The Blind Brother

by Homer Greene

Reproduction of the The Blind Brother by Homer Greene

Genres: School, Fiction

72 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1895

Reviews

[Maddie Metzler · Rating 3 out of 5]

good virtues and messages, but the characters were very flat 🤷‍♀️

read for school

[Addy-Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book for school and it was actually pretty good! I loved Tom and Bennie’s brotherhood. Five stars for sure.

[Bella Rowell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for school also. It was different but good.

[Luella Caudill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great touching read about Tom and his blind brother, who supported their widowed mom, and saved money, by working for the mines.
The miners go on strike, and the breaker is burned.
Tom witnesses things that night, but he is given money for his blind brother to get treated, to see again, if he'll stay quite about certain things.
At the trial he gets rid of the money and tells the truth about what he saw.
The first day the miners go back to work there is a fall at the mine, and Tom and Bennie get trapped inside, with Jack Rennie (the guy Tom had testified against) .
Tom and Bennie get rescued and survive, and Bennie gets treated and gets his sight.

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two lads work in a mine, the older brother does the regular work of a teen but the younger brother is blind. He depends on his brother to lead him to a wooden door/gate where he spends the shift opening and closing as needed. At the end of the shift, they go home to their Mommy. Their father had been killed in the mines when they were younger, so she, too, has to work.
The mine workers are at odds with those who run the mines and things are a bit tense, especially as there is always the risk of coming into difficulties with an Irish miner gang.
One evening events conspire in such a way that Tom, the older brother witnesses something that could bring the whole family into danger ... or could mean their dearest wish might be put into action.

I listened to an audio recording by Librivox. The reader did quite well with the book, apart from the attempts at the colloquial language. Still, it isn’t easy to read a dialect with all the missing letters and apostrophes unless you are sure of how it is spoken.

[Liss · Rating 5 out of 5]

i had to read this book for school and i was not thrilled, but once i started reading i was so exited to figure out what happened! for school i was only required to read one chapter a day but i found myself reading 2-3! defiantly recommend!

[Amanda Stoddard Rowan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This isn't something I would read unless I had to, but I didn't hate it. It's also ok if it doesn't emerge out of obscurity. It's a decently written moralistic tale with a few moments of above average beauty.

[Lucy Lennox · Rating 3 out of 5]

Crazy that our economy used to be powered by children risking their lives in coal mines. This book treats child labor as totally normal and even noble. Interesting historical artifact.

[Ava · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to read this for school. It was...interesting.

[Jennifer Bitondo · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was good!

I liked a lot, and the story was entertaining. The plot really had me on the edge of my seat 8/10!

[Janine Simonton · Rating 4 out of 5]

My teen had to read this for his schooling. I read it as well so we could discuss, and I’m so glad I did. It was a wonderful story full of great morals, advanced vocabulary, and exciting elements.

[Hailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for school and liked it more than I thought I would. It has good morals and actual threats. It’s not really my genre, but it definitely is for some people.

Good for ages 8-11 or so.

[Seager (God Loves You!) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was amazing! I loved how the story came to life through the emotions the characters felt and the love the two brothers shared! Keeps you in suspense to know what happens in the end.

[Gabrielle Hudson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I mean it was good ig??
I had to read it for school.
It’s a bit hard to follow if you fall asleep in class though! 😅

[Livvy]

loved this story i read for school and it was so sweet 10 out of 10 would read again

[Arjay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome book, read it for school, weird at first but turned out to be a beautiful story.

[Bettie]

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/45232

Opening: The Dryden Mine, in the Susquehanna coal-fields of Pennsylvania, was worked out and abandoned long ago. To-day its headings and airways and chambers echo only to the occasional fall of loosened slate, or to the drip of water from the roof. Its pillars, robbed by retreating workmen, are crumbling and rusty, and those of its props which are still standing have become mouldy and rotten. The rats that once scampered through its galleries deserted it along with human kind, and its very name, from long disuse, has acquired an unaccustomed sound.

But twenty years ago there was no busier mine than the Dryden from Carbondale to Nanticoke. Two hundred and thirty men and boys went by the slope into it every morning, and came out from it every night. They were simple and unlearned, these men and boys, rugged and rude, rough and reckless at times, but manly, heroic, and kindhearted.



Published in 1887 the 'twenty years ago' is now one hundred and twenty seven years ago so this should be interesting and at just 166 pages, a quick glimpse into this lost world.

[Jordyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a very inspirational story about the bond between two brothers, one being blind. As young boys, there father was crushed in a mine. As they grew, they begin to work in the same mine. Later in the story, the oldest brother is forced to pick the opportunity of his brother gaining his sight, or lying and letting a guilty man walk.
I found this book touching. It contains high moral value with strong vocabulary. It is an older book that may contain sentences that are worded a little funny, however.
I recommend this book to all readers who are looking for a great story to build character.

[Haven Swift · Rating 5 out of 5]

Up on my favorites list. Really encouraged me to read more historical fiction. Really loved the author's writing, the beauty and simplicity, and the growth and development. Recommend 100%. At the top of Haven's favorites list.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

a tiny little jewel of a book. Very sentimental , folksy , tear jerker two hour read. Best to read when you are alone.