Reviews

Johnny One-Eye: A Tale of the American Revolution by Jerome Charyn

jwilly19's review against another edition

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5.0

Seriously one of the best books I've read. I had never heard of this guy before I picked this up, and I've never seen anything else by him in the bookstore. But if you like historical fiction, please read this. Highly entertaining.

truebookaddict's review against another edition

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4.0

John Stocking, aka Johnny One-Eye is an enigmatic character. Is he a loyalist or a rebel? Is he for the British or for America? Is he George Washington's son or not? None of these questions really get answered, but that's not really a problem in this novel. Charyn succeeds in bringing across the precarious nature of America during the Revolutionary War. The ins and outs of British occupied Manhattan are quite confusing. I found myself scratching my head several times wondering who was on whose side. We are introduced to famous characters such as George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and Alexander Hamilton and we are exposed to their characters and personalities from the point of view of Johnny One-Eye. Does his one eye give him a skewed view of the world? Sometimes it would seem so. Was George Washington hopelessly in love with a woman who would become a madam? Possibly true. Did Benedict Arnold turn traitor because his beautiful wife was intelligent and a British spy? That would seem true as well. All of these intrigues are portrayed nicely in the book and although they may not be altogether factual, one can't help but believe in their plausibility. I will warn you, this may not be a book to read if you have no interest in history. As a history buff myself, I found the book to be a refreshing look at the Revolutionary War.

panxa's review

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The idea is interesting but the author uses archaic grammar forms inconsistently or incorrectly, so that it disrupts reading and irritates one of my pet peeves. I'm going to give it a few more chapters, but I have a feeling I won't be finishing this.

Okay, can't stand it anymore. The language is too distracting.
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