methinks.
1337412
Upton Sinclair's the Jungle is a distressing and touching story of the immigrant life in America during the early years of this century.  Jurgis, Ona, and their families came to America from Lithuania to live a better life.  After some time, reality set it.  Their faith in America remained though.  America was not what they had expected, especially once Ona and Jurgis were married.  There was a constant pressure to work, but no matter where they turned they were poverty-stricken.  Jurgis insisted Ona not work, but their financial situation demanded her to.  This historically accurate book displays and reveals the horrific factory work and the workers suffering.  Jurgis job descriptions were unbelievable.  He was asked to stay after one day from work to butcher pregnant cows and cows that had gone down or ones that were sick and had boils all over them.  Their meat was then mixed with all the uncontaminated meat.  Jurgis then realized how the packers operated.  They sold this spoiled, contaminated, or adulterated meat without thinking twice.  The workers were exposed to horrible diseases, had to work harsh working condition, were not paid for days off.  The employers did not care because if they quit or would not do the work, there were plenty of people who would do the work and needed a job.  Throughout the novel, it seems no matter where the family turns they cannot get ahead.  After Antanas, wife Ona, and his two sons die, and Jurgis is forced to give up the house, he enters crime with a friend he met in jail.  Jurgis found out quickly just how corrupt Chicago and city government was.
3402351
This is a book of human suffering with the root cause coming down to a shortcut.  I would say the lesson to learn here is that if there is a well-traveled trail taking a seemingly out-of-the way route as opposed to an unknown shorter route that has not been traveled on there must be a reason that the longer route is the accepted way, and woe unto those who would tempt fate.  This is a well written book with the addition of maps and photos to illustrate the written word.  The will to stay alive is strong, and humans will resort to seemingly unthinkable things such as cannibalism after the death of even family members in an effort to maintain life.  Author Ethan Rarick does a wonderful job in showing how people will adjust in the best way they know how to the incredible adversity that is thrust upon them.  He also recognizes that disparities exist in stories that are told regarding this ill-fated adventure, and does his best in making accurate judgments.  Of the 81 people who had been trapped at the eastern edge of the Sierra Nevada mountains, 36 died and 45 survived.  This is the only book I have read regarding the Donner party, but I can't imagine others being better than this one.
3628228
I heard about Bobby Hale while watching a documentary "The Edge Of Alaska". During my research I discovered this book. The frightening thing is I believe the true horror was so much worse than depicted in these written words.
489835
This is a haunting story about the inexplicable rage and narcissism of country doctor in southern Illinois who murdered two of his sons. It gives an in-depth look at life and culture in the land between the river's. It is also a touching portrait of the courage of the people who lost so much. It is a tale that will stay with long after the book is closed.
4780037
I have to be honest, parts of this book made me queasy. The author is not likely to win any awards for this book, but you seldom win awards for reality and that is what this book i about. Surviving a gruesome and raw reality.
Fernando 'Ferfal' Aguirre shares his experiences and opinions on a number of topics, all of them related to the last 10 years of crisis in Argentina but applicable to the rest of the world should our crisis deepen. Some of the areas he shares his knowledge about are: Preparedness for your family, self defence in various situations, financial/economic preparedness, personal armament, contacts for survival, gear and gadgets etc etc.
723536
Enjoyed learning about the things that would be necessary if or when a major catastrophe occurs that would knock out the grid. Some parts are scary, but unfortunately knowing human nature probably would be true.  Writing is reminiscent of western, good action and pacing.  I would recommend it for those interested in learning about life without electricity and how to cope when it's gone.  However, it's strongly violent in places and if that bothers you, this isn't a book for you.
2488527
This book, along with O'Brien's award-winning novel "The Contract Surgeon", together form a living picture of a crucial time in this country's history, giving life to a small group of people whose actions had long-lasting repercussions that reverberate to this day. Everyone I've spoken to who lives close to Nebraska's Pine Ridge Reservation, where Red Cloud's followers eventually gave in to the U.S. Army, has felt a hopelessness about the people currently living there. Why? These books paint a picture of the origins of the current problems around reservations,a window into the proud past of the Lakota Sioux, and a moving account of the sacrifices of their greatest leaders. It also gives a feel for the attitudes of a number of Americans involved at the time: those who felt the Indians were almost less than human, those who sympathized and tried to help, and those who were caught between, trying to do the best they could, despite the inevitable mistakes they ended up making as imperfect human beings.
536402
Interesting.  Not so many years ago the Indians were total savages.  She says she didn't have to suffer the "fate worse than death", but I wonder.  She certainly did suffer physical privation though, and hunger, numerous times.  Gives a good description of how the Indians lived.  Poor indian women.
1506620
An interesting scenario plays out when a small and remote logging town quarantines itself to escape a mysterious illness that has spread through the nation. The illness is reminiscent of the plague and the fear that grips the town leads to interesting interactions. However when the illness comes anyway despite their precautions, there are new and interesting challenges they must face. This is a book worth reading.
1119236
On April 14, 1935, temperatures dropped fifty degrees and sixty-five-miles-an-hour winds lifted arid and barren soil from Wyoming and the Dakotas, and then continued its destructive southern course to displace tons of dirt throughout much of the American Plains. Better known as Black Sunday, this storm has been earmarked as the worst of the Dirty Thirties, a decade of dust storms in the 1930s. During this time period, there were almost 200 dust storms that plagued this region. The main concentration of these storms settled in a rough circle of land, known as the Dust Bowl, which consisted of sections of New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas. However out of all these storms, none had produced such vast physical and environmental damage like Black Sunday, and it took this storm to send a wake up call to the U.S. government.
 To understand how and why these dust storms evolved, Brown takes readers back millions of years from the geological developments of the Rocky Mountain range and the American Plains and what the land was like when Native Americans freely roamed the continent, to Browns uncomplicated explanation of the adverse effects U.S. history had on the growth and progress of agriculture. By the time drought inundated the American Plains in 1931, particularly the Dust Bowl region, Brown aptly states that, the drought tortured the land, evaporating the moisture in the soilwhen the wind blew, dust storms followed. These dust storms led to harsh temperatures and the encroachment of bugs and jackrabbits.
On May 9, 1934, winds whipped up again, and this time from Montana and the Dakotas, taking with it 350 million tons of dirt, which created gritty clouds that reached fifteen thousand feet. They carried and deposited their load into Chicago, Illinois; Atlanta, New Jersey; Boston, Massachusetts; and Washington, D.C. Almost a year later, Black Sunday hit. The death toll and environmental damaged reached its peak. Finally, after four-years-worth of dust storms that ravaged the land and left survivors sick and destitute, the U.S. government stepped in by instituting programs to plant trees (to act as windbreakers against future storms) and to teach growers how to care for the soil.
 Don Browns stimulating storytelling coupled with his imaginative graphic art has produced a riveting narrative that succinctly describes this ten-year period dubbed THE GREAT AMERICAN DUST BOWL, the worst environmental catastrophe the country has ever seen. Kudos must go to this award-winning author and illustrator for candidly explaining to our youth about a horrific event in our countrys history -- an event that, I believe, could have largely been avoided.
Originally posted on Kidsreads.com
Anita Lock, Book Reviewer
843933
Four friends decide on an adventure together  a weekend canoe trip in a remote area of Georgia. As the trip begins, their adventurousness and their awe at their surroundings and their mastery of their outdoor skills as their skills are tested is elating. These men are city dwellers, after all, and the great outdoors is the great unknown. Only one of the four boasts knowledge and experience, and he is the one to organize the excursion and encourage the others.

 Euphoria turns to horror when two men of the four are confronted in the wilderness by two gruesome backwoods armed brutes. The gentlemen are brutalized, sodomized, and terrified. Fear is their guide. How each of the four reacts and responds, together and individually, will affect the rest of their lives.

They argue and agonize, plan and prepare,  anticipate and react, over how to deal with what they have experienced. The harrowing weekend comes to an end.  Three men return to city life. They were tested, and their lives are changed forever.
2043663
Kelly Kathleen Ferguson grew up, as this reviewer did in a previous generation, reading the stories of Laura Ingalls Wilder. And as many did, she embraced the stories and the harsh life of the pioneers.

When Ferguson reached an impasse in her life where she felt she was in a rut and needed to evaluate her present life and plan better for her future she instinctively turned to the tales embodied in the Little House on the Prairie books to give her guidance. My Life as Laura is the tale of her inner and outer journeys to discover the truth of who Laura was and how her path may still be relevant today.

Ferguson is a bit casual with some of her information. She mentions seeing a group of Amish in a minivan, which couldn't be, as the Amish do not ride in automobiles (the group must have been Mennonite) a point that could have been easily verified with a little Googling. Yet you must admire her dedication in searching for Laura--she even donned a prairie dress to help fit her mental viewpoint into Laura's life and experiences. Ferguson details some of her relationship woes and dead-end jobs and, in doing so, relates to the reader the lessons that she garnered from the Little House books.

She speaks of societal ills: the negatives of government choices back in Wilder's time and their struggle to understand such concepts as the Homestead Act; the constant uproar over Indian migration; and frequent moves of Ma and Pa Ingalls through the Midwest in search of their own dream. Wearing her prairie dress she visited the public areas in several states where the Ingalls lived like Iowa, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. Coming to grips with the realities presented by the written word and by the visit to Laura's past she had to accept that Laura did not write the books alone, that Pa's "homesteading" in Independence, Kansas was in violation of the Indian treaties in place at the time of their occupation of the land, and that the family never really knew success and contentment anywhere they went.

Ferguson's wry self-depreciating sense of humor is sometimes jarring, but always provocative and interesting. Going along with her, via this memoir, on her travels and seeing the pioneer spirit through her eyes is enriching, regardless of how the reader may feel about Ferguson's own love life, job choices and wanderlust. She includes a "Selected Bibliography" at the back of the book for those who might want to explore more fully the Laura story as well as the other books that Ferguson refers to in her book. She is an intriguing writer with strong skills in expressing herself and her path. I hope there will be more of her work as she continues to refine and temper her writing strengths.

by Laura Strathman Hulka
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women
3117369
A wrenching, nerve-wracking film. I would like to believe that the will--and ability--to survive is that strong in all of us.
177206
This book presents an account of the Donner Party, a wagon train of about eighty-seven people who in July 1846 started off for California via a new, untried route through the Sierras. Unfortunately, this particular wagon train of pioneers would go down in history due to the horror and tragedy that it was to meet along its way. Stranded in the Sierras amidst its harshest winter in years, with unparalleled snowfall and frigid temperatures, only little more than half, mostly women and children, were to survive their unbelievable deprivation and suffering.

This wagon train was a loose confederation of strangers who originally were part of another wagon train, but who collectively branched off by consensus to try a new, though untried and unproven, overland route through the Sierras that was alleged to be shorter. Their decision to take this new route was one that would haunt them for the rest of their journey, as it was not what it was purported to be. The inexperience of these travelers, the poor decisions that were sometimes made, and their seeming inability to truly unify as one entity contributed to their ultimate debacle. They were, after all, representative of humanity at large. Some of them were good, brave, and unselfish. Some were people with whom one would not wish to shake hands.

Beleaguered by thirst as they trekked across a desert, marauded by Indians along the way, plagued by the loss of necessary oxen and cattle, beset by accidents and personal squabbles that would sometimes turn deadly, they would finally reach the Sierras and begin their perilous crossing, only to find themselves snowbound at the summit while within sight of the pass that they needed to cross to be home free. Trapped by the weather in early November, they would set up a make-shift camp, never thinking about just how long their encampment would last. With minimal food supplies at their disposal, these intrepid, westward-ho emigrants would find themselves trapped for months, facing incredible hardships that would tax them beyond human endurance. Some would resort to cannibalism in order to survive.

This is a riveting story about survival of the fittest, about personal sacrifice, and human foibles. It is a story not only of those ill-fated pioneers but of those who would attempt to rescue them, often at great personal cost. It is a story that reflects the human spirit, both good and bad, in time of crisis. It is a story of often selfless heroism. It is also a story of greed and craven opportunism. While some of the book is politically incorrect, it is reflective of the times in which these pioneers lived, as well as that of when this book was first written.

It is, however, remiss that the maps included in this book do little to illustrate the deadly journey undertaken by these pioneers. Still, the lack of comprehensive maps does not unduly detract from the powerful impact that this story has on the reader. Moreover, although this classic book on the Donner party was published in 1936, the author, a historian, added a supplement in 1960, which is included in this edition of his book. This supplement serves to correct errors, as well as incorporate additional relevant material not available at the time of original publication.

Those who enjoy tales of survival will, undoubtedly, find this gripping tale well worth reading.
4902044
Here is a controversial (for its time) portrayal of farmers fate in the South. Racist and raw portrayal of life for thousands of poor and ignorant farmers. Life without a safety net, the current political climate is conducive of moving in that direction. Death was seen as escape from something worse, existence!
695376
I had seen the made for TV movie of this family's situation. This story includes interviews with the Smurl families, their neighbors, and Ed and Lorraine Warren who tried to help the family. It also recounts the three exorcisms done in an attempt to rid the household of the demonic attacks. It is a disturbing and frightening true story.