This is a barebones western frontier story presented in the (uneducated) language of early 18th century Colonial America.

A family departs from Pennsylvania and heads West to the other side of the Ohio, which the author refers to as the northwest territory. It's important not to confuse this with what we know as the NW Territories in our century or even the last one.

This is a survival tale of a large family. They are dragging a sick mother, a teen daughter who takes on the responsibility of caring for her siblings, and the father, Worth Luckett, who is a skilled shack builder, hunter, and provider of meat for the family. He then leaves them to rely on their own innate proficiencies.

This is not a "pretty" novel. However, if you're curious about what the Shawnees considered home before the arrival of the White man, with the woods so dense that the sun couldn't reach the ground, it描绘了覆盖整个东北、北部和西北部的原始森林。

Of course, as this short novel progresses, people move in, quietly emerging from the "woodwork", and suddenly there are cows and such. This is a story of a raw life. Humans are interlopers, but they are determined to survive. And the trees don't have a chance. How could one live in such a place without a gun? Eventually, hoes and pickets arrive, and the trees are butchered and sacrificed just like a skinned wolf, and you realize: this is civilization. Man and his children must survive.

This offers a peek into the "before" times, brought to us by Conrad Richter through the pioneering Luckett family, because America is destined to grow. Its untold riches are there for the brave and talented individuals willing to work and endure a hardscrabble life, something completely incomprehensible to us in the 21st century.

It's a novel, not a history book, but more history is materialized from its pages along with the drama of a dangerous life. Is this a romantic novel like The Last Of The Mohicans? I don't think so. Maybe it's a precursor to A. Proulx’ Barkskins which is an epic. This is just a slice. But it makes us think: what have we done with our trees? Now we allow them to burn.

The amazing and authentic language Richter uses is an education in itself, and a dictionary or grammar text is not necessary. You gradually learn their tongue.

Favorite books of all time are truly special.

One such book is written beautifully in a poetic style, with authentic dialog and well-researched stories, attitudes, implements, and activities of the time.

It provides a great record of westward progress, detailing how it happened and the forces that drove it.

This book can stand alone, but it is even greater when read along with the other two books in the Awakening Land series.

It offers a personal view of progress, from wilderness living to town living in the same location.

Subtly, it raises questions about whether the Europeans ruined the Indians, whether progress to towns was a good thing, and many other issues that we still struggle with today.

I have a deep love for these books and highly recommend them.

Although the vocabulary may be a hurdle for some, if you stay with the story, your efforts will be handsomely rewarded with a beautiful, all-American story that will stay with you long after you've turned the last page.

This is a captivating novel that delves into the American frontier during the late eighteenth century in eastern Ohio. At that time, the first settlers were gradually making their way in from the states east of the Alleghenies.

Although this era is long past, it remains an integral part of the American imagined identity as tough individualists transforming the untamed wilderness. The land north of the Ohio River was a vast expanse of unbroken trees, creating a world of dark, primitive trails illuminated only by occasional shafts of sunlight.

The Luckett family, led by Worth Luckett, a hunter, trapper, and woodsman, arrives in this land in search of an area abundant in game. The book's narrative mainly follows Sayward, the eldest daughter, who is fifteen years old when the story begins. Over the years, as other settlers join them and civilization starts to take root, Worth becomes increasingly disillusioned. After the tragic loss of his wife and youngest daughter, he abandons his family to explore the lands further west. However, the story remains focused on Sayward, her brother, and two remaining sisters in Ohio.

The book's writing is based on a meticulous study of historic manuscripts and letters, which lends authenticity to the text's speech patterns, phrases, and cadence, mirroring those of the original settlers along the Ohio River. The reader quickly adapts to the unique style of dialogue. The vivid descriptions of their activities and living environment are both believable and realistic.

Here are some random impressions I gained from this book:

1. The first settlers had a greater inclination towards hunting than farming. They relied on the sale of skins and furs for income and the meat for sustenance. It's likely they endured bouts of malnutrition. They chopped down just enough trees to construct their cabins and for fuel, no more.

2. The second generation, represented by Sayward and her husband, had a stronger interest in farming. They cleared the land of trees to make it suitable for cultivation, a laborious task that involved burning large walnut, oak, and hickory logs throughout the winter. What was once a hindrance to them would now be highly valuable.

3. They experienced deaths, tragedies, and hardships, but they didn't wallow in self-pity for long.

4. I was astonished by how some couples entered into marriage with minimal or no courtship.

Overall, this novel offers a fascinating glimpse into the lives and struggles of the early settlers on the American frontier.

First of all, I must admit that I found the style of this work to be extremely cheesy. It felt as if every other sentence began with 'Oh', which made it seem rather artificial and overdone.

Secondly, the identity of the narrator was highly unclear. At times, he wrote in a way that made it seem as if he was a contemporary of the protagonists, assuming that the reader was as well. However, at other times, he became very didactic and went into excessive detail about what was happening. This detail seemed unnecessary because it was so obvious that if he truly was a contemporary, it wouldn't need to be explained.

I found both of these aspects to be quite irritating. Additionally, I felt that the protagonists were rather caricatured and lacked depth. They seemed more like one-dimensional characters rather than fully developed individuals.

Finally, the story itself appeared to be just a series of disjointed episodes without any sense of progression or a clear narrative arc. Overall, I would rate this work 1.5 stars. While it wasn't completely awful and I didn't find it painful to read most of the time, I can't say that I enjoyed it in the slightest. It simply didn't meet my expectations in terms of style, character development, and storytelling.

This is a story about early pioneers. It was written in the 1940's and received several book awards at that time. However, I didn't have a good experience reading it.

A family relocates westward from Pennsylvania and settles in a dense forest. They build a log cabin slowly, hunt game, and rely on the land for their living. In the first half of the book, nothing interesting occurs. There is no suspense or real excitement. Towards the end of the story, one of the children gets lost in the wilderness, which briefly enlivens the plot, but this soon fades away. The characters seem wooden, and their motives and actions depict a stereotype of backwoods rustics.

The dialogue is overly countrified. Reading it feels like struggling through a thicket of thorns. For example, Sayward's suitor asks her father, "Is her married?" and the answer is, "Not to my knowin." Later, when she asks her brother when he'll return home, he says, "Look for me out 'ar tomorry -- if the cows come that away!" Complaining about a river crossing, Sayward says, "He mought have found some riffles we could cross without gittin wet to our middles." And these are some of the clearer passages.

I endured reading it until the end, but it was a painful experience. This is my first Richter book. Since he won the Pulitzer Prize, perhaps I started with one of his weaker works or maybe I just failed to appreciate the brilliance of this one. I think I'll give his Pulitzer novel a try, but not anytime soon. I need to get this one out of my mind first.

This is truly an extremely old book. It was penned long before the 1980s, and I believe it is the earliest edition that this system presented to me.

I borrowed the hardcover from my aunt. She had obtained it as part of the massive collection of books that came along with her really old cottage in Gay Head. The book was already ancient when she purchased the house. The woman who previously owned the house had possessed it since the early part of the century when her family lived in it. That woman, Dorothy, I think was her name, was a remarkable character.

She was a really unique lady, a journalist for local and Florida papers. She was single, took care of her parents and a disabled sister, and left her nominal estate to her rector and his wife, who gave much of it to the historical society. Anyhow, I digress.

She was a great and interesting woman with a wonderful collection of books that she left behind when she passed away and her heirs left behind when they sold.

The book is incredible. It is absolutely beautiful and richly told. It is one of the best books I have ever read.

All those years of reading the Little House books as a child have evolved into a more mature and realistic image of pioneering in the huge and endless forests of the Midwest decades before the Ingalls family made their home there.

I remember Suli and her sister and brother and the parent (father?) who just up and went away. And I remember how one day Suli, just a little girl, simply didn't come home from her day in the woods. And how the other siblings just knew that she was gone for good and that was that. That was the reality of life, and there was no point in wishing it otherwise.

I remember the images of the trees, endless, endless, endless. What unimaginable beauty, darkness, quiet, and isolation.

Incredible book. Just incredible.

Maybe I'll go and find a copy of it and read it again.

**The Trees: A Captivating Tale of Pioneering**

The Trees commences the remarkable trilogy titled The Awakening Land: The Trees, The Fields, & The Town. In this story, Conrad Richter masterfully chronicles the beginnings of the Luckett family, a pioneering clan from Pennsylvania. They embark on a journey to settle the unexplored land in Ohio. The area west of the Allegheny Mountains and north of the Ohio River is blanketed in thick and dense forests. The idea of traversing hundreds of miles through these dark and isolated woods to an unknown destination is truly daunting. The early pioneers, like the Lucketts, were made of tough stuff, willing to leave everything behind and start anew. In my own adult life, I've moved several times with my family, but our experiences pale in comparison to what these early settlers endured. Life today is luxurious compared to the hardships they faced just to make a living. This book introduces us to the Luckett family's trials and tribulations as they strive to build a new life.

The central character we follow throughout the novel is Sayward, the eldest of five children. She matures rapidly, and we witness her remarkable strength of mind and body. Her father, Worth, prefers a secluded life and selects a spot surrounded by the darkness of the dense forests to build their cabin. His wife, Jary, wonders when she'll ever see the sun again. Worth is a wanderer, a "woodsy" man who hunts and traps to feed his family. An early tragedy, one of many struggles the family will face, places the focus on Sayward, and we see the story unfold through her eyes and thoughts.

Sayward's intelligence is not the traditional book smarts. She knows nothing of the alphabet or how to write. Instead, her clever intellect stems from her surroundings and the folklore and superstitions she learns from her family. For example, propping open the door of the cabin with a white rock instead of a fireplace log indicates special treatment for expected visitors. There are also marriage and burial customs that are of great concern. A grave is dug east-west so that the sun will shine on the faces of the dead on resurrection morn. And other simpler beliefs, like the one Sayward's sister has about swallowing a dry thimbleful of salt before bed to determine her future husband, add a touch of authenticity to the story.

This slim volume is filled with fantastic characterization, rich descriptions of the place, and a genuine authenticity of voice. Richter carefully crafted the speech patterns of his characters to match those of the first settlers in the early 18th century. It's a moving tale of a family that endures heartache, struggle, death, changes, and unforeseen circumstances. I'm eagerly looking forward to reading the next two volumes in the trilogy over the next two months. I can't wait to see what the Luckett family will encounter as more people come to the place they've chosen to live and as progress inevitably reaches their part of the world.

Let the good come, Sayward thought, for the bad would come of its own self. That's how life was, death and birth, grub and harvest, rain and clearing, winter and summer. You had to take one with the other, for that's the way it ran.

Another review proposes that this is "Little House on the Prairie" as retold by Cormac McCarthy. That's indeed quite fitting!

I was completely captivated by this account of the earliest settlers in the primeval forest of central Ohio, in the Northwest Territories, around 1800. The "woodsy" family, who are hunters, venture into the deep forest when they notice their game deserting Pennsylvania. The景象 of an ocean-sized swarm of squirrels running - not swinging - westward through the forest was truly apocalyptic.

The forest is so thick that they never see sunlight. They clear enough space for a house, which the Man constructs with his axe. The wild game is plentiful - including fisher fox and painters - and they are optimistic about their prospects of trading skins. "We mought even got rich and have shoes!"

Richter's dialog is rich in the forest lexicon and respectful of the speech patterns of his characters, which he researched in primary sources. I appreciate the structure and the chapter divisions ("Bread," "The Cabin," "Little Tyke").

The edition I read was from the library; Knopf, 1940 - printed on paper made by the S.D. Warren company (significant to Harvard MA); composed and bound by the Plimpton Press, Norwood, MA (still operating when I was growing up there). This adds an interesting historical dimension to the reading experience.

I really enjoyed this novel as it felt like a step back in time.

Just imagine looking out over the vast landscape and seeing nothing but an endless expanse of trees stretching all the way to the horizon in all four directions.

The family in this story are what you might call "woodsies". They rely on hunting for their livelihood and have no interest in cutting down trees to start farms.

The main character, Sayward, is a bit of a sleeper. Throughout the entire book, I found myself reading with anticipation, eager for the moment when she would step up and claim her rightful place.

And finally, very near the end, she does just that. She begins to bring about a radical change to their whole way of life.

This, in a way, is really just the beginning of the story.

Obviously, I will now have to read "The Fields" to find out what becomes of Sayward's ambitious plans.

It's exciting to think about what might lie ahead for her and her family.

I can't wait to see how the story unfolds further.

Overall, this novel has really piqued my interest and left me eager for more.

I'm looking forward to delving deeper into the world that has been created and seeing where the characters' journeys will take them.

It's been a great read so far, and I have high hopes for the next installment.

The story grows on you.

At first, it might seem like just an ordinary tale, but as you delve deeper, it starts to work its magic.

The characters come alive, their emotions and struggles becoming palpable.

You find yourself invested in their lives, eagerly turning the pages to see what will happen next.

The plot thickens, with unexpected twists and turns that keep you on the edge of your seat.

Before you know it, you're completely immersed in the story, unable to put it down.

It's as if the story has taken root within you, growing stronger with each passing moment.

You become a part of the narrative, experiencing the joys and sorrows right along with the characters.

And when the story finally comes to an end, you're left with a sense of fulfillment and a longing for more.

The story has truly grown on you, leaving an indelible mark on your heart and mind.

The first installment of a trilogy centered around the westward movement, Conrad Richter truly excels in capturing the intricate details of pioneer life.

A family in Pennsylvania realizes the scarcity of available game for the approaching winter and decides to head west, where deer and antelope are abundant. They ultimately reach what is now Ohio. The arduous journey there and the initial settlement in the territory made me acutely aware, with each description of hardship, of my own civilized softness in both physicality and character. I firmly believe I would not have survived a single day. Conrad's remarkable ability to vividly describe the flora, fauna, and the vastness of the woods instilled a sense of fear in me. For instance, the weather is perpetually cold, even when it seemingly shouldn't be. Reading this during the winter in Oregon helped me envision the severity of the conditions, yet, cushioned by my modern conveniences and clothing, I fell far short of understanding what this family endured.

We commence the story with just the family. Uneducated and constantly occupied with the responsibilities of staying alive, their discourse is limited. However, what is said feels genuine. As time progresses, we come to know the family members and develop a place for them in our hearts.

Eventually, once they reach their destination, a settlement begins to form around them. This enables Conrad to expand the scope. Life and death occur. Conrad adeptly captures the acceptance and courage required to live under hardships where simply staying alive is a daily struggle. Amidst the hardships, just enough rays of sunlight and moments of joy penetrate the darkness, giving life something to strive for and endure. Barely, though. I am extremely grateful to have been born when, where, and under the circumstances that I was. I have had it easy.

The next two installments, namely The Field and The Town, will further explore this settling process. If they are as informative, entertaining, and well-crafted as this first novel, it is bound to be an excellent trilogy on the formation of our nation. I am determined to continue this adventure.

I ended up liking this book very much.

It vividly描绘了a pioneer family's gritty lives as they move west into the dense woods of the frontier. The detailed descriptions make you feel as if you are right there with them, experiencing their hardships and joys.

Although there are more books in this series, I think I’ll pass on those. Maybe it's because this particular story has already satisfied my curiosity about the pioneer era. Or perhaps I'm simply ready to move on to other types of literature.

Nevertheless, I'm glad I gave this book a chance and discovered the fascinating world of the pioneers. It has left a lasting impression on me and has made me appreciate the courage and determination of those who came before us.