
- 304 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
East of the Mountains
About this book
A man plans a final journey into the Western wilderness in this "wonderful" novel by the
New York Timesâbestselling author of
Snow Falling on Cedars (
The Miami Herald).
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Mid-October is harvest time in the Columbia Basin of central Washington, 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, and his endurance. But now he has been diagnosed with terminal colon cancer. Ben has never been a man to readily accept defeatâbut he is determined to avoid suffering, and to avoid being a burden.
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Accompanied by his two hunting dogs, he sets out on a trip, which he plans to end with an "accident." Journeying into deserts, yawning canyons, dusty ranches, and vast orchards, however, he is unprepared for the persuasiveness of memory and the promise he made to his wife, Rachel, the love of his life, during World War II. Along the way Ben will meet some people who force him to think more about his worldviewâa young couple, a drifter, a veterinarian, a rancher, a migrant workerâand just when he thinks there is no turning back, nothing to lose that wasn't lost, his power of intervention is called upon and his very identity tested.
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"Wise and compassionate about the human predicament . . . A writer who delves into life's moral complexities to arrive at existential truths." â Publishers Weekly
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"Ben is deeply drawn and complexly sympathetic." â Entertainment Weekly
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"Guterson draws compelling characters and creates a haunting sense of place and of humankind's paradoxical relationship with the natural world; a passage describing a desperate encounter with a pack of Irish wolfhounds compares favorably with the best of Hemingway." â Library Journal
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"Guterson possesses a remarkable gift for capturing people and places, etching them into the reader's mind." â USA Today
Â
Mid-October is harvest time in the Columbia Basin of central Washington, 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, and his endurance. But now he has been diagnosed with terminal colon cancer. Ben has never been a man to readily accept defeatâbut he is determined to avoid suffering, and to avoid being a burden.
Â
Accompanied by his two hunting dogs, he sets out on a trip, which he plans to end with an "accident." Journeying into deserts, yawning canyons, dusty ranches, and vast orchards, however, he is unprepared for the persuasiveness of memory and the promise he made to his wife, Rachel, the love of his life, during World War II. Along the way Ben will meet some people who force him to think more about his worldviewâa young couple, a drifter, a veterinarian, a rancher, a migrant workerâand just when he thinks there is no turning back, nothing to lose that wasn't lost, his power of intervention is called upon and his very identity tested.
Â
"Wise and compassionate about the human predicament . . . A writer who delves into life's moral complexities to arrive at existential truths." â Publishers Weekly
Â
"Ben is deeply drawn and complexly sympathetic." â Entertainment Weekly
Â
"Guterson draws compelling characters and creates a haunting sense of place and of humankind's paradoxical relationship with the natural world; a passage describing a desperate encounter with a pack of Irish wolfhounds compares favorably with the best of Hemingway." â Library Journal
Â
"Guterson possesses a remarkable gift for capturing people and places, etching them into the reader's mind." â USA Today
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Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Yes, you can access East of the Mountains by David Guterson in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Literature & Literature General. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
Table of contents
- Title Page
- Contents
- Endpapers
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Acknowledgments
- Discussion Questions
- About the Author
- Connect with HMH