Les Pionniers

by Ernest Haycox, Fabienne Duvigneau (Translator)

Ils viennent du Missouri et ont tout abandonné dans l’espoir de trouver une terre à des milliers de kilomètres de leurs foyers. Ils ont entassé leurs maigres possessions dans des chariots et traversent les Grandes Plaines, puis les montagnes Rocheuses où ils affrontent les rapides du fleuve Columbia. Leur trajet ouvre la célèbre piste de l’Oregon, qui sera plus tard empruntée par de nombreux migrants en route vers l’Ouest et la terre promise. C’est un voyage qui a tout d’une grandiose épopée, peuplé d’hommes et de femmes qui souffrent de la faim et du froid, qui connaissent la solidarité autant que les rivalités, qui cherchent l’amour aussi. Lorsqu’ils parviennent enfin à destination, ils construisent des cabanes, labourent un sol jusque-là inexploré, et installent peu à peu les bases de ce qui deviendra plus tard une société civilisée avec ses lois, ses règles et ses usages. Dans ce grand roman de l’Ouest, chef-d'oeuvre de Haycox, qui marie le souffle de l’épopée à la chaleur de l’intime, on n’en finit pas de se passionner pour ces pionniers qui ont posé les fondements de l’Amérique telle que nous la connaissons aujourd’hui.

Genres: Westerns, Novels, Fiction, Historical Fiction

564 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1952

Reviews

[Francesco]

è un romanzo di formazione ... molto più che di western ... l'utilizzo della frontiera è il pretesto per raccontare le dinamiche di una comunità che si deve dare delle regole ... deve decidere dove far passare le strade ... individui che aiutano altri e individui che si approfittano di altri ... il conflitto tra occupanti e occupati... tradimenti, amori... la comunità come entità unica e la comunità come insieme di tante unicità... è un romanzo sociologico, quasi antropologico

[Cyrano]

Que de merveilleux moments passés auprès de cette communauté de colons
Une galerie de personnages mémorables auxquels on s’attache très vite
Et que dire du cadre naturel grandiose !
Ambiance "petite maison dans la prairie" garantie

[Gu Kun]

About one fifth slow-moving and weak story without surprises, about four fifths inane man-woman babble and shallow thoughts and conversations on "the meaning of it all". At about the one-third mark I considered abandoning - I should have.

[Julay]

No plot, only vibes

[Kellyt]

It is a masterfully written novel set in frontier Oregon. His characters are well developed and believable. There are great descriptions of the physical and emotional trials of the era. Reading the book it is obvious Haycock lived in Oregon and has both a great feel and understanding of the country. I have read numerous books by him and will continue to go through them. My favorite so far has been Canyon Passage.

[Linda]

Louis L'Amour may have admired it. I didn't.

[dc]

for reasons that won’t make sense to anyone else, this books gets 5 stars. love you, papa.

[Caitlyn]

Excellent characters, excellent setting, plot full of twists and turns.

A lot of things in this book were unexpected. For a book from 1952, it felt surprising current. It had several richly developed female characters, a few great debates about religious belief, some juicy moral questions, et cetera. I enjoyed it thoroughly and felt really invested in every character's fate, which turned out to be far from predictable.

The ending was pretty abrupt, but I felt like it wrapped up enough loose ends to justify shrouding a couple of things in mystery. It set a good trajectory for guessing how the story will proceed and left me wanting to read more.

[Markku Sven]

This book is what has been called a 'Modern Western', i.e. about the western settlers and their lives moving forward. This was my first Ernest Haycox and may be his best.