A Novel of the Civil War by Bernard Cornwell
The Starbuck Chronicles
This series of books written by a renown British author was recommended by my brother last month. I could not find the four books in the Main P.L. but managed to run across Copperhead at the Highland branch. then, lo and behold while waiting for a computer at the Jeff branch I found the first book...The Rebel.
There seems to be a pattern in Civil War books. Start out with something very gruesome and then on to the story. This one was a tar and feather feature that introduced us to a characters that will remain through out the next three.
First of all, I have to give my bro a copy of Howard Bahr's book...Year of Jubilo, which is to date one of my favorite Civil War books. why? It made me cry and the ending surprised me, I did not see it coming through thinking back I should have. And I loved the dialect ....ah, this is about Rebel not Jubilo.
Anyway, ....characters. Nate, ok but everything an officer could be described by "Co. Aytch" (which I have recently found at the library book store in Memphis) as cowering in the back ground as war raged around them. Yet, he did okay.
Will I read the rest of the series? Not certain, but I must finish Co. Aytch as I see many of the Civil War writers have and use him as a guide when describing life as a CSA participant.
Back to Rebel. The character of Faulconer was great as I wanted to slap his face when he managed to steal all the glory for saving the CSA when it was actually his troops who did so, against his orders. He was fighting mad when he learned of their part in the Manassas battle.
many characters are memorable and from peaking at Copperhead, I see they are still around, so I guess not killed in the book between the first and third.
That's all I have to say about that.
Read Jubilo and the three books written by Bahr before this series. And read Jacob's Ladder before this one. And most definitely read GWTW before this one. Read The Killer Angels.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
The Woodsman's Daughter
I sneaked a peek at the reviews on Amazon before adding this book to my list of 2008 reads. First of all, I found this book on the shelves of "R's" at the downtown Main branch held up as a favorite of the staff...staff pick. Happily I grabbed it because I loved "Icy Sparks" and I know that GHR lives in my hometown (which is also made a minor role in the book as a small town that the wife of the son hails from).
In my defense, I have been reading The Book Club in between the two listed books. I did not finish TBC but returned it day before yesterday half read. Could not relate to the characters blah blah blah.
This book...is not Icy Sparks. Somewhere in the middle of it I thought of Scarlet O'Hara and sure enough, it was mentioned in the other reviews.
I found little sympathy for the main character as a young girl and could not identify her bitterness for her father, since his "sin" was revealed only after 50 or 60 (maybe 100) pages of the first part of the book. I even felt sorry for the old geezer and felt his reluctance to return to his home. Why even go home? Why not make yourself a more comfortable home elsewhere? Say, in Millerown? Anyway, I did not understand the hostility between the daughters and father, and the father punishing himself to return to them. Despite the "I love you's" and the love making she heard through the walls.
I just did not like them. All but the Mammy character. I hated that the girl who was so flip and disrespectful to her father could not own up to setting the barn on fire but allowing Mammy to take the rap and to be banished from the home.
BTW, all this takes place after the Civil War around the turn of the century.
A study in the lives of women, Delia as a turn of the century woman, her daughter as a flapper, her mother as a Civil War survivor and drug addict and Mammy as a free born black woman, slave none the less.
I read it at break neck speed unable to put it down because the story flowed easily. No big words to look up or flabbergast me (as love in the time of cholera). Good story none the less, unsympathetic characters who' motivation was sketchy at worst, left to the imagination at best. Some characters were but mere ghosts coming into the story as a minor character in a play enters from stage right and exits stage left. I did enjoy the brief introduction of the old Aunt (where the hell did she come from? The Miller side or her mothers side? Where did she get the money to live high on the hog, unencumbered by having to marry to survive. Her mothers people became poor after the war, her fathers people were dirt poor and he was a self made man. Made little sense to me) who had an affair or fling with a scoundrel from Charleston...Rhett Butler of course!
Predicable what was going to happen.
I read Icy Sparks hears ago and loved it. Knew the author had been inspired by the Berea Writing Program and Icy Sparks was a prodigy of that program. Icy Sparks was her masterpiece, and this book is just a writing exercise to keep her chops greased until she finds another character like Icy.
In my defense, I have been reading The Book Club in between the two listed books. I did not finish TBC but returned it day before yesterday half read. Could not relate to the characters blah blah blah.
This book...is not Icy Sparks. Somewhere in the middle of it I thought of Scarlet O'Hara and sure enough, it was mentioned in the other reviews.
I found little sympathy for the main character as a young girl and could not identify her bitterness for her father, since his "sin" was revealed only after 50 or 60 (maybe 100) pages of the first part of the book. I even felt sorry for the old geezer and felt his reluctance to return to his home. Why even go home? Why not make yourself a more comfortable home elsewhere? Say, in Millerown? Anyway, I did not understand the hostility between the daughters and father, and the father punishing himself to return to them. Despite the "I love you's" and the love making she heard through the walls.
I just did not like them. All but the Mammy character. I hated that the girl who was so flip and disrespectful to her father could not own up to setting the barn on fire but allowing Mammy to take the rap and to be banished from the home.
BTW, all this takes place after the Civil War around the turn of the century.
A study in the lives of women, Delia as a turn of the century woman, her daughter as a flapper, her mother as a Civil War survivor and drug addict and Mammy as a free born black woman, slave none the less.
I read it at break neck speed unable to put it down because the story flowed easily. No big words to look up or flabbergast me (as love in the time of cholera). Good story none the less, unsympathetic characters who' motivation was sketchy at worst, left to the imagination at best. Some characters were but mere ghosts coming into the story as a minor character in a play enters from stage right and exits stage left. I did enjoy the brief introduction of the old Aunt (where the hell did she come from? The Miller side or her mothers side? Where did she get the money to live high on the hog, unencumbered by having to marry to survive. Her mothers people became poor after the war, her fathers people were dirt poor and he was a self made man. Made little sense to me) who had an affair or fling with a scoundrel from Charleston...Rhett Butler of course!
Predicable what was going to happen.
I read Icy Sparks hears ago and loved it. Knew the author had been inspired by the Berea Writing Program and Icy Sparks was a prodigy of that program. Icy Sparks was her masterpiece, and this book is just a writing exercise to keep her chops greased until she finds another character like Icy.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
At Play In The Fields of the Lord
by Peter Matthiessen
Imagine my surprise as I groped through the aisle of the library, seemingly in the "M" section when I came upon several of Peters books in the fiction section. I thought he only wrote nonfiction. I picked this book of the three or so offerings and laid it on the stack I was accumulating for the weeks reading.
As I began to read I immediately became sucked in and totally immersed in the story, the setting, the characters. It began to occur to me, about midway through, that this book reminds me of the countless books as a child I eased out of the library under the watchful nose of my Mom and read under the cover of my room, at night while the family slept but I could not. I would be totally immersed in the story, spellbound by the world out there I knew nothing about, fretted over the emotions and needs of adults that I could only hope to someday to understand.
Obscure books that no one else read, but were life changing for me.
This was a good book, one I could not put down and turned the pages greedily. Mr. M's prose is astounding and tender. One line went like this...we found ourselves like butterflies pinned to the trays of our mortality....
The characters were each and every one, fascinating. Though the central character, Moon was someone that I wanted to overcome the hand life had dealt him and in the end perhaps he was the only one who had successfully been reborn, redeemed, saved.
Fascinating book, lot of topics to give thought to such as forcing our idea of a Higher Power that is better, more redeeming than the "savages" idea of a higher power. Who exactly are the savages here? The love between Wolfie and Moon, a manly love, one of desire and two halves making a whole.
A study of faith and loss. Everyone looses. Even Moon, who lost so much to end up in the god forsaken back waters of So America, somehow overcomes in the end. As does Andy, as does Martin, who ends his life work as a martyr killed by one of the converts.
I'm certain there is much more to this parable, this warning, this deep story layered with subtle preaching and astonishing revelations.
I will be searching out rather than stumbling upon more or Mr's books.
Imagine my surprise as I groped through the aisle of the library, seemingly in the "M" section when I came upon several of Peters books in the fiction section. I thought he only wrote nonfiction. I picked this book of the three or so offerings and laid it on the stack I was accumulating for the weeks reading.
As I began to read I immediately became sucked in and totally immersed in the story, the setting, the characters. It began to occur to me, about midway through, that this book reminds me of the countless books as a child I eased out of the library under the watchful nose of my Mom and read under the cover of my room, at night while the family slept but I could not. I would be totally immersed in the story, spellbound by the world out there I knew nothing about, fretted over the emotions and needs of adults that I could only hope to someday to understand.
Obscure books that no one else read, but were life changing for me.
This was a good book, one I could not put down and turned the pages greedily. Mr. M's prose is astounding and tender. One line went like this...we found ourselves like butterflies pinned to the trays of our mortality....
The characters were each and every one, fascinating. Though the central character, Moon was someone that I wanted to overcome the hand life had dealt him and in the end perhaps he was the only one who had successfully been reborn, redeemed, saved.
Fascinating book, lot of topics to give thought to such as forcing our idea of a Higher Power that is better, more redeeming than the "savages" idea of a higher power. Who exactly are the savages here? The love between Wolfie and Moon, a manly love, one of desire and two halves making a whole.
A study of faith and loss. Everyone looses. Even Moon, who lost so much to end up in the god forsaken back waters of So America, somehow overcomes in the end. As does Andy, as does Martin, who ends his life work as a martyr killed by one of the converts.
I'm certain there is much more to this parable, this warning, this deep story layered with subtle preaching and astonishing revelations.
I will be searching out rather than stumbling upon more or Mr's books.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
The day i ate whatever i wanted
by Elizabeth Berg
I thought she could have stolen this title from an entry I made in 2006 the day before I went on the cleansing diet - yuck - and ate Dairy Queen, donuts, etc. all day long. The first of many exquisite short stories begins with a similar tale.
I read another book by Eliz., the last book she wrote as it was recommended by my sister and it was very good. Yet, I liked this collection of stories much better. I think I could find some connection to most every character. And if not, then some sort of understanding.
I loved the husbands. I like the way EB characterized them as understanding and un-suffering balances in the lives of their wives. Not all the stories involved husbands, but when they were there they were very lovable.
I totally drank up the story of Michael who quits his advertising job and moves to Mass and builds himself a house. I loved her reaction when she went and visited him, with her husbands trust and approval making the first journey with her. She realizes that Michael is living the life that she wanted and had not known until that moment that it was the life she wanted. And she mourned the loss. Then M. has brain cancer and her last moments/memories with him.
The story about the only child, 10 years old who mean cousin hips her the fact that she is fat. Sad and I felt such sorrow for that child. Like her childhood was over at that moment.
I loved the story about the two old friends and one is dying of leukemia and the other invites her to come live with her. I shed a tear on that one.
I devoured the letter from an old neighbor that served as a birthday gift. It was the recipe to apple pie and was so wonderful that I could just cry.
EB makes writing appear effortless and as easy as breathing. I will definitely read more.
And it was nice to rid myself of the Civil War monkey on my back.
I thought she could have stolen this title from an entry I made in 2006 the day before I went on the cleansing diet - yuck - and ate Dairy Queen, donuts, etc. all day long. The first of many exquisite short stories begins with a similar tale.
I read another book by Eliz., the last book she wrote as it was recommended by my sister and it was very good. Yet, I liked this collection of stories much better. I think I could find some connection to most every character. And if not, then some sort of understanding.
I loved the husbands. I like the way EB characterized them as understanding and un-suffering balances in the lives of their wives. Not all the stories involved husbands, but when they were there they were very lovable.
I totally drank up the story of Michael who quits his advertising job and moves to Mass and builds himself a house. I loved her reaction when she went and visited him, with her husbands trust and approval making the first journey with her. She realizes that Michael is living the life that she wanted and had not known until that moment that it was the life she wanted. And she mourned the loss. Then M. has brain cancer and her last moments/memories with him.
The story about the only child, 10 years old who mean cousin hips her the fact that she is fat. Sad and I felt such sorrow for that child. Like her childhood was over at that moment.
I loved the story about the two old friends and one is dying of leukemia and the other invites her to come live with her. I shed a tear on that one.
I devoured the letter from an old neighbor that served as a birthday gift. It was the recipe to apple pie and was so wonderful that I could just cry.
EB makes writing appear effortless and as easy as breathing. I will definitely read more.
And it was nice to rid myself of the Civil War monkey on my back.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
The Black Flower
A novel of the Civil War by Howard Bahr
This is the third of Mr. Bahr's books I have read beginning with the most recently written and ending with the first, the story of the Battle of Franklin. Another great story that left me crying. Another wonderful group of the most interesting characters from a fictitious city in MS called Cumberland.
He brings his characters to life not only with the dialogue, but also with the inner workings of the men. Virgil c. was only in the first 50 pages but we felt great pain when he left. And Jack, the same fate only we revisit with him in his last hour.
And Bushrod. My God, how I would love to meet these men. Thought they are from another era, another century, another life I would find many things we have in common and I would love to just listen to their stories, their meaning in what is not being said.
I feel these characters in my heart and I cry with feeling for them and their circumstances.
The Black Flower is a tragic story and told beautifully. The middle one, the Year of Jubilo is my favorite out of the the trilogy.
I can not wait for Mr. Bahr to complete another. As I am certain he has many more stories and many more people from Cumberland to introduce us to and make us care about them as much as he cares about them.
This is the third of Mr. Bahr's books I have read beginning with the most recently written and ending with the first, the story of the Battle of Franklin. Another great story that left me crying. Another wonderful group of the most interesting characters from a fictitious city in MS called Cumberland.
He brings his characters to life not only with the dialogue, but also with the inner workings of the men. Virgil c. was only in the first 50 pages but we felt great pain when he left. And Jack, the same fate only we revisit with him in his last hour.
And Bushrod. My God, how I would love to meet these men. Thought they are from another era, another century, another life I would find many things we have in common and I would love to just listen to their stories, their meaning in what is not being said.
I feel these characters in my heart and I cry with feeling for them and their circumstances.
The Black Flower is a tragic story and told beautifully. The middle one, the Year of Jubilo is my favorite out of the the trilogy.
I can not wait for Mr. Bahr to complete another. As I am certain he has many more stories and many more people from Cumberland to introduce us to and make us care about them as much as he cares about them.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Gods and Generals
by Jeff Shaara
I use to write a brief description of the book I had read, rated it and then on to the next book. This year, I have just listed the titles on the side-bar and let it go. I have had the unusual pleasure of just being able to read as much as I want the last year since I am not working and just lay around doing nothing but reading and worrying about money etc.
What is the use of all this reading if I do not document what the book and story meant to me?
G&G was about 480 pages. As I started the book I looked to estimate how long it would take me to complete. I may not have read this book, but I started another that just did not do it for me and I have made the promise to myself not to read it just because I started it (I use to do that!)
I am not big on history and I like the way both Jeff and his father, Michael who wrote The Killer Angels, take on history with a new twist. They make it fiction. Not in a million years would I guess that I would have read either of these books. The latter won the Pulitzer in the 1970's it was so good, and it was, I read it in a day. But I deviate from G&G. Jeff is not his father and some of the people left me cold. Jeff definitely is more fascinated with the Confederate Army than the Federal Army. The Rebels are always outnumbered, under fed, have limited clothing yet fight like wildcats. It is a wonder we (as I live in the South and consider myself a Southerner) lost the war. Just think, the southern states could be a separate nation, uninvolved with the damn war in Iraq and maybe have an ample supply of gas provided by the great state of TX and the country of Mexico.
Once again, I deviate. I read this book to learn about several of the great battles that took place before Gettysburg. I did not know a lot of things, like Stonewall Jackson died as a result of "friendly fire".
Stonewall is my favorite character in the book. I find myself becoming irritated with the lack of concern .... concern it too harsh a word, the uninterested with the wounded and dead, the dying after all these battles.
I will not read another Shaara book, I will continue with my tear through all the Civil War books I can lay my hands on (I Have a pile of them at ready).
But, it was still good and I learned a lot. A whole lot about the sequence of the war and how very brave the Southerners were.
I use to write a brief description of the book I had read, rated it and then on to the next book. This year, I have just listed the titles on the side-bar and let it go. I have had the unusual pleasure of just being able to read as much as I want the last year since I am not working and just lay around doing nothing but reading and worrying about money etc.
What is the use of all this reading if I do not document what the book and story meant to me?
G&G was about 480 pages. As I started the book I looked to estimate how long it would take me to complete. I may not have read this book, but I started another that just did not do it for me and I have made the promise to myself not to read it just because I started it (I use to do that!)
I am not big on history and I like the way both Jeff and his father, Michael who wrote The Killer Angels, take on history with a new twist. They make it fiction. Not in a million years would I guess that I would have read either of these books. The latter won the Pulitzer in the 1970's it was so good, and it was, I read it in a day. But I deviate from G&G. Jeff is not his father and some of the people left me cold. Jeff definitely is more fascinated with the Confederate Army than the Federal Army. The Rebels are always outnumbered, under fed, have limited clothing yet fight like wildcats. It is a wonder we (as I live in the South and consider myself a Southerner) lost the war. Just think, the southern states could be a separate nation, uninvolved with the damn war in Iraq and maybe have an ample supply of gas provided by the great state of TX and the country of Mexico.
Once again, I deviate. I read this book to learn about several of the great battles that took place before Gettysburg. I did not know a lot of things, like Stonewall Jackson died as a result of "friendly fire".
Stonewall is my favorite character in the book. I find myself becoming irritated with the lack of concern .... concern it too harsh a word, the uninterested with the wounded and dead, the dying after all these battles.
I will not read another Shaara book, I will continue with my tear through all the Civil War books I can lay my hands on (I Have a pile of them at ready).
But, it was still good and I learned a lot. A whole lot about the sequence of the war and how very brave the Southerners were.
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