The Other Side: A Novel of the Civil War [Hardcover]

Kevin McColley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 13, 2000

In the tradition of Michael Shaara's THE KILLER ANGELS, the author of PRAYING TO A LAUGHING GOD takes an epic look at the Civil War through one man's harrowing journey from the innocence of Ohio farm life to the violence of the battlefield. It was a lesson he would come to learn all too well: in the midst of any fiercely contentious and violent conflict, you must choose a side- or else become the enemy of both. As the impending struggle between North and South approaches fever pitch, seventeen-year-old Jacob Wilson remains largely indifferent to the situation, content to continue working on his family's small Ohio farm just across the river from Kentucky. But when the local militia discovers the runaway slaves who have been hiding with his family, Jacob's world is irrevocably turned upside down. Forced to watch the militia men abuse his mother and destroy his home, he finally responds in anger, killing one of the soldiers and then fleeing for his life. Now a solitary rencgade on the wild frontier, Jacob encounters a wild group of pillagers led by none other than the legendary William Quantrill. Drawn into the frenzy of brutality these men foster, Jacob finds himself becoming more and more inured to the gory violence that saturates his new life.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Although McColley is being compared to Michael Shaara, his prose shows a far greater debt to Cormac McCarthy and William Faulkner in this powerful novel of the bloody Missouri-Kansas border wars. There is, however, nothing derivative about the style or the story, whose originality and brilliance of composition leaps forward. Jacob Wilson, a hapless teenage farm boy in southern Ohio, becomes embroiled in the developing conflict when his parents agree to hide two fugitive slaves, a black man and his daughter, with whom Jake falls in love. When hostilities begin, Jake's father goes off to fight with McClellan. Meanwhile, vicious militia sergeant Everett McGown invades the Wilson farm and brutalizes the boy and his mother while searching for the runaways. Jake murders McGown and flees into Kentucky, where the sergeant's ghost haunts him and drives him further west into the disputed territory of the border country. There, Jake joins a band of bushwhackers led by "Bloody" Bill Anderson and quickly adapts to the life of a raider, brigand, pillager, murderer and thief. For the next four years, with side-kick Haywood, a simple-minded, freakish but devoted boy, Jake is burdened by McGown's spirit, which appears to him in various forms of advancing decay, and he sinks ever deeper into the darkest reaches of depravity, witnessing and participating in heinous acts and depredations that leave him questioning his sanity and his capacity for human feeling. Told with meticulous attention to historical detail, the story unfolds in inexorable waves of grotesque and often macabre violence. While there are occasional inconsistencies and the prose is often unnecessarily repetitive, this is a stunning novel. In McColley's (Praying to a Laughing God) sure hands, the raped and charred landscape of Civil War Missouri is a lyrical vista, a devastatingly rendered surrealist backdrop for all the horrors of war. Agent, George Nicholson, Sterling Lord Literistic. (June)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

On the eve of the Civil War, 17-year-old Jacob Wilson is happy to stay on his family's Ohio farm and ignore the looming belligerence. But he is forced by events to choose sides and is plunged into a world of violence in the border states of Missouri and Kansas, where the Civil War is anything but civil. Jacob joins a band of raiders led by William Quantrill and preys on "jayhawkers" and Union men. His descent into murder and madness is described in straightforward yet elegant prose. Although the main character is fictitious, McColley (Praying to a Laughing God) supplies many historically accurate details, particularly in the vivid and bloody raid on Lawrence, KS. The author gives the reader sharp and pungent descriptions of the countryside and of the horrors of internecine warfare. This is a good tale well told, but the extreme violence may put off some readers. Recommended for larger public libraries and those with strong Civil War collections.DTom Vincent, P.L. of Charlotte & Mecklenburg Cty., NC
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (June 13, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684857626
• ISBN-13: 978-0684857626
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,218,980 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Other Side: A Novel of the Civil War, July 3, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Other Side: A Novel of the Civil War (Hardcover)

I found this book to be dark, gritty and provocative. It accurately depicts the western front during the Civil War. McColley does a stupendous job in creating believable, if not disturbing, characters that make you question the darker side of human nature. One of the best books I have read in a long time!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not your average civil war novel, January 28, 2008

By 

Sasha Q. (Southeastern Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: The Other Side: A Novel of the Civil War (Paperback)

This fictional tale of the civil war never pretends to be other than what it is. It is a story, a tale, a fable about the civil war. Although it has its share of real life characters, right from the beginning the reader is acutely aware that this book is not going to take you on a journey that places you in the tent along with your favorite general.

That being said, the book does offer a unique perspective on the guerrilla warfare that took place in the areas of Missouri and Kansas, and is historically accurate. The story's main theme centers on the insanity of war. Looking through the eyes and mind of the main character, the reader gets to decide for him/herself that which is real and that which is true madness, the result of a simple human being facing complex, inhuman experiences.

This book has more than its share of gore and violence. But when has war been anything else? Tempering it all are the young calvaryman's interactions with others trapped in the same asylum. Surprisingly, these relationships sometimes breed kindness, compassion and even love. This book is not for the faint of heart. It is the story of a journey into hell and maybe, just maybe, back.

Kevin McColley is an extremely gifted writer. The beauty in this novel is that finishing to read this book is not the same as finishing the story. I found myself, rather, seeing the civil war and those Americans who lived it, in an entirely different way. Each one a hero, each a villain, too, each one undeniably human, and very, very real.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Tale and interesting too!, April 6, 2001

By 

Richard J. Northrup (Beulah, ND USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Other Side: A Novel of the Civil War (Hardcover)

Mr. McColley has written an interesting story about the Civil War. A much different point of view then most books on this subject. At times it becomes tedious but he always brings you back to a good solid story.