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4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
dark
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
I haven't read a lot of non-fiction history books in my day. I recognize that this a fault in my reading habits. But it is difficult to read a deep novel when you have a young child who seems to need almost constant attention. As a reader I struggled with the dense text. I was left feeling there was no strong story arc. I found this book dull and didn't really care for the way it was organized. I would much rather read a book that flows clearly and draws me in deeply.
I think my next attempt at a historical book will be Unbroken or 1776. Do you have a recommendation?
I think my next attempt at a historical book will be Unbroken or 1776. Do you have a recommendation?
An entertaining and fascinating study on the longevity and ambiguity of cultural symbols like the confederate flag. Makes me want to review the war chronologically, any good book suggestions for an accurate and perhaps concise account of the civil war?
OK, so I'm on a Civil War road trip with my Significant Other, following the official Virginia state "Lee's Retreat" tour and reading to him from "Confederates in the Attic" to pass the time. The section we were reading dealt with the bigger-than-life owner of an old general store that he had turned into a museum (of sorts).
I said "this is really over-the-top -- Horowitz maybe exaggerated this guy to make a better story." S.O. said: "we should try to find the place" and just then, we pass an old general store. SO slows the car, then backs up, and damned if the guy described in the book, Jimmy Olger, isn't sitting outside, shooting the $#!t with some of the locals. And he's MORE colorful than described - it anything, Horowitz played it down a little.
So after being guided through his store and hearing all of his tall tales about it, we wander across the street to a hitorical house, with a marker showing it as part of the Official "Lee's Retreat" Tour. The sign says "tour guide available across the street". We turn, and there's Mr. Olger, waving to us. We give him a donation, and we're off on another tour, this one of his ancestors' house, which was involved in one of the last battles of the war. But to listen to him, you would have thought it happened yesterday, and he was being a Bigger Man by showing hospitality to two interloping Yankees who may have well shot up his great Grandma's house themselves.
Being Yankees, we've put the Civil War behind us, but didn't realize until reading this book and touring the South, that many Southerns have not. Anyone wishing a deeper understanding about why the South is as it is today, why there's the whole "Red State/Blue State" thing will want to read this book. On the other hand, if you don't give a flying leap about all that, but like a good yarn, and want to meet some interesting and colorful characters, this book is for you, too.
I said "this is really over-the-top -- Horowitz maybe exaggerated this guy to make a better story." S.O. said: "we should try to find the place" and just then, we pass an old general store. SO slows the car, then backs up, and damned if the guy described in the book, Jimmy Olger, isn't sitting outside, shooting the $#!t with some of the locals. And he's MORE colorful than described - it anything, Horowitz played it down a little.
So after being guided through his store and hearing all of his tall tales about it, we wander across the street to a hitorical house, with a marker showing it as part of the Official "Lee's Retreat" Tour. The sign says "tour guide available across the street". We turn, and there's Mr. Olger, waving to us. We give him a donation, and we're off on another tour, this one of his ancestors' house, which was involved in one of the last battles of the war. But to listen to him, you would have thought it happened yesterday, and he was being a Bigger Man by showing hospitality to two interloping Yankees who may have well shot up his great Grandma's house themselves.
Being Yankees, we've put the Civil War behind us, but didn't realize until reading this book and touring the South, that many Southerns have not. Anyone wishing a deeper understanding about why the South is as it is today, why there's the whole "Red State/Blue State" thing will want to read this book. On the other hand, if you don't give a flying leap about all that, but like a good yarn, and want to meet some interesting and colorful characters, this book is for you, too.
Absolutely fascinating. Love his voice and the pace of the story. It isn't dry at all.
I read this after reading Horwitz's Columbus book and seeing everyone talk about how great Confederates is. I definitely enjoyed this one more--there was more of a "roadtrip" feel to it, and I felt like we were actually moving along.
Being a recent transplant to the South, I found a lot of his observances still true, 10+ years later. While you have your usual nutjobs throughout, there are also real people, who are caught up in something that just won't seem to end. This book wasn't always good for my blood pressure (I have no idea how he kept his cool around all the blatant bigots), but I did learn a lot about a culture that confuses me.
This isn't a terribly uplifting book (though it has funny moments), but good for when you want a serious read.
Being a recent transplant to the South, I found a lot of his observances still true, 10+ years later. While you have your usual nutjobs throughout, there are also real people, who are caught up in something that just won't seem to end. This book wasn't always good for my blood pressure (I have no idea how he kept his cool around all the blatant bigots), but I did learn a lot about a culture that confuses me.
This isn't a terribly uplifting book (though it has funny moments), but good for when you want a serious read.
I'm a bit torn with this one, it was entertaining but at the same time could be dry, it was informative but also repetitive. I found out some interesting bits and pieces but nothing more. I was hoping for something a bit more fast paced.
Since I've spent most of my life in the South, and since I'm a fan of Gone with the Wind, I almost always find myself rooting for the Confederates. [edit: I NO LONGER FEEL THIS WAY. WHAT A STUPID THING TO THINK. I APOLOGIZE FOR BEING A DUMB BUTTHOLE.]
This is, of course, fully 150 years after the war, which I did not have to live through, and after the Emancipation Proclamation, which I also did not have to wrestle with. It's difficult to analyze my ancestors' ideals with my 21st century criteria.
This is the problem Horwitz runs into as well: how do you reconcile the "good old days" with the horrors of slavery? Do people who revere the Confederacy also wish that all of the Old South's institutions were still in place? Why do so many people, after so many years, still idolize the losers of our country's bloodiest war?
For a Southerner, speaking of the Civil War often involves careful, deliberate articulation of ideas, a thoughtfully worded dance in which one must deride her heritage but still celebrate it. Tony Horwitz explores this dichotomy and attempts to understand why the Civil War is still such a big deal in the New South by speaking to re-enactors, activists, Sons and Daughters of the Confederacy, and good ol' boys who will defiantly fly the rebel flag 'til they die.
It would be easy to call names and take sides--shoot, the best way to start a fight anywhere in the South is to bring up the Confederate flag--but Horwitz manages to remain mostly unbiased, which must have taken a lot of self-control. It is, in fact, his research into the death of a Kentucky man, a murder by a group of black men which may have been instigated by the victim's flying the rebel flag, that is most unsettling, both for Horwitz AND for me.
At times I was proud of the Southerners Horwitz ran into, and at times I was embarrassed. I suspect it's the same no matter what region you're traveling: there are good people and bad people everywhere, and the crazies just shout louder and get more media coverage.
As for me, I'm still not sure which side I'd choose, if I were forced. [edit: YES I DO; I’D FIGHT FOR THE SIDE THAT DOESNT BUY AND EXPLOIT PEOPLE. IM SORRY FOR BEING A DUMB IDIOT.]
It's probably the same choice most Civil War soldiers also had to face: do you fight for your family or for your country?
There's no easy answer. [YES THERE IS. BOY, CULTURAL INDOCTRINATION SURE GOT ME, BUT I HOPE IM SMARTER NOW.]
This is, of course, fully 150 years after the war, which I did not have to live through, and after the Emancipation Proclamation, which I also did not have to wrestle with. It's difficult to analyze my ancestors' ideals with my 21st century criteria.
This is the problem Horwitz runs into as well: how do you reconcile the "good old days" with the horrors of slavery? Do people who revere the Confederacy also wish that all of the Old South's institutions were still in place? Why do so many people, after so many years, still idolize the losers of our country's bloodiest war?
For a Southerner, speaking of the Civil War often involves careful, deliberate articulation of ideas, a thoughtfully worded dance in which one must deride her heritage but still celebrate it. Tony Horwitz explores this dichotomy and attempts to understand why the Civil War is still such a big deal in the New South by speaking to re-enactors, activists, Sons and Daughters of the Confederacy, and good ol' boys who will defiantly fly the rebel flag 'til they die.
It would be easy to call names and take sides--shoot, the best way to start a fight anywhere in the South is to bring up the Confederate flag--but Horwitz manages to remain mostly unbiased, which must have taken a lot of self-control. It is, in fact, his research into the death of a Kentucky man, a murder by a group of black men which may have been instigated by the victim's flying the rebel flag, that is most unsettling, both for Horwitz AND for me.
At times I was proud of the Southerners Horwitz ran into, and at times I was embarrassed. I suspect it's the same no matter what region you're traveling: there are good people and bad people everywhere, and the crazies just shout louder and get more media coverage.
As for me, I'm still not sure which side I'd choose, if I were forced. [edit: YES I DO; I’D FIGHT FOR THE SIDE THAT DOESNT BUY AND EXPLOIT PEOPLE. IM SORRY FOR BEING A DUMB IDIOT.]
It's probably the same choice most Civil War soldiers also had to face: do you fight for your family or for your country?
There's no easy answer. [YES THERE IS. BOY, CULTURAL INDOCTRINATION SURE GOT ME, BUT I HOPE IM SMARTER NOW.]