Half Not Told, The [Hardcover]

Preston Filbert (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 209 pages
• Publisher: Stackpole Books; 1st edition (August 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811715361
• ISBN-13: 978-0811715362
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,841,332 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Having spent a good part of my adult life in journalism, I never thought that writing a mythology-inspired book would appeal to me. My favorite writer is William Faulkner, and I had spent years -- years -- trying to write something as hard and heavy as one of his works.

But a few years ago, I got to thinking that the gods, at least as portrayed in Richard Wagner's "Ring" stories, were petty jerks. Plus Wagner himself had a pretty smug attitude toward the dwarf Alberich, dismissing him out of hand because he was ugly and misshapened. And that's where my story for "Wodin's Day" started, with the question "Where'd that dwarf come from? And whatever happened to him?" (In Wagner he just disappears.)

Once I started writing, it was fun. Fun to not have to worry about historic detail, fun to not have to fret about being sued by Pepsi or someone for misappropriating a slogan or something, and fun to write about characters who could rip up trees with their bare hands -- not that I approve of such actions.

What I discovered -- or rediscovered since I used to enjoy Tolkien's books -- was the freedom of the fantastical and the wide open range of settings, events and characters it allows. I also remembered that in the history of Western literature (at least) the realism I had struggled so long with has made up only a tiny fraction of our creations: From "The Odyssey" to "Hamlet" to "A Christmas Carol", the fantastical has been woven through some of our greatest stories.

So I wrote my book twice -- once long and (I'm afraid) still weighted down by realistic detail, then again by throwing a lot of that stuff out and just digging down into the earth to see what's in there, like you do when you're a kid. Who knows? Could be treasure.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BRILLIANT -- WITH A RARE INSIGHT, November 3, 2001

By 

Anthony Glise "Anthony Glise" (Lille, France) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Half Not Told, The (Hardcover)

This book establishes Filbert him as one of the rare experts on the Civil War with regards to how it affected the average person in that turbulant period. Extremely well-written, flawless historcal documentation and friendly reading.

For anyone interested in the Civil War, this book is an absolute goldmine of information, reflections and original insight!!!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Different View of Civil War--Fascinating Town and People, November 24, 2001

By 

"bentonsped" (St. Joseph, Mo.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Half Not Told, The (Hardcover)

I have just read The Half Not Told and was fascinated by the tale of a town ripped apart by divided loyalties during the Civil War,
a town devastated by the war, yet with a story completely unlike that of towns truly in the South. The author tells of a Border Town which was ravaged by both the North and the South. The book introduces you to the very real people who lived in the town through this violent time, often quoting their own words from a letter or a diary. The town was populated by colorful characters, many of whom are introduced and then reappear later, maybe several times, as the history of the town unfolds. The events described are exciting and violent and often very personal. I found myself anxious to get to the next chapter to see what would happen in this engrossing tale, as I often do when I'm reading a work of fiction; yet this is a true story, a history with extremely good documentation and pictures of the people and events of the time. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in an exciting and accurate picture of a town which experienced the Civil War in a way you may not have known about before.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Half Not Told, June 11, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Half Not Told, The (Hardcover)

I live in Platte County Missouri, just south of St. joe. It was very interesting to see what happened in that time period many years ago. Heck! it could've happened where i'm living! As a Civil War buff, some of these things really hit close to home, and I overall enjoyed it.