Posted on 09/08/2001 6:41:05 PM PDT by Mr.Clark
Hey Freepers! It's been a fun few days lately, getting back on FR since I have been busy with college and stuff. I've read throughout though, and I'm eager to share my book opinions and to hear what you, the intelligent Freeper is reading.
Rise to Rebellion, by Jeff Shaara.
Usually the efforts of sons pale in comparison to those of the father, at least in the world of writing. Look at the Herberts and the Dune series. There is a major exception when it comes to the Shaara family. I think it could be argued now that the son has surpassed the father in terms of storytelling and all around enjoyment.
Shaara leaves the familiar world of the Civil and Mexican War and moves back in time to the Revolutionary War. Rise to Rebellion is the first in a series of 3, telling the stories of such men as John Adams, Ben Frankling, and Thomas Gage, with numerous cameos by George Washington and Paul Revere. The chosen time period is from the Boston Massacre to the Battle at Bunker Hill. Fascinating, truly fascinating era. The amazing events just lend themselves to the smooth and personable writing style of Shaara, who weaves a wonderfully readable novel concerning complex political and diplomatic events. Several aspects of the pre Revolution time that are often forget are touched on here, such as the defense of Captain Preston by John Adams and the absolute mismanagement of the colonies by the Royal administration. It flows smooth, and teaches so much. A big **** for Mr. Shaara and his new direction.
The LA Quartet: The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, L.A. Confidential, White Jazz. By James Ellroy.
James Ellroy is considered by some as the finest American novelist writing today, definetly the finest crime novelist. Although his most recent work, The Cold Six Thousand, falls below his usual excellance, the aforementionned LA series stands as a testament ot Mr. Ellroy's genius as a writer. They are all magnificent tales of men and women in a world of violence and intrigue, where the stereotype of a lily white 50's America has no place. Dahlia is an old fashioned brutal crime tale, with the murder of a young women and the detectives obsessed with the case, even when political realities push the case to the side. The Big Nowhere is a complex story of the Red Scare and a vicious serial killer on the loose in Hollywood. LA Confidential, also made into a great movie, is a morality tale of young police officers trying to buck the system and fight against the corruption and brutality that plague the department and the city. White Jazz is the story of a dirty cop who is fighting against an establishment much dirtier than him. They are all linked, but they are tales by themselves. Wonderful stories, with characters that make you care and shudder. White Jazz suffers a little bit with a slow story and a strange literary device Ellroy tries to push, but the others are masterpieces of American fiction. The first 3, ****, White Jazz, ***.
It's by Robert Caro.
I'm currently reading Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus.
I cast my first vote in a a presidential election for Goldwater. You know, I still wonder how different America would be today if he had won. I'm more pro-government now, though, than I was back then.
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