HomeShop at BookSurgeFictionScience FictionGeneralHenry Boulanger of Mushannon Town: A Novel of the American Revolution |
|  |
| Customer Reviews: | | Average Customer Review: ( 12 customer reviews )
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 A wonderful book by a great new stylist Feb 16, 2008
By Quebec1000
No surprise that Publisher's Weekly panned it for its overdose of detail and, heaven's forbid, big words, for its lush description and luxuriating in detail. It's all about dialogue now, even if the novel's milieu predates the dawn of media oversaturation and info-bytes.
The author of this historical novel avoids the puritanical and spare fiction style of today, and yes, he opts for something more maximal. Maybe it's the French influence? I read fiction for pleasure, and the pleasure of words pays me in this novel, as Moshannon comes alive. I don't need to pinch pennies when I read, and I'm glad that the author treats me as an adult who can handle his material by painting it lushly and with depth.
Seinfelt is certainly an author to keep an eye on, and I suspect this book is on its way to becoming known widely. An incredibly impressive first novel.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 A Life Worth Re-telling Jan 21, 2008
By Beth Greenfeld
I have a feeling that the eponymous hero of "Henry Boulanger of Mushannon Town" has had a fascinating life and has a great story to tell. I like his voice, and, especially in the beginning, was captivated by his elegant, long, complicated sentences. But I also have the feeling that I'm being given too much information, and that a degree of more transparent prose would be helpful. I had no idea, for instance, until I read it in the blurb/synopsis, that the main character had been a traveling shoe salesman.
The novel also needs more action and drama. The story of the duel is one episode that we're simply too distanced from. If the narrator had brought us into that episode instead of summarizing it, it would have made a world of difference. Ditto with the scene where the narrator meets Lafayette--that should be a complete scene for us to experience through the memory of the narrator, not a summary. I also need to be able to weigh what's important and what isn't--is the duel more important to Boulanger's understanding of himself than his being widowed and remarried, or less? As is, there's so much information and "telling" that it's hard to separate out what I need for this story, and what is there as prelude to a prelude. For instance, the author gives us, as a way of introducing one character, the French Revolution in a paragraph. It would have been better, I believe, to just refer to it by name and assume that everyone knows what it was about, or to give us the one particular scene that we need from it in order to understand a particular character.
I wish more of the excerpt had been like the penultimate paragraph, where we see a more dramatized story. The hero's life seems well worth the re-telling, but it needs to be made more accessible to the reader via dialogue, dramatic scenes, and a honing in on what we really need to know and what can be left out.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
A true historic novel! Jan 21, 2008
By Lanning Blanchard
I felt Henry Boulanger of Mushannon was written as though the author had stepped back in time. It is rich with historical facts, either true or fiction, it doesn't matter, because they are believable. As the story emerges, I would like to get to know Henry Boulanger better.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Pennsylvania's Early History Brought to Life Feb 12, 2008
By Melinda A. Habecker
"M. Habecker"
From page one as I read I realize that I am in someone's mind of a different time. Who senses the world and speaks of it, time displaced so that I travel to a foreign country in my own land. With rich, dense language, Seinfelt transports me to both Europe and colonial America. Through the life of Henry Boulanger history comes alive in a detailed saga Masterfully written, Seinfelt knows his history and with his eye for detail spins a good yarn.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Great History Jan 31, 2008
By J. L. Kurtz
"JK"
There is some great research and historical description here that would translate well to a documentary. The detail makes this seem almost like an actual first person narrative like Melville's Redburn. The author's power of description is truly first rate, deserving 5 stars just for the prose.
However, the lack of a good, riveting story did cause me to start losing interest after a few pages. I have to agree with the reviewer (Beth) that it needs more action and drama, especially with the numerous, but interesting digressions.
I also agree with Beth that there was too much "telling". For example, when the narrator mended the Cornplanter's chief's shoe, it would have been really cool if that was described and just not told....i.e how did the chief look, was the narrator scared, etc. "Telling" he mended an Indian Chief's shoe just did not captivate me.
It is ironic that the author who possess a gift for description, just blows off chances to "wow" the reader with some brilliant prose and drama that would describe things like an encounter with an Indian
chief. For story, I would have given this 2 stars. The prose and history makes it worth the read and thus deserves a 5 star plus. Balancing these, I am giving 4 stars.
See all 12 customer reviews on Amazon.com
|
| | |
|
|
