Thursday, January 28, 2010

Joaquin Murieta

I'm liking Joaquin Murieta so far. The style is completely different from Blithedale but I think it serves the content well. While it is loosely based upon a real person, telling the story in the form of a myth keeps it mysterious and exciting for me. I find myself reading many pages just to come across that little bit that may reveal to me what is happening inside the man behind the myth.

The circumstances that brought about the transformation of Joaquin are horrible. The fact that he endured this kind of treatment three times before he changed is amazing to me. I think it shows his strength of character and later, even though he has fully moved over into a life of crime, parts of this character still come out in how he treats certain people.

This book intrigues me. I've never read much about the west that was actually from this time period so I have to say most of my knowledge of it comes from western movies and the occasional history book. The picture painted is of the great rugged white cowboy taming the great frontier. This story about a bandit, reflecting the hopes and desires of a group of people that were a big part of what took place back then is very interesting so far.