Customer Reviews

Theory of War

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

 

 

The narrator of this novel, Malory Carrick, an American woman residing in Britain who returns home to visit her uncle Atlas and to learn the true story of her grandfather from his diaries who had been a "boughten boy" just after the American Civil War. Her grandfather Jonathan Carrick, a white boy is sold into slavery at age 4 for fifteen dollars to a struggling brutal Kansas Tobacco farmer Alvah Stoke. Jonathan lived his adolescence working endlessly at planting, harvesting, picking off tabacco worms, wrapping tobacco plugs, and his ultimate humiliation, getting beat and bullied by his vicious tormentor Stroke's son, George. To the Stoke family Jonathan was " an animal that you need just need to break", but the hatred towards George grew till Jonathan couldn't take anymore and beat him till he was surely dead, then he escaped at the age of 16 taking the Trans. Continental to Denver to finally be free. Twenty years later Jonathan gets an education he has always wanted and soon after he marries, has 4 kids, and becomes a successful farmer. However, he neither forgot nor forgave the past. Soon after he finds out that George Stoke is alive and well as the US Senator now a "fat, cobra of a politician" he becomes Jonathan's target once again.

Joan Brady writes the story with such feeling and heart about her grandfather that it touched me as well. Jonathan Carrick's story is unusual because he was a white slave, which made it more interesting for me to read because you don't hear of cases such as these. The story about Jonathan's life made a serious impact on her family through out the generations and it made me realize how important your families history is. I think Joan Brady did a good job making Jonathan's history one everyone will remember.

This is a brilliant and beautiful book. Joan Brady overcomes the challenge of weaving her life into fiction without making a mess of truth. The links she makes between present and past are haunting and the questions she asks are most satisfyingly without answers. I am deeply grateful that this book is in the world.

This is an excellent bopk written about life in the civil war time, when children were "sold" into indentured servitude, with the promise of $25 when he or she turns 21 and freedom. The trouble is, few survived to 21. A real eye opener, since it shows that slavery and cruelty were not restricted to only Africans in this country. The book is well written and compelling.

There isn't much to say about this other than it is long out of print, incredibly strange and one of the best pieces of fiction I've ever read. Calling it fiction is a bit of an insult though because it is based on this woman's actual family history and it feels so damn real that you get lost in it. Here is part of the author's note:

"My grandfather was a slave. This isn't an uncommon claim for an American to make if the American is black. But I'm not black. I'm white. My grandfather was white, too. And he wasn't sold into slavery not in some barbaric third-world country: he was sold in the United States of America."

This book is the pet favorite of someone I know and they've wanted to turn it into a movie forever. It would be a fantastic one because the story is almost as good as Gladiator.

Joan Brady has taken a shameful and unknown part of U.S. history and masterfully woven into her account of the 'boughten boy', a white slave sold at a tender age in the beginning of the century. I was touched not only by her writing style--poetic and astute, but the sadness of this man's life story--the man whose tale she tells is none other than her own grandfather

I was fascinated by the way Brady traced the stain of Jonathan's experience through the lives of his children and grandchildren. Without knowing why, they replicated his dysfunctional understanding of human interaction, over and over again: failed relationships, crippling depression, emotional escapism, and stunted personal growth. We are each of us the sum of our predecessors' experiences, whether we like it or not.

Great story, very interesting look at a piece of history. Also a most interesting study of how one over comes against all odds and what the price of adversity can be. A most unusual and memorable story.

I thought this book brought to light the fact of white slavery. It had some parts that could have moved better but all in all I enjoyed the book.
I think it showed that although Jonathan was emotionally lacking, he found a place in life and struggled to get away from his past which I don't think he ever did. He suffered both as a slave and a free man. I recommend this book.

This is a tale of white slavery in 19th century America with a part-claim to authenticity, featuring many nice observations, descriptions and anecdotes. Some reviewer compared this book to Jack London, which has its merits - and whenever Brady tells her story like London would she is at her best. There are many memorable incidents, and the main protagonist's fate is drawing the reader in. When Jonathan makes his appearance as a small and babbling boy with a natural talent for invention, the novel is taking off. The descriptions of 19th century farmlife, of pioneers' Denver or the first visit to a brothel are really well done. Still I was not completely happy with this book. The fictitious narrator, a grand-daughter of Jonathan, jumps back and forth in time, rather obtrusively showing that slavery not only managed to destroy Jonathan's life but that of his children and childrens' children as well. Brady gives these characters room enough to disrupt the main story but not enough to make them really interesting. The novel seems to be a mixture of fiction and authentic biography which does not really work out in the end. "Theory of War" is a rewarding read, no doubt, but rather for its many well-executed scenes than as a whole.

I found Brady's "pseudo memoir" of her grandfather's life boring. I think she had a good idea in terms of interweaving Clausewitz into a narrative of slavery, but it didn't work for me; Brady throws in a quote from time to time and that's about it in terms of the analogy she's trying (I think) to draw. I didn't like the irascible narrator, the writing was not that good, the description lacked convincing details (and at times even sufficient details to understand what was happening), motivations of characters were never addressed. All in all, disappointing.