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rebeccacider's review against another edition
4.0
4.5. Flanders is the Southern Gothic World War I novel you didn't know you wanted, and is a significant entry in the "war is hell" genre.
Our Texan narrator, the surprisingly compelling and uncorny Travis Lee Stanhope, signs up to be a British sharpshooter and struggles with all sorts of demons and ghosts, both figurative and (ambiguously) supernatural. An epistolary novel composed of letters whose destination becomes increasingly unclear, the prose is sharp and evocative and Travis Lee is an unforgettable character.
The novel's rhythm is set by the company's tour of duty, with intense days in the trenches followed by days of respite in the rest area. This cyclical structure manages to capture the boredom, anxiety, and angst of front-line combat in a way I've rarely seen.
That said, the dense repetition and slow pacing made this book at times a slog. Yet I was sufficiently invested in the story that it kept my attention to the end.
Our Texan narrator, the surprisingly compelling and uncorny Travis Lee Stanhope, signs up to be a British sharpshooter and struggles with all sorts of demons and ghosts, both figurative and (ambiguously) supernatural. An epistolary novel composed of letters whose destination becomes increasingly unclear, the prose is sharp and evocative and Travis Lee is an unforgettable character.
The novel's rhythm is set by the company's tour of duty, with intense days in the trenches followed by days of respite in the rest area. This cyclical structure manages to capture the boredom, anxiety, and angst of front-line combat in a way I've rarely seen.
That said, the dense repetition and slow pacing made this book at times a slog. Yet I was sufficiently invested in the story that it kept my attention to the end.
shahrun's review against another edition
4.0
A guy at work gave me this to read. He wanted to get my opinion on it, as he couldn't get into it. I know how frustrating it is to give people books and want a verdict. So I bumped it to the top of my reading and attatck it.
I'm not sure if it was because of the prejudice that may have been handed on to me with this book, or if the first 100 pages or so weren't as well written as the rest of the book. But it took me that long to get into the book. From there on in, I was hooked. Infact, I discovered you have to keep reading for things to make sense. This book did transport me to the horrors of trench warfare. (Infact I dusted off some reference books on WWI to look at the pictures as I was reading.) I think Ms Anthony really gives you a good feel for what it must have been like. I would be interested to read more of her works. Not too sure what will happen to this book next. I will offer it bak to my college to see if he thinks it may be worth another bash (I say yes).
He said no.
I'm not sure if it was because of the prejudice that may have been handed on to me with this book, or if the first 100 pages or so weren't as well written as the rest of the book. But it took me that long to get into the book. From there on in, I was hooked. Infact, I discovered you have to keep reading for things to make sense. This book did transport me to the horrors of trench warfare. (Infact I dusted off some reference books on WWI to look at the pictures as I was reading.) I think Ms Anthony really gives you a good feel for what it must have been like. I would be interested to read more of her works. Not too sure what will happen to this book next. I will offer it bak to my college to see if he thinks it may be worth another bash (I say yes).
He said no.
pctek's review against another edition
5.0
I've read quite a number of war books, true and fiction.
This is the best WW1 book since All Quiet on the Western Front, it may even be better in some ways.
Read it.
This is the best WW1 book since All Quiet on the Western Front, it may even be better in some ways.
Read it.
matthewn's review
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
I'd give this book more than five stars if I could.
expendablemudge's review
4.0
Rating: 4* of five
The Book Report: Travis Lee Stanhope leaves Harvard for France to join in the fighting of The Great War (WWI to thee and me), as so many of his generation of young American men did, on the side of the Allies. He chronicles his experiences as the lone Texan among European officers and men who, unlike the cruel and dismissive Yankee boys he's been spending his education among, chaff him good-naturedly about his accent and his origins.
He becomes, by virtue of his origins, a sharpshooter, and develops a track record of success in his task. He also makes some very...well...some discoveries, shall we say, that completely revolutionize his view of the material world, and what it contains, and what it conceals.
War isn't hell. War is only the gateway to it.
My Review: This wasn't a bestseller in 1998, when it was published. It wasn't widely reviewed. It wasn't a succès d'estime. High Literature, as defined by the unofficial and unconstituted American academy, excludes all forms of genre fiction...that condescending little shudder-word used to mark off the territory of Serious Books by excluding those which a writer without an MFA from Iowa, or a PhD in Literature, might wish to produce and an ordinary person might wish to read.
I'd direct those academicians, self-appointed or recognized at large, to books like this one Magical realism isn't simply a Latin American phenomenon. This epistolary work (and right there is the reason it was never a bestseller) rivals the storytelling gifts of Mujica Lainez or Cortazar or Vargas Llosa.
Don't overlook Travis Lee's magical adventures. You'll be the poorer for it.
The Book Report: Travis Lee Stanhope leaves Harvard for France to join in the fighting of The Great War (WWI to thee and me), as so many of his generation of young American men did, on the side of the Allies. He chronicles his experiences as the lone Texan among European officers and men who, unlike the cruel and dismissive Yankee boys he's been spending his education among, chaff him good-naturedly about his accent and his origins.
He becomes, by virtue of his origins, a sharpshooter, and develops a track record of success in his task. He also makes some very...well...some discoveries, shall we say, that completely revolutionize his view of the material world, and what it contains, and what it conceals.
War isn't hell. War is only the gateway to it.
My Review: This wasn't a bestseller in 1998, when it was published. It wasn't widely reviewed. It wasn't a succès d'estime. High Literature, as defined by the unofficial and unconstituted American academy, excludes all forms of genre fiction...that condescending little shudder-word used to mark off the territory of Serious Books by excluding those which a writer without an MFA from Iowa, or a PhD in Literature, might wish to produce and an ordinary person might wish to read.
I'd direct those academicians, self-appointed or recognized at large, to books like this one Magical realism isn't simply a Latin American phenomenon. This epistolary work (and right there is the reason it was never a bestseller) rivals the storytelling gifts of Mujica Lainez or Cortazar or Vargas Llosa.
Oh. Bobby, I can't remember what he said—I only recall the joy of it, the terror of watching the dark approach. Then we were at the cypress; O'Shaughnessey had to see it coming. He had to. The dark took up all Here, all Now. I wanted to run, but with the helplessness of dreamers, I trailed O'Shaughnessey inside.
I don't remember closing my eyes as we passed through that shadow membrane, but I remember opening them. Around me lay the broken countryside of No Man's Land. That was all. Nothing frightening, but a place like a thousand others—a spot where ghosties wander, searching for the land of the found,
O'Shaughnessey stopped, offered his hand in a goodbye, no extraordinary power but that of affection in his touch. “Travis?” he said.
“Yes?”
He leaned close to whisper a secret. His breath was warm and smelled of chocolate. “It's love.”
Don't overlook Travis Lee's magical adventures. You'll be the poorer for it.
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