Litsy

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In this broadly comic account of a tragic story, an enslaved 12-year-old boy is freed by John Brown, mistaken for a girl, and spends the next few years enmeshed in Brown's plans for an uprising to end slavery. Henry, aka Onion, is focused mainly on his own survival and definitely not on heroism. By the inevitable end, his attachment to Brown gives emotional resonance to a death that forced a nation to face its sins.

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Kazzie

The Good Lord Bird | James McBride

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Very good! This writer is amazing, and again this book doesn‘t disappoint

3 likes

staci.reads

The Good Lord Bird | James McBride

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I loved Deacon King Kong, so I added this one to my book stacks soon after I read Deacon. I loved many things about this book, and McBride's humor is on point. I found, though, that it tended to drag on and become tedious for long sections of the narrative. While I can appreciate his skill and his irreverent humor, it was a less-could-have-been-more situation for me. This was my July #Doublespin @TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 1y

70 likes1 comment

marleed

Cloudsplitter | Russell Banks

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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

Leftcoastzen

Cloudsplitter | Russell Banks

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

The Art of the Tale: An International Anthology of Short Stories, 1945-1985

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

SamAnne

Cloudsplitter | Russell Banks

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

melissajayne

The Good Lord Bird | James McBride

so-so

3⭐️ Really liked the overall story, but felt that it could have used some more editing. I can see why the book won the #nationalbookaward, but felt it was slow in a number of places and it felt at times like the author was trying too hard to make the story more compelling. #2022 #fallreads #fiction #historicalfiction #bookreview #bookstagram #americancivilwar

27 likes

Adventures_of_a_French_Reader

The Good Lord Bird | James McBride

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I really enjoyed this novel that made me discover John Brown, and his fight for the abolition of slavery.
I loved the narrator, Onion, who recounts his time in John Brown's army with a truth-revealing sense of humor.

jlhammar I need to get to this one! I loved his more recent novel, Deacon King Kong (audio was fantastic), and his memoir, The Color of Water. 3y

BookNotes I loved this book. 3y

Adventures_of_a_French_Reader @jlhammar I actually own these two books... So many more books to read ;) The more I read, the more I feel I don't read enough, haha. 3y

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