C.C. Thomas's Blog, page 5
April 20, 2015
Classic, Yet Different
Towards Zero: Superintendent Battle #5 by Agatha Christie
Classic Mystery
Inspector Battle isn't nearly a favorite Christie detective of mine. I have a soft spot in my heart for the little Belgian, Hercule Poirot, and that grand dame of country life, Jane Marple. Battle is, however, starting to rise in my esteem and estimation.
In this book, a murder of a family matriarch throws the local constabulary into a quandary until one of the officers calls his uncle, Inspector Battle, who isn't all that sad at leaving an uncomfortable family situation to help out. What I really loved about this book was the incredible backstory, which we don't often seen with Christie. Usually, the murder occurs fairly quickly and the detective on-hand gets to sleuthing right away. In this story, we are introduced to all the red-herring and guilty players right away and have to figure out from their motives which one of them might have made the masterful kill. There are a lot of little side stories that are tidily tied up at the end. Christie, true genius!
This is probably one of my favorite Christie books, and certainly my favorite Inspector Battle. I loved the side stories and backstories of all the characters. Each of them was so interesting and it had me guessing until the very last page. These aren't books you necessarily have to read in order so, if you're a bit tired of the typical Christie mystery, you might want to give this a read. A jolly good yarn!
Classic MysteryInspector Battle isn't nearly a favorite Christie detective of mine. I have a soft spot in my heart for the little Belgian, Hercule Poirot, and that grand dame of country life, Jane Marple. Battle is, however, starting to rise in my esteem and estimation.
In this book, a murder of a family matriarch throws the local constabulary into a quandary until one of the officers calls his uncle, Inspector Battle, who isn't all that sad at leaving an uncomfortable family situation to help out. What I really loved about this book was the incredible backstory, which we don't often seen with Christie. Usually, the murder occurs fairly quickly and the detective on-hand gets to sleuthing right away. In this story, we are introduced to all the red-herring and guilty players right away and have to figure out from their motives which one of them might have made the masterful kill. There are a lot of little side stories that are tidily tied up at the end. Christie, true genius!
This is probably one of my favorite Christie books, and certainly my favorite Inspector Battle. I loved the side stories and backstories of all the characters. Each of them was so interesting and it had me guessing until the very last page. These aren't books you necessarily have to read in order so, if you're a bit tired of the typical Christie mystery, you might want to give this a read. A jolly good yarn!
April 19, 2015
Plucky, Fun Heroine
They Came To Baghdad by Agatha ChristieSpy Thriller/Mystery
This was a different kind of Christie book for me. No Hercule Poirot. No Jane Marple. No Inspector Battle No Tommy and Tuppance. Instead, I was introduced to a new heroine: Victoria Jones.
Victoria is a bit of a fluff-head. By her own words, she's a terrible employee and is just getting fired as the book opens. Sitting on a park bench contemplating her future, she meets a handsome young man and decides to follow him across the world, from England to Baghdad on just a hope she will run into him and another hope she might find some job to support herself. What she does, instead, is get tangled up in an international spy game. She bumbles through it all, making hilarious mistakes, and, somehow, solves the whole thing at the end.
This is a different Christie because it's so much more lighter-hearted than her other books. While there are murder and sinister plots, Victoria is a plucky and adorable detective and I do hope there are other books with her in it. Christie has never disappointed me, and this one just adds to her mythical legend as the greatest detective dame of all time.
This was a different kind of Christie book for me. No Hercule Poirot. No Jane Marple. No Inspector Battle No Tommy and Tuppance. Instead, I was introduced to a new heroine: Victoria Jones.
Victoria is a bit of a fluff-head. By her own words, she's a terrible employee and is just getting fired as the book opens. Sitting on a park bench contemplating her future, she meets a handsome young man and decides to follow him across the world, from England to Baghdad on just a hope she will run into him and another hope she might find some job to support herself. What she does, instead, is get tangled up in an international spy game. She bumbles through it all, making hilarious mistakes, and, somehow, solves the whole thing at the end.
This is a different Christie because it's so much more lighter-hearted than her other books. While there are murder and sinister plots, Victoria is a plucky and adorable detective and I do hope there are other books with her in it. Christie has never disappointed me, and this one just adds to her mythical legend as the greatest detective dame of all time.
April 16, 2015
Missing Key Details Readers Need to Know
The Toadhouse Trilogy: Book One by J.H. Lourey
Children/Young Adult Fantasy
This is the kind of book that's right up my alley--a book about books! There are so very few of them (Inheart by Cornelia Funke, for example) and I loved it when I happen across them.
Aine and her brother Spenser live a very unconventional lifestyle. After their parents were killed, they were shuttled off to a grandmother they'd never met to live as virtual hermits in the woods of Missouri. Their existence is shattered when a monster invades their home. The monster is named Biblos and the only way to escape him is to put their trust in a man named Gilgamesh, who is clearly hiding some secrets of his own. Escape comes in the way of a toadhouse, a sort of magical time traveling machine, that can skip dimensions into books. What'a toadhouse? A house where toads live? That, and other details, aren't really fully explained.
That summary probably seemed a bit murky which is why I couldn't give the book more stars. The plot itself was a bit murky. Key information is either completely left out or given so late in the book that it makes truly understanding the characters and their motivations difficult. I did really love all the literary references and this will keep me coming back to the series for more. It is well-written with adventure, action, and thrills and has a mystery that will probably only be solved in the third book of this trilogy. Overall, I quite liked the book--it was something different, a breath of fresh air. The characters were engaging, if rather difficult to connect with. There's a lot I don't understand about the plot (why fairies...isn't it enough the story can skip through books? It seemed like too much of a stretch), but I am hoping future books might clear it up. If not, it's worth a read just to see which storybook the gang jumps into next.
Children/Young Adult FantasyThis is the kind of book that's right up my alley--a book about books! There are so very few of them (Inheart by Cornelia Funke, for example) and I loved it when I happen across them.
Aine and her brother Spenser live a very unconventional lifestyle. After their parents were killed, they were shuttled off to a grandmother they'd never met to live as virtual hermits in the woods of Missouri. Their existence is shattered when a monster invades their home. The monster is named Biblos and the only way to escape him is to put their trust in a man named Gilgamesh, who is clearly hiding some secrets of his own. Escape comes in the way of a toadhouse, a sort of magical time traveling machine, that can skip dimensions into books. What'a toadhouse? A house where toads live? That, and other details, aren't really fully explained.
That summary probably seemed a bit murky which is why I couldn't give the book more stars. The plot itself was a bit murky. Key information is either completely left out or given so late in the book that it makes truly understanding the characters and their motivations difficult. I did really love all the literary references and this will keep me coming back to the series for more. It is well-written with adventure, action, and thrills and has a mystery that will probably only be solved in the third book of this trilogy. Overall, I quite liked the book--it was something different, a breath of fresh air. The characters were engaging, if rather difficult to connect with. There's a lot I don't understand about the plot (why fairies...isn't it enough the story can skip through books? It seemed like too much of a stretch), but I am hoping future books might clear it up. If not, it's worth a read just to see which storybook the gang jumps into next.
April 15, 2015
Not As Great As The Inspiration Source
The Chronicles of Harris Burdick: Fourteen Amazing Authors Tell the Tales by VariousShort Stories
What a gigantic disappointment this was!
I have loved the Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg for years. (Reading that book is a prerequisite for reading this one.) It's a book I have used in lessons, a book I have written about, a book that makes one dream and wonder. I was hopeful that those pictures in the hands of such amazing authors would be a great read.
Not so. Actually, the stories my middle school children have written about the Harris Burdick pictures were better than the ones in this collection. I wanted them to be as fantastical as the illustrations they explained. Alas, they were, without fail, just really mediocre. The authors who wrote them are amazing, but the stories they wrote aren't anything too spectacular. The best ones would have to be Stephen King's and Lois Lowry's contributions (of course). I wish I'd stopped with the original book and let my imagination soar. Now, those illustrations are a bit spoiled for me by these stories that aren't nearly as great as what they attempted to describe. This is not a terrible book, despite my harsh words; rather, it's just okay. And, I expected so, so much more
What a gigantic disappointment this was!
I have loved the Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg for years. (Reading that book is a prerequisite for reading this one.) It's a book I have used in lessons, a book I have written about, a book that makes one dream and wonder. I was hopeful that those pictures in the hands of such amazing authors would be a great read.
Not so. Actually, the stories my middle school children have written about the Harris Burdick pictures were better than the ones in this collection. I wanted them to be as fantastical as the illustrations they explained. Alas, they were, without fail, just really mediocre. The authors who wrote them are amazing, but the stories they wrote aren't anything too spectacular. The best ones would have to be Stephen King's and Lois Lowry's contributions (of course). I wish I'd stopped with the original book and let my imagination soar. Now, those illustrations are a bit spoiled for me by these stories that aren't nearly as great as what they attempted to describe. This is not a terrible book, despite my harsh words; rather, it's just okay. And, I expected so, so much more
April 14, 2015
Not Crichton's Best Work
Airframe by Michael CrichtonThriller
The story starts with a mid-air near crash, a disturbance in high altitude that left 3 people dead and almost everyone else on the plane wounded. A group of investigators take over the case and try and figure out what happened to cause so much destruction on a flight where everything looked perfect.
This book was written more than a decade ago and some of it felt very dates, like the technology and clothing allusions. However, the inside take on the airline industry is fascinating, and relevant to me as an airline/airplane ticket consumer. Crichton handles the airline industry will all the thoroughness of an autopsy in his usual medical thrillers.
Some parts of the book ere slow, but most of it was a race to the finish. II found the parts about the brutal and violent unions to be a disappointment. As a past union member myself, I found this slightly ridiculous. Of course, I was in a teacher's union so maybe we were a bit softer-hearted than other union breeds. Violence at a work place should never be tolerated, but I felt this just perpetrated Neanderthal ideas about unions and played into stereotypes too much. The characters are static, but slightly interesting. Their lives were only relevant enough to make us care about what happens next in the story. I did like the solo female main character--it's sad to think this type of character still doesn't get much play today in the thriller genre.
The book stops way short of the near science fiction of his other thrillers. This is realism--a realistic portrayal of airplane/airline procedures and almost reads like an investigative journalistic expose. Crichton does keep true to his themes of the dangers of technological supremacy run amok and human arrogance. It's definitely not the best of Crichton's work, but, if you are a huge fan of his, then this book is not to be missed.
The story starts with a mid-air near crash, a disturbance in high altitude that left 3 people dead and almost everyone else on the plane wounded. A group of investigators take over the case and try and figure out what happened to cause so much destruction on a flight where everything looked perfect.This book was written more than a decade ago and some of it felt very dates, like the technology and clothing allusions. However, the inside take on the airline industry is fascinating, and relevant to me as an airline/airplane ticket consumer. Crichton handles the airline industry will all the thoroughness of an autopsy in his usual medical thrillers.
Some parts of the book ere slow, but most of it was a race to the finish. II found the parts about the brutal and violent unions to be a disappointment. As a past union member myself, I found this slightly ridiculous. Of course, I was in a teacher's union so maybe we were a bit softer-hearted than other union breeds. Violence at a work place should never be tolerated, but I felt this just perpetrated Neanderthal ideas about unions and played into stereotypes too much. The characters are static, but slightly interesting. Their lives were only relevant enough to make us care about what happens next in the story. I did like the solo female main character--it's sad to think this type of character still doesn't get much play today in the thriller genre.
The book stops way short of the near science fiction of his other thrillers. This is realism--a realistic portrayal of airplane/airline procedures and almost reads like an investigative journalistic expose. Crichton does keep true to his themes of the dangers of technological supremacy run amok and human arrogance. It's definitely not the best of Crichton's work, but, if you are a huge fan of his, then this book is not to be missed.
April 10, 2015
Does What a Book Should: Makes You Think
Lies My Teacher Told Me About Christopher Columbus: What Your History Books Got Wrong by James LoewenHistory/Nonfiction
The whole time I read this book, I could only think of the recent (February 2015) movement by Oklahoma lawmakers that banned certain AP history courses because they didn't teach "American' exceptionalism". If there were ever a case of needing a book in American classrooms, this is it and Oklahoma just proved it. I feel this book should most certainly be required for ALL history teachers (and probably for all Oklahoma lawmakers!). The fact that, according to the book, so many teachers of history are ignorant on this subject is frightening. As a teacher (although not of history), I know this to be true. Many teacher's programs do not focus on giving teachers relevant information so much as indoctrinating them into whatever current educational philosophy is in swing. For the past fifteen years, testing has been in vogue and true academic thought and research have gone out the window as American teachers strive to teach kids to bubble in the right answer. This book does what a book should: makes you think and question and argue and rage. And, then think some more.
This is NOT a book of revisionist history, but rather a book of actual history. While many of the stories were old news to me (heinous Christopher Columbus and the genocide of American Indians, for example), many of the items in the book were new for me to read about. That scared me quite a bit. I like to think of myself as an armchair historian, but clearly I've not been getting the full story. It was so disappointing and disheartening to read about the Vietnam War, a topic I have never been taught and only know about from the news. The beauty of the book isn't that it necessarily rewrites American history; rather, it is the questioning the book causes. I had to stop at several points and go look up and read about some of these topics. Surely, some of the facts must be wrong, right? Unfortunately, no. What I found only mirrors what we see on TV everyday: the same event told in completely different versions by members of opposing political natures that eventually comes out not resembling truth in the least. It fascinates me to see how we change our version of history to make ourselves (Americans) look better. I'm still a bit perplexed by many items in the book and have added several new titles to my list of books to read later.
Overall, this is probably a book most fascinating to teachers, especially teachers of history, and anyone interested in history. It isn't a book to pick up if you want inspiring stories of heroism or general knowledge, but that makes it all the more important and relevant.
The whole time I read this book, I could only think of the recent (February 2015) movement by Oklahoma lawmakers that banned certain AP history courses because they didn't teach "American' exceptionalism". If there were ever a case of needing a book in American classrooms, this is it and Oklahoma just proved it. I feel this book should most certainly be required for ALL history teachers (and probably for all Oklahoma lawmakers!). The fact that, according to the book, so many teachers of history are ignorant on this subject is frightening. As a teacher (although not of history), I know this to be true. Many teacher's programs do not focus on giving teachers relevant information so much as indoctrinating them into whatever current educational philosophy is in swing. For the past fifteen years, testing has been in vogue and true academic thought and research have gone out the window as American teachers strive to teach kids to bubble in the right answer. This book does what a book should: makes you think and question and argue and rage. And, then think some more.
This is NOT a book of revisionist history, but rather a book of actual history. While many of the stories were old news to me (heinous Christopher Columbus and the genocide of American Indians, for example), many of the items in the book were new for me to read about. That scared me quite a bit. I like to think of myself as an armchair historian, but clearly I've not been getting the full story. It was so disappointing and disheartening to read about the Vietnam War, a topic I have never been taught and only know about from the news. The beauty of the book isn't that it necessarily rewrites American history; rather, it is the questioning the book causes. I had to stop at several points and go look up and read about some of these topics. Surely, some of the facts must be wrong, right? Unfortunately, no. What I found only mirrors what we see on TV everyday: the same event told in completely different versions by members of opposing political natures that eventually comes out not resembling truth in the least. It fascinates me to see how we change our version of history to make ourselves (Americans) look better. I'm still a bit perplexed by many items in the book and have added several new titles to my list of books to read later.
Overall, this is probably a book most fascinating to teachers, especially teachers of history, and anyone interested in history. It isn't a book to pick up if you want inspiring stories of heroism or general knowledge, but that makes it all the more important and relevant.
April 9, 2015
Such a Dislikeable Heroine!
The Latte Rebellion by Sara Jamila StevensonYoung adult realism
I had some real problems with this book. I wanted to like and it seemed like just the kind of book I could really get into: plucky heroine striving to right the wrongs of the world and the culture around her.
In it, Asha wants to escape the confines and rules of her extremely strict parents after graduation for some fun before going to college. Along with her friend, Carey, Asha starts the "latte" rebellion after being teased about her heritage and race at a pool party. She decides to use "latte" as a way to bring awareness to her race as mixed heritage and comes up with the idea of selling t-shirts to make money to fund her trip. Soon, though, the world at large gets in on the action and takes the rebellion much farther than Asha ever dreamed, launching her in trouble with school, her parents, and her friends.
Sounds great, right? Right from the start, I had real issues with the main character. This may be a fault with mine--anytime I dislike a main character, I end up really hating the book. And, Asha is so dislikable. I cannot get behind a heroine whose only goal is to make money for a summer vacation. The idea of mixed-race awareness is clearly of secondary importance to her, if that. She repeatedly lies to her parents and her friends. She treats her friend Carey in the most selfish way and then is surprised when Carey wants to abandon their friendship. She loves the fame of the group, but doesn't really want to do any work towards the mission. Plus, for a girl who chafes at being labeled, she labels and categorizes everyone she comes across. Their isn't anything wrong with the plot, grammar, or writing style, but the main character makes this a book I couldn't recommend to young readers for any reason.
I had some real problems with this book. I wanted to like and it seemed like just the kind of book I could really get into: plucky heroine striving to right the wrongs of the world and the culture around her.
In it, Asha wants to escape the confines and rules of her extremely strict parents after graduation for some fun before going to college. Along with her friend, Carey, Asha starts the "latte" rebellion after being teased about her heritage and race at a pool party. She decides to use "latte" as a way to bring awareness to her race as mixed heritage and comes up with the idea of selling t-shirts to make money to fund her trip. Soon, though, the world at large gets in on the action and takes the rebellion much farther than Asha ever dreamed, launching her in trouble with school, her parents, and her friends.
Sounds great, right? Right from the start, I had real issues with the main character. This may be a fault with mine--anytime I dislike a main character, I end up really hating the book. And, Asha is so dislikable. I cannot get behind a heroine whose only goal is to make money for a summer vacation. The idea of mixed-race awareness is clearly of secondary importance to her, if that. She repeatedly lies to her parents and her friends. She treats her friend Carey in the most selfish way and then is surprised when Carey wants to abandon their friendship. She loves the fame of the group, but doesn't really want to do any work towards the mission. Plus, for a girl who chafes at being labeled, she labels and categorizes everyone she comes across. Their isn't anything wrong with the plot, grammar, or writing style, but the main character makes this a book I couldn't recommend to young readers for any reason.
April 8, 2015
Legends Galore
Lost Lands, Forgotten Realms: Sunken Continents, Vanished Cities, and the Kingdoms That History Misplaced by Dr. Bob CurranNonfiction
This is my very favorite kinds of book--a book on myths, forgotten stories, whispered truths from the past.
In the book, Dr. Bob Curran writes about myths from every corner of the globe. While the title hints at Atlantis and other stories like it, Curran delves much more broadly and also writes about the forgotten lands and realms of America. This was probably my favorite part of the book. While I have read many books on Atlantis, El Dorado and other stories like that, I hadn't really read about, or even heard about, some of the stories and myths in the book from America. I loved the part that talked about the Welsh king and kingdom in Alabama, the lost tribes of the Melungeons from Kentucky, and Native American stories. Curran spends a lot of time with the myths of American and it made for a nice change of pace from the usual books I read on this topic.
If you're looking for an in-depth read on topics like the Bermuda Triangle, etc., you'll need to look elsewhere. This book serves mostly as an introduction to myths and stories worldwide. For many of the chapters, I can honestly say I already knew of most of what was being discussed. This is a book for beginners and for those who, like me, can't resist gossips, hints, and legends. I have a whole page of new things and topics to read about. (The Devil of Mammoth Cave, Kentucky...who knew?)
This is my very favorite kinds of book--a book on myths, forgotten stories, whispered truths from the past.
In the book, Dr. Bob Curran writes about myths from every corner of the globe. While the title hints at Atlantis and other stories like it, Curran delves much more broadly and also writes about the forgotten lands and realms of America. This was probably my favorite part of the book. While I have read many books on Atlantis, El Dorado and other stories like that, I hadn't really read about, or even heard about, some of the stories and myths in the book from America. I loved the part that talked about the Welsh king and kingdom in Alabama, the lost tribes of the Melungeons from Kentucky, and Native American stories. Curran spends a lot of time with the myths of American and it made for a nice change of pace from the usual books I read on this topic.If you're looking for an in-depth read on topics like the Bermuda Triangle, etc., you'll need to look elsewhere. This book serves mostly as an introduction to myths and stories worldwide. For many of the chapters, I can honestly say I already knew of most of what was being discussed. This is a book for beginners and for those who, like me, can't resist gossips, hints, and legends. I have a whole page of new things and topics to read about. (The Devil of Mammoth Cave, Kentucky...who knew?)
April 7, 2015
Make Yourself Truly Happy and Buy Another Book
The Happiness Project: Or Why I Spent a Year Trying To Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun by Gretchen RubinSelf-Help
Self-help is a new genre before, one I hadn't needed and didn't particularly want to try. However, the buzz generated over this book captured me. I read reviews and interviews with people who said the book changed their way in some profound and meaningful way.
I have one question to ask those people: How?
The book is divided into 12 different chapters, one for each month of the year whereby the author dedicates that month to changing something in her life: career, marriage, children etc. Overall, it sounds like a great idea. However, the "advice" generated in the book is alarming. Her big marriage advice was to treat her husband "nicer". If you are shallow enough to not already treat your spouse nicely, I doubt your marriage will be saved by the book. As for children...apparently, the lesson is don't let their whining annoy you. As a mother of two, good luck with that and that came with the program, so suck it up. The whole book just seemed so ridiculous to me. I can't think of one piece of advice I gleaned that wouldn't be so obviously apparent for anyone with an ounce of self-reflection.
What bothered me most of all about this book is the obvious attempt just to sell. The author is very clear about her purpose in writing to be just to sell books. So, in this book, she gathered all her blog entries from other readers and tacked them in. Not all the entries were relevant or interesting and it just felt like an attempt to make the book thicker. There are also lots of quotes and "studies" about happiness, more obvious attempts to fill the pages with something relevant. The title kind of got my goat, too. A year trying to fight right? Can't recall an instance where the author was really focused on anything other than her own selfish pursuits. Read Aristotle? Not a chapter in the book so I'm not sure how it made it to the title other than to make the book seem more worthy.
You want some happiness? Save the money you would normally spend on this book and look elsewhere. Buy yourself a latte, a bouquet of flowers, take your spouse or boyfriend out for a hot dog, buy a stranger some balloons...
Self-help is a new genre before, one I hadn't needed and didn't particularly want to try. However, the buzz generated over this book captured me. I read reviews and interviews with people who said the book changed their way in some profound and meaningful way. I have one question to ask those people: How?
The book is divided into 12 different chapters, one for each month of the year whereby the author dedicates that month to changing something in her life: career, marriage, children etc. Overall, it sounds like a great idea. However, the "advice" generated in the book is alarming. Her big marriage advice was to treat her husband "nicer". If you are shallow enough to not already treat your spouse nicely, I doubt your marriage will be saved by the book. As for children...apparently, the lesson is don't let their whining annoy you. As a mother of two, good luck with that and that came with the program, so suck it up. The whole book just seemed so ridiculous to me. I can't think of one piece of advice I gleaned that wouldn't be so obviously apparent for anyone with an ounce of self-reflection.
What bothered me most of all about this book is the obvious attempt just to sell. The author is very clear about her purpose in writing to be just to sell books. So, in this book, she gathered all her blog entries from other readers and tacked them in. Not all the entries were relevant or interesting and it just felt like an attempt to make the book thicker. There are also lots of quotes and "studies" about happiness, more obvious attempts to fill the pages with something relevant. The title kind of got my goat, too. A year trying to fight right? Can't recall an instance where the author was really focused on anything other than her own selfish pursuits. Read Aristotle? Not a chapter in the book so I'm not sure how it made it to the title other than to make the book seem more worthy.
You want some happiness? Save the money you would normally spend on this book and look elsewhere. Buy yourself a latte, a bouquet of flowers, take your spouse or boyfriend out for a hot dog, buy a stranger some balloons...
April 5, 2015
The Formatting Ruined the Story For Me
A Slave No More: Two Men Who Escaped To Freedom, Including Their Own Narratives of Emancipation by David Blight
History
"A Slave No More" tells the true story of two men (Wallace Turnage and John Washington) who escaped slavery and lived the remainder of their lives as freedmen. This story is the narrative of their slave life and escape rather than an account of their lives after that.
The book is divided up into two main parts: the first part is the retelling of the narratives by David Blight, the author. In it, Blight takes the words of the men and rewrites their stories, embellishing the tale with historical events for the reader as well as adding opinions and thoughts of his own. The second part of the book is the actual accounts written by the men themselves.
The format of the book was really troubling to me as a reader. I disliked how Blight rewrote the men's stories, explaining that their poor grammar and syntax was the cause. The importance of their first person account was diminished with the retelling and, in many parts, Blight seems to be speak with the arrogance of a historian lecturing down to the reader. I disliked Blight's historical references, many of which were unneeded, and bogged the story down. The real force of the book, the tales told by slaves who lived and breathed almost seemed tagged on as an afterthought at the end of the book. It seems to me that their stories should have come first and then Blight's thoughts after that, or perhaps mixed in along the way. I did enjoy learning what happened to the men and their families after their narratives were finished, though. Overall, its isn't a book I can recommend, either for a good story or for an important historical read.
History"A Slave No More" tells the true story of two men (Wallace Turnage and John Washington) who escaped slavery and lived the remainder of their lives as freedmen. This story is the narrative of their slave life and escape rather than an account of their lives after that.
The book is divided up into two main parts: the first part is the retelling of the narratives by David Blight, the author. In it, Blight takes the words of the men and rewrites their stories, embellishing the tale with historical events for the reader as well as adding opinions and thoughts of his own. The second part of the book is the actual accounts written by the men themselves.
The format of the book was really troubling to me as a reader. I disliked how Blight rewrote the men's stories, explaining that their poor grammar and syntax was the cause. The importance of their first person account was diminished with the retelling and, in many parts, Blight seems to be speak with the arrogance of a historian lecturing down to the reader. I disliked Blight's historical references, many of which were unneeded, and bogged the story down. The real force of the book, the tales told by slaves who lived and breathed almost seemed tagged on as an afterthought at the end of the book. It seems to me that their stories should have come first and then Blight's thoughts after that, or perhaps mixed in along the way. I did enjoy learning what happened to the men and their families after their narratives were finished, though. Overall, its isn't a book I can recommend, either for a good story or for an important historical read.
