Customer Reviews

Rage Against Heaven

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

If you want to read a book that puts "Gone with the Wind" in the shade you need look no further than this magnificent saga of Civil War U.S.A ...it pulsates with full blooded, unforgettable characters, action and excitement, mostly around historical facts, that makes you want the read to never end. This is one hell of an author ; his publicist must be dead from the waist up not to have got this book onto the best seller's list : read also his equally good and hard to find "Century". "Ellis Island" and "Pomp and Circumstance" are also worthwhile chasing up. "Rage" remains one of my best books of all time

I have read a lot of books in my life,actually I started reading since 12,but I am yet to read a book that matches this book.
I borrowed it from someone and read one quarter of the book before someone stole it and since then I have been searching all over the world for this amazing book so that I can finish reading it, all to no avail.I have been told that it is out of print and I think that it is a dis-service to humanity for this kind of book to be out of print.Most books have affected me positively,this one transformed me.The setting,the sequence,the cadence the editing,the story flow,the cahracters the situation at each point in time,the foibles of life and the missed opportunities,and above all the heartache,and just about everything in the book was pure magic and sensational.It was just like watching a Sidney Sheldon bestseller; and few authors still have the knack for writing a book which the readers will see as a good film in their minds eye as they read it.Actually it is a book that no one can read half way,it must be finished,it is that gripping.Just as I also hope to finish it, as I am ready to pay anything to get my hands on that book,even if it is a used copy.
It is a collectors item,and a book which cuts across boundaries;you cannot call it a war story or adventure or romance.I can talk till I am hoarse but I cannot praise both the author and the book enough and I cannot understand why this book is not in the bestseller list.Maybe the people that rate books either do not know what they are doing or have not read the book in which case I suggest that they should go and look for it and read.
Definitely their opinions must cahnge,I am that positive about it.
It was a very good book and still remains in my memory even though I read it as far ago as 1995!!!I still remember the characters and above all I still want to finsih it and I intend to lay my hands on it and finish it whatever the cost.

I found a copy of this book in a used book store. What a pleasure to read. All the characters were well-developed, believable. They weren't super heroes. The timng of the events of the book with the characters were somewhat improbable but it makes for entertaining reading. It was romantic but not too gushy. I like historical novels and this one didn't disappoint. I liked John Jakes American Series. This was reminiscent of these novels.

I have read many novels to date from various authors that cut across fiction writers as well as non-fiction.This novel was the first and only i have read by Fred Stewart.I would like to comment that the book at the initial stage was somewhat boring.It did not start in a sensational way like for instance,Cane and Abel by Jeffery Archer.It is a book that hid its true identity as a number one best seller.My father recommended it to me among his collections of books in his library and i was tempted to return it back to the shelve after reading a few pages which lasted some days.BUT when the rumours of war and the war proper began ,changing the scenes completely and the lives of the hero "El Juero"and Elizabeth his wife as well as his escapades and tribulations ,I JUST COULDN'T STOP READING.At a point my eyes were misty but i had to steel myself from weeping for the hero.Losing his mother,wife at a stage,house,wealth and high class social status at the end of the American civil war and eventually becoming a special topclass bandit made the author an unpredictable writer.Fortunately for him"the hero" he was able to overcome most of his adversities but unfortunately for me the last few pages of the book were torn off due to old age.To date the book is gone and i couldn't trace it any more.The matarese circle by Robert Ludlum;Gone With The Wind,Magareth Michell;Kane and Abel,by Jeffrey Archer are a few of the best sellers in the same class.BUT to date this is the best i have ever read,fiction or non-fiction.I will therefore recommend a re-publication,promotion and film-making of the novel.I wish to write more but i MUST READ THAT BOOK AGAIN.Seven years after i still could not stop thinking about it.

Now y'all know this one wasn't going to be winning any Pulitzers, right? It's about as subtle as a freight train. Published by Viking in 1978, Fred Stewart offers up a steamy dish of love, war (the US Civil War to be exact), betrayal, murder, wealth, politics, Mexican bandits, cheating spouses, faked deaths....the list goes on and on.

The story chiefly follows one young couple, married at the onset of the Civil War and follows their lives through the war, on to Paris during the reign Napoleon III and the ensuing fall of the Second French Empire, and down to Mexico for the stirrings of the revolution to come in 1910. Whew. It's a long ride, but a fun one riddled with enough drama for an afternoon soap opera.

Stewart's writing is sound and the man knows how to build tension in a scene. Of course, some descriptions and scenes do stray a bit over the top, but who can blame him? When you have the power to do things like give your character a fatal case of syphilis or bring him back from the dead, you're bound to run away with it a tad.

Philadelphia, 1860. Lew Crandall is "The Golden Prince" and has it all, wealth, looks and the hand of Elizabeth Butterfield. Lew finds some damning evidence against a powerful politician among his dead father's letters and he unwisely exposes him to public censure. When Civil War breaks out, Lew leaves college and his wife behind in Philly and hightails it to Washington, where he runs smack dab into the unscrupulous pair he never should have ticked off in the first place - their hatred of Lew alters his life and those of his loved ones forever.

That's really all I can tell you without spoiling. Lew and Elizabeth's lives take plentiful twists and turns and ups and downs in a soap opera of the very highest magnitude. Presumed death, crooked politicians, blackmail, a long side trip to Mexico with some evil banditos, a return from the dead, turmoil in Paris as the The Franco-Prussian War heats up, a kidnapping, jewel heists and more as Lew exacts his revenge against the baddies who done him wrong. I generally love a big old soap opera with lots of strum and drang, but unfortunately there's a big drawback in this one - Mustard seems to be one of those male authors who throws in squicky sex just for the fun of it (or should I say his male fantasy fun?), and much of it was entirely gratuitous involving secondary characters. It's easy enough to show the reader a man is overly obsessive with young girls, I didn't need a blow-by-blow rape. I can grasp that a Southern female can care about her family's slaves, she doesn't need to lust after one of them. An author can show me a young actress is a slut without a detailed description of oral sex including a loose hair (no, I am not kidding). I'd quote examples here but I doubt they'd make it past the censors.

Around page 160 the sex toned down and I was rather enjoying it but towards the last the returns from the dead/name switches really stretched the believability factor. One further warning - despite the historical settings I would not call this a historical novel. The Civil war happens, but it is merely a backdrop - several year's worth of history are recounted in tedious letters. One of the main characters is involved in the Mexican revolution, but again it's merely a backdrop to further the story. In the end, if you come across a copy cheaply I'd pick it up for curiosity's sake as well as the chuckles you'll get at the groaningly bad sex scenes, but don't go out of your way for it either.

I brought this book 20 years ago, and still remember it quit vividly.The characters were just excellent.I tell everyone I know to special order it because it is out of print.This book should have become a movie.It probably would will an academy award. I wish I could finance . (smile).

I bought this book from the above recommendations. Thank goodness I did not spend much money.This was a true and terrible disappointment. Totally predictable. And it does not hold a candle to Gone With The Wind!This book will go in the trash. I learned my lesson.

I have never seen anything like it.

It's overwhelming as it's transforming! I have never read a book like it too. On one hand I wept while reading the Book; and on the other hand I laughted while reading it.

I read it over and over and over and over again. At one point, I had to start from the begining again; and at another point, from where the Protagonist (Lew Cradle) resurfaced, after his supposed death.

I desperately want this Book for keeps; and I wish it would be possible for Amazon to send it down to me in Bonny Island when I send the payments for this wonderful and inspiring book...