Customer Reviews:
 A random, blurry, dream sequence that never ends! November 21, 2005
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
I have enjoyed extremely some other works by H. L. Davis, most notably the novel Winds of Morning and the beautifully executed short story, "The Homestead Orchard." It was with pleasurable anticipation that I obtained Davis's prizewinning magnum opus.
But this monstrosity totally surprised me. The rendering of Oregon's history and geography is too far removed from the truth for a novel that is supposed to be a fanciful tapestry of Oregon's history and geography--it's so fanciful as to merely annoy. The characters are not well-developed and are cartoonish. I can stand fantasy sequences (loved Dickens's Little Dorrit), but this endless ramble exhausted my patience. I kept waiting to reach the good part. I should have given up after the first 100 pages.
H. L. Davis is a little-known and under-appreciated author whose works are not of even quality. Following is my list of his works that I've read, in order of my esteem from highest to lowest.
1. The Homestead Orchard--Humorous, sad, joyous, beautifully crafted short story about a father and son--a true masterpiece
2. Winds Of Morning--novel about a young, naive lawman
3. Old Man Isbell's Wife--Humorous short story with two great characters
4. Open Winter--short story about herding sheep, sweet edging toward profound
5. The Distant Music--sweeping historical-family epic
6. All of Davis's essays
7. The Kettle of Fire--a fictional legend
8. Beulah Land--a rambling Southeast-Midwest version of Honey in the Horn
9. Honey in the Horn--spare yourself! Overlong, random, Pulitzer-prize winning, historically inaccurate, pointless
To access the short stories, get a copy of his Collected Essays and Short Stories, published by the University of Idaho Press.
 An Oregonian Saga - Well Done June 11, 2004
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
A well-told tale of settling of Oregon in the first decade of the 20th Century. This Pulitzer Prize winning novel captures the spirit of the times as those hardy pioneers struggle to settle a difficult land. Mr. Davis' wry humor makes this a reader's delight. Having lived in the general area as a youth I found many of the incidents sounding like the seemingly endless tales that my father and his collegues would spend hours swapping.
 Very enjoyable story February 1, 2004
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
The book tells and interesting story of a young man in southern and eastern Oregon in about 1910 after the big pioneer rush. Very well written with good characters. It won the Pulitzer prize in 1935.
an absorbing account of a little known period in Oregon November 9, 1999
19 out of 25 found this review helpful
This book was impossible to put down. It is an absorbing novel set in (apparently) early 1900s Oregon. It is well researched as to the history and conditions prevailing in a country always hard to live in. And it is a rollicking good story.
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