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A review by guybrarian133
Chesapeake by James A. Michener
3.0
A solid historical fiction epic overall, and a decent education on a part of the country that I was previously fairly unfamiliar with. However, I think that I'm still searching for the literary high that I experienced when I read my first Michener, Hawaii about a year ago when I happily traversed through several hundred years over the span of several hundred pages. Chesapeake meanwhile was a book where I much more acutely felt its length, especially after the first half. By the last few chapters, I found myself growing weary of most of the families that I had been following down through the generations, and frankly just a little tired overall from the entire reading endeavor.
The author was at his best and most engrossing when focus was on the land and fauna, and they practically (or in the case of one family of Canadian geese, literally) became characters. However, that wasn't enough to make me feel a sense of relief in the wrong way when the book came to a close. Methinks it will be a while until I'm ready to take on yet another Michener and try and attempt to see if I can get another Hawaii-esque experience.
The author was at his best and most engrossing when focus was on the land and fauna, and they practically (or in the case of one family of Canadian geese, literally) became characters. However, that wasn't enough to make me feel a sense of relief in the wrong way when the book came to a close. Methinks it will be a while until I'm ready to take on yet another Michener and try and attempt to see if I can get another Hawaii-esque experience.