The Expedition of the Donner Party and its Tragic Fate
Gelesen von LibriVox Volunteers
Eliza P. Donner Houghton
(4,5 Sterne; 17 Bewertungen)
The Donner Party was a group of California-bound American settlers caught up in the "westering fever" of the 1840s. After becoming snowbound in the Sierra Nevada in the winter of 1846–1847, some of the emigrants resorted to cannibalism. Although this aspect of the tragedy has become synonymous with the Donner Party in the popular imagination, it actually was a minor part of the episode.
The author was about 4 at the time. The first part of the book accounts the tragic journey and rescue attempts; the last half are reminiscences of the child orphan, passed from family to family while growing up. (Summary from Wikipedia & Tricia G) (10 hr 11 min)
Chapters
Bewertungen
a moving tragic true story
jaded_grl
(5 Sterne)
most of the readers did a fantastic job, there is one chapter of 7 minutes reading that has an annoying buzz in the background. the book starts quickly into the wagons moving west and it does not concentrate on the snowed in the Sierra Nevada part for very long. most of the book is about the young donner's girl after the tragedy growing up as an orphan. then at the end of the book she returns to the events of the trapped donner party. if you are looking for sensational tales of cannibalism, there are none. she only lightly refers to two cases of it and does not dwell on it. the appendix does contain pieces of other articles and statements of murder and preferences of human meat of animals, but the writer does a good job of making a case against the most fantastic claims. such a sad moving story, makes me wish i had a time machine to go help those people!
short stuff
(5 Sterne)
This is a worthwhile book to read. I have read as much about the Donner Party as possible and really enjoyed listening to this audiobook presented by Librivox. It is also a history book. Don't read fof entertainment because you might be disappointed. It has some grisly facts but bears record w other books I've read. How very tragic.