The Forum of David Anthony Durham

Bruce · Joined: 13 Nov 2009 Posts: 21 Location: Oregon

I read a wide variety of fiction, although few in the Western genre, finding little satisfaction in it's run of the mill pulp style. Very few people stand out in this field, for me only two to be exact. You sir, make it three.

I was moved by this novel on several levels. First by the language, beautiful. Second by the sense of place, reading is an escape for me, and it is important for me to feel that I am there. Third but equally important the main characters; all of whom are fully realized and believably human. It was interesting to see how they were all driven, albeit differently, by emotional damage and loss of some sort. Was that an intentional common thread, or just character development through canny human observation?

Anyway, good job. I checked this out from the library, but I will be adding this to the shelf to be read again along with Pride of Carthage. Know that I will be exploring more of your work and will be a follower of yours into the future.

Many Thanks

David · Site Admin Joined: 04 Jun 2007 Posts: 506

Bruce,

Thanks so much. It's wonderful to get reader reactions like yours, and a special pleasure to hear nice things about my earlier works!

The sense of journeying through a vivid landscape was very important to me as a writer. I'd traveled and hiked a lot in West, but when I wrote the book I was living in France, very far away from the Western American landscape. So it was quite a journey for me to reconnect with it in my imagination as well.

As for the characterization... I wouldn't say anything is intentional except that I try as much as I can to connect with them at some level. Even the bad guys have been shaped by things that I have sympathy for. That's important to me - that I understand them at some level and relate. For me, Octavia Butler is a great model for how to do this. She's always got villains in her works, but you also always get the feeling she feels for them just as much as she does for her other characters. I'm maybe not that empathetic, but it's something to aspire to.

Best,

David.