A triumphant return by the author of Snow Falling on Cedars, as an attempted suicide becomes a life-enhancing diversion. Following the death of his wife Rachel and diagnosis of his own medical condition, Dr Ben Givens left his home in Seattle - heading east with his Winchester and hunting dogs in tow - not intending to return. It was to be a journey to the verges of the Columbia River, where he had entered the world and had decided he would now take his leave of it. What transpired was anything but the journey he ...
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A triumphant return by the author of Snow Falling on Cedars, as an attempted suicide becomes a life-enhancing diversion. Following the death of his wife Rachel and diagnosis of his own medical condition, Dr Ben Givens left his home in Seattle - heading east with his Winchester and hunting dogs in tow - not intending to return. It was to be a journey to the verges of the Columbia River, where he had entered the world and had decided he would now take his leave of it. What transpired was anything but the journey he anticipated. Instead, Ben's perspective shifts as his intended exit transforms into an eye-opening, life-enhancing diversion, as David Guterson's celebrated and involving prose unravels the mysteries and reveals the power of the human spirit even as it ebbs, in this moving and action-filled drama set against an unforgettable landscape.
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Add this copy of East of the Mountains to cart. $7.31, good condition, Sold by BookHolders rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Gambrills, MD, UNITED STATES, published 1999 by Random House Audio Publishing Group.
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Good. [ No Hassle 30 Day Returns ] [ 6 CD/Disk(s) Included ] [ Edition: First ] Publisher: Random House Audio Pub Date: 4/1/1999 Binding: Audio Casette Pages: 6.
Add this copy of East of the Mountains to cart. $10.95, very good condition, Sold by The Yard Sale Store rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Narrowsburg, NY, UNITED STATES, published 1999 by Random House Audio.
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Near Fine. 6 BRAND NEW AUDIO CASSETTES in the shrinkwrap. Sealed and new. Just a bit of shelf wear to the shrinkwrap. Enjoy this NEW audio cassette performance.
Add this copy of East of the Mountains to cart. $12.00, good condition, Sold by Ken's Book Haven rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Coopersburg, PA, UNITED STATES, published 1999 by Random House Audio.
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New. Size: 6x4x2; It is mid-October, 1997, harvest time in the Columbia Basin of central Washington state, a rich apple-and pear-growing region. Ben Givens, recently widowed, is a retired heart surgeon, once admired for his steadiness of hand, his precision, his endurance. He has terminal colon cancer. While Ben does not readily accept defeat, he is determined to avoid suffering rather than engage it. And so, accompanied by his two hunting dogs, he sets out through the mythic American West-sage deserts, yawning canyons, dusty ranches, vast orchards-on his last hunt. The main issues for Ben as a doctor had been tactical and so it would be with his death. But he hadn't considered the persuasiveness of memory-the promise he made to his wife Rachel, the love of his life, during World War II. Or life's mystery. On his journey he meets a young couple who are "forever, " a drifter offering left-handed advice that might lessen the pain, a veterinarian with a touch only a heart surgeon would recognize, a rancher bent on destruction, a migrant worker who tests Ben's ability to understand. And just when he thinks there is no turning back, nothing to lose that wasn't lost, his power of interventions is called upon and his very identity tested. Full of humanity, passion, and moral honesty, East of the Mountains is a bold and beautiful novel of personal discovery.
David Guterson's novel "East of the Mountains" is set in the Columbia Basin of central Washington in the late 1990s. It tells the story of Dr. Ben Givens, a renowned heart surgeon who has recently lost his wife, retired, and learned he is suffering from terminal colon cancer. With the goal of saving himself and his family from unnecessary pain and suffering, he sets out with his two dogs on a hunting trip with the intention of committing suicide.
The book has strong components of a picaresque novel, with Dr. Givens's adventures in his brief journey, and of an American coming-of-age novel with its protagonist an elderly, successful man rather than a youth struggling to reach maturity. In some ways, this book reminded me of Kerouac's "On the Road" with an older and wiser hero. "Huckleberry Finn" for the ageing also lurks somewhere in the background
In his journey, Dr. Givens has a variety of experiences and meets many different sorts of people emanating from an automobile accident he suffers at the outset. He meets a young couple going skiing, a drifter who provides him with marijuana, a graduate student to whom he is briefly attracted who is studying Rudolph Steiner (the founder of an esoteric movement somewhat similar to Theosophy), illegal immigrants picking apples, a young woman veterinarian, and many others. He also recollects during his journey his past life, particularly his loving wife, his wartime experiences and his decision to become a physician.
Each of the people he meets along the way has something to teach him towards recovering (or gaining) a degree of self-understanding and acceptance of his condition. I found it striking and good that most of the people are rather ordinary in intelligence and achievement, with something valuable to teach a famous and skilled heart surgeon.
The book explores the theme of life as a journey and a quest for self-knowledge for someone with the experience of age. It speaks of the value of this our world, the only world we know. I was reminded of the American poet Wallace Stevens's observation that "The greatest poverty is not to live in a physical world". The book celebrates the beauty of the West, the emotional and erotic beauty of women, the beauty of using one's skills to help others, and the beauty of trying to understand oneself. The descriptions are good, and the story is well-told, even though it lacks a certain sparkle. A worthwhile and thoughtful book.
