Old Jules

This story is captivating. I have read it several times already, though at first I nearly did not buy it because it was advertised as a tale of the Old West, something I am not an avid reader of. Furthermore, I did not care for the typecast (font) of this book (paperback edition). No, what was interesting about this book was Mari Sandoz's writing style and how she so justly depicted the life and times of its characters. It is an adventure story of a man, Old Jules (the author's father) who immigrates to Nebraska in the late 1800s. Also, the story of other people who shared the same world. Whether they were kind, murderous, or sane, you've no doubt about the validity of these people; they come to life on the page. The tough landscapes and seasons, their beauty and severity, are also aptly described. Still, it is the contradictory nature and actions of Old Jules that remain the focal point. His bouts of abuses and concerns occur throughout this remarkably platonic narrative; this is because Mari Sandoz, in telling this tale, was determined to disassociate herself from personal prejudices; for example, as a crying infant of a few months, she was beat nearly senseless by her father. Many more unkindnesses followed. Of course, the reality is that Mari Sandoz was greatly affected by her father; his life story remains her literary masterpiece. I was grateful to come across it and have recommended it to others.

I found this book while looking for Sandoz's book on Crazy Horse. A western librarian friend of a friend told her it's one of the most accurate books on life in the Old West.You'd never get from a movie that so many settlers came from Europe and spoke French or German, or that they would send mail home to find a wife, who'd abandon them after a month.Sandoz dad's populist temperment and character is familiar back in Switzerland under another name. There's a political party of Jules-like people there called the League of Independents (the "Duttweiler" party). It's affiliated with Migros, a cooperative grocery and low-end retail chain, whose founder was a rebel like Jules.As a child, I once read books about people whom I imagined were like my own dad, on his deathbed then. This book brought me back. I can imagine my dad living like Jules --- boisterously, grousing but not really unhappy.Though Mari (whom Jules called Marie but who seems to have adopted the Swiss spelling Mari when she was older) was very unhappy.After Sandoz got this book right (which took many years), she wrote the Crazy Horse book.

Old Jules was tough, mean, revengeful, yet his daughter went on to become one of the best historical writers of the west. He would get mad when you Mari wrote fiction, or did anything for that matter. Yet he showed her, lived the example of writing, corresponding daily to make his points with politicians, friends and associates. He was tough and mean, but what Mari Sandoz brings to light in this excellent biography are his essential qualities of hard work, perseverience, education and human equality. People with those qualities shaped America, particularily the west. Old Jules open welcome of Native Americans clearly had an impact on Mari Sandoz, showing in her excellent books on the Cheyenne nation and her biography of Crazy Horse. Because Mari is writing about her father, this book helps show not only how a man helped shape his community, but how he helped shape the future of the nation.

We're buried in books about gunfighters and whores and trainrobbers and other quite atypical denizens of the Old West. This issomething else again -- a story of an implacably determined European immigrant with a dream of re-making himself in the Sand Hills of western Nebraska.The strength of Jules' dream is affecting, and so is the story of its collision with the bleak reality of midwestern frontier life. One branch of my family were ranchers in Wyoming, and their descendants remain a tough lot. Tough doesn't begin to describe Old Jules, and like most very tough people, he was more memorable and even admirable than likeable.When it comes to the lives of women on the frontier, Willa Cather covered similar ground, but Sandoz is absolutely unsparing and is an extraordinarily talented writer. This is one of those books that you'll think about for years. I've bought and given away half a dozen copies over the years.

Mari Sandoz was the daughter of Old Jules about whom she wrote as an historian rather than as his daughter. Her success is astonishing, as is the respect she retained for a father who on one occasion nearly killed her. It is not a book for the faint of heart. Mother would have been 100 in 1998, and was raised in IA and MN under similar circumstances. She was 'down' for several days after reading it because she related so closely to Mari's life. Old Jules was a man of determination and a dream he would not let die. His story is of individuals needed to settle the midwest which was wrested from weather and cattle barrons. You may become emotionally involved with childhood memories, but you will admire Mari's honesty and the success of Jule's life. So real!