Reviews

The Good Lord Bird. La storia di John Brown by James McBride

katel1970's review against another edition

5.0

Interesting, odd, and funny. Though I realize it's weird to call a book about John Brown funny, I laughed out loud many times. Many witty turns of phrase.

annafollin33's review against another edition

challenging funny reflective

4.5

shirleytupperfreeman's review against another edition

I'm not sure how an author can tell a story about famous abolitionist, John Brown, and make it quite funny, but James McBride succeeded. The fact that John Brown was ultimately responsible for the deaths of quite a few people does make one wonder about the use of humor, but it's perfect. I feel like I learned a lot of history while enjoying the ride. The story is told by a 12-year-old freed slave who becomes part of Brown's abolitionist 'army' as it terrorizes the slave-holding folk in the Kansas Territory. John Brown was deeply religious and his prayers could go on for hours unless one of his sons reigned him in once the food was stone cold. Fictitious Henrietta (Henry) is a keen observer with a keen wit and a keen interest in self-preservation. It's a clever story with many comments about race that are laugh-out-loud funny. Afterwards I felt compelled to learn more about that time in American history and about the Harper's Ferry Raid in particular.

teaandtbr's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

chaosmavin's review against another edition

3.0

I definitely like the book but I did not love the book. It did not change my life and it did not really enlighten me anymore then anything else to the struggle and plate of African-American slaves in the US. It did educate me a bit on the story of John Brown Whom I had no familiarization with prior along from knowing that he had a baby with a cold upon its chest. I'm guessing I would've liked the actual historical account better and yet I really do appreciate the clever way in which James McBride tells the story. Well I didn't particularly care for onion as a lead character I could appreciate Mcbrid'es skill as a writer creating such a strong voice and character with in this child. I read the book because I saw McBride speak and he is an excellent speaker. Use also an excellent writer and the book is very well written. It's not that I wouldn't recommend the book it's just I don't know that I would just recommend it to everyone.

riverdeboz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

bookysue's review against another edition

3.0

The first hundred and some pages were slow and empty of detailed description or any real plot, and I barely made it through. That whole portion of the book could be summed up easily by just saying "John Brown prayed a lot." It felt like every other paragraph was another reminder that he prayed a lot and took a long time for each prayer.

But at some the story finally started holding my interest. And it got pretty good after that. It was interesting to read the wikipedia article on the Harpers Ferry raid afterward, to see how much of it matched up with the book. And Onion's story offered up some reasonable explanations for why certain people might have done what they did, filling in some of the gaps in the history books.

nobookendinsight's review against another edition

Other books are priority. Might revisit later.

theflamingopriss's review against another edition

adventurous funny informative reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

mam22nov's review against another edition

3.0

I liked it because it was about a person and an era I wasn't very familiar with, and there was a lot of humor in the book. But it dragged a bit in parts and I found the build up to the ending a bit uneven. I guess the plot could have been played for more dramatic effect, but the book did make you think, so mission accomplished.