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Bound for the Promised Land
Book by Marius, Richard
436 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1976
1 person is currently reading
56 people want to read
About the author
Richard Marius
37 books13 followersRichard Curry Marius was an American academic and writer.
He was a scholar of the Reformation, novelist of the American South, speechwriter, and teacher of writing and English literature at Harvard University. He was widely published, leaving behind major biographies of Thomas More and Martin Luther, four novels set in his native Tennessee, several books on writing, and a host of scholarly articles for academic journals and mainstream book reviews.
Marius was known as a raconteur and political activist.
He was a scholar of the Reformation, novelist of the American South, speechwriter, and teacher of writing and English literature at Harvard University. He was widely published, leaving behind major biographies of Thomas More and Martin Luther, four novels set in his native Tennessee, several books on writing, and a host of scholarly articles for academic journals and mainstream book reviews.
Marius was known as a raconteur and political activist.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 4, 2012
Starting slowly but soon enough rolling furiously into hell, this may be my favorite adventure story of all time. It has it all: a wagon train of unforgettable characters, Indian attacks, cholera, madness, unexpected comedy and well-earned tragedy, and even an admirable dog. Marius is in top form, creating American archetypes who are yet precisely limned individuals, and revealing their psychology with great lyricism. The novel just couldn't be more exciting, or one damned bit sadder, without blowing up in your face. Also highly recommend his An Affair of Honor.
did-not-finish
August 7, 2014Richard Marius can clearly write well and knows his subject. This is a book I would have hugely enjoyed if it were not for the overly descriptive sex scenes. It was just a case of too much information.
If I was to give it a TV rating it would be R.
If I was to give it a TV rating it would be R.
May 10, 2021
During the last two decades of his teaching career, historian Richard Marius (1933-1999) was director of the Expository Writing Program at Harvard and developed from this experience A Short Guide to Writing About History, an excellent introductory text in what is a mostly soporific genre. Besides two scholarly biographies (of Martin Luther and Thomas More), Marius also wrote four novels, of which Bound for the Promised Land, is the second.
Not surprisingly, Marius is a superb wordsmith. After a slow start—I think he might have skipped the first few chapters and communicated the necessary information with flashbacks—Marius held my attention for the remainder of this novel about an overland journey west to California in 1851. Some of Marius’s scenes are unforgettably clever, as for instance Chapter 47, in which the migrants save their lives by making a fool of a Sioux chief—a scene almost certainly too politically incorrect to film in the 21st century.
Nevertheless, the novel has problems as well. For instance, I caught two anachronisms. (It’s too early in the 19th century to have one of the characters be called a “premillennialist”; and the hymn “Praise ye the Lord, the Almighty,” though venerable in German, did not have an English translation until twelve years after it is sung in the novel.) The scenes of sex and violence, though tame by 21st century standards, often seemed gratuitous to me. Finally, although the characters are well-defined, their actions didn’t always seem to make sense in the context of the story—which itself I sometimes felt was held hostage to Marius’s dark views about fate and destiny. For instance, in one case, the protagonist withholds from his party the information that he has killed two Indians following a buffalo hunt. In historical context, knowledge of these deaths would have been critical to the well-being of the migrants since the deceased’s brothers and cousins could easily have returned to avenge the deaths.
Not surprisingly, Marius is a superb wordsmith. After a slow start—I think he might have skipped the first few chapters and communicated the necessary information with flashbacks—Marius held my attention for the remainder of this novel about an overland journey west to California in 1851. Some of Marius’s scenes are unforgettably clever, as for instance Chapter 47, in which the migrants save their lives by making a fool of a Sioux chief—a scene almost certainly too politically incorrect to film in the 21st century.
Nevertheless, the novel has problems as well. For instance, I caught two anachronisms. (It’s too early in the 19th century to have one of the characters be called a “premillennialist”; and the hymn “Praise ye the Lord, the Almighty,” though venerable in German, did not have an English translation until twelve years after it is sung in the novel.) The scenes of sex and violence, though tame by 21st century standards, often seemed gratuitous to me. Finally, although the characters are well-defined, their actions didn’t always seem to make sense in the context of the story—which itself I sometimes felt was held hostage to Marius’s dark views about fate and destiny. For instance, in one case, the protagonist withholds from his party the information that he has killed two Indians following a buffalo hunt. In historical context, knowledge of these deaths would have been critical to the well-being of the migrants since the deceased’s brothers and cousins could easily have returned to avenge the deaths.
February 23, 2022
DNF - The characters are absurd and incredibly annoying. I couldn't take it any more.
August 3, 2024
Superbly written novel follows a memorable group of characters crossing the Great Plains during the 1850s on their way to the Promised Land - California.
April 25, 2009
One of my most favorite books: A young man leaves Georgia to follow his wayward father who abandoned the family during the gold rush and picks up a band of fellow travelers, most who do not help much along the way. As he negotiates with and leads difficult people, the young man matures along the way.
April 23, 2013
One of my top 5 books ever. A great story about two men on a journey. So well written you can see it as you read it. The only thing close is Huck Finn....it's that good.
May 6, 2016
Great story of a somewhat doomed small wagon train setting out to California in 1851. Some truly marvellous characters one of which is the landscapes that pervade the whole story.
May 21, 2009
Although this is fiction, I can imagine that this could have happened. About the trek westward.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews