Sitka |
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Author:
Louis L'Amour
By Bantam
Average Customer Rating:   
List Price: $4.99
Our Price: $1.40
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Product Description
Jean LaBarge, drawn by the beauty and strength of Sitka, the gateway to Alaska, takes on the dangers of the distant land, but the men who control Sitka move to destroy him, sparking a fight in which Jean attempts to win Alaska for America. Reissue.
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Alaska is Purchased, 2008-06-23
Alaska, a fabled land that lures the Yankee traders north to challenge the forbidden territory of Russia where a successful run means untold wealth and failure means a horrible, but certain death.
The brazen men who plied the seas will not rest until they have gained a foothold in the frozen land.
SITKA chronicles this push from the sea to the Czar to the raising of Old Glory above the landscape. Fiction is, of course, a story, but the history is accurate and we have these men to thank for this still partially unexplored state.
SITKA was my first L'Amours and has remained one of my favorites.
Writing as a Small BusinessGuns Across the Rio: A Texas Ranger in Old MexicoNatchez Above The River: A Family's Survival In The Civil WarQualifying Laps: A Brewster County Novel
Sitka, 2008-03-28
Book had been recommended by a friend . First L . Lamour I'd ever read .
Not my kind of reading . Way too improbable story .
Slightly variant heroic Alaskan western, 2004-12-27
Perhaps most interesting as a study in what L'amour defines as heroic and worthwhile. Sure, it's meant to be larger than life and a page-turner, but the values probably left a more abiding impression for me than the ride. Nothing really surprising I suppose: an American hero can fight better than anyone else, turn pretty girls' heads, and make lots of money - there is seen to be great virtue in being able to amass wealth: poverty is in a real sense disreputable.
I've only read a couple of L'amours that I recall, and both pick up on the closeness of Alaska to Russia. Our hearts are meant to surge with nationalistic pride at the visionaries who aim to win Alaska for America. One odd variation in the story is that the standard babe heroine (who is partly won by what would now be mere sexual harassment) is married to a respectable older gent, so our love interests must curb their passions until he has the grace to die.
Borderline - it's not terrible, but there's better average books around. At least it's not an utterly colour by numbers Western - he's tried to include a few different locations.
Exciting and full blooded Alaskan saga, 2004-07-14
This novel is thematically a Western although its settings are non -traditional for the genre .Much of the book is set in Alaska when it was owned by Russia and was the focus of a concerted attempt by some US politicians to acquire the territory from its exploitative owners ,A key section takes place in Siberia and at the court of the Czar in St Petersburg .Throw in lenghty sections set a sea , including a rousing sea battle and you have several elements not normally found in the archetypal Western ,Yet ,withal ,a Western it is, with Cossacks standing in for Native Americans and Russian aristocrats as the despoilers and bandits .
The hero is a typical L'Amour protagonist .Jean LaBarge is rugged ,two -fisted and well capable of looking after himself in a fight both armed and unarmed .He wins the hand of a beautiful aristocratic young woman and carves out a niche for himself in the world by dint of energy and vision .
The opening four chapters are essentially a pre-amble to the main story and depict Jean as a young man growing to manhood in the swamps along the Susquehannah ,becoming friends with the bokish Rob Walker who later becomes a prominent political figure with a vision of an American Alaska .They tell of his capture by an outlaw band and how he goes on to be a world traveller ans a moderately prosperous trader .
The novel does not begin to really get going until the action shifts to Alaska ,a land which is Jean's obsession .He falls for the fair Helena , a niece of the Czar and wife to an honourable Russian administrator ,but earns ther enmity of the corrupt and ruthless Zinnovy who seeks to exercise total control over Alaska turning it into his personal fiefdom .
Before events reach their climax in an Alaskan courtroom murder has been done ,a chase has taken place acros place acros the frozen tundra of Siberia and Jean has been flung into prison and condemned to death There is a lot of plot to get through and now and agian it feels rushed but the pace and vigour of the storytelling compensate and there is -as usual with this writer -some splendid descriptions of the natural beauty of the landscape
This is never dull and I recommend it to lovers of historical romance as well as Western readers
Read Other L'amour Books First, 2004-04-20
First, let me say I am a big fan of Louis L'Amour and have read most of his books. Perhaps that is the reason I found this book to be one of his weaker efforts. Many times when I read a book by this author, I have trouble putting it down because it is enjoyable. This time I found myself in a hurry to get finished. I thought the plot really struggled. He failed to give enough details of that time period. The crossing of Russia in order to deliver Helena to the Tsar needed more effort. Of course he was writing about a time and a place which would be difficult to give accurate details. If you are a big fan of L'Amour, you will naturally want to read it, but if this is your first effort at reading one of his books, start with something different.
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.52
EAN: 9780553278811
ISBN: 0553278819
Label: Bantam
Manufacturer: Bantam
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 245
Publication Date: 1984-02-01
Publisher: Bantam
Release Date: 1984-01-01
Studio: Bantam |
