He cared about other people, which was rare for someone in this book.
Even though he did some dumb things and put himself and others at risk, he had a vision he was trying to achieve and he went for it. This is part of what made it so hard to like the book. Håkan didn’t seem realistic at all and I felt he lived up to and deserved his legendary notoriety. The corrupt sheriff was probably similar to other men in the era, but he still came across as cartoonish. Lorimer and Asa are the only people I liked and didn’t seem like they stepped out of a movie. There were very few of these characters that I felt were realistic. I wanted more closure from the people he met along the way or for someone to come back into play late in the story to complete a storyline. This book was very episodic and that’s not a structure that I usually like. Håkan didn’t even make a strong impression on me. I kept thinking something would change and I’d start to appreciate something I’d missed or I’d become interested in a new character, but it never happened. Diaz defies the conventions of historical fiction and genre, offering a probing look at the stereotypes that populate our past and a portrait of radical foreignness. Driven back again and again, he meets naturalists, criminals, religious fanatics, swindlers, Indians, and lawmen, and his exploits turn him into a legend. The boy travels East in search of his brother, moving on foot against the great current of emigrants pushing West. A young Swedish immigrant finds himself penniless and alone in California.
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