Bad Land

A detailed Summary of Bad Land

Jonathan Raban, in his award winning novel, Bad Land, attempts to describe the migration of homesteaders to eastern Montana in the first decade of this century, and examines the last great wave of American western settlement. More tellingly, Bad Land is somewhat of a memoir; a well edited collection of stories and events that took place during Raban's experiences in the Great American West. His novel is an attempt to redefine a travel book, in which Raban drags us through a century's frontier history. There is no doubt of Raban's excitement and interest in Montana's culture. You can feel Raban's compulsive interest in the West expand as the book progresses, and although there are some wonderful moments when he tries to communicate his excitement to others, as a whole, the novel leaves you with a feeling of, "I guess you had to be there".

To describe the way in which Jonathan Raban writes would take little more than one word; emotional. Jonathan Raban writes with such feeling and passion, that you feel the exact sentiments of the people or the surroundings being described. When reading about the loneliness of the land, you too feel as though you are the only human being for hundreds of miles. When getting a sense for the har

dships and struggles these people had to face, you too feel cold and hungry. But there is a point at which Raban seems to go overboard: everything in moderation. Raban seems to get caught up at many points within the novel with his descriptions of events that obviously touched him deeply and left a strong and deep impression with in his mind. His passion starts to become repetitious and monotonous; which makes you start to question the sincerity of his feelings.

Throughout the novel, Raban uses vivid imagery to make the reader understand and feel as though they were too a part of the experience being described. Raban uses his mastery of tone and diction to recreate the history of the frontier and the experiences of others and his own. In the eighth chapter, Raban uses his mastery of tone to describe the uncomfortable situation of cattle branding. The tone of this piece is especially harsh and unforgiving. When describing the actual process of removing calves testicles the author uses words like, "plunged...exposed...snipped...shot...lopped", creating the emotion of pain. Raban deliberately chose this language for a reason making his audience feel uncomfortable; as uncomfortable as he did when witnessing this himself with his own two eyes.

In Jonathan Raban's Bad Land, he uses interviews and good old-fashioned footwork to uncover the story of westward expansion.

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Approximate Word count = 1394
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels