Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Signet / New American Library (1969), Mass Market Paperback, 455 pages
Description
With more than one million copies in print since its first publication in 1959, this Pulitzer Prize-winning classic details the journey of 13-year-old Jaimie and his father from Kentucky to gold-rush California in 1849.
User reviews
LibraryThing member Misfit
Imagine Twain sending Huck Finn to California via Wagon Train. What fun! But also exciting, poignant and heartbreaking at the same time. This is the story of Jaimie McPheeters and his father Sardius (a doctor), who is a bit of a gambler and prone to drink. Sardius has run afoul of his creditors and
The story is told both in the first person view of Jaimie and by Sardius via letters home to his wife. Jaimie has one adventure after another -- from falling off the river boat, encounters with murderous thieves (loved how he got himself out of that one!), getting separated from the train and after being caught in a thunderstorm finally "finds" his camp again although it's really another camp he "found" (no spoilers here, you'll see that one coming a mile away). There are so many laugh out loud moments in this book one can't describe them all, but I have to say the time when Sardius tried to teach Jaimie the "dead" language of Latin was tops with me. ROFL.
Jaimie's travels take you across the plains of the Midwest, the Rockies, a winter stopover with the Mormons in Salt Lake (now those were some interesting moments), across the desert and finally over the Sierra Nevadas and on into the Gold Country and burgeoning San Francisco. All in all a jolly good yarn, both for the very young and the still young at heart. Highly recommended.
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decides it's best to strike out with Jaimie to the California Gold fields to make their fortune and the adventure is on. The story is told both in the first person view of Jaimie and by Sardius via letters home to his wife. Jaimie has one adventure after another -- from falling off the river boat, encounters with murderous thieves (loved how he got himself out of that one!), getting separated from the train and after being caught in a thunderstorm finally "finds" his camp again although it's really another camp he "found" (no spoilers here, you'll see that one coming a mile away). There are so many laugh out loud moments in this book one can't describe them all, but I have to say the time when Sardius tried to teach Jaimie the "dead" language of Latin was tops with me. ROFL.
Jaimie's travels take you across the plains of the Midwest, the Rockies, a winter stopover with the Mormons in Salt Lake (now those were some interesting moments), across the desert and finally over the Sierra Nevadas and on into the Gold Country and burgeoning San Francisco. All in all a jolly good yarn, both for the very young and the still young at heart. Highly recommended.
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LibraryThing member agnesmack
Within a few pages of starting The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters I thought I was in for a treat. It immediately reminded me of a more humorous version of Lonesome Dove, which also won the Pulitzer and was also on a topic I didn’t think I cared about.
The story was that of a father and son who left
Overall this was an enjoyable read, but I could have done without all the weird racist shit. It’s written from the 1st person perspective, and I kept thinking that the protagonist was going to eventually realize that his opinions of “Indians,” and other nationalities were ridiculous, but that time did not come. There was one kind-of exception where he eventually grudgingly admitted that this one particular girl wasn’t as bad as “those Indians,” but that hardly felt like a learning moment.
The book won the Pulitzer in 1958, which many will accept as an excuse for the racism. If you’re willing to accept that, or you simply don’t care about those types of over/undertones, then you may very well enjoy this book. The pacing is good, the plot is interesting, there’s plenty of character development, and the descriptions are excellent – when they’re not racist.
The story was that of a father and son who left
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their comfortable lives in Louisville to strike it rich in the gold rush of 1849. I think we all know how the gold rush worked out for most folks, and the folks in this book were no exception. They did get lucky in various ways several times, but of course there was always a setback lying in wait behind the next corner.Overall this was an enjoyable read, but I could have done without all the weird racist shit. It’s written from the 1st person perspective, and I kept thinking that the protagonist was going to eventually realize that his opinions of “Indians,” and other nationalities were ridiculous, but that time did not come. There was one kind-of exception where he eventually grudgingly admitted that this one particular girl wasn’t as bad as “those Indians,” but that hardly felt like a learning moment.
The book won the Pulitzer in 1958, which many will accept as an excuse for the racism. If you’re willing to accept that, or you simply don’t care about those types of over/undertones, then you may very well enjoy this book. The pacing is good, the plot is interesting, there’s plenty of character development, and the descriptions are excellent – when they’re not racist.
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LibraryThing member SeriousGrace
Although The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters is grounded in fiction its bibliography indicates Taylor made extensive use of letters, memorandums, maps, memoirs, guidebooks, journals, and sermons to give the novel sincere authenticity. In a nutshell, it is the adventures of young Jaimie McPheeters as
A word of warning: speaking of language, it is a bit dated with derogatory and racist words.
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he journeyed with his father to seek gold in the mid 1800s. [As an aside, I could not help but think of Natalie Merchant's song "Gold Rush Brides" when I read The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters.] The story has everything: clashes with Indian tribes (including kidnapping, torture and murder), gambling, religion (Mormonism and the question of polygamy), humor, weather, and the hardships of the trail. This was the wild west; a time when at plate passing someone could offer a live rattlesnake in lieu of money. Confessional: I didn't know if I liked audacious Jaimie McPheeters when I first met him. My favorite parts were the interactions he had with his father. The interesting conversation about Latin and who killed the dead language was one of my favorites. Taylor has an interesting way of using words. The words 'pranced' and 'shotgun' usually do not go together in the same sentence.A word of warning: speaking of language, it is a bit dated with derogatory and racist words.
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Subjects
Awards
Pulitzer Prize (Winner — Fiction — 1959)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1958
ISBN
none