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A review by k8atonic
Gone to Soldiers by Marge Piercy
3.0
DONE. Good grief, SIX MONTHS to read this sucker. I should have looked to see how long this was before downloading. My kobo doesn’t tell me how many pages, just percent finished, and this was freaking AGONY.
On the other hand, this was indeed an exceptionally well written book with expressive language that painted vivid landscapes and scenes; strong, admirable characters and wholly hateful ones too; and gripping story lines that ripped away all blinkers of romanticism about WWII. And, I learned a lot, which I love about good historical fiction. (LOVED the story line of Bernice and the experiences of the women ferrying the planes; and I had no idea about the creation of Israel as a direct result of WWII. Who knew!) Down sides: While it packed in a lot of info that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise, I don’t love books written from multiple character POV and this started VERY slowly for me for that reason. I couldn’t keep everyone straight and my attention and interest waned. My other tripping points were the way that attitudes about same-sex relationships were painted as being no big deal throughout the book when I expect the reality was VERY different at the time ... as well as the permissiveness about the illegitimate pregnancy. This, combined with the fact that she made me read so G-d lovin’ much, results in only 3 stars for her. I won’t be racing out to get any more of her work.
On the other hand, this was indeed an exceptionally well written book with expressive language that painted vivid landscapes and scenes; strong, admirable characters and wholly hateful ones too; and gripping story lines that ripped away all blinkers of romanticism about WWII. And, I learned a lot, which I love about good historical fiction. (LOVED the story line of Bernice and the experiences of the women ferrying the planes; and I had no idea about the creation of Israel as a direct result of WWII. Who knew!) Down sides: While it packed in a lot of info that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise, I don’t love books written from multiple character POV and this started VERY slowly for me for that reason. I couldn’t keep everyone straight and my attention and interest waned. My other tripping points were the way that attitudes about same-sex relationships were painted as being no big deal throughout the book when I expect the reality was VERY different at the time ... as well as the permissiveness about the illegitimate pregnancy. This, combined with the fact that she made me read so G-d lovin’ much, results in only 3 stars for her. I won’t be racing out to get any more of her work.