Helpful Score: 2
This is a fairly good novel about the horrors of Andersonville Prison in the Civil War. However...it is very, very, long.
Helpful Score: 2
This is one of the most remarkable books that you will ever experience. It has a reputation as a "tough read," but the effort is more than worth it. You will come to KNOW these characters. The ambience of the story is as superbly rendered as the characterizations, and the "you are there" texture of the book is felt with intensity. There are no quotation marks in the speech, so sometimes it's difficult to tell if the character is talking or if it's internalization. Remarkably, this adds to the power of the book. As a reviewer noted earlier, there's a dream-like quality to the prose that would have been diminished by adding quotes. The author breaks some rules by changing point-of-view, tense, and person, yet it all works so well that it does not detract in any way. You may find yourself drifting away at times; not out of boredom, but because Kantor makes you think about what you've just read. If you have ever lost a friend or family member in a war this story will be painful. It is emotionally charged (excuse the cliche) to the highest possible point. I agree with most readers that "Gone With The Wind" and "The Killer Angels" and "Cold Mountain" are five-star novels, but "Andersonville" is on another level. Thirty stars, perhaps. You'll nevr forget Ira and Lucy and the men (and women) of "Andersonville."
Helpful Score: 1
In the early 1960s I was stationed (for the first time) at Fort Benning, GA. It was then that my commander and I made a trip to Andersonville, GA. He had read Kantors book; somehow I delayed doing so for 40 years. Back then, to get to Anderson one had to travel over back red clay roads. Little seemed to have changed in the 100 years since one of our most notorious prisons stood just outside this quiet village. Little remained of the prison; all had long since been removed. Stakes indicated where the structures once were; where lightening had opened the spring; nothing was rebuilt; no visitors center; wander on your own. So this is the story of that infamous prison: a long series of vignettes of typical prisoners, their wardens, and the local populace. A great deal of Christian scripture is intermingled with each chapter. Thus, it is not only a history, but also a long drawn out novel. Reading it is nearly a sentence in itself. Stop when you become sickened with the stories; skip to the end, but, to use the title of another of Kantors Civil War novels, Long Remember the ignominy of the prisons existence.
