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A review by ottopivnr
Argall: The True Story of Pocahontas and Captain John Smith by William T. Vollmann
4.0
Vollmann is a brilliant writer. He has taken a story that is mostly known to us as a feel good fable of settler-native first contact and deftly shown us it's murky underbelly.
Vollmann is also an excellent historian, able to use his source material not only to enlighten the reader in the finer details of the players, but also do it in period language. no small feat.
Argall's one fault is the enormity of the detail Vollman puts on each page, but only in that it's not as delightful a read as it would be if there weren't so much to process.
I began this book back well before the election when the horrors of the way the white settlers eradicated the natives didn't resonate so much with our current times. The chilling realization that we are not so far removed from darker times did not make reading the end of this a pleasure.
Q -- 4
E -- 3
I -- 3
(15)
Vollmann is also an excellent historian, able to use his source material not only to enlighten the reader in the finer details of the players, but also do it in period language. no small feat.
Argall's one fault is the enormity of the detail Vollman puts on each page, but only in that it's not as delightful a read as it would be if there weren't so much to process.
I began this book back well before the election when the horrors of the way the white settlers eradicated the natives didn't resonate so much with our current times. The chilling realization that we are not so far removed from darker times did not make reading the end of this a pleasure.
Q -- 4
E -- 3
I -- 3
(15)