Butcher's Crossing

First edition
(publ. Macmillan)

Butcher's Crossing is a western novel by John Williams originally published in 1960. The book takes place in Butcher's Crossing, Kansas in the early 1870s.[1] The story is about William Andrews, a young Harvard student, who leaves his life behind to go on a Buffalo hunting expedition. He and the people he meet along the way have to survive the harsh conditions of nature in their attempts to get buffalo hide to sell and make a lot of money.[2] Along the way, Andrews' contemplates his purpose in life in respect to nature specifically through the influence of Ralph Waldo Emerson.[1]

Background

Butcher's Crossing is the second novel by John Williams, preceded by Nothing but the Night. It is considered by many to be among the first pioneers of a more "realistic" breed of Western, along with a few other notable works including Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian and Oakley Hall's Warlock.[3] Reflecting on the state of the Western genre at the time of writing Butcher's Crossing, Williams wrote: "The subject of the West has undergone a process of mindless stereotyping,".[3] Williams' response to this came in the form of Butcher's Crossing, in which the harshness of life on the Western frontier is emphasized. Ironically, the novel features a protagonist, Will Andrews, who is deeply influenced by the idea of human-nature harmony found in Emersonian philosophy.[4]

Characters

Main characters

Secondary characters

Plot

William Andrews, a Harvard student in the early 1870s,[8] is not happy with the tasks of everyday life. After becoming inspired by Ralph Waldo Emerson,[1] he decides to leave his home in Boston and spend some time in the wilderness. While he is there, he hopes to discover who he really is.

Upon arriving in Butcher's Crossing, KS, Andrews finds himself on a hunting trip with a man named Miller. Miller talks Andrews into the hunting trip by promising Andrews a big payout.[7] Miller knows that a rare buffalo herd is going to be crossing part of the Colorado valley that few people have ever been to.[1] Andrews agrees to help pay for the trip because he is looking for adventure. Miller leaves Andrews and Charles Hoge, Miller's assistant, as Miller takes Andrews' money to buy supplies. Hoge proves to be a challenge to Andrews because Hoge likes to say Bible verses while Andrews believes that he knows all that he needs to about God.[7] While Andrews waits for Miller to return, he sits in his hotel room and contemplates his life with a prostitute, Francine.[1]

Miller returns and the group of men set out on a dangerous buffalo hunting expedition. The hunters find themselves lacking of water and have to first find a way to get water.[1] Once they find water, they begin the hunt. Miller wants to kill every buffalo that they can so that he can take the buffalo hides and sell them once they get back to Butcher’s Crossing.[1] During the hunt, Andrews deals with his own feelings of purposelessness as he watches the buffalo go from beautiful creatures to scraps of meat.[2] A snow storm hits and the hunters are stranded in the valley.[1] They are stuck there throughout the winter. The group manages to survive, and together they head back to Butcher’s Crossing. When they get there, Miller realizes that the buffalo hide market is gone and all of the work they did to hunt the buffalo was worthless.[1] Miller spirals into a depression, and Andrews is left a changed man.[1]

Themes

Several of Butcher's Crossing's themes revolve around the plot in William Andrews' quest to find himself in the vast expanses of the unsettled West. Many reviewers of the book have considered the theme of nature to be prevalent in the novel. Ideas regarding Ralph Waldo Emerson's takes on nature, especially that of Transcendentalism and the Transparent Eyeball, centralize Andrews' experience in the wilderness.[8] The theme of nature is challenged by the theme of societal expansion, and the novel uses comparisons between the purity of nature and the development of society to create this binary.[2] The theme of nature and the natural world even leads to additional themes that include man vs. nature, more specifically, human drive, motivation, and endurance, as William discovers how powerful nature is and must use all of his strength to survive it.[8] Additionally, Butcher's Crossing explores the theme of self-realization, and the components that play a role in understanding one's self, which includes maturity, a loss of innocence, and the exploration of one's spiritual standing.[6] According to reviewer Derek Harmening, Butcher's Crossing includes themes such as "imperialism, manifest destiny, perils of the free market, the enduring contempt of Native Americans (and anything else that existed on American soil before Europeans did, really), and— perhaps most importantly—man’s eternal judgment."[8]

Style

The book Butcher's Crossing is considered a classic romantic American Western, but one written with complete seriousness. John Williams' take on the classic western includes not only common western themes but a reflection of America itself, and the deconstruction of the American Dream, as well as incorporating ideas of destiny and Emerson's concept of being one with nature. John Williams' way of writing is straightforward but gives a gritty look into the behavior of man along with nature, and that madness that can overcome them when they become emerged with one another.[2]

Reception

The reception of Butcher's Crossing, though somewhat mixed, is predominantly positive.

Positive Reception

Author and Pulitzer Prize nominee Oakley Hall called Butcher's Crossing "the finest western ever written."[6] Adam Foulds, a writer for The Spectator magazine, agrees, writing, "The novel culminates beautifully in action and stingingly in thought."[9] A writer for The Guardian, Nicholas Lezard, found himself especially intrigued by Williams' ability to focus on events that drive the story. He writes:

"Williams, in reducing the elements of his story to nothing more than close attention to events, has produced something timeless and great. And in its pitiless depiction of men reduced to the most basic and extreme of situations--thirst, cold, heat, exhaustion, isolation, not to mention the undesirability of each other's company--this book very nicely fits into the contemporary vogue for survival-manual entertainment."[7]

Mixed Reception

Waggish calls Butcher's Crossing "the most flawed, the most peculiar, and the most exuberant of Williams' three mature novels."[1] The article also comments on Williams' writing in Butcher's Crossing as compared to his two other novels, saying, "Williams' writing is a little too lush and artful in Butcher's Crossing, lacking the architectural precision of the later two novels. He is still a wonderful writer, but one is more conscious of him making an effort."[1] Archie Bland, a writer for Independent magazine agrees with this, saying that parts of Butcher's Crossing, specifically the ending, don't quite hold up to his later novel Stoner.[10]

Additional reviews

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 "John Williams: Butcher's Crossing | Waggish". www.waggish.org. Retrieved 2015-10-26.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Long read: the ideology of nature in Butcher's Crossing". The Conversation. Retrieved 2015-10-27.
  3. 1 2 "Sixteen years after his death, not-so-famous novelist John Williams is finding his audience". Westword. Retrieved 2015-10-27.
  4. ↑ Williams, John (1960). Butcher's Crossing. New York, NY: New York Review. pp. vii–xv. ISBN 978-1-59017-198-1.
  5. ↑ Abrams, David (2014-01-22). "Rough, Dark, Shaggy....and Beautiful: a review of Butcher's Crossing by John Williams". The Quivering Pen. Retrieved 2015-10-26.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Latiolais, Michelle (2007). Introduction to Butcher's Crossing. New York, NY: New York Review of Books. pp. X–XIV. ISBN 978-1-59017-198-1.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Lezard, Nicholas. "Butcher's Crossing by John Williams – review". the Guardian. Retrieved 2015-10-27.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Harmening, Derek. "Butcher's Crossing" (PDF). The Quivering Pen.
  9. ↑ "Butcher's Crossing is not at all like Stoner — but it's just as superbly written". The Spectator. Retrieved 2015-10-28.
  10. ↑ Bland, Archie (6 December 2013). "Butcher's Crossing, By John Williams: A Book Review". Independent. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  11. ↑ "John Williams: Butcher's Crossing". The Mookse and the Gripes. Retrieved 2015-11-01.
  12. ↑ "How the West was slaughtered: Butcher's Crossing review". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-11-01.
  13. ↑ "Butchers' Crossing by John Williams | Word Riot". www.wordriot.org. Retrieved 2015-11-01.
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