Book Review: BUTCHER'S CROSSING by John Williams

Butcher's Crossing by John Williams
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

"Young people... you always think there's something to find out. Well, there's nothing... Then you know you could of had the world, because you're the only one that knows the secret; only then it's too late. You're too old."

Sometimes social media can ruin the experience of a good novel. Had I not seen fellow book lovers rave about "the best Western ever" on Bookstagram, I daresay I would have enjoyed the experience of BUTCHER'S CROSSING more, without the weight of all these raised expectations.

(And I don't mean to offend, but I think if we're ranking Westerns, John Williams' fellow Texan, Larry McMurtry, and his epic LONESOME DOVE surely takes first prize.)

Don't get me wrong. BUTCHER'S CROSSING is good! How can it not be?! It's by John Williams, who is incapable of writing anything bad! His STONER was life-changing, his AUGUSTUS something I need to re-read because I don't think I was mature enough for it the first time round.

The appeal of Williams is how he seems to be a different author in each novel. He is not bound by genre, because he merely uses the expected trappings to set forth his own very American, very 20th century world view: a unique blend of anti-romantic, no-BS, no-time-to-waste style all his own.

The world is crap, we can imagine Williams saying, and sometimes we're dealt a crappy hand in Life. But a man's gotta have faith in something, and it's better to do SOMETHING than whine and do nothing. In an interview, Williams said "You've got to keep the faith. The important thing is to keep the tradition going, because the tradition is civilization." And while he may have been referring to STONER in this particular interview, I think this theme is very present in BUTCHER'S CROSSING as well.

How, in the face of the wild West and the utter cruelty of Nature, is a man meant to hold on to civilized values?

We have our protagonist, a civilized Harvard college drop out, who could not find meaning in books and cities and looked for it by going West, where he's roped into a dangerous dream: looking for an elusive herd of buffalo, to make a quick fortune.

Part adventure story, part parable about the dangers of capitalist greed, BUTCHER'S CROSSING is a quick read but will last long in memory. Stripped of social status markers, alone in the wild, would we move through the world as confidently? Do we even dare venture out of the comforts of our familiar haunts? Williams' novel shows the pain and the danger, but also a different kind of reward that money can never buy.

I just found out that the book was turned into a movie by Nicolas Cage last month, and now I'm excited to see if the film lives up to the book!

View all my reviews