Gabriel's Story

I almost hate to admit that this is a five star book -- it's like something that Quinten Tarantino would film. It's violent in places, but so well written, the characters and setting are so true.

Gabriel, with this younger brother and mother, leave Baltimore after the Civil War and after his father dies to head to Kansas to homestead with a man the mother knew (and loved) many years ago. They disappointedly come to a sod house and nothing but hardship. Gabriel yearns for more. After meeting a smooth talking white cowboy, Gabriel and a newly found friend, James, leaves with Marshall to head for Texas.

Marshall and his two sidekicks are perhaps the crudest, cruelest, and most evil individuals I've encountered in fiction. The group heads show more south through Oklahoma where the uncalled killing starts leaving a sick and poverty stricken Indian family dead. Gabriel and James become witnesses to merciless in a number of situations including the cruel killing of a Mexican family and the abduction of the daughter.

There are alternating sections of the book telling of Gabriel's family left in Kansas and the story of the remaining son of the Mexican family who pursues the killers.

The book clearly brings a sense of oncoming fear but is also sprinkled with tender moments particularly at the time when Gabriel manages to return to his home in Kansas. This book is a well-written page turner with characters of pure evil and complexity. Good read. show less

Gabriel’s Story by David Anthony Durham is a classic coming-of-age story set in the American West of the 1870s. As many black families did after the Civil War, sixteen year old Gabriel Lynch, his mother, brother and stepfather have come west to Kansas to make a fresh start as farmers. Gabriel isn’t happy with this as he had hoped to stay in the east and train as a doctor.

He finds homesteading to be backbreaking, depressing and resents that he has lost his opportunity for education and a better life. He runs away and joins a group of cowboys who have come from Texas. Little does he know that he has made the worse decision of his life as these men are both cruel and sadistic. Before too long they are all on the run from the law. When show more Gabriel finally is able to break away from the group, he accidentally takes something of value with him. He makes his way home and back to his family little knowing that he is being tracked by two of the killers.

Gabriel’s Story paints a vivid picture of both the times and the appearance of the American West. His writing brings Cormac McCarthy to mind, but this story of a young African-American confronting evil is entirely original. My only quibble is with how the book was formatted. As the story moved from one narrator to another there were no breaks to give the reader time to adjust to the change. But overall this debut author’s literary skill and creativity is impressive. show less

This is a coming-of-age story with elements of All the Pretty Horses and Peckinpah's "The Wild Bunch." There are no two dimensional characters in this story. It's a fully fleshed out story of good and evil and all the subtleties in between. Gabriel's Story will grab a hold of you and not let go until the last page. There is violence, but it is not the shoot-'em-up brand. It's a visceral ultra real violence that you may want to shield your eyes from, but like Gabriel, you're a witness and have to live with the evil acts that humans act out upon each other. I'm tempted to say that this is a damn fine first novel, but it would be a first rate novel, whether it was Durham's first or fifth. He is a brilliant writer, able to portray both the show more beauty and harsh ugliness that composes the world we reside in. show less

This book is very different from the acacia books and the fantasy element, not only because of the subject matter.
The writing in this book seems sparcer yet there is still different levels of meaning within it. The number of characters on refection was quite small despite the vastnes of geography that this covers. He developes all of the caracters, none of them are flat background characters, other than those simply refered to where the flatnes is a reflection of those who are talking about them.
this is a story of the american west as seen from the point of view of person of colour going west and following the dream. it puts the war of independance and the cowboys and sodbusters into the same frame rather than having two seperate show more americas which is what seems to happen in most books and movies. Although all of the action takes place in "cowboy,sudbuster" territory. show less

In the 1870s, Gabriel Lynch, a 15 y.o. African-American, resents his new life on the Kansas prairie and runs away to seek adventure with a group of cattle drovers. Desire for adventure becomes a struggle for survival with the brutal gang of cowboys. Recommended for older teens.

One of my favorite books.