Final Impressions: The Color of Lightning, by Paulette Jiles - November 2019

[Tom, "Big Daddy"]

Comments on this board are made with the assumption that readers have finished the book and may include spoilers.

[Diane, "Miss Scarlett"]

This book was great! Thanks for the MOD choice, Laura. I need to read more on this subject. It's fascinating .
Here is a review by Diane: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Laura, "The Tall Woman"]

Have you read The Son Diane? It’s a worthy fictional read.

[Diane, "Miss Scarlett"]

It's on my list, Laura. I've heard really good things about it. But I think it's a long one, over 500 pages, so I have to choose a good time for it. I'm really getting into Western Literature as opposed to Westerns. I may start a new shelf.

[Laura, "The Tall Woman"]

It’s lengthy and lots of characters but excellent.

[Cathrine ☯️]

I haven't read Sons but watched the miniseries with Pierce Brosnan last year. Not sure it's coming back or if the series depicted only a small portion of the book. I too am daunted by the length.
Just finished watching S1 of Yellowstone with Kevin Costner. Our family members love it but I was disappointed. Everyone seems to hate each other and it's one big soap opera. The Native Americans are trying to get back their land and I'm on their side.

Looking forward to the Tom Hanks, News of the World film.

[Laura, "The Tall Woman"]

Only 2 seasons of the Son. Not just like book but enjoyable. I have to say I’m a Yellowstone fan, but everybody is pretty nasty.

[Laura, "The Tall Woman"]

A little humor.....Elizabeth over her purchase price.

[Diane, "Miss Scarlett"]

Elizabeth was a trip. I went to Wikipedia and found a picture of Britt Johnson and Elizabeth. Both of them look just how Jiles described them.

[Suzy]

Ooh, I'll have to take a peek at the Wikipedia page on them. I found this page on the Texas Historical Society site. It has a list of several other books we can add to our tbr lists on the subject. ;)
https://tshaonline.org/handbook/onlin...

My thoughts on The Son are I did not enjoy it all that much. I thought Philip Meyer's research sat on top of the story for much of the book. Example, did we need an entire chapter on how the Indians used every single part of the buffalo wasting nothing . . . in more detail than anyone today needs to know! The book would have been much shorter if he hadn't been compelled to tell us everything he learned. And I found the violence really hard to take.

Like many of you, I can't wait to see the News of the World movie!

[Laura, "The Tall Woman"]

Suzy, I loved The Son but I understand the detail complaint. When I read Pillars of The Earth I was confident if given the resources I could build my own cathedral.

[Suzy]

Laura wrote: "Suzy, I loved The Son but I understand the detail complaint. When I read Pillars of The Earth I was confident if given the resources I could build my own cathedral."

Ha!!! I listened to Pillars of the Earth, abridged, and didn't think I missed a thing!

[Cathrine ☯️]

Laura wrote: "I was confident if given the resources I could build my own cathedral."

LOL!

[Suzy]

I see that in my review of The Color of Lightning, I had a minor complaint about Giles research overshadowing the story. Must be a pet peeve of mine! :)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Grace]

They are making a film of 'News of the World' that sounds fascinating. Really liked the book.
Cathrine ☯️ wrote: "I haven't read Sons but watched the miniseries with Pierce Brosnan last year. Not sure it's coming back or if the series depicted only a small portion of the book. I too am daunted by the length.
J..."

[Diane, "Miss Scarlett"]

My feeling about author research is the more believable it sounds, the more I can trust the story, unless it dissolves into preaching and teaching, which can sometimes happen.

[Tracey]

I really enjoyed the book and felt I learnt a lot about a period of US history that I knew next to nothing about. I found it interesting how both the Native Americans and the US Americans had reasons for the attacks they made on each other. I thought it was yet again a case of ‘if only they could have understood each other’s cultural differences’ things might have gone a little smoother. That is if both sides were interested in accommodating each other 🤔
I really liked the 2 main characters.

[Book Concierge]

So far, this is the only book by Jiles that I've read. But I have News of the World sitting here in the pile on my desk ....

It's been 6 years since I read this book, but here's a snippet from
My FULL review
Jiles does a good job of painting the landscape and giving the reader insight into both sides of the issues – the pioneers who saw opportunity in this vast new landscape and wanted only to be able to work their land vs the Native tribes who felt the land belonged to no one and that the gods provided the animals, water, grain for their use. One side drew boundaries on a piece of paper; the other recognized only natural barriers and freely crossed them to follow the herds of buffalo or the best pasture lands for their horses.

[Libby]

I listened to this one as an audiobook, and think I would have enjoyed it even more if I'd read it. Interesting how descriptions of setting can sometimes make me zone out when I listen to them, but when I read them, I paint the picture in my mind. I really appreciated Jiles's attention to detail and felt it added to the credibility of the story.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...