good idea gone wrong ~

[lookingland]

for the 50bookchallenge:

no. 10 ~ Sharpshooter by david madden. yes, mr. madden, you did your research. yes, mr. madden, it's all very interesting. here again another example of all enthusiasm and the maladroit writing skills of a novice. the story is interesting enough (if not a wee bit convoluted): young willis joins the confeds, becomes a sharpshooter, may or may not have shot general sanders, solves the mystery of sullivan and gardner schlepping bodies around at gettysburg, and then wanders into some tangential remorse about shooting a man at andersonville. the story has the makings of something worthwhile, but the telling is painfully dry like a textbook of civil war minutiae and the central mystery or dramatic question is ultimately not all that engaging. oh well.

if you don't know anything about the "body schlepping" at gettysburg, you might find this analysis by james groves interesting (it's long-winded, but worth a gander if you can get through it). i think some of groves's rationale is spurious, but nevertheless interesting ~ i always find this level of obsession quite fascinating.



"Home of a Rebel Sharpshooter, Gettysburg"
from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, 1865
Often called "the most famous photograph made during the war"
and the source of endless controversy thereafter.

Comments

[gwyn-hwyfar.livejournal.com]

That poor guy.....the schlepped body, I mean.
Wouldn't you know, I've been poring over these very photos, and all the others, for the past several days.....

[lookingland.livejournal.com]

i try not to get too maudlin about corpses, but it can get overwhelming when you think of how unceremoniously so many of these dead fellows were just pitched into shallow graves.

let alone the indignity of being used as photo props.

i dunno ~ i guess i have mixed feelings about it all. that's somebody's son, after all.

: o p

[gwyn-hwyfar.livejournal.com]

Yes, I know what you mean.
The work those photographers did was so important, though...showing the real horrors of war to those who were far away from it. Harsh reality. Still, I don't approve of the way they dragged bodies around...although this photo seems to have really affected people.
It's a dilemma.

[lookingland.livejournal.com]

yeah ~ on the one hand i want to be forgiving, and on the other it feels so opportunist when there was plenty of stuff to photograph that didn't have to be "staged" if they were intent on bringing the war home (and like it needed to get any closer to home than it was for some people).

it's certainly important work. i guess we don't have to like it on all levels to agree that it's important it exists.

[gwyn-hwyfar.livejournal.com]

Since I wrote that, I read the article. Wow! such analysis :D

[lookingland.livejournal.com]

that guy is hardcore ~ hahahahahaha ~

i think his observation of the scope is the most interesting part. i'm more skeptical of the carrying case.

it's all pretty interesting though.

: D

[sparowe]

that's somebody's son, after all.

Well said.