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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
3.5. Very good and brutal... it was a little weird that it was the fictional March family (rather than the Alcotts) - I kept mixing up Mr March with Bronson Alcott.... which maybe is the point :)
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
One of the most insipid, irritating narrators I've encountered in literature.
I actually really enjoyed this book. I like how Geraldine drew from Louisa May Alcott's life to create the main characters - just as Alcott did in Little Women
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Although I’ve never read Little Women, I need to do so now, someday!
I found the premise intriguing - Mr. March's experience as a chaplain in the Civil War covering the essentially the same time period as "Little Women". I liked a lot of the text but found some of his perspectives in conflict with my expectations of him.
I must admit for the first few pages I was worried this book might turn out to be boring, and I didn't find Mr March all that likeable, but he is very human and Brooks brings out all his uncertainties, inconsistencies, foolishness and flaws. Not only his, but those of his wife and others around them. I'm not a history buff, but enjoyed learning a little about this war, the attitudes and prejudices of the time, the amazing strength of the African American people. As always, Brooks' work is thoroughly researched and powerfully rendered. In the end, a great read.
March, Geraldine Brooks
This is an exceptional book, carefully crafted, beautifully written, cleverly conceived. Brooks takes the mainly absent Mr. March from Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women and brings him to life. We follow him as he serves as chaplain in the Union Army and ends up on a liberated plantation staffed by former slaves. We follow him in back story as he peddles wares in the South as a young man, building the basis for a fortune. And we follow him as he and his abolitionist wife provide a safe-house on the Underground Railroad in Concord, Massachusetts. As a young man he is tempted and his Civil War duties bring him into contact with the object of his affection. The horrors of a Confederate raid leave him damaged and he ends up at a hospital in Washington, D.C. There his wife rejoins him, and we are in her point of view for a time. It is a compelling story. Little wonder the novel won the Pulitzer Prize in 2006.
This is an exceptional book, carefully crafted, beautifully written, cleverly conceived. Brooks takes the mainly absent Mr. March from Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women and brings him to life. We follow him as he serves as chaplain in the Union Army and ends up on a liberated plantation staffed by former slaves. We follow him in back story as he peddles wares in the South as a young man, building the basis for a fortune. And we follow him as he and his abolitionist wife provide a safe-house on the Underground Railroad in Concord, Massachusetts. As a young man he is tempted and his Civil War duties bring him into contact with the object of his affection. The horrors of a Confederate raid leave him damaged and he ends up at a hospital in Washington, D.C. There his wife rejoins him, and we are in her point of view for a time. It is a compelling story. Little wonder the novel won the Pulitzer Prize in 2006.