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Exciting, dramatic AND humorous... Sep 19, 2009
E. Hunt Augustus has produced a wonderfully written first book. He has a terrific style of weaving together several complex storylines while keeping the action abundantly clear. The characters and environment of life and war in the South Pacific are richly described without slowing down a fast-paced plot. I particularly enjoyed the darkly humorous side to many of his characters, created as a realistic reaction to the absurdity of their situations. I found myself reading Song of the Solomons late into the night, unable to put it down! That doesn't happen often for me and I look forward to his next book.
Can a Book about WW II be Funny? May 20, 2009
Anyone who has read Joseph Heller's Catch 22 knows that wars are not only senseless and cruel; they are also illogical, and absurd. If you're up for a fast-paced fictional tale that combines all those elements and keeps you laughing throughout, pick up a copy of Song of the Solomons, Part 1: Fault Lines in the South Pacific, by E. Hunt Augustus. It is set during the crucial stages of the war in the Pacific in August of 1942 and adeptly redefines absurdity. A gifted story teller, Mr. Augustus carves off and examines a piece of the famous Guadalcanal campaign by following the lives and exploits of American, Australian, Japanese, and Fijian combatants.
This book will introduce you to Ian McMahon, the Australian coastwatcher who has a burning and well-founded hatred of the Japanese. He and his band of free lance commandos have to use their wits and knowledge of the island of Santa Isabel in the Solomon Islands chain to stay a step ahead of wave after wave of determined Japanese soldiers sent to find and kill them.
You will meet Colonel Sato, who is will to risk his honor, life and many body parts to catch the coastwatcher. Sato is one of those repulsive, yet magnetic characters, who will make you cringe and laugh, often at the same time.
Captain Alexander Patrick, commands the USS Cheyenne with determination and skill, but is inexplicably challenged in his romantic life. Not so for his executive officer, Jack Porterfield, who has polygamy and womanizing down as a way of life.
Augustus throws all these characters, and more, into a story that mixes passion, incredibly vivid descriptions of battles, engaging dialogue, and absurd and funny situations. What makes the absurdity work is the extensive knowledge and research that Augustus uses to frame the story. Not everyone can successfully combine humor and war; somehow he pulls it off.
It is rare to find a great WWII novel; this one is, and it is hugely entertaining. Get it!
Entertaining read with a lot of interesting facts. Apr 29, 2009
Read this book not knowing a lot about the war it covers. Came out with a great appreciation for the battles, the people and most of all, the courage exhibited by all the characters. In the face of sure doom, people can rise up and vanquish a greater force. Material seemed well researched and written. Title is a little misleading. This is great reading and I am sorry it is over. I could probably re-read it and still enjoy it as much.
Seriously Funny Apr 16, 2009
I was stumbling around Amazon searching for books on the biblical Solomon when Mr. Augustus' book "Song of the Solomons" popped up instead. I remembered that my great-uncle had served in, and survived, the Pacific theater. This got me distracted from my original search and I became curious. I have never had any interest in war novels or WW II history, but after gleaning the enthusiasm from the five-star reviews and poking around in the book for a while, I decided to throw caution to the wind and $18 to Amazon, and I ordered it.
What an adventure! What a value! What fun. It tells the history of this crucial, but remote confrontation in a way that is easy to understand and Mr. Augustus has real knack for ratcheting up the pace, all the while serving up serious confrontations examined from both the Japanese and US perspectives. The top level account of the carnage of this devastating war is made bearable, and indeed raucously funny, when Mr. Augustus develops the characters and personalities of the individuals who carry the plot.
The romantic subplot very effectively counteracts the shocking brutality of the war and the outlandishly absurd characters caused me to laugh harder than almost any other book that I can recall reading. In this way, Mr. Augustus places the reader on a roller coaster ride that alternately has the reader flinching at the gruesome horror of war and then just as suddenly, he whips you around a blind turn and pitches you into a free fall of absurdly funny antics and situations.
Few things are more satisfying than taking a calculated risk and having it pay off. This book is that kind of experience, so plunk down your money. The bottom line is that you can scarcely find a better use for $18.
Hiassen Has Competition from South Pacific Apr 14, 2009
Hiassen Has Competition in South Pacific
Whether you know nothing or a lot about the epic naval battles of WW II that were fought in the South Pacific between the U.S. and Japan, Song of the Solomons is a terrific read. E. H. Augustus combines fast-moving accounts of air and sea battles with witty dialog, absurdly funny situations, and characters with outlandish personalities. The book is more than worth reading just to meet Colonel Sato, one of the book's central characters. Sato redefines cruel, driven, and stubborn, and hatches plans so crazy that..., well, you'll just have to read the book to find out about them.
Meet the enchanting Pam Black, a temptress bent on carrying out her own war in the shadow of WWII. Add Karl the spy, the unconventional Captain Patrick of the USS Cheyenne, fearsome Fijian commandos, and lots of wonderfully incompetent, yet arrogant, officers on both sides of the war and you are in for a treat.
Augustus is informative about the weapons, aircraft and vessels of war, the battles in which they were used, and the places where they took place. In the midst of the most serious war the world has ever experienced, Augustus manages to insert liberal amounts of sidesplitting humor, action, romance and intrigue. If you miss M*A*S*H; like Hiassen, but think his stuff is now a bit too formulaic; and want to know more about the bravest generation of Americans, this is the book that answers the call.
Augustus finishes this book by saying that he is working on book two. I for one, can't wait.
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