Butcher's Crossing

Given that I read _Stoner_ at the beginning of the semester, I figured it would be nice to end with the semester with another book by John Williams. And I'm glad I did - even though it was tough. _Butcher's Crossing_ is a western, and although I haven't read that many western novels, from the reviews, this book seems to undermine the genre. Basically a coming-of-age story: 19th-century Harvard-educated Bostonian goes out west to find himself, or God. Gets much more than he bargained for. Think Yahweh of the Old Testament. It's not a big stretch to see the youth as a stand-in for the U.S. Indeed, the Introduction of the book points out that Williams wrote this book right before the Vietnam War, but the sentiment is applicable now (or at least a few years ago) with the country's continuing involvement in Iraq.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Dates: 2-14 Dec 2008