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Cloudsplitter
Cloudsplitter | Russell Banks
16 posts | 12 read | 23 to read
A triumph of the imagination, rich in incident and beautiful in its detail, Cloudsplitter brings to life one of history's legendary figures--John Brown, whose passion to abolish slavery lit the fires of the American Civil War in a conflagration that changed civilization. From the Trade Paperback edition.
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marleed
Cloudsplitter | Russell Banks
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Pickpick

Following the recent death of this author I made a purchase request to the library for the audiobook hoping it would be my catalyst to read this book long on my TBR. It was! This is a long winded book (could easily edit out 2-300 pages) of the imagined musings of the long winded surviving 3rd son of John Brown. Owen contemplates his life as well as that of, might I add, his long-winded father. I appreciate this book and the writing style ↓

marleed even though it won‘t count among my favorite reads of the year. I‘m pretty sure I never would have found my way to the end without my stereo read/listen approach. It was very easy to 2x the audio without having a distorted narration. It was published in 1998 but it somehow reads differently now that 6Jan2022 is part of our American history. 2y
vivastory I recently read a Bank story in an anthology and I thought it was fantastic. Would like to read more of him. 2y
SamAnne I have this on my shelf and have been contemplating finally reading for the same reasons. Will try the print/ audio together as well. 2y
marleed @vivastory He‘s a very good writer, and this is such an interesting way to contemplate the life of John Brown. As I sit and contemplate my reading experience here I actually think I‘ll like the book more and more. Long winded as a description is no hyperbole so I was wanting the story to move along - the gruesomeness began at hour 22 of 30. But now complete, I‘m intrigued with those first 2/3 of the book! 2y
marleed @SamAnne I really recommend the stereo approach on this one. So many things came together (including black history month) that I knew this was the time to brush the dust of this book and give it a go. 2y
69 likes5 comments
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Leftcoastzen
Cloudsplitter | Russell Banks
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Sad to see he had passed.I have read a couple of his books , but not the tagged one often considered his masterpiece. https://apnews.com/article/russell-banks-dead-cloudsplitter-affliction-sweet-her...

vivastory Sad news. The first movie I saw in an indie theater in KC was Egoyan's Sweet Hereafter & I still remember it vividly. I read one of his short stories in the following anthology recently & LOVED IT 2y
vivastory Was also saddened by the news of Charles Simic's passing a few days ago. 2y
Suet624 @vivastory @Leftcoastzen The Sweet Hereafter has stayed with me over these many years. Cloudsplitter too. An immersive book as well as a history lesson. I was so sad to see he had died. I want to continue to read other books of his. 2y
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Leftcoastzen @vivastory yes ! There was a nice segment on NPR about Simic today.Time marches on, we are losing so many of the elder statesmen & women of music , writing & the arts. 2y
Bookmarkie Such a great writer…probably more unappreciated than he should be 2y
plemmdog I still haven‘t read Cloudsplitter or Affliction and need to add them to my TBR pile. I loved Rule of The Bone and Sweet Hereafter is probably my favorite… 2y
43 likes6 comments
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SamAnne
Cloudsplitter | Russell Banks
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Russell Banks passed away. Cloudsplitter has been sitting on my TBR shelf for years. I'll try to get to it this year, along with the Good Lord Bird, by James McBride. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/08/books/russell-banks-dead.html

Suet624 Oh no! I loved Cloudsplitter. I loved so many of his books. 2022 made me really sad because so many of my favorite people passed away. It looks as though 2023 isn't going to be any better. 2y
marleed It‘s on my shelves too. I‘ve spent so much time in Lawrence,KS that I feel a responsibility to read it. 2y
49 likes2 comments
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CallMeIshmael
Cloudsplitter | Russell Banks
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Pickpick

Wonderful book, that I highly recommend

Tamra I have this chunkster and haven‘t gotten around to it! 3y
CallMeIshmael @Tamra Same I decided to pick it up and did not regret it (edited) 3y
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EadieB
Cloudsplitter | Russell Banks
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Day 7 - #Clouds #BloomingBibliophiles
#Cloudsplitter #RussellBanks

I enjoyed Cloudsplitter very much. Russell Banks made the key people of the antislavery movement come to life. The book is narrated by John Brown's son, Owen, and through him we learn the details of his father's passion to free the slaves and help them escape to Canada and the events leading up to his capture at Harper's Ferry and his hanging.

OriginalCyn620 📚👍🏻📚 5y
Suet624 I still think of this book years after reading it. 3y
EadieB @Suet624 It is a very good and interesting book! 3y
48 likes2 stack adds3 comments
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EadieB
Cloudsplitter | Russell Banks
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Pickpick

Day 11 - #cloud #springintoreading

I enjoyed Cloudsplitter. Banks made the key people of the antislavery movement come to life. Narrated by John Brown's son, Owen, we learn the details of his father's passion to free the slaves and his capture at Harper's Ferry and his hanging. Informative about 19th century American life. Recommend this book to those who are interested in the antislavery movement. John Brown changed the course of history.

Theaelizabet Can‘t tell you how long this has been sitting on my shelves. One of these days... 6y
EadieB @Theaelizabet I had it awhile but really enjoyed it once I started to read it! 6y
CafeMom I really enjoyed this book. 6y
63 likes2 stack adds5 comments
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Califlamingo
Cloudsplitter | Russell Banks
Pickpick

This book was not at all whatI expected. My ancestors are from Kansas where the massacre occurred and I've heard all the stories and visited the site and museum many times. This book, although a fictionalized version, gave me a new perspective of John Brown the man and how he came to do the things he did.

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Califlamingo
Cloudsplitter | Russell Banks

"For even if we cannot know the ultimate consequences of our actions or inactions, we must nonetheless behave as if they do have ultimate consequences. No little thing in our lives is without meaning; never mind that we can never know it ourselves."

Suet624 Loved this book. 6y
6 likes1 comment
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Califlamingo
Cloudsplitter | Russell Banks

"If you yourself are not a victim, you cannot claim to see the world as the victim does."

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Califlamingo
Cloudsplitter | Russell Banks

"When you walk the very ground of the history you're investigating, when you sniff the air, check the light, glance sideways and over your shoulder, when you pick up a handful of dirt and crumble it between your fingers, you can learn things that no history book can ever teach."

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Crystallinegirl
Cloudsplitter | Russell Banks
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So we donated six boxes of books to The Book Thing of Baltimore today, and came home with two boxes. The Book Thing is a place where all the books are entirely free. Yes, free. Take as many as you like. This is #bookhaul photo 1 of 4!

Reggie This sounds amazing!!!! 7y
Crystallinegirl @Reggie It is! It was our first time there, and they were processing donations and putting them out on shelves as fast as they could. We'd turn around and find a shelf we'd already looked through had a bunch of new books on it already. It was really cool. 7y
Reggie I used to live in Las Cruces and there is this massive used bookstore called COAS where the top shelves had books on top of books and the aisles were hard to step through because there were boxes of books that had no shelf room. It was amazing. It wasn‘t free but they had a cool exchange thing going on. Glad you had a good time at your place. 7y
Crystallinegirl @Reggie I'm visiting home (Oregon) in a couple of weeks, and you'd better believe a trip to Powell's is in the plan! We also have a pretty big used bookstore in my hometown called Smith Family Bookstore - I'm going to try to manage a trip there, too! It sounds like what you described. :D 7y
14 likes4 comments
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MrBook
Cloudsplitter | Russell Banks
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A gorgeous sky greets us as we close the library this evening ☺️, aahhh. Is it just me or does that cloud formation look like something? 😎 #LitsyLovesLibraries

AbstractMonica Lovely 7y
mrozzz An open book? It's gorgeous! 7y
MrBook @AbstractMonica Right? ☺️ @mrozzz Ooh, I can see that too, but I was thinking a ship facing left. 😁 7y
Cathythoughts I see a ship sailing in the sea. Beautiful pic 7y
106 likes1 stack add4 comments
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DreesReads
Cloudsplitter | Russell Banks
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My haul from the final day of our local Rotary book sale (yesterday). $20 for a reusable shopping bag filled with books since it was the last day. The husband got a stack too.

EvieBee Lots of chunky books. Delish! 7y
Reviewsbylola Good & Evil is fantastic. 7y
15 likes1 stack add2 comments
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Speesh
Cloudsplitter | Russell Banks
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I've searched and searched, but can't find a trace of this cover version. So here it is.
Cloudsplitter, Russell Banks, Vintage/Random House, paperback first edition, United Kingdom, 1999.
See if this now turns up in on-line searches.

#cloudsplitter #russellbanks #vintage #randomhouse #uscivilwar #johnbrown #harpersferry #1859

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Sararl77
Cloudsplitter | Russell Banks
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Pickpick

I loved this book enough to buy it digitally and in paper, and to listen to the audio. Beautiful language for complicated characters--particularly Owen brown, son of John Brown, last of the terrorist abolitionists, in this telling, to survive the raid on Harper's Ferry that leads to America's civil war. It's not an easy read but well worth it

Suet624 Such a good book. 7y
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Sararl77
Cloudsplitter | Russell Banks

Times of heroism...are generally times of terror.