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mattleesharp's review against another edition
4.0
This was almost a 5 star book for me. I feel like this story is told pretty succinctly, which I appreciate. I feel like this is maybe the best book I have read this year at creating something visual with language. The images of men glowing blue in the electricity of a thunderstorm, of a man resting small and forgotten in the sands of a long dead ocean, and of a patrol coming across and treating cavalierly a body blistered and stripped of skin upside-down and unrecognizable are all haunting and hard to get out of your head.
The real problem comes in the second act where Napoleon wanders the desert alone for forever. Olmstead was great at dialogue. He was great at opening or closing a chapter with a brilliant landscape. He could not for the life of him write convincingly from the perspective of a man lost in the desert. It dragged on forever. The tone was all over the place. If you consolidate the 3+ chapters into one, I think I'd probably call this my favorite book this year to date.
The real problem comes in the second act where Napoleon wanders the desert alone for forever. Olmstead was great at dialogue. He was great at opening or closing a chapter with a brilliant landscape. He could not for the life of him write convincingly from the perspective of a man lost in the desert. It dragged on forever. The tone was all over the place. If you consolidate the 3+ chapters into one, I think I'd probably call this my favorite book this year to date.
lizaroo71's review against another edition
2.0
the writing for this book is strong, but the story falls short. it tells the story of two brothers in the military hunting pancho villa's army in mexico. the narrator, napoleon, gives the ins and outs of daily life in the wilderness. the group he leads is inexperienced and find themselves at the mercy of a group of vigilantes. this is napoleon's last stand and he is witness to the demise of his men. the violent acts leave him lost and when he is abadoned in the middle of nowhere, he is not sure he will survive.
the story is only 208 pages, but it felt longer.
the story is only 208 pages, but it felt longer.
helpfulsnowman's review against another edition
3.0
A great, short western.
It's an unbelievable stroke of luck to be living when both Robert Olmstead and Cormac McCarthy are writing. To get one writer of these sorts of minimal, violent, pretty books would be a pretty decent stroke of luck. So to have two is almost more luck than anyone really deserves.
What I love about this book is that it's a western, but it defies what I consider the traditional stereotypes of westerns. For the most part, I've read westerns that are long and literary, and westerns that are short and trashy. But this one takes the literary, cuts it down to a manageable length, and the result is pretty damn good.
I sometimes wonder if authors of westerns feel that the length of the book, the expansiveness, helps encapsulate the expansiveness of the landscape and all of that. Olmstead take a different tack, and the shortness and brutality of the book matches well with the shortness and brutality of the characters' lives.
Just don't mistake this withholding for a lack of generosity on the part of the author and his storytelling. Everything that needs to be there is. Everything that doesn't is in a Longarm somewhere.
It's an unbelievable stroke of luck to be living when both Robert Olmstead and Cormac McCarthy are writing. To get one writer of these sorts of minimal, violent, pretty books would be a pretty decent stroke of luck. So to have two is almost more luck than anyone really deserves.
What I love about this book is that it's a western, but it defies what I consider the traditional stereotypes of westerns. For the most part, I've read westerns that are long and literary, and westerns that are short and trashy. But this one takes the literary, cuts it down to a manageable length, and the result is pretty damn good.
I sometimes wonder if authors of westerns feel that the length of the book, the expansiveness, helps encapsulate the expansiveness of the landscape and all of that. Olmstead take a different tack, and the shortness and brutality of the book matches well with the shortness and brutality of the characters' lives.
Just don't mistake this withholding for a lack of generosity on the part of the author and his storytelling. Everything that needs to be there is. Everything that doesn't is in a Longarm somewhere.
elainenotbenes's review against another edition
3.0
This is a very violent book that may be hard for some to take. And that’s ok. Because we aren’t supposed to like battle, or the people who perpetuate it. We aren’t supposed to be cool with a horse kicking a guy’s nuts off as a way to torture him. So, if this bothers you, I’d say you are well adjusted.
blevins's review against another edition
3.0
Literate western that reminds a bit of Cormac world of lots of violence, descriptions of nature and horses, terse dialogue between men undergoing extreme tests of character as their lives are threatened by people who wish them ill. Sounds like Cormac doesn't it? This is a short novel that kind of loses its steam toward the end unfortunately. Still, few westerns w/ literary leanings so worth checking out if Cormac is your thing.
heathermollauthor's review against another edition
1.0
I won this book as a first read giveaway and it was only my sense of obligation to write a review that pushed me to continue reading it after the first 20 pages.
It was a very slow start that focused too much (for my taste) on describing the setting and not enough attention placed on character development. It was only by the time Napoleon and his troops realized they were going to be ambushed that I began to see where the story was going to go and wanted to continue turning the pages.
The horrific description of violence rivaled Cormac McCarthy's "No Country for Old Men" and the exacting prose detailing such brutality made me sick to my stomach. I'm sure this reaction was what the author was going for. The only time the pacing of the story held my interest was while Napopleon witnessed the brutal death of his troops. I was left somewhat disapointed by his internal reflections while he was in the desert. His life as a cavalry soldier before the event and his journey back didn't captivate me. The only thing that humanized him was his connection to his brother throughout a lifetime of service in one war after another.
If you read for character development or story telling, (as I tend to gravitate towards) this book may not be for you. However, if you're captivated by detailed, gritty prose and enjoy attention to setting, this might be up your alley.
It was a very slow start that focused too much (for my taste) on describing the setting and not enough attention placed on character development. It was only by the time Napoleon and his troops realized they were going to be ambushed that I began to see where the story was going to go and wanted to continue turning the pages.
The horrific description of violence rivaled Cormac McCarthy's "No Country for Old Men" and the exacting prose detailing such brutality made me sick to my stomach. I'm sure this reaction was what the author was going for. The only time the pacing of the story held my interest was while Napopleon witnessed the brutal death of his troops. I was left somewhat disapointed by his internal reflections while he was in the desert. His life as a cavalry soldier before the event and his journey back didn't captivate me. The only thing that humanized him was his connection to his brother throughout a lifetime of service in one war after another.
If you read for character development or story telling, (as I tend to gravitate towards) this book may not be for you. However, if you're captivated by detailed, gritty prose and enjoy attention to setting, this might be up your alley.
eiseneisen's review against another edition
4.0
Far Bright Star is an exceptionally well-written and compelling story, and I almost gave it a 5-star rating. The only drawback for me is that it consists almost entirely of description, and my personal preference is (has always been) for more dialogue and less description. That said, author Robert Olmstead’s powers of description are truly unparalleled and captivating.
Far Bright Star follows a squad of US Cavalrymen hunting for Pancho Villa in Mexico in 1916. The book’s protagonist, squad leader Napoleon Childs, is an aging and experienced military man witnessing the end stage of the almost incomprehensible technological transition from the 19th century to the 20th. His perspective is both keen and poignant, and one of the book’s primary themes is that though technology advances, the humans using said technology don’t. For example, Napoleon makes the accurate and distressing observation that “after the war is before the war.” His assessments of the book’s other characters (his men, his enemies, and the horses used by both) are unsparing, true, and thought-provoking, and stimulated visceral responses in this reader.
There is a battle scene almost halfway through this short (207 page) book that is brutal and completely engrossing. There is later violence that is as stunning as I fear it is representative of reality. There is a dear and enviable bond between 2 brothers. There are powerful descriptions of landscape and atmosphere. There are at least 10 words that I’d never seen or heard before (I looked most of them up, and have already forgotten them). It’s a pretty stellar book, and highly recommended if you’re a fan of Cormac McCarthy or Larry McMurtry or the like.
Far Bright Star follows a squad of US Cavalrymen hunting for Pancho Villa in Mexico in 1916. The book’s protagonist, squad leader Napoleon Childs, is an aging and experienced military man witnessing the end stage of the almost incomprehensible technological transition from the 19th century to the 20th. His perspective is both keen and poignant, and one of the book’s primary themes is that though technology advances, the humans using said technology don’t. For example, Napoleon makes the accurate and distressing observation that “after the war is before the war.” His assessments of the book’s other characters (his men, his enemies, and the horses used by both) are unsparing, true, and thought-provoking, and stimulated visceral responses in this reader.
There is a battle scene almost halfway through this short (207 page) book that is brutal and completely engrossing. There is later violence that is as stunning as I fear it is representative of reality. There is a dear and enviable bond between 2 brothers. There are powerful descriptions of landscape and atmosphere. There are at least 10 words that I’d never seen or heard before (I looked most of them up, and have already forgotten them). It’s a pretty stellar book, and highly recommended if you’re a fan of Cormac McCarthy or Larry McMurtry or the like.
abeanbg's review against another edition
5.0
This was absolutely fantastic. A starkly beautiful and haunting Western novella in the spirit of Cormac McCarthy. Its prose is brusque and impactful without being mannered. The narrative is fat-less and driving, as one would expect from a well-done novella. The protagonist, Napoleon Childs, is empathetic and interesting without ever being quite knowable (or anywhere near my own demeanor). This is just great stuff, and right up my alley right now.
jordanwaterwash's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0