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eerupps's review against another edition
4.0
I would give this book 4.5 stars. This was set in Boston in 1919 during the strike of the Boston Police, which is something I had never learned about before reading the book. The author did a great job intermingling fictional characters with real people, and I was particularly fond of his black and white main characters, Luther and Danny. They were both written as very genuine yet somewhat flawed and I thought they were very believeable.
jacq03's review against another edition
5.0
Dennis Lehane is just so great at creating and entire world and rich characters that make you feel like you're right there in the story. I'm a fan of his books and movie adaptions of his them (the fact that they're all Boston-centric helps), but this is the biggest and best I've read yet. It is amazing how much story, color, detail, history and information is packed into these pages. A great piece of historical fiction that fully drew me in and made me want to learn more about the Boston of the 1910s and all that was happening there, politically and socially. There's a lot that is still so relevant today, too.
johnson5509's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
elisala's review against another edition
4.0
Un livre costaud et violent, passionnant. Certes, des personnages et des situations un poil caricaturaux parfois - je crois (j'espère), mais malgré cela, assez bons témoins d'une époque, l'entre-deux guerres aux Etats-Unis, pleine de gronde sociale, de violence raciale.
Là-dessus, une écriture sans chichis ni effets de manches (ou si peu).
Plus de 800 pages (tout de même) que j'ai dévorées plus vite que je n'aurais pu l'espérer (c'est bon signe).
Là-dessus, une écriture sans chichis ni effets de manches (ou si peu).
Plus de 800 pages (tout de même) que j'ai dévorées plus vite que je n'aurais pu l'espérer (c'est bon signe).
cnorbury's review against another edition
4.0
It's amazing how much I like and agree with Kemper's review of books we've both read. Lehane's one of my favorite authors of all time, and always gives his readers a good read and something to think about. His rhythmic prose and lyricism are up there with the best. Back to Kemper's comments, I also thought the Babe Ruth chapters were stuck in there for some reason I didn't fathom. I enjoyed those chapters but the book would have been fine, maybe better, without them.
rglossner's review against another edition
5.0
Boston near the end of the First World War is the setting for this richly layered novel of two families. The Coughlins are Irish, deeply embedded in the police and political structure of the city. Luther is black, running away from a crime committed in the Midwest, working for the nascent NAACP in Boston. Baseball, anarchists, immigrants, Brahmins, all form a part of this satisfying historical novel, the first of the Coughlin Trilogy.
we_are_all_mad_here26's review against another edition
3.0
The Given Day...it was good enough, I enjoyed reading it, but at times I thought - what I've read in the last 400 pages could possibly have been covered in 300. Maybe 250. So I really don't know if 700 pages were necessary to tell this story. That said, it was a good piece of historical fiction, lots of interesting details, and it made that time period feel real. The story moved along well enough to keep me engaged. But, I did look at my page counter more than I normally would. I'd recommend this book, but only if you're already a fan of 700-page novels in general. For anyone who gets impatient after 300 pages or so, or who couldn't bear to finish, like, Gone With the Wind - this might not be the book for you.
sandeestarlite's review against another edition
baseball...boxing...maybe I've been reading too many vampires and zombies but the sports metaphors just didn't catch my attention as the author was setting the tone of the book.
yo_steedgirl's review against another edition
4.0
The Given Day is a massive historical fiction, covering a lot of territory over its 700+ pages:
-The end of WWI
-The 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic
-The 1918 World Series (Red Sox beat the Cubs)
-The early years of the NAACP
-Greenwood / "Black Wall Street" (Tulsa, OK)
-The Red Summer of 1919 (race riots in Chicago and Washington, DC)
-The Red Scare / fear of Bolshevism and anarchism following the Russian Revolution
-The 1919 Boston Molasses Flood
-The 1919 Boston Police Strike
While The Given Day doesn't have the same moody atmospherics and mystery that I loved from Shutter Island, Lehane still creates a captivating story within the historical fiction genre with his flawed, riveting, and deeply developed characters. The story plays out as it follows two main characters: Luther Lawrence, a poor black man who is trying to run away from a terrible crime and reconcile/reunite with his wife and baby, and Danny Coughlin, a Boston police officer on the front line of the fight for workers' rights and the unionization of police officers.
Through their struggles, Lehane is able to play with themes of survival, power, patriotism, racism, classism, and what it means to be a man. The book really omits any consideration of the events or general times from a female perspective, despite the fact that the US was deep into the women's suffrage movement and about to pass the 19th Amendment in 1920. (These events are mentioned in passing.) However, rather than creating a boys club vibe, Lehane uses this male-centered perspective to address the systemic patriarchy and white supremacy in America at this time. This is a man's story -- where is the line between man and less than a man? Between serving your city with honor and pride or having to admit that while doing so you cannot provide for your family. Where is the line between humane and inhumane, between upholding the law and turning your back on it?
It was fascinating to read this book over 100 years after the events of the story and to see America still struggling with the same things. Mishandling of a pandemic. Fear and distrust of immigrants. Protests in Ferguson and Baltimore over racial inequality and policing of black bodies.
Overall, I highly recommend this book -- both for a good story and a good history lesson!
-The end of WWI
-The 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic
-The 1918 World Series (Red Sox beat the Cubs)
-The early years of the NAACP
-Greenwood / "Black Wall Street" (Tulsa, OK)
-The Red Summer of 1919 (race riots in Chicago and Washington, DC)
-The Red Scare / fear of Bolshevism and anarchism following the Russian Revolution
-The 1919 Boston Molasses Flood
-The 1919 Boston Police Strike
While The Given Day doesn't have the same moody atmospherics and mystery that I loved from Shutter Island, Lehane still creates a captivating story within the historical fiction genre with his flawed, riveting, and deeply developed characters. The story plays out as it follows two main characters: Luther Lawrence, a poor black man who is trying to run away from a terrible crime and reconcile/reunite with his wife and baby, and Danny Coughlin, a Boston police officer on the front line of the fight for workers' rights and the unionization of police officers.
Through their struggles, Lehane is able to play with themes of survival, power, patriotism, racism, classism, and what it means to be a man. The book really omits any consideration of the events or general times from a female perspective, despite the fact that the US was deep into the women's suffrage movement and about to pass the 19th Amendment in 1920. (These events are mentioned in passing.) However, rather than creating a boys club vibe, Lehane uses this male-centered perspective to address the systemic patriarchy and white supremacy in America at this time. This is a man's story -- where is the line between man and less than a man? Between serving your city with honor and pride or having to admit that while doing so you cannot provide for your family. Where is the line between humane and inhumane, between upholding the law and turning your back on it?
It was fascinating to read this book over 100 years after the events of the story and to see America still struggling with the same things. Mishandling of a pandemic. Fear and distrust of immigrants. Protests in Ferguson and Baltimore over racial inequality and policing of black bodies.
Overall, I highly recommend this book -- both for a good story and a good history lesson!