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O SHEPHERD, SPEAK!

Name: O SHEPHERD, SPEAK!
Author: Upton Sinclair
ISBN: 1931313105

by Upton Sinclair ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 22, 1949

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This the tenth- and the author expresses his hope, the last —of the Lanny Budd series, brings the adventures of the presidential agent through the war crimes trials, the conflict- diplomatically speaking- with the Soviet, and finds him at the end in a position of trust with the new administration, sent to Moscow as Trumen's personal representative. The first half of the book is, as in previous volumes, set against a background of reality, with Lanny serving in a very special relation with Monuments, — sent into all parts of Europe as the occupation troops take over, to interrogate Germans who might help locate art treasures, accompanying some of the important survey expeditions, using his previous contacts as a bona fide art expert and advisor to the German leaders to worm facts from these very leaders as prisoners. He was caught in Bastogne; did signal service there and in Nancy and Luxembourg, in Munich and Nuremberg. From Europe to America and back- now at the summons of Roosevelt, now of the army. His intimate relations are, presumably, established by use of such nicknames as "Georgie" (Patton), a habit rather irritating to this reader! Lanny Budd addicts will welcome tying up loose threads as lost personalities are found- old friends reintroduced, — Monck, Hansi and Bess, Freddi Robin, Marceline, Rick (now a baronet, but still set on world betterment) and Nina his wife. Emily Chatterton has died, willing a million to Lanny in trust for world peace. And the development of this idea, with various ramifications (radio, syndicate, newspaper, authors' agency, etc.) provides the fictional last half of the story. There are bits here and there linked closely to history. Lanny is present at Los Alamos, for the important text. But in the main, his story shifts from men of action to men of ideas, so this is considerably less melodramatic in the personal sense than its predecessors. Will that decrease its market? I doubt it, for the Lanny Budd fan will go through with him to the end.

Pub Date: July 22, 1949

ISBN: 1931313105

Page Count: 330

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: April 11, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1949

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF UPTON SINCLAIR
by Upton Sinclair

- BOOK REVIEW
THE RETURN OF LANNY BUDD
by Upton Sinclair

- BOOK REVIEW
ENEMY HAD IT TOO
by Upton Sinclair

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BETWEEN SISTERS

by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2003

Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles...

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Sisters in and out of love.

Meghann Dontess is a high-powered matrimonial lawyer in Seattle who prefers sex with strangers to emotional intimacy: a strategy bound to backfire sooner or later, warns her tough-talking shrink. It’s advice Meghann decides to ignore, along with the memories of her difficult childhood, neglectful mother, and younger sister. Though she managed to reunite Claire with Sam Cavenaugh (her father but not Meghann’s) when her mother abandoned both girls long ago, Meghann still feels guilty that her sister’s life doesn’t measure up, at least on her terms. Never married, Claire ekes out a living running a country campground with her dad and is raising her six-year-old daughter on her own. When she falls in love for the first time with an up-and-coming country musician, Meghann is appalled: Bobby Austin is a three-time loser at marriage—how on earth can Claire be so blind? Bobby’s blunt explanation doesn’t exactly satisfy the concerned big sister, who busies herself planning Claire’s dream wedding anyway. And, to relieve the stress, she beds various guys she picks up in bars, including Dr. Joe Wyatt, a neurosurgeon turned homeless drifter after the demise of his beloved wife Diane (whom he euthanized). When Claire’s awful headache turns out to be a kind of brain tumor known among neurologists as a “terminator,” Joe rallies. Turns out that Claire had befriended his wife on her deathbed, and now in turn he must try to save her. Is it too late? Will Meghann find true love at last?

Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles (Distant Shores, 2002, etc.). Kudos for skipping the snifflefest this time around.

Pub Date: May 1, 2003

ISBN: 0-345-45073-6

Page Count: 400

Publisher: Ballantine

Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2003

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE WOMEN
by Kristin Hannah

- BOOK REVIEW
THE FOUR WINDS
by Kristin Hannah

- BOOK REVIEW
THE GREAT ALONE
by Kristin Hannah

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THE ALCHEMIST

by Paulo Coelho & translated by Margaret Jull Costa ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 1993

Coelho's placebo has racked up impressive sales in Brazil and Europe. Americans should flock to it like gulls.

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Coelho is a Brazilian writer with four books to his credit. Following Diary of a Magus (1992—not reviewed) came this book, published in Brazil in 1988: it's an interdenominational, transcendental, inspirational fable—in other words, a bag of wind.

The story is about a youth empowered to follow his dream. Santiago is an Andalusian shepherd boy who learns through a dream of a treasure in the Egyptian pyramids. An old man, the king of Salem, the first of various spiritual guides, tells the boy that he has discovered his destiny: "to realize one's destiny is a person's only real obligation." So Santiago sells his sheep, sails to Tangier, is tricked out of his money, regains it through hard work, crosses the desert with a caravan, stops at an oasis long enough to fall in love, escapes from warring tribesmen by performing a miracle, reaches the pyramids, and eventually gets both the gold and the girl. Along the way he meets an Englishman who describes the Soul of the World; the desert woman Fatima, who teaches him the Language of the World; and an alchemist who says, "Listen to your heart" A message clings like ivy to every encounter; everyone, but everyone, has to put in their two cents' worth, from the crystal merchant to the camel driver ("concentrate always on the present, you'll be a happy man"). The absence of characterization and overall blandness suggest authorship by a committee of self-improvement pundits—a far cry from Saint- Exupery's The Little Prince: that flagship of the genre was a genuine charmer because it clearly derived from a quirky, individual sensibility.

Coelho's placebo has racked up impressive sales in Brazil and Europe. Americans should flock to it like gulls.