Amazon.com
Raymond Chandler is arguably the best American pulp novelist. His prose is so acutely visual, his characters so raw and intense that it is small wonder that all but one of his books have been made into movies. And his hero Philip Marlowe has graduated into American legend. Together with its companion volume (Stories and Early Novels), Later Novels and Other Writings forms the most complete Chandler collection in print. In addition to his later novels, this collection contains selected essays and letters, biographical information, and textual as well as explanatory notes. As an added bonus, the editor has included Chandler's screenplay to Double Indemnity, the classic Billy Wilder film adapted from James M. Cain's novel. You're able to compare the script to the finished movie and have the rare opportunity to see how one major crime novelist altered and interpreted another.
Customer Reviews:
Outstanding in so many ways.......2007-02-24
First, let me say that there's a separate volume of Chandler's early novels. As much as I liked this volume, I actually enjoyed the earlier novels just a little bit more and suggest starting there. I started reading one story and wound up going through all of them in both volumes in the space of a few months. I also wound up reading and enjoying all the Dashiell Hammett stories, but I give Chandler a slight edge.
I won't try to list all the ways these novels are great and entertaining, but here's one thought that hasn't been mentioned in other reviews. Chandler is excellent at presenting a hero-character who has to worry about money and making a living. Indeed, Chandler makes this issue integral to the character's persona and to the plot line. Yes, the books are escapist in so many ways. Yet, in this respect at least, they are far more realistic than almost all of the fiction, and much of the non-fiction, these days.
Writing at its best - and it happens to be in detective noir.......2006-06-20
C-L-A-S-S-I=C HIGH/low notes. These stories are like a deck cards, all aces...... but there are way too few left. I finished "Little Sisters" (GREAT), "Farewell, My Lovely"- is recommended in the other half (earlier edition). The hook is Marlow. In times where many take the easy/cheap way out, I ride hard with Marlow. Marlow does it with style, humor, wit, grit, and nothing less than an all american: get the job done. But in a way that is the opposite his nemesis: the monopolies of power & money. Of course they admire and hate him. But it just doesn't get any better than Chandler. Need an excuse? Then read it for the wrting alone. The best!
The best of Raymond Chandler.......2005-12-05
This book, contaning Chandlers later works, is perhaps the best collection of Chandler you can find. Sure, does not contain the better-known novels - The Big Sleep and Farewell my Lovely - but it does contain The Long Goodbye, which is not only Chandler's finest, but a great novel by any measure.
Chandler lived a tough, hard-drinking life, and these later works came out of his mind with difficulty. But the quality of The Lady in the Lake and The Long Goodbye (The Little Sister is less memorable) make this collection essential.
In addition, the book contains some essays and letters, including Chandler's writing on the mystery genre, which will interest any budding suspense author.
In short, read this book! Read The Long Goodbye, then read it again. This is not just a great mystery, but it is also great literature.
Classic American, cynical detective stories........2005-05-12
Chandler is arguably the best detective story writer out there. If you expand this genre to all mystery writers, he would still be one of the best.
Detective stories aren't as common as they once were, but if you look at the offspring of the Pulp magazine once so popular, television, they are still as popular as ever. Chandler was one author who defined what a detective story was. This book contains four novels:The Lady in the Lake, The Little Sister, The Long Goodbye, and Playback. These are wonderfully entertaining stories that contain the archetypical hard-bitten detective, Philip Marlowe. After reading these stories you will forever see Marlowe in every detective story you see or read, from Magnum to the latest TV cop. How can you not love an author who sums up Modern American Capitalism with lines like these? "We make the finest packages in the world, Mr. Marlowe. The stuff inside is mostly junk." Or an author who in the early 50's, (50 years before the current 'Queers Dress Up' shows) so presciently wrote, "The queer is the artistic arbiter of our age, chum." Or his comment on a speech by a politician, "He did not bore us with any facts."
These books are not just riveting, fun reading, but full of thoughtful quotes like the above.
Chandler also is must-reading for his understanding of criminality, venality, human nature, Southern California, Movies, American culture and American relationship dynamics. I hate to use the word "classic" to describe stories that are just so plain fun to read, but I find it hard not to.
This volume also contains a screenplay, Double Indemnity, and a few essays and letters. The essays "The Simple Art of Murder", and "Writers in Hollywood" should be required reading for anyone interested in 20th century culture, movies, and literature. Just a few tidbits more. Chandler on English Mystery Writers - "The English may not always be the best writers in the world, but they are incomparably the best dull writers." Chandler on boredom - "There are no dull subjects, only dull minds." Chandler on critics - "The average critic never recognizes an achievement when it happens. He explains it after it has become respectable."
My only criticism is that the plots are contrived and sometimes complicated. But such criticism is like complaining that the Mona Lisa would be a fine painting if only it were of a different size.
Chandler is simply wonderful, funny, cynical, and yes, - respectable.
Priceless Solely for The Simple Art of Murder.......2005-01-18
While Hammett may very well have carried the modern hard-boiled mystery forward into the light, Chandler defined it. Of the two, I think I prefer Chandler most. Chandler better than anyone else set the standard for the genre, and laid down the rules to which all the great mystery writers of today rigorously adhere. Here, in brief, is the mystery writer's credo:
'But down these mean streets must a man go who himself is neither tarnished nor afraid.'
As Chandler remarked in his classic essay, The Simple Art of Murder, Hammett rightly deserves the title of Founder of the modern mystery because he succeeded in giving murder back to the kind of people who commit it. So what kind of person goes up against the kind of people who committ murder? Chandler responds with Exhibit A: Philip Marlowe.
Chandler's Marlowe resonates in my favorite mystery romps, the Spenser series, and the archetype also finds its way into more than a few 'Good Cop' dramas.
I enjoy the escapades of Philip Marlowe simply because the wry cynicism, coupled with the tough moral fibre to get to the bottom of any affair and see justice (or at least some sort of closure) served, makes for truly fascinating escapist reading. Each of the books in this collection, as in the collection preceding it, amply deliver on this score.
If you happen to acquire this masterpiece, never let it go. These are classic books, and will never become dated. I personally prefer The Long Goodbye to The Big Sleep, and found the former a longer and more satisfying read. In every story of both collections, there is to be found a depraved tapestry of gilded greater Los Angeles society, quite literally ripped from the headline news of the day. Most mystery fans will love the idea of an honest man in a thoroughly dishonest world, on a righteous quest for justice.
Once you get this triumph of American literature in your hands, mix your favorite drink, disappear to a quiet place with a comfortable chair (with good lighting), and enjoy the Great Master at work. If only more writers could write like this, then I would not need cable TV...
Book Description
This historical fiction dramatically tells the story of the Battle of the Little Bighorn through the eyes of ordinary soldiers and warriors and vividly describes the fatigue, grime, sweat, fear, heartbreak, and carnage of frontier warfare.
“I have never seen a better, clearer exposition of the problems that occur when two cultures collide.”—Stephen Coonts, author of Flight of the Intruder
“A Road We Do Not Know . . . brings a fresh and moving sensibility to the story of Custer, Sitting Bull, and Crazy Horse, those icons whose lives came together at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. A fine novel, compellingly written.”—W.E.B. Griffin, author of Brotherhood of War
“Frederick Chiaventone tells an important, gripping and instructive tale.”—Winston F. Groom, author of Forrest Gump
One of the most gripping fictional accounts-- based on twenty years of historical research--ever written on the Battle of Little Bighorn and Custer's demise.
Customer Reviews:
A PLAUSIBLE EXPLANATION OF A HUNDRED-YEAR OLD PUZZLE.......2006-12-11
A ROAD WE DO NOT KNOW takes the reader on the June 1876 campaign against "hostile" tribes that ended, as every schoolboy should know, in the defeat of the 7th Cavalry at the battle of the Little Big Horn, a river also known as the Greasy Grass to the Sioux. Mr. Chiaventone's first novel is not a great work of literature but it holds up pretty well against a lot of other historical fiction. A ROAD is told from the perspective of captain and corporal, chief and warrior, indian and trooper, white and red. Wrapped in fiction, the author provides a plausible explanation for why and how the battle developed, a puzzle debated by historicans for over a hundred years. The novel explores General Custer's decision-making prior to the battle, when presented with information from his scouts, and during the battle, when pressed by overwhelming numbers of warriors. It makes for a fascinating read to be especially enjoyed by history buffs. Mr. Chiaventone also is able to get into the motivation and thinking of the Ogala, Hunkpapa, Cheyenne, Arapaho and other Indians engaged at the Greasy Grass, showing the reader how these native Americans viewed the world without dragging down the novel with unnecessary and distracting "spiritual" discourse. A ROAD is a realistic novel, describing the rigors of the campaign as well as the violence of battle. A side note is that some 7th Cavalry survivors of the Little Big Horn were later killed at Wounded Knee, where a total of 26 troopers were killed and 35 wounded. Highly recommended.
The best book on Custer, period........2006-02-28
I've read this book with great interest and excitement. I also comuunicated with the author by email several years ago, and consulted many "experts" on Custer after I read the book. Most of the stories we've heard about GAC are pure trash. GAC was a great hero in the Civil War, for which he has not been given near enough credit due to the despicable stories that have been told about him in the years since the Little Big Horn.
His dear wife, Libby, spent the rest of her life trying to correct the defaming and hostile stories written about him. Because most of his family died at the Little Big Horn, only his enemies, such as Benteen and Reno, were left to tell the story. They were both jealous of Custer, and all the evidence points to Reno as the biggest flaw in the campaign, as he and his troops turned and ran in the face of an assault. This is explained in several writings about this event.
Custer did what most any soldier would have done in his situation. This book explains some of that, so I will not repeat it here.
Suffice it to say, read the book with an open mind, forgetting all the "disinformation" you've heard about him.
Why wasn't this book made into a movie? Well, if it had been an anti-Custer, or anti-American book, it would have been The left-wing, socialist, anti-American pukes in Hollywood would have seen to it. But, it is a realistic story not indulging in mythology or hate-mongering against a true American hero in the Civil War. Custer's conflict with the Grant administration over treatment of the Indians is also a truth Hollywood would not want to tell. That would undermine their hate for him.
As Close As You're Gonna Get.......2004-05-11
With "A Road We Do Not Know" Mr. Chiaventone takes us, on both banks of the Little Big Horn River, as close to what really happened there June 25, 1876 as anybody will ever get. Chiaventone achieves this partly through extensive historical research and partly through empathy for the men involved in the events, all of whom, Indians and cavalrymen, emerge from this story as real people: There are no Noble Savages in this book nor is Custer represented as a fool. Chivaentone understands the "fog of war" and how it can blind otherwise valiant and experienced commanders: Eighty-nine years after the Little Big Horn the 7th Cavalary got itself into a similar debacle at a place called the Ia Drang Valley in Viet-Nam, and in 1965 they had air support and artillery. The only quibble I have about this excellent novel is the large number of footnotes throughout. They do not belong in a novel because they distract from the flow of the story. Someone at Simon & Schuster needs to be reminded of that: put 'em in the narrative, in the mouths of the characters, or in an "Historical Note" at the end of the book, but NOT at the bottom of the page.
You have to love the cavalry.......2002-09-13
I gave this two stars but it is a matter of taste. I was looking for straight historical fiction. To enjoy this read you must really be an avid fan of military fiction. For people with this interest, this might be five stars. For my taste, the author dwelt too much on the details of the military custom and practice that he reconstructed for the circa 1870s Seventh Cavalry. This amounted to the first half of the book and I got bogged down in it. But this preoccupation with military details ran through the remainder of the book and I think had the effect of dampening the climax. It seemed like there was more militaria than characterization so it was hard for me to be personally drawn into the climax. But I realize that this is exactly what some people want. I also felt that the characterization of Custer was a little too charitable based on the history I have read. I am a Native American and I got the impression form this book that Custer was almost benevolent in attitude towards Indians -- just a little egotistical. That's a stretch.
A book to be savored.......2001-05-15
Not since May 29, 1981, the day I finished The Killer Angels, have I been so overwhelmed by the ending of a military action novel as I was by this book. It is fiction only because it supplies lotsa dialogue for June 25, 1876--the day of Custer's Last Stand. This book presents all the events as very concentrated in time, whereas I before reading it had the impression the events were spread over several days. I am confident this book is pretty accurate as to what happened. This is a very poignant book, and made me feel I was with the people on that fateful day. Most worthwhile reading.
Book Description
Mining the layers of family secrets that have built up over three generations on a reservation town called Poverty, members of the tiny community tell their own stories, leading finally to the heart of the mystery that surrounds an eight-year-old boy named Little.
Customer Reviews:
A Housing Tract Called Poverty.......2003-11-12
In a housing tract called Poverty, population seven, a grave is dug, then filled, even though eight year old Little's body is missing. This unsentimental first novel revolves around the seven people who knew the nearly silent Little and who scratch out a difficult life on a Ojibwe reservation in Minnesota. They lend their voices and perspectives, some contradictory, to this bleak story of how Little came to "be in everything." The heart of this novel is not Little, however, but the people who knew him. Even though Little is not a major character the way his brother Donovan is, he represents the deformity in the others that must be overcome to survive.
Treuer has structured his novel in individual stories that are connected more through the association of the characters than any solid narrative drive. His writing is stark - sometimes poetic and others ordinary, but always fitting the mood of the moment. If this novel suffers from anything, it's obtuseness. The reader knows when he is supposed to read more into dialogue or a description, but the connections aren't always clear. The author's talents far outweigh this flaw, as Poverty and its residents are memorable, complex creations.
LITTLE is not an uplifting novel, nor is it an easy read, so readers looking for these qualities should look elsewhere. For those interested in literary fiction or in issues facing contemporary Native Americans, you will find much offered here by the author of a later work, THE HIAWATHA.
Book Description
“Little Tree” as his grandparents call him is shown how to hunt and survive in the mountains, to respect nature in the Cherokee Way, taking only what is needed, leaving the rest for nature to run its course.
Little Tree also learns the often callous ways of white businessmen and tax collectors, and how Granpa, in hilarious vignettes, scares them away from his illegal attempts to enter the cash economy. Granma teaches Little Tree the joys of reading and education. But when Little Tree is taken away by whites for schooling, we learn of the cruelty meted out to Indian children in an attempt to assimilate them and of Little Tree's perception of the Anglo world and how it differs from the Cherokee Way.
A classic of its era, and an enduring book for all ages, The Education of Little Tree has now been redesigned for this twenty-fifth anniversary edition.
The Education of Little Tree tells of a boy orphaned very young, who is adopted by his Cherokee grandmother and half-Cherokee grandfather in the Appalachian mountains of Tennessee during the Great Depression.
Customer Reviews:
A real find........2007-07-21
This book was loaned to me by a wonderful lady that I was doing some work for, because she loved it and wanted to share. I am still buying it as gifts.
I have been an avid reader for 67 years. This is certainly in the top ten books that I have read. It's Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, Angela's ashes etc. all with a flair that they didn't reach. The language, phrasing is unique. I almost never read a book twice or more. This is the exception.
One of the best.......2007-05-12
I read this wonderful book to my children when they were younger. They loved it as much as I. We laughed and cried together. Now, I have given a copy to my oldest son to read to his son who will be born this month. It is a book to be shared and cherished. What a lovely gift Forrest Carter has given to the world.
Confirmation.......2007-02-10
Greetings,
This book took my soul on a journey. The content of this book will confirm that all White Americans motives are not pure. My heart aches because I know that Little Tree's story is the same story of so many other ethnic groups. People have been conquered, destroyed and forced to accept ways and beliefs that were not their own.
The book is about a little boy whose parents die so he has to go live with his grandparents who are Indians. While living with his grandparents they eventually they teach him their way which includes living off the land, catching wild animals and learning what plants and bushes to avoid.
He is eventually forced to go to school with white children because it is the law that all children must go to school and there he quickly discovers how much Indians are hated. He is physically abused, teased, forced to cut his hair and forbiddened to acknowledge or pratice his ways.
In the end, he returns home to the arms of the people that love him and the mountains that he knows so well.
I see you Little Tree!
Enjoy!
My all-time favorite.......2007-02-02
Like another reviewer suggested, this book should be required reading. I had to read it for a class in college and put off starting it because it didn't seem that interesting. When I finally got around to it, I read the whole book in one night, alternately laughing hysterically and crying my eyes out. My roommate must have thought I was insane. Since then I've reread The Education of Little Tree many times and always seem to find something new in it. The story of Little Tree's "education" and the book's narration from a five year-old's perspective is priceless. Even knowing the author wasn't really raised by Cherokee grandparents doesn't detract from the book at all. Buy it now or go to the library or borrow it from a friend, tape up your ribs so you don't bust them from laughing, grab a box of tissues, and find a cozy spot to get to know Little Tree.
A must read book.......2007-01-12
This book can be enjoyed by a young audience, as well as adult. The book takes readers back to a time of hardships during the great depression and the discrimination against American Indians at that time. It also takes a harsh look at the part that religion played in fostering the mistreatment of the Indian youth.
Average customer rating:
|
Little Women: A Family Romance
Elizabeth Lennox Keyser
Manufacturer: University of Georgia Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General
| Classics
| United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| History & Criticism
| United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
19th Century
| British
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
20th Century
| British
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
| Classics
| Comic
| Contemporary
| Literary
General
| Criticism & Theory
| History & Criticism
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0820322806 |
Book Description
It is no secret that Louisa May Alcott "rewrote" not only herself but also her mother, father, and sisters in Little Women. Yet how well do we grasp the significance of her impulse? Little Women: A Family Romance focuses on Alcott's personal and creative motivations in fashioning an idealized family in her novel and gives us new ways to view both the fictional Marches and the real-world Alcotts.
Drawing on Freud's essay "Family Romances" and his related work on children's daydreams and fantasies, Elizabeth Lennox Keyser reads Little Women in terms of the burgeoning hostility and longing, eroticism and ambition each March child experiences as she matures and begins to look beyond her parents for a new primary love. Keyser also reads Little Women in the context of the torrid, sensational stories aimed at lower-class readers (which Alcott also wrote) that we commonly equate with the term "romance," as well as the sophisticated psychological romantic ideals associated with the novels of Nathaniel Hawthorne (whom Alcott knew and read).
Readers have long regarded Little Women as Jo March's story. The insights offered here nudge us toward viewing the novel as the story of the entire March family, a more satisfyingly inclusive view for, as Keyser writes, "the relationships among the March sisters and their mother are more compelling than the development of any one character, not excluding Jo."
Average customer rating:
- Tom Robbins, is Rob Swigart your Guru?
- Outstanding...infinitely entertaining
- Ugh.
- "Real America"
- "......i'd always wanted to kill my father....."
|
Little America : A Novel
Rob Swigart
Manufacturer: Backinprint.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Comic
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0595091962 |
Book Description
Little America is a modern Oedipal romp through hilarious adventures as the major characters race westward toward their destinies in Little America, Wyoming, in the bicentennial year of 1976.
Orville Hollinday has always struggled to both please and get even with his father, Senior, who constantly belittles him. Orville keeps trying to blow up Senior’s Cadillacs. Senior just doesn’t notice.
He moves to Little America to find among things, a girl just like the girl, Flora, who married his father. He doesn’t know that Senior and Flora, each with a different partner, will ultimately make surprise appearances in Wyoming.
Customer Reviews:
Tom Robbins, is Rob Swigart your Guru?.......2006-11-26
I enjoyed Little America recently (how had I missed it for so long?) The words grab you and throw you in the middle of a raging stream of consciousness without a life preserver, so you read quickly to keep your head above the flow. Swigart uses words much like one of my all-time favorite authors, Tom Robbins. Maybe they're the same person?!? At any rate, dig out your old water wings and read this book!
Outstanding...infinitely entertaining.......2003-01-04
A hilarious story. Extremely well written. I first read this book ten or twelve years ago and have read it at least half a dozen times since. It's almost impossible to put down. One of the most entertaining books I have ever read. Swigart is a master wordsmith.
Ugh........2001-02-20
A book wherein clichés pile up like a multiple-car accident, and with about the same screeching sound. Don't bother with this one - buy something interestingly-written instead.
"Real America".......2000-04-04
One of those books that one can glean more and more insight from the more times one reads it. A word of warning: While reading this book, one is inclined to try and get through it quite fast, it is that humorous and entertaining! The benefit of reading a bit slower is that one is able to better appreciate the subtle innuendos. Altogether, Mr. Swigart exhibits an above average intelligence and insight as well as a unique sense of humor. A book well worth investing in, and reading over and over.
"......i'd always wanted to kill my father.....".......1999-06-09
little america is the best book i've ever read, despite the sudden ending. it's about the hardest book to do a report on (you have to leave out most of the book), but it's definately worth reading. unless you are easily offended......
Average customer rating:
- Bierstadt in Blood
- I COULDN'T WAIT TO FINISH IT...
- History in the raw
- Unyielding Huebner chronicles horrifics of Indian removal
- American Blood
|
American By Blood: A Novel
Andrew Huebner
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
| 18th Century
| 19th Century
| 20th Century
| African American
| Asian American
| Classics
| Collections & Readers
| Drama
| General
| Hispanic
| History & Criticism
| Humor
| Jewish American
| Letters & Correspondence
| Native American
| Poetry
| Short Stories
| Women Writers
Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Historical
| Genre Fiction
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
War
| Genre Fiction
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Westerns
| Genre Fiction
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
We Pierce: A Novel
-
Robbers
-
Revolutionary Road
-
Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West
ASIN: 0684857707 |
Book Description
In American by Blood, three U.S. Army scouts leading an infantry column arrive a day late to join Custer at the Little Bighorn. They come upon the ruins of th Seventh Cavalry, a trail of blood and corpses defiled by wild dogs and swarms of flies. It is a scene that will haunt these three young men in vivid and irrevocable ways.
With the loss at Little Bighorn, their mission to find and help clear the land of the Indian tribes ineluctably becomes one of vengeance as well. They journey into limitless wilderness after their prey, skirmishing in the dense forests and the high plains.
The scouting party consists of James H. Bradley, who discovers that war is as much a test of the heart as it is of his ideals; William Gentle, who finds himself torn between his desire to emulate the older soldiers and his fascination with the Indians they hunt; and August Huebner, who wishes to see an America beyond that which he knows and escape the slums of the newly industrialized East.
Gus Huebner was the author's great-great-grandfather, who in 1875 left New Jersey to join the army int he West. Family myth has it that he arrived a day late to the Battle of Little Bighorn. From these scant biographical details, Andrew Huebner has imagined a rich and powerful novel of the American West. American by Blood unforgettably combines epic storytelling and evocations of awe-inspiring natural beauty with a shattering repudiation of some of our nation's most central myths.
Download Description
Andrew Huebner's great-great-grandfather was a family legend, a mysterious man who in 1876 left his family in New Jersey to join the Army in the West. The story was that he arrived a day late to the Battle of Little Bighorn to find the carnage. Out of the scant details and family rumors and a love of the American West, author Andrew Huebner has woven an expansive and brilliantly written American fable. Three U.S. Army scouts leading an infantry column arrive a day late to the Battle of Little Bighorn to find the bloody ruins of Custer's troops. The mission to clear the land of the Indian tribes then becomes one of vengeance as well, driving these scouts into a series of battles and forever changing their sense of manhood, honor, and country. American by Blood unforgettably combines epic storytelling and evocations of awe-inspiring physical beauty with a shattering repudiation of some of our nation's most central myths.
Customer Reviews:
Bierstadt in Blood.......2005-02-09
With esteemed professor of the Old West, Larry McMurty, in the saddle endorsing 'America By Blood' and Huebner's ancestor as an anchor in this fiction, the credentials are auspicious. The book rattles through the year of retribution killings after the 7th was annihilated at the Little Big Horn massacre. The dirty realism of the army camps and the technicolour, slo-mo detail of the various skirmishes are set against Bierstadt-type landscapes and meteorological detail, the muddied, desperate consciousness of the three army scout protagonists, and the out-of-control command. It shares the sense of futility McCarthy inspiried in, 'Blood Meridian', without the epic scope. The prose is just as powerful without recourse to pseudo-biblical phrasing. And that's appropriate given that this isn't about mythologising and aggrandising either the indigenous, the settler cultures, and least of all, the perfunctory role of enlisted men carrying out duties from above. Gradually, after successive skirmishes, the army boys question both the responsibility of these duties and the location of 'above'. Terrence Malick's astounding film,'The Thin Red Line'more than once came to mind. Huebner's jacket photo wears a 'don't-mess-with-me'scowl that his great great grandfather would approve. This is where blood lust should reside; between covers. Great read.
I COULDN'T WAIT TO FINISH IT..........2002-08-05
What a chore to read this first novel by Huebner! War at its worst is sometimes difficult to read about and trying to imagine the horrific details if you have never been exposed to blood and death is sometimes impossible. Knowing that our younger generations have had to fight in a war sometime, some place since 1776 doesn't make us non-veterans any more undrstanding. The author tries tomake you live the fighters' emotions by shocking you with more gory detail than you can assimilate thru his style of writing. If you have read the book once, you have read it twice because you have to keep reading the page over once or twice to see who "he" is and whether it happened to Huebner(Gus), Bradley(James) or Gentle (William). These men are real people set in the novel about the slaughter of the Native American tribes ordered by our government to clear the land of these "savages" so the white people could settle down in peace on the grounds soaked with the blood of both races. Mr. Huebner writes in an unusual way; with no quotation marks and a minimum of other punctuations, you become confused as to who said or did what. I forced my way thru to the final chapters where the author spent more time "bringing you down" from an emotional high by describing the beauty of the countryside. In this country's most costly mistake, the leaders refused to believe that "red" and white could co-exist. Beautiful cultures were destroyed by men with a vengence, especially after Custer's stupidity at the LittleBighorn. If any one peoples should be finacially awarded for their mistreatment, it should be the American Tribes whose land we sit on today. When you read this novel you will wonder "why didn't the soldier just give up and go home"instead of "just following orders." This book will make you rethink our American rights. Too much gore and the writing style dropped my rating from 5 to 4 stars. There was a place called "Pennsyl-tucky" when West Virginia was part of Pennsylvania!
History in the raw.......2002-03-17
I didn't put this one down until I finished it. Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres as it usually leads to other titles, other authors. And having an interest in Custer doesn't hurt, either. I liked all of it - the gore, the depictions of inept leaders, the courage of the men who didn't want to be there, didn't want to be doing what they were doing, the absolutely astounding ignorance of the leaders in the East who saw nothing save the red menace and wanted all of them, men, women, children, out of the way. I agree with the reviewer who said that he wished that Hueber had written earlier novels. I, for one, will certainly be looking for more from this writer.
Unyielding Huebner chronicles horrifics of Indian removal.......2000-12-28
American by Blood is a novel based on mass murder. Told with naturalistic detail and through rough-hewn soldier dialogue, Andrew Huebner's horrific portrait of the final episodes of our nation's genocidal actions against its indigenous peoples will repel many readers searching for something redemptive about this calculated slaughter. The novel's three protagonists, one of whom, incidentally, is the author's great-great grandfather, follow similar moral paths. Their early naivete stripped by observation and repulsive participation in the butchering of defenseless Indians, the three undergo a metamorphosis of sorts, ultimately resulting in conscience/empathy which alterately manifests as compassion, identification, and/or madness.
Blood courses in this angry and reproachful book. Unlike the cleansing effect abolitionist John Brown predicted and Abraham Lincoln verified as national pennance for the sin of slavery, the blood shed by Indians has no spiritual value; this racist murder is moraly indefensible and outrageous. United States soldiers summarily execute defenseless women and children, and attribute (with remarkable psychological projection) savagery to the very victims of our own cruelty and amorality. Co-existence simply is not an option. Removal -- extermination -- is the process by which a white culture validates its own manifest destiny.
To read this novel and to absorb its overwhelming condemnation of our past will require resolve. But, make no mistake, Huebner's novel reminds us that real people, not some faceless policy-makers, did the killing. Our land, soaked with shame, is truly American by Blood.
American Blood.......2000-10-12
Beware, this book is written in stilted and somewhat disontinuous prose and is not too easy to read.
It is very desciptive particularly of the environment and the blood and gore of war in this period. It does not portray this period of American history and the destruction of the ethnic indians as in any way glamorous,unlike most American westerns.
The descriptions of war and human injuries are far closer to reality than potrayed in western movies. The weapons and bullets used in that period caused significant injury which the author is not afraid to detail. To remove or tone down the blood and gore would detract from the objectives of the work in my opinion.
The author is able to give life to the charaters such that you can imagine them as having lived in that period.
I did not find the book easy to read because of the prose style: some sections required reading twice to fully understand the authors intent.
This is a specialist piece of work and I believe would only really be enjoyed by some one who has an interest in this period.
Average customer rating:
|
Dream a Little: Land and Social Justice in Modern America
Dorothee E. Kocks
Manufacturer: University of California Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| United States
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| State & Local
| United States
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| History & Criticism
| United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Literary Theory
| History & Criticism
| United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Short Stories
| History & Criticism
| United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
20th Century
| United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
British
| Short Stories
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Human Geography
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Sociology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
| AIDS
| Abuse
| Adults
| Aging
| Children
| Class
| Communities
| Culture
| Death
| General
| History
| Leisure
| Marriage & Family
| Medicine
| Men
| Occupational
| Race Relations
| Religion
| Research & Measurement
| Rural
| Social Groups
| Social Situations
| Social Theory
| Suburban
| Urban
| Women
ASIN: 0520202864 |
Book Description
In this innovative and exciting synthesis of historical analysis, literary criticism, and personal essay, Dorothee E. Kocks explores the links between place and political ideals in the twentieth century, focusing in particular on the iconography of the American West. Dream a Little explores the American tradition of using the land to reveal and elaborate our dreams for social justice.
Writing with a novelist's sensitivity toward language, Kocks explores the idea that Americans have historically looked to the land for answers to society's problems. To illustrate this point, she shows that the frontier state with its homestead program was actually the predecessor of the modern welfare state. Instead of money, the federal government gave away land. Kocks shows how we have "forgotten" the politics and history behind this giveaway and unravels the significance of this forgetting for our national consciousness.
In the second half of the book, Kocks journeys into three symbolic landscapes: the West, the family farm, and the small community. She looks at these landscapes through the eyes of writers Mari Sandoz and Josephine Johnson, and civil rights activist Ella Baker. Interweaving her own life experiences in this analysis, she traces the relationship between geography and democracy, and of the hopes we attach to the West.
Average customer rating:
- Just OK
- Only those unacquainted need apply...
|
The Last Stand: A Novel About George Armstrong Custer and the Indians of the Plains
Edwin Palmer Hoyt
Manufacturer: Forge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
| 18th Century
| 19th Century
| 20th Century
| African American
| Asian American
| Classics
| Collections & Readers
| Drama
| General
| Hispanic
| History & Criticism
| Humor
| Jewish American
| Letters & Correspondence
| Native American
| Poetry
| Short Stories
| Women Writers
Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Westerns
| Genre Fiction
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0312855338 |
Customer Reviews:
Just OK.......1999-11-26
Book is really mediocre. I only finished it to see how Custer died this time. Go read Little Big Man instead if your looking for a Custer novelization. Heck see the movie too.
Only those unacquainted need apply..........1998-10-20
Who would have thought? A story recounting George Armstrong Custer and the Battle of the Little Bighorn is about as exciting as a worn 7th-grade text book. Initially, the idea seemed appealing. A novelization of this infamous battle in the vein and tradition of Michael Shaara's brilliant "The Killer Angels." But there's just one problem - author Edwin Hoyt's interpretation of these historical characters (Custer, Sitting Bull, Elizabeth Custer, Frederick Benteen, Marcus Reno, etc..) displays the life spark of a department store mannequin. No hyperbole here, but that's not a plus. This novel plods along to the inevitable climax on those slopes of Montana and we never get to know these characters. Their motivations, their weaknesses, their thoughts - it's a mystery in "The Last Stand." Perhaps I'm being a bit harsh. No book about this subject matter will ever match the power of the Evan S. Connell's classic "Son of the Morning Star." So why do I keep buying this drivel? Why do I continue to torture myself by reading book after book on this battle? Because it's a supremely entertaining story. "The Last Stand" does not do this historical story justice. In fact, I'm not sure if I have ever read a book as agonizingly monotonous as this one in reference to this event. Hoyt chooses to recount Custer's undocumented affairs with women in New York - including a graphic sexual encounter which takes up two pages - rather than detail the the Rosebud battle between General Crook and Crazy Horse. Crazy Horse, by the way, is only mentioned two or three times in this entire book. I guess Hoyt would rather dote on a laughable myth, which is suspect at best, about Custer's supposed Indian child. Oh Yellow Hair! A tragic child caught between two worlds! And finally the battle itself. It takes up about two pages of this sterile account and suddenly - our tale has been told. If you hold out for a thrilling conclusion, a moment of supreme realization - "Yes, that's how it happend!" - you're not going to find it in "The Last Stand." From a technical standpoint, Hoyt's interpretation of the final battle (and there have been many) is essentially accurate. If he just could have added some color, a dash of detail, the residue of drama, the caterwaul of desperation. I suppose if your only exposure to Custer and the Little Big Horn battle comes from a black and white Saturday afternoon matinee starring Errol Flynn and Anthony Quinn, this book may interest you. But for any reader even remotely knowledgable on this subject matter, "The Last Stand" rings with the scrawny chord of a rusty bugle.
Average customer rating:
- CUSTER AND CRAZY HORSE
- From the author
- Not for me; probably not for you
- Lacking
- Disappointing
|
The River and the Horsemen: A Novel of the Little Bighorn
Robert Skimin
Manufacturer: Herodias
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
| 18th Century
| 19th Century
| 20th Century
| African American
| Asian American
| Classics
| Collections & Readers
| Drama
| General
| Hispanic
| History & Criticism
| Humor
| Jewish American
| Letters & Correspondence
| Native American
| Poetry
| Short Stories
| Women Writers
Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Historical
| Genre Fiction
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
War
| Genre Fiction
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1928746004 |
Customer Reviews:
CUSTER AND CRAZY HORSE.......2007-06-30
Two of the greatest figures in historical history are put under the microscope. Not only do we learn and walk in the lives of George Armstrong Custer but with General Crazy Horse, an almost Christ-like figure of humility and master of warfare. Crazy Horse fought for his people and their right to their land. Custer was a very complex character who loved his wife and his country, however, he believed he could never be defeated, a modern day warrior with Caesar complex. Robert Skimin has the skill and ability to present these two great leaders warts and all.
What exactly led to the Battle of the Little Bighorn. It's inside these pages.
From the author.......2007-06-03
In reading the attacks on this book, I'm reminded that there will always be naysayers about historical novels...and any other book. One reviewer criticized the typo mixing of Miles and Myles, yet used the term "fictional novel" as he chopped away. Has anyone ever heard of a novel that wasn't fictional? Also critcized was a jocular exchange between Custer and Libbie--who always had fun. And why does the idea of some sex in the tipi upset anyone? Did the Sioux reproduce by artificial insemination? Another axe grinder didn't like the Civil War photo of Custer being on the cover. First of all, authors don't pick cover art and secondly, does this guy have anything constructive to do? The knowledgeable and highly respected LBH historians, such as the now deceased Brian Pohanka, liked the book. And in its new trade paper edition, more readers unfamiliar with the famous battle, will learn much.
Not for me; probably not for you.......2002-02-15
Mr. Skimin's book is not for people who have in-depth knowledge of the Little Big Horn; but I don't think it's for people who don't know much about it, either.
There is too much low-skill novelizing. Too many real people brought in just to make a book, mixed in with invented folk who read like cliches. The true and known stories from 1876 are strong enough without inventing sex in the tipi (Indian side), the jocular inventions in the Bismark brothel (soldier side), and the invented conversations between the Custers (tho fortunately Skimin does draw the veil with Autie and Libbie). And why use a real person's name and make him a racist/sadist if you're going to invent a Jewish victim? Why not invent the sadist too? That didn't seem fair to the real sergeant. Mr. Skimin willingly invented half a dozen Indians and gave them leading roles. Why not the sadist?
Aside from mixing up Miles and Myles, at the end of the book the man we've come to know and admire as Frederick Benteen suddenly becomes Thomas Benteen. Fred's brother was there? Clearly there was no editor on this project, but Mr. Skimin must have been napping when he read the galleys.
Mr. Skimin did a very good job of building a narrative around Custer's last winter. This may be the first time I can tell you where he was from December to May 1876, and I've read everyone from van de Water to Utley.
But I didn't appreciate the fictionalized last stand, with Keogh or Keough being run through by our Indian hero, nor the detailed inventions of how many times Tom Custer was shot or that Cooke was shot twice and also hit with an arrow. The book just isn't written well enough to make that stuff work. For someone who did that fine, try Hoffman Birney's "The Dice of God."
You can tell this book by it's cover. The photo of Custer is from the Civil War. He was photographed many times on the frontier. Why not use a photo more appropriate to the book? I don't know.
Lacking.......2000-06-12
I was compelled to buy this book because of my long-standing interest in the conflicts between the whites and the Indians. This fictional novel, based on historical events, was found to be extremely light. Robert Skimin fleshed out characters, at times, in odd ways. I especially disliked the way real people were saddled with sexual, sadistic, and/or prejudicial characteristics. At times characters seemed to be introduced in a helter skelter manner just to add to the list of real people that he included in the novel. In places, I felt, he mixed combinations of traits just to add a new twist. For example, he had a former Jewish Russian solder, who was a black belt in Judo, defend himself against a sadistic, bigoted and not too bright sargent. Robert Skimin did stay with the historical facts surrounding General Custer and the events that led up to his defeat at the Little Bighorn but as a whole any grade school history student could have easily gotten the same information about the Sioux, Cheyenne, and the 7th Calvary.
Also recommended: Custer's Luck, Crazy Horse: The Strange Man of the Oglalas, Killing Custer, Black Elk Speaks, The Road to the Little Big Horn-and Beyond,
Disappointing.......1999-12-21
This book is a blend of fiction and history, but works better as history than as fiction. The dialogue is stilted. An example: Custer says to his wife Libbie, "You are uncommonly wanton, Madame." Libbie responds, "I like that term, you handsome devil, but you didn't answer me." (p 5) In addition, the characters are little more than caricatures, so the reader does not really get involved with them.
As history, the book demonstrates that Custer's decisions were arguably defensible based on the information he had--in one sense, "Custer's luck" had simply run out and the fates worked against him. All things considerred, though, Custer was responsible for the disaster because he was an egomaniac who, thinking he was invincible, recklessly entered into a battle he could not win. Although the book does a decent job of presenting the catastrophe from various perspectives, the book shows signs of carelessness. A minor but telling example is that the spelling constantly alternates between "Miles" and "Myles" Keough.
The River and the Horsemen will appeal to people interested in Custer's last stand, but will not hold the interest of the general reader.
Books:
- Live Your Road Trip Dream: Travel for a Year for the Cost of Staying Home
- Love, Lies and Liquor (Agatha Raisin Mysteries)
- Love: What Life Is All About
- Marketing Channels (7th Edition) (Prentice Hall International Series in Marketing)
- Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog
- Maximum Ride #3: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports (Maximum Ride)
- Metaphysical Wit
- On Common Ground: The Power of Professional Learning Communities
- On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society
- One Tough Mother: Success in Life, Business and Apple Pies
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- The Science of Success: How to Attract Prosperity and Create Harmonic Wealth Through Proven Principl
- Outdoor Kitchens: A Do-It-Yourself Guide to Design and Construction
- John Cassavetes: The Adventure of Insecurity
- Love and Other Four-Letter Words
- Second Acts: Creating the Life You Really Want, Building the Career You Truly Desire
- Spitz And Fisher's Medicolegal Investigation Of Death: Guidelines For The Application Of Pathology T
- Microbiology Of Meat And Poultry
- Using Financial Accounting: The Smart Guide to Analyzing Financial Statements
- Ownership and Control: Rethinking Corporate Governance for the Twenty-First Century
- A Thousand Tomorrows
Stories and Early Novels: Pulp Stories / The Big Sleep / Farewell, My Lovely / The High Window (Library of America)
Complete Novels: Red Harvest / The Dain Curse / The Maltese Falcon / The Glass Key / The Thin Man (Library of America)
Crime Stories and Other Writings (Library of America)
Crime Novels: American Noir of the 1930s and 40s: The Postman Always Rings Twice / They Shoot Horses, Don't They? / Thieves Like Us / The Big Clock / Nightmare ... / I Married a Dead Man (Library of America)
Crime Novels: American Noir of the 1950s: The Killer Inside Me / The Talented Mr. Ripley / Pick-up / Down There / The Real Cool Killers (Library of America)
