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Aug 25, 2020gulicksl rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
“The longer I live the more I have come to understand that extraordinary people are eroded by their worries while the useless are carried ever forward by their delusions”⁣ ⁣ A reimagined western novel with a twist in the form of camels! This is my first ~old western~ novel. It’s mainly set in 19th century Arizona with a peppering of other places as the second storyline weaves his way closer to Amargo County. The intertwining storylines were really interesting; at first, I couldn’t understand how they would end up relating but Obreht really tied it all together at the end. ⁣ ⁣ This was a read that I struggled with and at one point I wasn’t sure I would finish it. But I’m glad I stuck with it! Some parts were really slow but she does have a luxurious way with words. Her descriptive narrations were fantastic and I really felt like I was sitting there with the characters. However, at some points, the story just dragged on. ⁣ ⁣ It’s definitely a character driven story but the part I struggled with was the pacing of it. Noras storyline takes place over one day only which is a really drawn out timeline. However, I really like that at first you might see Nora as a ranchers wife and a mother. But Obreht flips this narrative on its head and she’s honestly not very like able. She’s a complex character who has dealt with a lot in her 37 years on the frontier. On the other hand, Lurie’s storyline takes place over years. It was a really interesting contrast for sure. ⁣ ⁣ I think there’s a lot of romanticization in regards to life in the Wild West. At the heart of it, life was incredibly incredibly hard and I think Obreht does a really nice job of portraying that. Nothing is easy for Nora and her family nor is it easy for Lurie and his fellow camelers as they traverse the desert and harsh plains. At the same time, she highlights how beautiful it is and the worthwhile feeling they all get for surviving year after year. ⁣ ⁣ This was definitely not like any other book I’ve read but I would recommend it especially to fans of character driven novels and an interest in what life was really like on the frontier.