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Title: River Horse: A Voyage Across America
ISBN: 0671047035
Author:
William Least Heat Moon
Publicate Date: 1999-11-01
Publish: 1999-11-01
List Price: $25.00
Average Customer Rating: 3.5
Format: Audio Cassette
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $6.80
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $0.97
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Worth Your Time
It is a disappointment that many Americans don't read after graduation...let alone know anything about American geography.
A great amount of detail, stories, and fact. I only wish he would have discussed his fellow sailors a bit more. And: more pictures!
Though there may be questions circling around Heat-Moon's style, this was a great read. I followed along his voyage with a map of the US (and a detailed map of Oregon once he reached it...I love my state) and highly recommend future readers do the same. It ads to the experience. Google Earth does as well.
-Brandon
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2: Tedious, but should be read
William Trogdon, alias Heat-Moon, has a Ph.d in English, and it shows. He has a vast command of the language and has keen observations.
This is a very interesting book if you take the time to trace his travels on a map, or preferably, Google Earth and see sat photos of the rivers. It is also an excellent education in geography. From the harbor of New York to the Pacific Ocean is pretty impressive. I envy this man for the courage and fortitude to do this voyage.
My negatives are: a constant search for all things Indian. Trogdon seems to have trouble with his identity.
The writing is somewhat pedantic and stiff. It takes many sittings to get thru the book. Next, his willingness to eat as much meat as he can makes me sick and I thought much less of him when the book was finished. Finally, he is pretty liberal and makes nasty comments about conservatives.
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3: Wonderful subject for a book but...
I wanted to read about the fabulous adventure. I only made it through 30 pages of this book. The author must have read too many ancient texts translated by 19th century academics. This one failed to keep me awake. Perhaps if Pilotis (the anonymous first mate for this voyage) published his diary I would be more interested.
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4: William Least Heat Moon's Finest Writing
This book is a must read for anyone who yearns to travel the American experience in a meaningful way, and yet remain seated in your favorite arm chair.
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5: "It's all about me" said Author.
Heat-Moon undertook a fabulous adventure with the assistance of a seemingly very capable and helpful (and anonymous) crew; it's a shame one of them wasn't an author who was up to the task of capturing such a remarkable journey. He can't seem to keep the focus on the trip, but instead constantly writes about 'me, me, me, me, me' and how urbane and worldly he is. His expressed surprise and dissapointment at the lack of gourmet dining and Guinness in small river towns across the US is just one of the many examples that gave me the impression that he was a bit out of touch and unprepared for the realities of such a trip. Throughout the book, Heat-Moon never seems to decide if the trip is supposed to be a rugged, Lewis and Clark-type excursion to truly experiencing America by river and along the river, or an opportunity to tell the reader how superior he is by criticizing the rural communities he passes through and the agencies and people that helped make his trip possible.
He does bring up some very valid points regarding their first-hand observations of negative environmental impacts due to land-use policies, but these valuable points are lost in his smug presentation and finger-pointing. His cumbersome and pretentious writing detracts from the book's flow and kept me from feeling any real connection with the author and his story.
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