more about books ~

[lookingland]

Orthopaedic Injuries of the Civil War: An Atlas of Orthopaedic Injuries and Treatments During the Civil War is down to $44.48.

i know, you were dying to know.

last night i finally started reading geraldine brooks' March (you know, that pulitzer-prize winning novel that prolly no one on my flist has read). i had only meant to read the first ten pages or chapter or so ~ but found it rather engrossing and breezed through 50 pages. the first chapter is stunning: horrific and fresh. the death of silas stone is astonishingly well written (hang up your pens, people, it's all over!).

but what follows begins to trouble me. the writing loosens up a bit and we go from the intensity of battle to flashbacks of the life of Mr. March and his encounter with a plantation owner and his slave, Grace. here i feel the stereotypes begin to creep in (after holding well through the introductions). Mr. Clement (who is anything but) crumbles into the old south slave-whipping paradigm and all the slaves are earnest, good-willing dignified people of heroic spirit, etc. etc. i think it's impossible for people to write anything else these days. the clichés have started getting heavy in a book that otherwise opened with one of the most original battlefield descriptions i have ever seen.

i'm not too disappointed ~ the writing is good and i'm willing to believe the romance part, though i'd rather just get back to the fight (i know, i am bad). i'm just afraid that the book is going to be about this love affair instead of the war. beh.

i'm not against romance, mind you. i like a mooshy love story as much as the next person. but i'll feel cheated if Mr. March spends the next 250 pages whining about the woman for whom he had a forbidden love. this is the part where i go on a tirade about truth in advertising since nowhere on the book is it labeled a "mooshy romance".

anyway, it's still at 4 stars right now. we'll see what happens.

~ * ~

i've started putting my books on LibraryThing. if you click that link you can see how far i have gotten (not very ~ hahahahaha). i may quit since half the books i have are too old and don't have catalog information or pictures (and i'm too lazy to scan and stuff). anyway, it's a fun diversion.

: D

gonna take the dogs to the park today ~ they have missed it! happy saturday all!

Comments

[gwyn-hwyfar.livejournal.com]

Oh! I've been meaning to read that book! Thanks for reminding me.

[lookingland.livejournal.com]

i'm very impressed with the first part so far ~ definitely worth a gander.

i prolly won't finish reading it until next week, but i'll let you know how it goes.

: D