Confederates [Paperback]

Thomas Keneally (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• ASIN: B002VDG486
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fighting for the Cause?, September 9, 2003

By 

Stephen A. Haines (Ottawa, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Confederates (Paperback)

Keneally uses the high point of the Southron Confederacy as the setting for this brilliant historical novel. Reaching through the ranks, he selects a Shenandoah Valley private and his mates - "confederates" - to reveal the horrors of war with vivid reality. Usaph Bumpass moves with Stonewall Jackson's Virginians through the Valley and into the first Confederate invasion of the North. Through it all Usaph carries concerns about his "swamp tramp" Ephaphtha living at the edge of the combat area. Her loyalty, her past, her well-being, all intrude on his thoughts while he's trying to survive. Never once, however, does he question why he's in the war. The Confederacy is a miasma of conflicting values. Even natives of the South have uncertain views of what precisely is the "cause" they're fighting for. Keneally ably presents us with these variations of philosophy and the people holding them.

Equally fluent in passion or pathos, Keneally's describes battles, intrigues and romance conveyed with powerful reality. With a solid research foundation, he fashions images of people and events with superb clarity. From domestic struggles to the clash of battles, we share every emotional upheaval. Keneally portrays the intensity of war with an surprising clarity as it cuts off friend and foe alike. For a man who once trained for the priesthood, he places the reader alongside his people with deceptive ease. A master at conveying people and environment, he deserves full recognition for his talents. This book will remain a classic of Civil War literature. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Keneally's CONFEDERATES: An out-of-print masterpiece, December 2, 2003

By 

"silvcslt" (Ottawa, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Confederates (Paperback)

I'd intended to read this book for years (came across it in a book of good reading recommendations), but didn't start reading it till last week. It is a real page-turner, and not only held my attention as I read it but made the kiind of impact that led me, after I had finished the book, to brouse through it again.

In my opinion, it is not only a major fictional recreation of a key stage in the U.S. Civil War (basically, the months that culminated in the battle known to the north as Antietam [the south as Sharpsburg, which is how it shows up in the endpaper maps], but one of the top ten war novels that I've read over the last 50-odd years. I'd rank Keneally's CONFEDERATES just below WAR AND PEACE and Crane's RED BADGE OF COURAGE, and somewhat above Hemingway and the few good World War II novels (Mailer, Waugh, and the forgotten Russian Stalin-era novel, Simonov's DAYS AND NIGHTS).

The detail in the book, both of the feellings of soldiers in combat and of factual material (very good material on field surgery in the Confederacy - probably not hugely different than in the North, but the whole book is done, with a few exceptions, from the perspective of the "doomed cause" of the South) surpasses most of what I've read. The feel of the book (its literary quality) is interesting: it is gritty and realistic, but the rhythm and style sufficiently echoes nineteenth century writing at its best so that you really feel you are there, with men and women of that era.

I have three suggestions:

1. If you haven't read this book, get a copy and read it.
2. If you read it years ago, read it again. I've noted in my calendar to read it again in a few years. Among other things, it adds to our insight, I think (as good books often do), on situations that we are trying to understand and deal with today.
3. The publishers should bring this book back into print and movie producers (or TV) should give it serious consideration for a high-quality production.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A worm's eye view of life in the Army of Northern Virginia, July 14, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Confederates (Paperback)

An Australian author writing about the American Civil War? It is not as silly as it sounds, and in the hands of Thomas Keneally (Schindler's Ark) it is quite engaging. Stretching from the Seven Days Campaign to Antietam, this novel covers the lives of a group of soldiers in the 'Stonewall Brigade' of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. The chief protaganists are a farmer (Usaph Bumpass), his wife at home (Effie), a painter with Northern sympathies (Decatur Cate) and an ameteur composer (Gus Rameseur). Don't be put off by the length - it is an addictive read that you will find hard to put down. It is a very good worm's eye view of the reality of war: hours of sheer boredom followed by moments of sheer hell. The battle scenes are quite good and even the romantic sub-plot remains sensible and realistic. My only gripe is with some of the better known historical characters - for Civil War buffs the faults will be obvious (including the maps in the cigars) but for ev! ! eryone else it should not be too much of a problem.