Peace Like a River

I chose Peace Like a River initially because I expected it to be an adventure story, filled with charming tales, and the magical unexplainable miracles I heard so much about in the many reviews of the book I read. However, I found the book to drag on for far too long. The narrative is filled with far too much anecdotal information that, in my opinion does not contribute to the overall story. However, I did identify with Swede’s character the most in Peace Like a River. It is her character that kept me interested in the story during the long spells when miracles were not occurring. To me, it is she who gives the book a more magical and engaging flavor. I especially enjoyed how her poems of Sunny Sundown and the Reddick boys were almost like a window into Davy’s world. Their story so closely mirrors Davy’s that I got the sense that I was able to know what Davy was doing while running from the law. As if his thoughts were being recorded in these poems.

Swede’s character is also interestingly complex. She acts as both a comic relief and as a reality check. Often during the most tense of situations she inserts her wit and humor. At Davy’s trial, shortly after Reuben’s testimony, Swede mournfully yet resolutely proclaims that Davy is going to be sentenced to prison. But while, she states such a grim fait one minute, Swede next naively suggests that they break Davy out of prison the next minute. When she and Reuben run out of food while nursing their father back to health, she makes this clear to Reuben and suggests to him that his $25 be spent on groceries.

Swede also appeals to the feminist in me. I appreciated how Swede’s character, being a young girl in an all male family, is composed. Swede truly embodies the quintessential cowgirl. She is smart, loves free and romantic stories of the west, she stands up for what she believes in, nor is she afraid to speak her mind. I especially liked how Swede comments on other female characters in novels. She doesn’t like how they “talk all the time” and she reads O’Rourke because his female characters “ride like men”. When Reuben complains about the cold Swede toughs in out in order to eves drop on the adult conversations that transpire only after the children go to bed. While Jeremiah, Davy, and especially Reuben are important to the story, I felt that Swede was the most developed. I could actually imagine one day running into this precocious little girl, maybe I would actually read one of her novels. She seems the most real to me.

I found the ending of the book oddly predictable and a disservice to its character. The description of the afterlife, was both cliché and unimaginative. After dutifully trudging along through the book I expected to be rewarded with a dynamite ending but was instead deeply let down.

I was deeply disappointed that at the end of the book Reuben and Swede do not ever really officially make amends. Their relationships, one of honest dialogue and true friendship was one thing I did enjoy about the book and it was disappointing to see this relationship disintegrate.

Also, I was unimpressed by Jeremiah’s sacrificing his life for Reuben at the end of the story. With the whole story painting him as a saint it was just a predictable way for the narrative to finish.