But the great fact was the land itself, which seemed to overwhelm the little beginnings of human society that struggled in its somber wastes. It was from facing this vast hardness that the boy's mouth had become so bitter; because he felt that men were too weak to make any mark here, that the land wanted to be let alone, to preserve its own fierce strength, its peculiar, savage kind of beauty, its uninterrupted mournfulness. Part 1 Chapter 1, pg 10

In eleven long years John Bergson had made but little impression on the wild land he had come to tame. It was still a wild thing that had its ugly moods ... Mischance hung over it. Its Genius was unfriendly to man. Part 1 Chapter 2, pg 14

"You will be guided by your sister, boys and be good brothers to her and good sons to your mother." Part 1 Chapter 2, pg 18

Like most of...