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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Really boring. Had to read it for school and I would never read anything like this for fun.
I feel like I didn't give this book the type of attention that it deserves. I think that this is the type of book that really ought to be read in a single sitting and unfortunately, I read it in small spurts, while very distracted. Having said that, I thought that it was a pretty incredible book. I picked it out of a book box and I am not sure if I would have come across it otherwise. I am glad that I took a chance with it. It's both engaging and heartbreaking. On another note, I also liked the use of maps. I rarely read a book twice, but I think this one warrants a revisit.
A fabulous historcial read. One of the best war books out there. A book that does not delve too much into bloody, gory war, but behind the scenes action. The scene with Lewis Armistead will break your heart
The Killer Angels inspired the movie "Gettysburg", with Jeff Daniels and Martin Sheen. It chronicles the battle of Gettysburg in the American Civil War from the point of view of several key officers from both the Union and Confederate sides. I found one of my heroes from reading this book-Joshua Chamberlain. He's relatively unknown, but was a key figure in the Union victory. I'd recommend this book only for people who really enjoy historical fiction, though--it can be a little tough to get through otherwise. I really enjoyed it, but that's because I'm an American History nut. But it's my favorite Civil War I've ever read, up there with All Quiet on the Western Front for WWI and Flags of our Fathers for WWII.
I was dreading this choice for one of my book clubs, but I was surprised by how much I liked this novel about the Battle of Gettysburg. I had visited Gettysburg last summer with my family and remembered most of what I had seen on the two tours we had taken as the book refreshed my memory. This novel is more than just a recounting of the battle; Michael Shaara tells the story from the points of view of the various Generals who led both sides into the Battle. He writes so well, I felt the heat and smells of the battlefield. I highly recommend this for fans of military fiction and even casual fans of the Civil War.
This book reads like fiction, although it tells the real story of Gettysburg with real characters. It really made the battle and the people come alive for me. I love that it gave the perspectives of both the North and the South.
This book was published in 1974 and won a Pulitzer Prize, but was not a best-seller, in large part because there was no great appetite for war books in that Vietnam-weary year. 19 years later the book was made in to the movie *Gettysburg* and the book was then discovered and became a NYT bestseller.
The author of one of my favorite books (*Battle Cry of Freedom*), James McPherson, wrote this about *Killer Angels*: "My favorite historical novel . . . a superb re-creation of the Battle of Gettysburg, but its real importance is its insight into what the war was about, and what it meant.” While it's true this is a story about that battle, it's just as much a fictional recreation of how various soldiers might have thought about that battle, about the Civil War, and about life itself. The story is told from the perspective of several soldiers, from both North and South, but particularly from the perspective of the Union's Joshua Chamberlain and the Confederacy's James Longstreet and Robert E. Lee.
Chamberlain, a college professor from Maine, shows great courage and creativity, along with a philosophical perspective on this war. He faces the moral dilemma of whether to place his brother Thomas in the line of fire.
Longstreet, essentially Robert E. Lee's #2, does everything possible to dissuade Lee from his aggressive approach to this battle. Despite the worship Lee receives from his soldiers, Longstreet sees through the immorality of what Lee is doing and Longstreet is vindicated in his assessment of Lee's approach at Gettysburg. Ironically, it is Longstreet who is eventually blamed by Southerners for the defeat at Gettysburg as part of the Lost Cause near-deification of Robert E. Lee. Chamberlain and Longstreet are the heroes in this book and I like to think they would have enjoyed each other's company after the war.
(Longstreet's post-war life is fascinating: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Longstreet#Reconstruction_era)
Great writing, great story-telling, and insightful characters. Highly recommended.
The author of one of my favorite books (*Battle Cry of Freedom*), James McPherson, wrote this about *Killer Angels*: "My favorite historical novel . . . a superb re-creation of the Battle of Gettysburg, but its real importance is its insight into what the war was about, and what it meant.” While it's true this is a story about that battle, it's just as much a fictional recreation of how various soldiers might have thought about that battle, about the Civil War, and about life itself. The story is told from the perspective of several soldiers, from both North and South, but particularly from the perspective of the Union's Joshua Chamberlain and the Confederacy's James Longstreet and Robert E. Lee.
Chamberlain, a college professor from Maine, shows great courage and creativity, along with a philosophical perspective on this war. He faces the moral dilemma of whether to place his brother Thomas in the line of fire.
Longstreet, essentially Robert E. Lee's #2, does everything possible to dissuade Lee from his aggressive approach to this battle. Despite the worship Lee receives from his soldiers, Longstreet sees through the immorality of what Lee is doing and Longstreet is vindicated in his assessment of Lee's approach at Gettysburg. Ironically, it is Longstreet who is eventually blamed by Southerners for the defeat at Gettysburg as part of the Lost Cause near-deification of Robert E. Lee. Chamberlain and Longstreet are the heroes in this book and I like to think they would have enjoyed each other's company after the war.
(Longstreet's post-war life is fascinating: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Longstreet#Reconstruction_era)
Great writing, great story-telling, and insightful characters. Highly recommended.