Customer Reviews

Charleston

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have enjoyed some of John Jakes' other historical novels in the past and was delighted that he selceted Charleston as the venue of his latest. Unfortunately, I found the book disapointing.

It is basically divided into 3 eras starting with the American Revolution to "young America" in the early 1800s to the Civil War. What usually makes Jakes so talented is his ability to link generations for seamless story telling. I really didn't find that here. It was more like 3 loosely connected stories that did not relate the way they should have. The novel was also missing a likable hero. None of the family members were that pleasant and I found myself not really caring about them. The book would have been much improved by having likable people!

The section dealing with the era preceeding the Civil War is well written and captures a divisive time. As usual with Jakes, figures from US history walk across the pages (Frederick Douglass, the Grimke sisters). I almost hope Jakes writes another book about this great city, but with a stong likable family.

...and John Jakes is one of its master craftsmen. This volume is the multigenerational saga of the fictitious Bell family of Charleston, South Carolina. Its timeline runs from 1720 to 1866 and thus covers a host of tumultuous times in the Low Country community.

_Charleston_ is divided into three "books." Book One sees Edward Bell fighting on the side of the American Revolution, both before and after Charleston's surrender to the British. Those of us with northern upbringing and education tend to equate the Revolution with Massachusetts in April 1775, not South Carolina in 1781. Either we never learned that Charleston fell to the British in that war, or we had no idea what that meant. Of course, the battle of the colonists versus the loyalists divides the Bell family as well, and the rift seems to widen as the decades pass. Book Two follows Alexandra Bell, her brother Hampton, and their cousins Ouida and Gibbes as they react to slavery issues and take sides in the ever-escalating debate between nullification and Unionism. Standard history books will tell you that this period is technically pre-Civil War, but it's far from a time of peace and non-violence for the Bells and other Carolinians. Alexandra moves north to join the abolitionist crusade while her brother and cousins go in different directions. Book Three covers the constant Civil War bombing of Charleston and its eventual surrender to Union forces. We trace the paths of the older Bell cousins as Alexandra comes back home, and son and nephew Calhoun Hayward spends time in several military prisons in Delaware and Ohio. Even after the war is over, divisions continue. Some residents are eager to rebuild and start over, and some can't get past a consuming blaming and hatred of Yankees. Some are pleased the blacks are freed; others are afraid. The extended Bell family and their friends are a microcosm of it all.

As with other Jakes titles, fiction interacts with reality, and the Bells end up meeting a number of "famous" people along the way. This time, they're either military figures (Colonel Francis "Swamp Fox" Marion, General Pierre G. T. Beauregard, Jefferson Davis) or abolitionists (the Grimke sisters, William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass). The author also includes the kind of historical detail we've come to expect from his writing. Reading it thoroughly immerses one into that time period.

I enjoyed reading this book and am giving it only four stars because of its demands on the reader. This is not frivolous stuff, and it won't appeal to everyone. _Charleston_ takes time to digest, to remember characters and all the incidental faces that appear in the storylines, and to occasionally look up unfamiliar words. (I personally can't wait to call someone an "ill-bred parvenu" or a "termagant," and I might even run into an "Augean stable" along the way.) It's helpful that the volume is physically divided into three books with smaller segues between, and the last 200 pages go much faster than the first 300.

Jakes leaves a few threads hanging, and a sequel could be possible. Perhaps South Carolina and Charleston history can continue through the 20th century and even include the debates over the continued visibility of the Confederate flag and the recovery of the _Hunley_. I guess we'll see.

As someone who has followed John Jakes through his Kent Family Chronicles to the North and South trilogy and the subsequent novels, I found myself a bit disoriented by Charleston.

The book seems hurried and tries to fit so many events and so much history into one novel. And a short novel (by Jakes' standards, at least) at that. I felt that he could have taken more time to unravel the story aspect as opposed to the history aspect of the book.

I don't know if Jakes is starting to wind down but his latest novels are losing the detail and thoroughness that marked his earlier books. It feels like he's coasting. Which is sad considering that Jakes is one of America's premier historical novelists.

Jakes is the master of the historical fiction genre. The North & South trilogy and the Bicentennial series were outstanding. I had high hopes for Charleston but was left a bit disappointed. If one is looking for a book that is primarily a history of Charleston, then this book is for you. If on the other hand, you are looking for a great story that that just happens to be set in Charleston from the colonial period through the civil war (as I was), then this work by Jakes falls short. The book covers many, many decades with a clear emphasis on historical fact rather than spinning a compelling tale. It is far from a complete washout, but at the same time it is definitely not up there with his best works.

Being a big fan of John Jakes, I purchased his latest novel in anticipation of getting lost in one of his classic historical tales. While Charleston is an interesting story, I don't feel that it is the same quality as his other work. As always, I appreciated the attention to detail and the unique perspective Jake's characters bring to history. The problem was that I failed to connect with any of them and at times had to look back to remember who they were and their relationships to each other. It felt like the book consisted of separate stories with very little to tie them together. It's a good story, just not up to what I had hoped it to be.

Charleston is a sweeping and magnificent historical novel. It recounts the tale of two families: the Bells and Larks as they endure the seasons of their lives in Charleston. The historical sweep of the novel encompasses the Revolutionary War through the aftermath of the Civil War. Three generations of these families live, learn, and grow.

For long-time readers of Jakes' work, he mentions the families from his North and South series - the Main and Haazards. He also includes references from On Secret Service.

The story is epic and compelling. The reader will be emotionally invested in the characters as they move through the generations. An engrossing historical tale of one city...of Charleston.

I love historical fiction, but this book was not easy to finish. It started out in a reasonably diverting fashion, but as soon as the part set in the Revolution period was finished, it went downhill fast. The author's writing style of using short, choppy sentences reminded me of a third grade reader at times. There was little surprise in the events depicted; all the good characters were good in a politically correct way, and all the bad were similarly bad. Whole families defined what the author wanted the reader to conclude was bad or good. Complexity is beyond the ability of the politically correct, and it is certainly beyond this author. No wonder he is reportedly a best-selling author; he thinks about as well as does the common herd. I now remember why I generally avoid historical fiction with a setting in this country; the authors all tend to have the same utterly predictable take on events of the past. The second star was generously given for the occasional bit of information about Charleston included in the eminently forgettable tale.

I am a fan of John Jakes after I read the Kent family books and Savanah and seeing all the North and South movies so I had to read this book. It was enjoyable from start to the great shocking ending. The book works in so many levels the charactors are great from every generation, the civil war part is great and of corse the history is great. At times the story is like a soap but it's good but then at other times it's to fluffy. The book is full of romance, murder, deception, blackmail to make this book a great book to read over and over again.

Though not one of his best works, John Jakes has written a version of the history of this beautiful city as experienced by members of 3 families, disparate but interlocked by their own early histories. He skims over the great cataclysmic events (Revolution, Civil War, fires) in favor of depicting the actions and reactions of his protagonists and antagonists. While a number of these characters are rather cardboard, an important few are well drawn. The same might be said of plotting, which is often predictable (don't know if Jakes is aware of the broad hints he drops) but sometimes intriguing. While this book is far from perfect, it flowed along, contained some interesting moments, and I did enjoy reading it .

From the introduction to the end, the master of historical fiction is back, John Jakes; author of The Kent Family Chronicles and the North and South trilogy, has set out a sweeping, multi- generational novel. He rightly warns listeners/readers of his use of the infamous "N" word, as it is set in the historical context of the novel. [I am listening to the audio version and look forward to buying the print version (when it comes out in paperback in 2003)].