Solid historical fiction dedicated to historical accuracy, sometimes at the expense of rip-roaring storytelling.
Smith (Wah-Say-Lan: A Tale of the Iroquois in the American Revolution, 2009) braids together historical fact and fiction in this YA version of a tale he’s spun before as a novel—one that’s full of passion, romance, loss, and carefully researched historical information.
Wah-say-lan is a young Seneca woman living on the shores of Lake Canandaigua in New York. Her peaceful life is shattered, however, with the arrival of what will eventually be known as the Revolutionary War. Caught up in that conflict is Freeman Trentham, a slave fighting in the Continental Army on the promise of freedom at the end of the fighting. His hopes seem short-lived, however, when he finds himself captured by the Seneca and their British allies. Trentham is immediately transfixed by Wah-say-lan’s beauty, and she finds herself dreaming of him in the night. Soon enough, they save one another, each trying to find their own sort of freedom, from slavery or from the encroaching war. Their journey brings them into contact with figures both real and fictional, from Thomas Jefferson, who owns Trentham’s mother, to the Marquis de Lafayette, who meets Wah-say-lan on the road. The book’s historical detail is its greatest strength, and an appendix gives a detailed list of the sources consulted to ensure accuracy. At times, though, this exactitude can crowd the story, leaving it a bit dry. Characters are clear, believable, and enjoyable to read, but their voices become fainter under the burden of communicating historical detail as well as dialogue—likely a result of condensing down his previous novel for this YA version.
Solid historical fiction dedicated to historical accuracy, sometimes at the expense of rip-roaring storytelling.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2015
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Dog Ear Publisher
Review Posted Online: Nov. 5, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Witty and engaging, this short novel will provide readers a dose of hilarity and a quick cure for the workaday blues.
The laugh-out-loud tale of how a hapless accountant endures a three-day coma in the company of another soul in limbo, observing the gritty, often bizarre goings-on of an inner-city emergency room.
It’s just after Christmas, and Alan Fries is confused: Why are nurses wearing antlers hovering over him, and why, instead of watching the Bears–Vikings game, is he hanging out in the ER with an 87-year-old crank named Jerry? Apparently in limbo while awaiting resuscitation or a signed death certificate, the oddball pair become dead flies on the walls in St. Augustine’s—aka Holy Tino’s—an aging Chicago hospital with grave financial issues and a staff of embattled but good-hearted nurses and doctors. This cast of characters could top the Nielsen ratings in a TV sitcom: the doctor who leaves his sperm sample in the fridge, the veteran nurse putting the kibosh on an intern’s crush and the ever-plentiful nutcases who file through the ER’s sliding doors. The flirtations, the combative patients and the increasing suspicions about the hospital CEO all come peppered with Jerry’s curmudgeon commentary and Alan’s naïve curiosity regarding such ephemera as why he can’t activate the paper towel dispenser and whether he should have a bucket or an “unbucket” list. Author Knauss, who practices emergency medicine when not penning novels, structures the narrative on a framework of expertise that gives the story both legitimacy and depth. He also wisely weaves in strands of seriocomic contemplation as Alan regularly ponders his life choices and his treatment of his wife, Laura. He misses her, although strangely, he doesn’t spend time in Room 4, where she waits anxiously with his best friend. Nor does he seem interested in the progress of his tube-ridden, comatose body. But such questions aside, Alan's and Jerry’s repartee and observations are a gas to read, and the subplot that arises about halfway through adds to the sense of purpose that Alan felt was previously lacking in his life. He even plans for the future—provided he recovers.
Witty and engaging, this short novel will provide readers a dose of hilarity and a quick cure for the workaday blues.Pub Date: April 5, 2012
ISBN: 9781477572436
Page Count: -
Publisher: Dog Ear Publisher
Review Posted Online: June 25, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A fine philosophical text to aid in considering the big ideas.
Brutus’ first book of philosophy offers a glimpse into the minds of some of history’s greatest thinkers.
Starting with the ancient Greeks and jumping through cultures and epochs, Brutus leads his readers through various musings on the titular question: Is philosophy merely important nonsense? After focusing by turn on suffering, peace, hope and other philosophical dilemmas, his essays ultimately conclude that philosophy is, indeed, a worthwhile—though occasionally nonsensical—pursuit. Of course, a philosopher would say that; still, while Brutus posits (along with Buddha and others) that life is all about the problem of suffering and how to best deal with it, he nonetheless leans toward the Nietzschean attitude of striving ever forward as the best way to surmount life’s difficulties, rather than developing any new theories on the subject. In fact, Brutus identifies Nietzsche’s philosophy as the cure for the disease of modern life. Brutus also contemplates Wittgenstein’s idea that “doing philosophy” is actually the product of a diseased mind, where one must eventually be cured of this funny habit of pondering existence if one is to “get well.” Therefore, can or should one stop doing philosophy? Wittgenstein, the notoriously dour Austrian, certainly believed so, but here the question is left unanswered for the reader to decide, depending on his or her preferred school of thought. Rather than bringing any new ideas to the table, this book reads more like a primer on philosophical thought throughout the ages, in which Brutus demonstrates considerable command over the looming philosophical questions that continue to plague contemplative modern man.
A fine philosophical text to aid in considering the big ideas.Pub Date: April 12, 2012
ISBN: 978-0615608808
Page Count: 252
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
