Northwest Passage

Sometimes I'm just in the mood for a good, long, old fashioned historical novel, and Northwest Passage certainly filled this bill for me. Young Langdon Towne just growing into adulthood in 1750s Maine, wants to be an artist. He wants to go west and paint Indians. This ambition runs him afoul of his straight-laced father and, especially, of his beloved Elizabeth's father, a hell and brimstone, status seeking minister. When Towne further gains the enmity of the town's petty tyrant, he hightails it out of town with a friend with an aim to join the army, thinking it fairly safe, as the major battles of the English and their American colonists against the French and their Indian allies (i.e., the French and Indian War) seem to be mostly show more over. Running into the charismatic figure of Sergeant McNott in a nearby pub, however, Towne and his friend soon find themselves joining the famed Rogers Rangers, led by the larger than life Major Robert Rogers. Adventure ensues, you'll not be surprised to learn, 709 pages of adventure, to be precise, along with romance and political intrigue. Towne's superior abilities as an artist stand him in good stead throughout. This novel is a lot of fun, and even, in some places thought-provoking. The descriptions of the hardships endured by the Rangers, and the countryside they travel through, are vivid (descriptions of nature and weather are a strength throughout), as is the violence of the massacre they perpetrate an Indian village, a retaliation, we are told, for the outrages these Indians themselves have perpetrated on nearby English homesteaders. Our hero at first tells us of his opinions that Indians are, when push comes to shove, basically "savages." But as the book moves along and Towne matures, and he learns more about the Indians and about the villainy that Europeans perpetrate on the natives, so do his perspectives and his sympathies. Which is not to say this is an even-handed treatment, narratively. The book is a product of its time, for sure. Jews don't come off too well, either. That said, the plotting and characterizations in this novel turned out to be more nuanced and complex that I was expecting. Heroes turn out to be flawed, sometimes gravely so, expectations regarding stereotypical romantic historical fiction plotting are often subverted, as well. So while there are parts of this long novel that move along less briskly than we would wish, overall I found this to be a very entertaining reading experience. show less

A good novel, but with a major break in the middle, as Robert Rogers passed from being a simple guerilla war leader to the upper levels of colonial policy. The first half is a description of Rogers' famous raid to the Quebec Huron settlement of St. Francis, and the hardships of the return trip. The last half of the book is a study of Rogers' further career, highlighting his bad treatment by Jeffery Amherst and Thomas Gage and his failure to discover a land route to the Pacific. We get a limited view of Rogers' attempt to alter the British treatment of the North American natives, and the difficuties it raised. Rogers' later career ended badly, and we are treated to the narrator's conventional love story and its resolution. So the whole show more book is uneven, but well worth the read. show less

This book is set in North America and England, beginning during the time of the French and Indian War and ending shortly after 1776. It is written from the perspective of Langdon Towne, a young man whose aptitude for painting and love of a social-climbing young lady gets him into trouble. As Langdon's story progresses, Robert Rogers becomes a hero to him. Unfortunately, the success that comes from these many heroic acts affects Rogers in unexpected ways, and as the story progresses Rogers becomes focused on a goal that becomes increasingly out of reach. He makes increasingly poor decisions and finds many ways to avoid the actions that would actually help him. This is a construct that remains relevant to modern readers and is one reason show more why this book remains worthwhile. Like Rogers, we also can be tempted to remember past victories and avoid whatever current action is needed, and some methods we might use for this are personally as destructive as Rogers' actions were.

This was not a quick read, but several scenes are memorable. The short and horrific battle scenes maintained a tone that refrained from glamorizing war. The starvation sequence was the most suspenseful part of the book and felt realistic; it was easy to care about the characters and to be emotionally invested in their success. The story of Langdon's life was generally interesting, though there were some less appealing minor characters. Overall this was a worthwhile book. show less

During the French and Indian War, a New Englander desires to paint Indians and is met with derision. He stumbles upon Major Robert Rogers (of Rogers' Rangers) and inadvertently gives him the idea to discover the Northwest Passage. Accounts the historical deeds of the Major, through his glory and shame. I do believe I am falling in love with Kenneth Roberts.

A historical fiction, set in the time of the French and Indian wars in the northeastern American colonies. This is about Robert Rogers, the famed commander of Roger's Rangers, the inspiration for the Army Rangers of today. A fictional character, Langdon Towne, follows Rogers through his exciting and chaotic career. Towne is a painter who wishes to paint Indians in their own environment. I wish he were real, or based on someone real, because I liked his character and would love to see the paintings described in this book.
I was afraid the book would be dull, but that was not the case. Roberts writes a lively story and keeps things moving. His descriptions of the land and people are far from boring and they are brief. The historical show more facts, as far as I could tell from light research, are fairly accurate, at least in as much as they concern Robert Rogers. In this man's life we can see the heights man is capable of and the depths to which he may fall. show less

Historic fictional account of 'Rogers Rangers' raid on an Indian village during the French-Indian wars of the 18th century. Adapted to a 1950s movie of the same name starring Spencer Tracy. Very well written, unforgettable scenes, highly visual and nearly non-stop action. The novel is composed of two books of about 350 pages each, I did not read the second book as it has less stellar reviews and is essentially a long postscript to the first book. Book 1 is Roberts most well known work and a classic of American historical fiction. It also covers similar territory as "Last of the Mohican's" (which was an American knock-off of Ivanho and is generally considered Americas first historical novel).

This was one of my very favorite books as a kid. It really fired my imagination about the history of North America. When I discovered there's a movie version (bewared of edited copies!) I was in heaven.