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The News of the World - final discussion - February 2017
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Diane, "Miss Scarlett"
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Jan 30, 2017 02:52PM
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Can someone tell me how to add my review here? Thx!
Ruthie wrote: "Can someone tell me how to add my review here? Thx!"If you want to simply add a review, you could just include it. If you want to refer to a review you have already submitted elsewhere, you can look at the link above this text box entitled "(some html is ok)" and look for the code for link.
Diane, you said you heard Giles interviewed on NPR. Do you remember what programs? I didn't find it in a search Would love to hear what she has to say.Here's my review. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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This is a good story. It didn't have a lot of passion, except for the Captain when he took Joanna to her relatives, but the characters and their relationships were interesting. I wonder if we Americans tend to loosely allow our children to form their identities sometime before they are about twenty, whereas native Americans tended to mold their children's identities much quicker. If so, it wouldn't be that difficult for captives to just form a Native American identity, but it would be much harder for them to give up that identity and form a new one when they returned to their American families.
I found Capt. Kidd's profession of news reader in the historical novel,
News of the World
, interesting. He would travel to towns, where I imagine many of the citizens were illiterate, and perform readings from various domestic and foreign newspapers. I also enjoyed learning about the white children captured and adopted by Native American Indians in the 19th century. Finally, I enjoyed reading about the bonding that occurred between this grandfatherly character and a young girl during the journey, each looking after the other.
I loved the dedication of The Captain to get Johanna to her people near San Antonio, even though he balked at taking on the job in the first place. I found it realistic that he needed to continue to do his job of reading the news even though he had this special mission. The one complaint I have about this book is I found the ending predictable and tied up a little too neatly. I thought Jiles could have made the book a little longer to avoid the rushed feeling of the ending. But, that said, I loved the book and gave it 5 stars. I want to read The Color Of Lightning, which features the story of Britt Johnson, the "freighter" who convinced Captain Kidd to take Johanna to her people.
I enjoyed this book and loved the Captain and his kindness shown toward Johanna. So glad the ending turned out on a happy note as I am somewhat tired of so many books having a sad or uncertain ending lately.
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I enjoyed this novel and I'm happy to have read it, but I wonder how it got classified as a Southern novel? It's set deep in the heart of Texas and largely features cowboys and Indians. I'd classify it as a Western.Anyhow, here's my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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Texas is such a large state that it spans more than one demographic region. In American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America its borders contain four of Woodard's eleven distinct cultural nations: Deep South, Greater Appalachia, El Norte, and The Midlands. Oddly enough, none of what he classifies as The Far West lies within the state of Texas.
Coincidentally, I've just started reading The Son, another book that includes children abducted by Indians, and it did mention that most of the Americans that migrated to Texas came from the Southern states. The other book I'm reading, Our Man in Charleston: Britain's Secret Agent in the Civil War South, points out that much of the westward migration from slave states was because growing cotton quickly leached the nutrients out of the soil requiring constant expansion to new lands further west to meet the production demands of the English mills.
Here is my review.
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That's what prompted me to start it. I had a (rare) opening on my audiobook dance card and thought that I'd like to read this one before the series starts.
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So far the audio is really good. The cast is fantastic: Will Patton, Scott Shepherd, Kate Mulgrew & Clifton Collins Jr.
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Really enjoyed finishing this last night. I'm curious to check out the color of lightning.
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I LOVE the way that Doris describes Joanna: "The doll is like herself, not real and not not-real... You can put her in any clothing and she remains as strange as she was before because she has been through two creations... To go through our first creation is a turning of the soul we hope toward the light, out of the animal world... To go through another tears all the making of the first creation and sometimes it falls to bits. We fall into pieces. "
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https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...
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I dunno Tom... just getting out of having to do all that laundry alone might have been worth it for girls. Didn't they still wear like 7 layers of underwear at that point in time?
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From what I read of the captive German girl's life in The Son, the trade off wasn't all that great. Her life was pretty much drudgery with little opportunity for relief. A boy, on the other hand, could display acts of courage and work his way up to a full member of the tribe.
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What Robert Duvall for the Captain if a movie is made?
Laura wrote: "Loved this one. I too loved the ending and like Diane I don't think I could have handled it if the Captain and Johanna didn't have happy endings. This was a true love story. I'm a softie at heart s..."I believe Robert Duvall would be anothe good choice.
I just watched A Series of Unfortunate Events on Netflix (the tv show, not the movie) and, believe it or not, Don Johnson played a role in episodes 7-8 that said to me he could be good as The Captain. He's almost tall enough an almost old enough. :)
I met Don Johnson while he was filming chase scenes around my workplace (Grace Cathedral in SF) with Cheech Marin. He was eye level with me, and he had on boots with heels. I am 5'2". I was shocked at how "not tall" he was, my husband, who is 6 4 1/2, loomed over both of us. :-)
Kim wrote: "I met Don Johnson while he was filming chase scenes around my workplace (Grace Cathedral in SF) with Cheech Marin. He was eye level with me, and he had on boots with heels. I am 5'2". I was shocked..."Well, scratch Don for The Captain :)
On the Southern Literary Trail
Books mentioned in this topic
The Son (other topics)The Son (other topics)
American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America (other topics)
The Son (other topics)
Our Man in Charleston: Britain's Secret Agent in the Civil War South (other topics)
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