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komet2020's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
A MIDWINTER'S TALE marks the beginning of a series of novels featuring the O'Malleys, an Irish American Catholic family in Chicago. Charles Cronin O'Malley (better known to family and friends as "Chucky") is the eldest son (born in 1928), sporting red hair who acquires a reputation for being cheeky, as well as having a knack for getting out of the most sticky situations with an enhanced reputation. He shares with the reader the experiences he and family had of living through the Depression, getting through World War II (during which his father was a reserve officer with the National Guard who was able to use his talent as an architect to design buildings for the U.S. Army not far from home - and Mrs. O'Malley worked at an aircraft plant, painting B-24 bombers for the war effort) and high school.
By the time Chucky has graduated from high school, he joins the Army, and spends the next 2 years in Bamberg, Germany (as part of the Constabulary of the U.S. Army of Occupation) where he served as "a wise-cracking clerk-typist" finding himself more often than not in a variety of colorful and potentially perilous experiences through which he emerges from late adolescence into early adulthood.
All in all, a very delightful and entertaining novel.
By the time Chucky has graduated from high school, he joins the Army, and spends the next 2 years in Bamberg, Germany (as part of the Constabulary of the U.S. Army of Occupation) where he served as "a wise-cracking clerk-typist" finding himself more often than not in a variety of colorful and potentially perilous experiences through which he emerges from late adolescence into early adulthood.
All in all, a very delightful and entertaining novel.
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