Run with the Horsemen (Penguin Contemporary American Fiction Series) 
asked by anexpert on November 9, 2006 2:23 PM
BOY'S ACCOUNT of growing up through the rituals of life on an ancestral farm in middle Georgia between the big wars. It is a rueful, humorous story of the people in one rural county, but the telling cuts so deep it breaks through to the universal. Reminiscent of To Kill a Mockingbird, Tom Sawyer, and The Catcher in the Rye, Run With the Horsemen is the powerfully moving and delightfully endearing story of Porter Osborne Jr.'s journey to adulthood.
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In his semi-autobiographical novel, Ferrol Sams unravels a marvelous tale that mirrors his own life growing up in rural Georgia. Through the countless acts of Porter "Sambo" Osbourne, Jr., Sams is able to reveal his own life in a disgreet and ingenious way. This catching story of simplicity will entice any reader and grab them in a way that is duplicated by no other.
Porter, a mischievious farm boy, grows up between the two World Wars and in a time where a young boy always respected his elders. These were simple times and a child was assumed to understand this unspoken law. Porter is sent to school before he's five years old because of the mischief he causes at home. His misadventures are constantly getting him into trouble costing him certain privelages. Despite being a natural prankster, Porter grows up respecting and revering his father. His word is law. The boy grew up knowing that whatever his father said was right. Sams writes, "By the time the boy knew him, he was a giant" (pg. 2).
The boy's mother, a kind submissive woman, allowed the father to take control of the home:
"She was completely submissive to the dominating manhood of the father. She adored his person, obeyed his orders, indulged his whims, admired his intellect, applauded his accomplishments, waited on him hand and foot, and defended his mistakes" (pg. 34).
Porter's mother builds up an incredible essence of the father.
She gives him a power that is too much for him to live up to:
"She thus created such an ideal of masculine behaviour and exhibited such an unswerving belief in the reality of htis superior imgage that the father was challenged to the limits of his really rather remarkable powers to fill the role so subliminally but steadfastly outlined for him" (pg. 35).
Later in life as Sambo begins to mature and grow, he begins to question the authority and power of the father. He battles a realization that his father is flawed. He is unable to accept that the father, who has created such an outstanding hero worship for the boy, is flawed. Near the end of the catching novel, the father does something terrible to one of Porter's friends after he has been drinking. Porter is overwhelmed with feelings of hate. He is now battling a love/hate relationship with his father. The end of the book (as seen above) is a scene where the boy is baffled by his emotional battle. He cannot decide whether to love or hate his father. The boy's great adoration and love for his father is met head on with an unfathomable amount of hatred that crushes Porter:
"Falling on the floor, he knelt shivering and bare kneed against teh bed. Shuddering witha deep sigh, he foreced his body to be still. With deep and simple passion, he prayed, 'Our merciful and Heavenly Father, what in the world am I going to do? I love him so!'" (pg. 422).
This excellently written novel portrays a conflicting life full of love and hate. A young boy (like so many people) must battle against the hero worship of his father and some serious moral values in life.
Porter, a mischievious farm boy, grows up between the two World Wars and in a time where a young boy always respected his elders. These were simple times and a child was assumed to understand this unspoken law. Porter is sent to school before he's five years old because of the mischief he causes at home. His misadventures are constantly getting him into trouble costing him certain privelages. Despite being a natural prankster, Porter grows up respecting and revering his father. His word is law. The boy grew up knowing that whatever his father said was right. Sams writes, "By the time the boy knew him, he was a giant" (pg. 2).
The boy's mother, a kind submissive woman, allowed the father to take control of the home:
"She was completely submissive to the dominating manhood of the father. She adored his person, obeyed his orders, indulged his whims, admired his intellect, applauded his accomplishments, waited on him hand and foot, and defended his mistakes" (pg. 34).
Porter's mother builds up an incredible essence of the father.
She gives him a power that is too much for him to live up to:
"She thus created such an ideal of masculine behaviour and exhibited such an unswerving belief in the reality of htis superior imgage that the father was challenged to the limits of his really rather remarkable powers to fill the role so subliminally but steadfastly outlined for him" (pg. 35).
Later in life as Sambo begins to mature and grow, he begins to question the authority and power of the father. He battles a realization that his father is flawed. He is unable to accept that the father, who has created such an outstanding hero worship for the boy, is flawed. Near the end of the catching novel, the father does something terrible to one of Porter's friends after he has been drinking. Porter is overwhelmed with feelings of hate. He is now battling a love/hate relationship with his father. The end of the book (as seen above) is a scene where the boy is baffled by his emotional battle. He cannot decide whether to love or hate his father. The boy's great adoration and love for his father is met head on with an unfathomable amount of hatred that crushes Porter:
"Falling on the floor, he knelt shivering and bare kneed against teh bed. Shuddering witha deep sigh, he foreced his body to be still. With deep and simple passion, he prayed, 'Our merciful and Heavenly Father, what in the world am I going to do? I love him so!'" (pg. 422).
This excellently written novel portrays a conflicting life full of love and hate. A young boy (like so many people) must battle against the hero worship of his father and some serious moral values in life.
reviewed by waltersmith on November 10, 2006 11:46 AM
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This book, plus Sams' other two related to his growing up in Georgia, reminded me so much of my childhood and events that happened in my life. In places I literally cried with delight; others I just added an "Amen;" and when I got through I felt like Sams had written a story of my life! I couldn't put the book down once I got started. Then, when I did finish, I had to start on his other two that are actually sequels to this one. They're priceless, and in many places classically written.
reviewed by fusionz on November 29, 2006 6:11 AM
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This is one of the best works I have read in quite a few years. The author's descriptive powers are wonderful and character developement is flawless. This was one of those books I did not wish to end, and thankgoodness, there are two others following. I suspect the books would not be everyones cup of tea as there are some (see other reviews) that "just would not get it." Also, anything thing they were not exposed to in Lit 101 in Jr Coll. would be a bit daunting for them. This is a book you will want to read more than once, so it is probably best to go ahead and by a copy, something I finally had to do. Read it for the pure joy of a good story and for some wonderful writing.
reviewed by crafty1 on November 29, 2006 10:22 AM