Tag: history

Flashman’s Lady

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Fraser, George MacDonald. Flashman’s Lady. New York: Penguin, 1988.

Reason read: to continue the series started in April in honor of Fraser’s birth month.

If you are keeping track we are now ten years into the biography of Harry Flashman. This is the sixth packet of papers and introduces events between 1842 – 1845 which were previously missing in earlier manuscripts. Like an earlier packet, this installment was edited by Flashman’s sister-in-law, Grizel de Rothschild and includes journal entries from Fashman’s wife Elspeth. I think it’s hysterical that Grizel cleaned up his “rough” language but left in his exploits with other women (because Flashman always gets his girl, whether she be an African queen or his own lovely wife). And speaking of Elspeth, Flashman has to turn his attention to her (more than normal) when she is kidnapped by a pirate who wants her for himself. Along the way (by way of Madagascar), Flashman is held captive by the ruthless Queen Ranavalona and forced to be her love slave (but of course).

Laugh out loud lines (warning: they are both a little crude): “…her udders were almost in her soup” (p 51) and “For a moment I wondered if having his love-muscle shot off had affected his brain…” (p 144).

Author fact: at the time of publication Fraser was living on the Isle of Man.

Book trivia: the footnotes are not as annoying this time around and there is a great deal of attention paid to the game of cricket.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter “George MacDonald Fraser: Too Good To Miss” (p 93).

Battle Cry of Freedom

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McPherson, James M. Battle Cry of Freedom. Read by Jonathan Davis. New York: Recorded Books, 2007.

Reason read: I am cheating a little with the reading of this book. It’s in two volumes and over 900 pages long. There is no way I can finish a 900 book in 30 days so I’m stretching it a little: in May I’m reading it in honor of May 26th, 1865 being the day conditions of surrender were offered to E. Kirby Smith. In June I am reading it in honor of June 2nd, 1865, the day Smith officially accepted those conditions. Another reason for May: the first officer was killed on May 24th 1861. Another reason for the May-June reading: the battle of the Pines took place from May 31 to June 1st, 1862.

Every single time I start to write a review for Battle Cry for Freedom I come up with the same damned word – “comprehensive”. It seems as if everyone and their brother uses this same word when writing a review. I guess it’s an appropriate word because it definitely fits. Said another way: if the era, the climate of the times before, during and after the Civil War was an inanimate object it’s as if McPherson studied it from every possible angle; getting on his knees, using a ladder to stand over it, circling around and around it to describe every little thing he sees, careful to leave not a single observation out. The end result is a comprehensive (there’s that word again) view of what our fledgling country looked like. You’ll meet Fire Eaters, Know Nothings, Butternuts, Copperheads, Knights of the Golden Circle, Whigs and the Free Soil Party in addition to the usual suspects like Robert E. Lee, Harriet Tubman, Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis and John Brown, just to name a few. You’ll see the country from an early economic and sociological standpoint. Industry and religion find their way into patriotism and what it meant to be independent.

Best parts: learning that some military maneuvers were so successful they are still taught in military schools to this day. I also enjoyed reading about how women went from being wives who were just supposed to comfort their returned from battle husbands to respected nurses on the battlefield (thanks to Florence Nightingale and Clara Barton, to name two).

Book trivia: Battle Cry won a Pulitzer.

Lines I liked, “The United States has usually prepared for its wars after getting into them” (p 312). Yup. This quote gave me a chuckle since I just finished walking 60 miles for Just ‘Cause, “Few of these southern soldiers had made a one-day march of twenty miles…(p 406).

Author fact: McPherson is an professor emeritus of U.S. History at Princeton. As an aside, my grandfather graduated from Princeton and gave me a stuffed leopard he insist I name after his alma mater. I wonder if I still have “Princeton” somewhere?

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the super straightforward chapter called “Civil War Nonfiction” (p 58). Duh.

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

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Brown, Dee. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: an Indian History of the American West. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1970.

Trail of Tears. Manifest Destiny. Phrases and words we have heard before, definitely learned about in high school but, I’m guessing, the origins of which we haven’t given much thought. Bury My Heart at Wounded  Knee has a subtitle of “an Indian History of the American West”  and what a sad history it is! Before each chapter in the book is a snapshot of what shape the country was in that historical moment. A great deal was going on as it was during the American western expansion and the discovery of gold, starting in 1860 when the Navaho leader, Manuelito, was beaten down until surrendering to the white man. It’s a shameful book to read. So many broken promises. So many different times a white man approached a tribal leader with negotiations and treaties that only ended in bald faced lies. This was a difficult book for me to read.

Reason read: May is History Month and boy, is this some ugly history!

Author fact: Dee Brown’s real name is Dorris Alexander Brown and he died in 2002.

Book trivia: The portraits of each tribal chief is pretty amazing. Many thanks to the Smithsonian for the courtesy of reproduction. Tosawi or Silver Knife of the Comanches is my favorite.

BookLust Trivia: from Book Lust in the chapter called “American History: Nonfiction” (p 21).

May Day List

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I don’t hold onto many books. Once I have read something I either lend it away, maybe to never see it again or I donate it somewhere, hoping to never see it again. In an effort to clean off my personal shelves I swapped out some of the titles I had been planning to borrow from other libraries for books I already have at home. This practically changes the entire list for May, but oh well. Here are the many, many books that are on the list for this May:

  1. Art Student’s War by Brad Leithauser
  2. Hall of a Thousand Columns by Tim Mackintosh-Smith
  3. Careless Love by Peter Gurlnink…yes, I am STILL reading this! I can’t seem to finish it! Grrrrr
  4. Inspector Ghote Breaks an Egg by H.R.F. Keating
  5. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown. I was going to read Jewel in the Crown by Paul Scott, but I have Bury My Heart at home.
  6. Oedipus by Sophocles. Originally I was going to read Peloponnesian War by Donald Kagan, but like Bury My Heart, I have Oedipus at home.
  7. Finishing: The Lotus Eaters by Tatjani Soli
  8. ADDED: French Revolutions* by Tim Moore. I needed something on cd.
  9. ADDED: The transcriptionist by Amy Rowland (an Early Review title from LibraryThing)

*Audio book

Here is how the rest of year eight should go:

  1. Andorra by Peter Cameron (November)
  2. Any Four Women Can Rob the Bank of Italy by Ann Cornelisen (November)
  3. Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz by Mordecai Richler (July)
  4. Baltimore Blues by Laura Lippman (September)
  5. Beaufort by Ron Leshem* (November)
  6. Beirut Blues by Hanan al-Shaykh (August)
  7. Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks* (June)
  8. Black Lamb and Gray Falcon by Rebecca West (July)
  9. Bluebird Canyon by Dan McCall (September)
  10. Captain Sir Richard Burton by Edward Rice (October)
  11. Caroline’s Daughters by Alice Adams (August)
  12. Cradle of Gold by Christopher Heaney (November)
  13. Culture of Disbelief by Stephen Carter (October)
  14. Dancer with Bruised Knees by Lynne McFall (June)
  15. Dark Sun by Richard Rhodes (July)
  16. Earthly Possessions by Anne Tyler (June)
  17. Eye of the World by Robert Jordan* (October)
  18. Faith Fox by Jane Gardam* (July)
  19. First Man by Albert Camus (June)
  20. Fordlandia by Greg Gandin (August)
  21. Gesture Life by Chang-rae Lee (August)
  22. Grass Dancer by Susan Power (November)
  23. History Man by Malcolm Bradbury (September)
  24. In a Strange City by Laura Lippman (October)
  25. Inside Passage by Michael Modselewski (June)
  26. Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges (August)
  27. Long Way From Home by Frederick Busch (August)
  28. Raw Silk by Janet Burroway (September)
  29. Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro* (August)
  30. Rose of Martinique by Andrea Stuart (June)
  31. Thousand Ways to Please a Husband by Weaver/LeCron (September)
  32. You Get What You Pay For by Larry Beinhart (November)

*Planned as audio books

FINISHED:

  1. After the Dance by Edwidge Danticat
  2. Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow*
  3. Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin*
  4. Angels Weep by Wilbur Smith
  5. Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro
  6. Benjamin Franklin: an American Life by Walter Isaacson
  7. Bring Me a Unicorn by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
  8. Cabin Fever by Elizabeth Jolley
  9. Civil Action by Jonathan Harr
  10. Day the Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan*
  11. ADDED: Dancer and the Thief by Antonio Skarmeta
  12. Eighth Day by Thornton Wilder
  13. Falcon Flies by Wilbur Smith*
  14. Feast of Love by Charles Baxter
  15. Flower and the Nettle by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
  16. Georges’ Wife by Elizabeth Jolley – This finishes the Vera Wright Trilogy
  17. Herzog by Saul Bellow. Originally, I was going to read Call It Sleep by Henry Roth in May, but I read Herzog early in honor of Bellow’s passing in April of 2005.
  18. Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
  19. House of Morgan by Ron Chernow – attempted
  20. Illumination Night by Alice Hoffman
  21. It Looked Like Forever by Mark Harris
  22. Last Train to Memphis by Peter Guralink
  23. Leopard Hunts in the Darkness by Wilbur Smith
  24. Life in the Air Ocean by Sylvia Foley
  25. Men of Men by Wilbur Smith
  26. Now Read This II by Nancy Pearl
  27. Ocean of Words by Ha Jin
  28. Palladian Days by Sally Gable*
  29. Professor and the Housekeeper by Yoko Ogawa
  30. Racing Weight by Matt Fitzgerald
  31. Rose Cafe by John Hanson Mitchell
  32. Run or Die by Kilian Jornet
  33. Running for Mortals by John Bingham
  34. ADDED: Seeing in the Dark: How Backyard Stargazers are Probing Deep Space and Guarding Earth from Interplanetary Peril by Timothy Ferris
  35. Sword at Sunset by Rosemary Sutcliff
  36. ADDED: Thrush Green by Miss Read*
  37. War Within and Without by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
  38. Winners and Losers by Martin Quigley

Poetry:

  • “Aftermath” ~ a poem by Siegfried Sassoon
  • “Romance” ~ a poem by W.J. Turner
  • “Kubla Khan” ~ a poem by Samuel T. Coleridge

 

 

May 2011 is…

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THE LIST:

  • To Sir with Love by Edward Ricardo Braithwaite ~ in honor of National Teacher Day (May 3rd)
  • Out of Control by Suzanne Brockmann ~ in honor of Brockmann’s birth month
  • A Child’s Life and Other Stories by Phoebe Gloeckner ~ in honor of graphic novel month
  • Antigone the play by Sophocles ~ in honor of May being the best time to visit Greece.
  • Fifth Chinese Daughter by Jade Snow Wong ~ in honor Asian-American Heritage month
  • Catfish and Mandala by Andrew X. Pham ~ in honor of Memorial Day
  • Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery ~ in honor of Eeyore’s birth month (I’ll explain that connection within the review). I’m listening to this as a training book.
  • House on the Lagoon by Rosario Ferre ~ in honor of May 5th being Cinco de Mayo
  • City of Light ~ by Lauren Belfer ~ in honor of May being History Month

Lastly, for the Early Review program for LibraryThing – Art and Madness by Anne Roiphe.

I put so many books on my list because a) a few of them are really, really short so I know I can read I can read them in 1-2 days time and b) I don’t have plans to travel anywhere until May 20th so I should have more time to curl up with several good books, and c) AFTER the walk I have ten days of NOTHING to do. I am picturing myself on the back deck, a glass of wine in one hand and a good book in another.

Confession – Catfish and Mandala by Andrew X. Pham looked so good I started reading it on April 28th. Sue me.
May is also (finally) the Just ‘Cause walk. I am not confident I did everything to train (but then again, there is only so much walking one can do), and I know I didn’t fund raise as hard as I should/could have. I am $100 off from the amount I raised last year. I am guessing not asking aunts, uncles, cousins, (mother), grandparents….anyone from my mother’s side to donate played a big part. C’est la vie. Or, to quote mom, “whatever.”

August ’10 was…

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August. The last gasp of summer before everyone starts thinking about back-to-school clothes, back-to-school school supplies and back-to-school attitudes. I know my college has already adopted the attitude now that the athletes and international students have started arriving on campus. August was quiet compared to July’s crazy traveling. But, for books it was:

  • The All-Girl Football Team by Lewis Nordan ~ Nordan is my emotional train wreck.
  • Zarafa: a Giraffes’s True Story, from Deep in Africa to the Heart of Paris by Michael Allin ~ in honor of Napoleon’s birth month even though Napoleon is a teeny part of the story
  • Zel by Donna Jo Napoli ~ the clever, psychological retelling of Rapunzel.
  • The Meaning of Everything: the Story of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester ~ in honor of National Language Month, but I didn’t finish it. Not even close.
  • Undaunted Courage by Simon Winchester ~ a really interesting account of the Lewis & Clark Expedition.
  • A Separate Peace by John Knowles ~ probably one of my all-time favorite books.

For LibraryThing and the Early Review Program: I started reading Play Their Hearts Out by George Dohrmann. Review coming in September.

For fun I read:

  • fit = female: the perfect fitness and nutrition game plan for your unique body type by geralyn b. coopersmith ~ the cover of the book didn’t use capital letters so neither did i.
  • Nutrition for Life: The no-fad, no-nonsense approach to eating well and researching your healthy weight by Lisa Hark, Phd, RD & Darwin Deen, MD ~ this is a really, really informative book.

Undaunted Courage

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Ambrose, Stephen E. Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997.

This is not your ordinary retelling of the Lewis and Clark expedition. This is not the regular, run of the mill, same old story. Undaunted Courage is a different perspective of the story often told in the history books. While elements of the expedition are rehashed like interactions with the Native Americans, obstacles relating to weather, terrain and health, and supply management (how could they not?) Ambrose focuses mostly on the collaboration between Commander in Chief Jefferson and Captain Lewis. He tries to get inside the head of Meriwether Lewis to portray thoughts and feelings beyond what was written in the surviving journals and notes, thus making the text more conversational in tone. Because President Jefferson considered the expedition to be Lewis’s gig Clark is mentioned where necessary and never becomes a focal point of the story. To make sure the reader is completely aware this is a Lewis story Ambrose continues it beyond the famous expedition and details Lewis’s devastating suicide.

Favorite lines, “Lewis took his advice and became a great hiker, with feet as tough ass his butt” (p 30), “It was always cold, often brutally cold, sometimes so cold a man’s penis would freeze if he wasn’t quick about it” (p 191), and a startling observation about Lewis, “My guess is that he was manic-depressive” (p 312).

BookLust Twist: From More Book Lust in the chapter called, “Lewis and Clark: Adventurers Extraordinaire” (p 137).

Master & Commander

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O’Brian, Patrick. Master And Commander. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1969.

Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! I couldn’t get into this. As the last book of the month I found it incredibly boring. Maybe it was stopping every ten minutes to look up words like felluca and dursn’t and slops. It was all I could do to call up my father’s ghost and remember nautical terms like foretopgallantsail and cockade and halliards. To be honest, it was too much work for summer reading. This is something I went to bury myself in in the dead of winter when nothing else can distract me or call me away. I’ll put it back on the list in honor of something else.

PS ~ this was made into a movie starring Russell Crow. Maybe I should just shut up and watch it.

June ’10 is…

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June is a weird month for me. I might have a Monhegan plan. I’m not sure. The one thing I know about June is that there will be music. Plenty of music and books. As two constants in my life, I doubt anyone is honestly surprised by that remark. Music and books. For music it is the lovely Rebecca Correia at the Iron Horse in Northampton. June 11, 2010 at 7pm. That same weekend it is the eternally talented Sean Rowe at the DreamAway Lodge in Beckett. June 13, 2010 at 8pm…I think. There is Phish somewhere in there as well…I know, don’t say it.

For books it is:

  • Master and Commander by Patrick O’Brien ~ in honor of National Ocean month
  • Hatchet by Gary Paulsen ~ in honor of Adventure fiction month
  • Confessions of Nat Turner by William Styron ~ in honor of Virginia becoming a state in June
  • Happenstance by Carol Shields ~ in honor of June being the most popular month to get married in…
  • Writing Dangerously: Mary McCarthy and Her World by Carol Brightman ~ in honor of Mary McCarthy’s birth month.

For LibraryThing’s Early Review program:

  • The House on Oyster Creek by Heidi Jon Schmidt

For the fun of it:

  • Master of Your Metabolism by Jillian Michaels

Those Tremendous Mountains

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Hawke, David Freeman. Those Tremendous Mountains: the Story of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1980.

Confession time: I thought I would be bored to hell and back by this book. History was never my strong point, even if I was supposed to relate to it. Ancestry or not, I couldn’t relate to anything historical. Those Tremendous Mountains was a different story. I was really amazed by how much I enjoyed it. To say that I loved every page wouldn’t be far off the mark. Hawke blends the diaries, notes and sketches of Captains Meriweather Lewis and William Clark with his own narrative to create a lively and creative account of the famous duo’s expedition. It is not a dry retelling of the trials and tribulations of traversing  daunting mountain ranges. It is a portrait of desire, courage, friendship and loyalty. Thanks to a very specific and detailed charge by Thomas Jefferson to count every tree, flower, river, animal, and weather condition along the journey and both Lewis and Clark’s insatiable desire and curiosity to discover the world around them they documented thousands of species never seen before, making their expedition that much more famous than those gone who had before them. Their curiosity for every new plant and animal they encountered gave them a wealth of information to send back to the President. Hawke also carefully portrays Lewis and Clark as humanitarians with a keen sense of diplomacy when dealing with the Native American tribes they encountered. Knowing they would need help crossing the Rockies Lewis and Clark made sure to have plenty of gifts for the natives. Bartering for the things they needed came easier with a show a respect rather than force. 

Probably my favorite parts in the book were the displays of friendship between Lewis and Clark. While President Jefferson continuously called it Lewis’ expedition, Lewis insisted Clark was his equal and it was their expedition. Even after Jefferson downgraded Clark’s rank from captain to second lieutenant Lewis the men on the expedition “never learned of his true rank and always called him Captain” (p 51). Probably my favorite lines comes at the end: “By then the trust  between them was complete and remained so to the end” (p 248). 

BookLust Twist: From More Book Lust n the chapter called ” Lewis and Clark: Adventurers Extraordinaire” (p 136).

Lone Star

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Fehrenbach, T.R., Lone Star: a History of Texas and the Texans. New York: American Legacy Press, 1983.

I had to keep reminding myself Fehrenbach was not actually in Texas 40,000 years ago because his book, Lone Staris so detailed, so expansive that it felt like he should have been. In 719 pages Fehrenbach details every aspect of Texas one could imagine. From practically primordial beginnings to present day the birth, growth and development of Texas is detailed. Everything from agriculture, architecture and attitude to wars (civil and great) is meticulously described. Other reviews have used the words expansive, panoramic, extensive, vast, comprehensive, detailed…and I would have to agree. Not a stone in Texas is left unturned when it comes to recounting the political, the people, the powers, the progression of the state. What sets this book apart from other histories of Texas is the fact that Fehrenbach is from Texas. One can hear the passion for his home state woven into every knowledgeable sentence.

Favorite quotes: “Yet, such is human ingenuity that no other species ever used the resources of a country more fully: the Coahuiltecans consumed spiders, ant eggs, lizards, rattlesnakes, worms, insects, rotting wood, and deer dung” (p 14), and “…a citizen army had won battles, but it could not be used by its government as an instrument of policy during the peace” (p 243).

BookLust Twist: From Book Lust in the chapter, “Texas: A Lone Star State of Mind” (p 233).

February (2009) Was…

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February started the month with a big ole bang. First, there was the Gee-I-Couldn’t-Have-Predicted-the-Winner-of-This-Matchup Superbowl. Then, there was me. Turning 40. Then, add in Smiley’s birthday, a rockandroll party and approval for financing, a memorial and a visit from mom… all in the first week! Like I said, February started with a bang! Then it turned into the wait and see month…which ended in a house!

For books it it was:

  • Cult of Personality by Annie Murphy Paul. A fun, informative read!
  • The Extraordinary Voyage of Pytheas the Greek by Barry Cunliffe. Not so fun.
  • The Good Patient by Kristin Waterfield Duisberg ~probably one of my favorites of the list.
  • The Color Purple by Alice Walker ~ really, really hard to read. So sad!
  • Fool by Frederick Dillen ~ very psychological.
  • The Inn at Lake Devine by Elinor Lipman ~ very cute.
  • Bedtime for Frances by Russell Hoban ~ speaking of cute!
  • Not a Day Goes By by E. Lynn Harris ~ a very, very quick read in honor of Black History Month
  • A Reconstructed Corpse by Simon Brett in honor of National Theater Month even though the acting in this mystery doesn’t take place on a stage…
  • Tracks Across America by Leonard Everett Fisher ~ in honor on National Railroad Month
  • The Powers That Be by David Halberstam ~ in honor of Scholastic Journalism month

As you can see, I did a lot of reading during that “wait and see” time! In the end, February was full of emotions as well as books and finally, finally a house!

I didn’t get to A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens and I started When the Time Comes by Paula Span – an Early Review book (review coming in March).

Tracks Across America

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dscn0495Fisher, Leonard Everett. Tracks Across America: The Story of the American Railroad 1825-1900 with photographs, maps, and drawings. New York: Holiday House, 1992.

My father-in-law has a love affair with trains. He can’t wait for me to move out of his house so he can set up his ultimate railroad village complete with snow covered trees and a ski loving community. I can’t say I blame him. There is a romance associated with the railroad whether it’s the real deal or in miniature.

I think Fisher’s title would have been only slightly more accurate if he had added the word quotations to “with photographs, maps, and drawings” because that’s all that was missing. In addition to an informative narrative and the before mentioned photos, maps, and drawings Fisher includes fitting quotes from Charles Dickens, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Woodrow Wilson as well as song lyrics and poetry fitting of the railroad era. While Tracks Across America is a condensed version of the story of the American railroad Fisher makes an effort to include all aspects of the history including life before the railroads, the building period, the Civil War, Native American “resistance” (really hard to read), famous robberies and disasters, and progress with bigger and faster engines.

One of the best discoveries was learning the origin of the phrase “wrong side of the tracks.” You were on the wrong side if the wind blew the soot and dirt from the trains in your direction. It was considered in poor taste to have a church or home “on the wrong side” but my question is this, what happened when the wind changed direction?

Favorite quote: “…that rails were to a train what water was to a boat; and that if a bridge was necessary to take a train over a river, then that bridge had a perfect right to be there” (p 47). This was Abraham Lincoln’s argument during his 1856 trial defending the railroad against a steamboat’s claim of damage.

BookLust Twist: From Book Lust in the chapter called, “Riding the Rails: Railroad History” (p 200).

Extraordinary Voyage of Pytheas the Greek

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Cunliffe, Barry. The Extraordinary Voyage of Pytheas the Greek. New York: Walker & Co,. 2001.

I have to admit that this little 178  page book took me by surprise. If the photographs and maps were removed it would be shortened to 166 pages. Take out the “further reading” section and all the quoted text and you would be left with only 156 pages (approximately) which meander just as much as Pytheas’s exploration. A good chunk of those remaining pages have large segments on periphery details like tin smelting and the electrostatic qualities of amber. Unfortunately for ancient history enthusiasts there isn’t much to refer to for first hand accounts of the travels of Pytheas. Unlike Cook or Columbus, the writings of Pytheas did not survive to present day. All that is left are the numerous documents either quoting Pytheas or written about Pytheas. Such as this book.

Favorite lines: None.

BookLust Twist:  From Book Lust in the chapter called, “Here Be Dragons: The Great Explorers and Expeditions” (p 111). Note: On The Ocean by Pytheas is also mentioned in this chapter. For obvious reasons I won’t be reading it.

Lincoln’s Dreams

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Willis, Connie. Lincoln’s Dreams. Toronto: Bantam Books, 1987.

Connie Willis typically writes science fiction or fantasy and while Lincoln’s Dreams doesn’t take place in the year 2197 or on the planet Baktakazini, it is equally mind bending and thought provoking. Jeff Johnston is a historical researcher working for a Civil War novelist, Thomas Broun. Broun is obsessed with Abraham Lincoln’s dreams of foreshadowing before his death. Broun goes to great length to analyze them with Jeff’s help. Through his research, Jeff meets Annie, a beautiful Sleep Institute patient who has troubling dreams of her own. Annie has been having dreams not about Robert E. Lee, but AS Robert E. Lee. It’s as if her dreams really are those of Lee’s. Jeff takes it upon himself to not only satisfy the growing obsession Broun has with supporting facts about Lincoln’s dreams but, he also tries to cure Annie of her own Civil War nightmares while falling in love in the process.

Since the bulk of Willis’s storyline centers on Annie having dreams there are a lot of sleep scenes and subsequently the analysis of those dreams. It’s the analysis that I enjoyed the most. The details of the dreams gave life to the Civil War and its participants.

BookLust Twist: From Book Lust in the chapter “Connie Willis: Too Good to Miss” (p 246).

Note:  It is painfully obvious this is a half-assed “review” of sorts. This just goes to show me & myself how out of it we really have been these past few weeks. I have been finished with this book for awhile and never finished this properly. *sigh*