Woe To Live On

In the opening scene of this well-read tale of the Civil War on the Kansas/Missouri border, Jake Roedel describes the country scene poetically before he coldly shoots a teenage German immigrant in the back. The juxtaposition of lyrical descriptions and brutal violence shocks the listener from the beginning and sets the stage for Jake's narrative of rough partisan warfare in which savagery is conventional. Near the story's end, Jake participates in Quantrill's massacre at Lawrence, KS, and finally disgusted with mayhem, begins to realize that life can hold more than killing. But can he even imagine a new life? Reader Bernard Setaro Clark does a terrific job with the voices—soft Southern country drawls for this group of Missouri guerrillas when in repose and harsh gutturals at moments of crisis. The 1987 book was the basis for Ang Lee's 1999 film Ride with the Devil.