The Town: Third Book In Awakening Land Trilogy | Conrad Richter

The Town: Third Book In Awakening Land Trilogy | Conrad Richter | A Truly Masterful Tale

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The Town: Third Bo...

	The Town: Third Book In Awakening Land Trilogy Conrad Richter Ohio University Press by arrangement w/ A.A. Knopf, 1991 - 300 pages average customer review:based on 5 reviews view larger image
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The Awakening Land trilogy traces the transformation of Ohio from wilderness to farmland to the site of modern industrial civilization, all in the lifetime of one character. The trilogy earned Richter immediate acclaim as a historical novelist. It includes The Trees (1940), The Fields (1946), and The Town (1950) and follows the Luckett family's migration from Pennsylvania to Southeastern Ohio. It starts when settler Sayward Luckett Wheeler becomes mother to her orphaned siblings on the frontier, and ends with the story of her youngest son Chancey, a journalist in the years before the Civil War. The Town won the 1951 Pulitzer Prize and received excellent reviews across the country.

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Wonderful historical fiction with an authentic sound.

"The Town" is the final chapter in Conrad Richter's "Awakening Land" triology, and it concludes the saga of Sayward Wheeler and her family as they finish turning the Ohio wilderness into a bustling city. The triumphs and tragedies of the Wheeler family are not any different from those of real families in this or any time. That's what makes this story so special: showing how special ordinary people are. Richter's prose strives for the realistic dialects of the region and time, and that gives this book an additional ring of truth. What I've admired about this book is the character of Sayward Luckett Wheeler, who stands heads and shoulders above any other "strong woman" in American literature, especially including Scarlett O'Hara. Sayward is truly the glue that holds her family and community together and she better than any represents the American pioneer as a person of strength, stoicism and compassion. As the frontier is disappearing around her, Sayward also has the good grace and dignity to accept that. She, like her country, is constantly growing and developing. The first book "The Trees," depicted the struggle to eke out a home in the lonely wilderness, while the "The Fields," followed the development of an isolated pioneer community. "The Town" ties the first two books together while chronicling the next step in a city's development. It's a stunningly simple and beautiful story. I'm not sure if it's possible for anyone to write the "great American novel," but if so, then Mr. Richter has done it three times with this series. You'll want to read this over again just for the poetical simplicty of the language Strongly recommended.

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A Truly Masterful Tale

Stunningly well written, Richter does an amazing job of capturing the early American atmosphere in this third book of his Awakening Land trilogy. While the entire book is told from the third person, one thing I really liked was the way he tells different chapters from the perspective of different characters. The way the characters are built, especially Sayward is truly amazing as we get to see their actions from several different perspectives. Make sure to read the review by "A reader from Yokota air base, Japan."

Somewhat relatable, not too interesting.

Sayward is starting to realize that everything is changing in her life as she grows older. The town was thriving and she was having trouble adjusting. She wanted everything to be traditional, but even the name of the town changed from Moonshine Church to Americus. The Town by Conrad Richter is a slow moving story about Sayward and her children. The book is well written, but hard to get into. Although there are some relatable parts, a majority of the story is dry. In contrast, Sayward is an inspiring character because she is strong and stands up for what she believes in. As a woman living in the wilderness many years ago, Sayward doesn't have all the same rights as men, but she still insists on going to town meetings and stating her points. I was able to connect my own life to Sayward's life in the story. Richter does a good job describing the Ohio frontier and the struggles people went through in those days. I would not recommend this book to most college-aged students. It's slow pace makes it hard to stay interested.

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