Historical Fiction Go
Only two, actually, as I am tired and I still have some catchup to do for the January meme, but here you go.
The Pigeon Spy, by Terry Deary
A short (very short) story about a fairly famous incident during World War I. The Lost Battalion, a group of about five hundred men from the US Army, got stuck behind German lines in the Argonne Forest for nearly a week. Only about two hundred men got out, and they only by means of a miracle: a pigeon who was too goddamn stubborn to die.
No, really.
It's an incredible story, and this book... doesn't really do justice to it? It's aimed pretty young, so there's only so much of the horror of the Lost Battalion's situation that can get through. The artwork is pretty cleaned up. I mean, it's okay, but it is aimed really young, and not really for me. Sorry, Terry Deary. Not everything people write can be a hit.
A resounding meh.
A Wild Surge of Guilty Passion, Ron Hansen
Another meh, but for other reasons.
This is a fictionalized nonfiction portrayal of the Judd-Snyder case, a fairly famous murder case from 1920s New York. It's your fairly standard Chicago-esque murder case: Ruth Snyder and Judd Grey, two hard-drinking, hard-partying lovers, plot to kill Ruth's husband in what turns out to be a fairly bumbling actual crime.
You can look up the details of the crime on your own if you want to, or you can read this book, which from everything I can tell is pretty accurate. Hansen fictionalizes everyone's dialogue and the scenes of the affair, but not much. Everything he can substantiate, he does, which makes for very good history but not, unfortunately, awesome fiction. It's a good story, and it's reasonably well told, but the prose is kind of dry and I had absolutely no sympathy for anyone in the story except, perhaps, Ruth's daughter Lorraine (and a little bit Judd's family, but we never really saw them). Characters can really make or break a story for me, and unfortunately, they broke this one.
This is a meh for me, but you may enjoy it, particularly if you're a fan of true crime or really well done historical fiction. It's not a bad book, just not for me.
This entry is crossposted at http://bookblather.dreamwidth.org/415163.html. Please comment over there if possible.
The Pigeon Spy, by Terry Deary
A short (very short) story about a fairly famous incident during World War I. The Lost Battalion, a group of about five hundred men from the US Army, got stuck behind German lines in the Argonne Forest for nearly a week. Only about two hundred men got out, and they only by means of a miracle: a pigeon who was too goddamn stubborn to die.
No, really.
It's an incredible story, and this book... doesn't really do justice to it? It's aimed pretty young, so there's only so much of the horror of the Lost Battalion's situation that can get through. The artwork is pretty cleaned up. I mean, it's okay, but it is aimed really young, and not really for me. Sorry, Terry Deary. Not everything people write can be a hit.
A resounding meh.
A Wild Surge of Guilty Passion, Ron Hansen
Another meh, but for other reasons.
This is a fictionalized nonfiction portrayal of the Judd-Snyder case, a fairly famous murder case from 1920s New York. It's your fairly standard Chicago-esque murder case: Ruth Snyder and Judd Grey, two hard-drinking, hard-partying lovers, plot to kill Ruth's husband in what turns out to be a fairly bumbling actual crime.
You can look up the details of the crime on your own if you want to, or you can read this book, which from everything I can tell is pretty accurate. Hansen fictionalizes everyone's dialogue and the scenes of the affair, but not much. Everything he can substantiate, he does, which makes for very good history but not, unfortunately, awesome fiction. It's a good story, and it's reasonably well told, but the prose is kind of dry and I had absolutely no sympathy for anyone in the story except, perhaps, Ruth's daughter Lorraine (and a little bit Judd's family, but we never really saw them). Characters can really make or break a story for me, and unfortunately, they broke this one.
This is a meh for me, but you may enjoy it, particularly if you're a fan of true crime or really well done historical fiction. It's not a bad book, just not for me.
This entry is crossposted at http://bookblather.dreamwidth.org/415163.html. Please comment over there if possible.