Good and Bad things about A Separate Country

So I'm getting to the halfway point in this book.... almost halfway there really means that I need some major motivation to get through this book so I don't fall asleep while reading it. Because lets face it historical novels can get really really boring. Not essentially because the concept is bad, rather its the way it has been written. Plus, its really hard to stay awake reading about people who are already dead. I mean sure they've made an impact on our society but  lets be real kids of this generation could care less.

So I've quickly noticed that there are good and bad things to this book. Its strange though because the "good' of this book down the road becomes the "bad." Bet most of you have no clue what I mean so allow me to elaborate. The author is explicitly clear and direct on the ideas he presents in the book. Hick's representation of the era after the war is great and makes total sense which is why I initially was excited to see how the plot would unravel through the book. Everything is detailed and really stretched, torn apart, picked at, and scraped down to the bare bottom when it comes to the text of this book. The author takes a good amount of time just to describe the scene at its important moments. For example, when one of the main characters is talking about his daily routine the author writes, " I'd built a bed a bed and stuffed feed bags full of stolen and scrounged cotton. I'd bought two pairs of blue denim work trousers, two thick white double sided shirts that could be worn inside out, and two pairs of leather boots, of what animal I don't know" (Hicks 83). Okay so I understand that it is important that a author go into detail but in this book is really over done. Almost all the ideas presented are overly detailed and while it helps paint a great picture, it also makes the book drag a little.

That leads to the "bad" part of the book which is the amount of extra time it feels wasted reading those words that cause the plot to really drag. This is more present at the part I am at now so I have to say its making me lose interest in the book. Its as if the car that I was driving while reading this book has really slowed down and everything in this world is moving in slow motion. The plot is getting to the point where I am losing focus on the important parts of the book because the author is stretching out little things like describing the nervousness of Anne Marie when she goes to a ballroom party. It makes me feel like the book isn't getting anywhere and I have been stuck in the same place for a while.

Well, I'll see how the book continues to go and hopefully something will happen to get me back on track with the book so I'm not so lost like right now.

Why I chose A Separate Country

How do most people chose a book? Lets face it- those couch potatoes are just going to look at the length, thickness, and the number of pages in a book and pick whether or not they'll be reading that book. Just try to lie and tell me that this isn't true and we haven't done this in our lives. You can't. Physically not possible. Those types of people are always going to be like, "oh nope this book is 100 pages long... not gonna read it." Then they'll put it down and awkwardly walk away hoping no one saw them. Yeah.. I know you're a little embarssed reading this because a) you've done this before or b) you still do it now. But hey..who's am I to judge?

Then there are those who will pick a book based on the cheesy, annoying, and over dramatic book summary on the back of the book, or possibly on the inside cover. To them it all depends on the how "smart" those words can sound and how captivating those five lines can be. Right, because FIVE lines of words we barely understand  is enough for a person to know if they want to read the book. Okay... that logic makes total sense.

Now, there is a that small percentage of people who will actually do research to see if that book is worth their time after all time is the most valuable thing we have and we can't lost it. So I decided to be that small percentage of people and did a little research to see if I really should read the book and not do an abandon ship kinda thing. After getting the book...yes I know AFTER... I read some of the reviews that I could find online and quickly came to the conclusion that this may be a novel worthwhile reading. Most of the reviews said, "A Separate Country has its moments, and Hood was indeed a rather tragic figure in our nation's history.  It's not that I disliked A Separate Country; I just felt as though there was something I was missing from the story." Most of all the reviews said something similar along the lines things such as something being left out of the book, or the book not meeting the expectations of the author's previous books. Nevertheless, I was intrigued by other reviews that quoted the the book as "elegantly written" or "Very well written; much detail, and keeps you turning the pages."

So I decided why not try it. And here I am almost 100 pages into the book and its not as bad as I thought originally. Right away, I have noticed the complexity of the text because Hicks does a wonderful job describing each scene in great detail allowing the readers to create a picture in their minds while they are reading. Overall so far I have found a liking towards this book and its tie to the Civil War. 

So I was glad I didn't become a couch potato because I would have truly missed out on reading a very new type of book based on its concept and plot. 


A link to an article commenting on the book.

A Separate Country

           Recently, I started reading a novel called A Separate Country by Robert Hicks that can be classified as historical fiction. Set during the time years after the civil war, this novel depicts the shocking life of John Bell Hood, considered as one of the most controversial generals of the Confederate Army. The author quickly grabs the readers attention as he begins to describe the sullen view of New Orleans. The ruthless war may have been over in the country but the shock still runs through the people as they recollect themselves and fight against the effects the catastrophic war brought on them and their families. In the beginning the author describes New Orleans, one of the hardest hit places during the war in the sense that can be compared to a fallen baby who is trying to get up. Scenes of people working day and night trying to bring up the fallen economic status of the city and neighboring areas around them. The atmosphere of the book is sad and distressing as the author continues to describe the plight of the people living in New Orleans all contributing to growth of the US once again. As the book's setting is farther revealed, any reader can conclude that "happy" was not bouncing around at this time. Even with the war over the people are dissatisfied with the results that came about after four year long war ending causing tremendous losses on both sides.
        
            As the main character, general John Bell Hood, is introduced in the novel the readers can see how the war swallowed up the general's life. However, the author vividly describes the place where Hood lives- "I walked under drooping banana trees and between two dwarf date palms bristling with spikes, and then I was in the Hood's years, a green wrestle of vines and swamp grasses twisted up together in an awful fight" (8). That line shows a great deal of diction and figurative language that forms a picture in the readers mind of what the scene is in front of the character. Not just that, but there are many other lines in the book so far where the author talks about the setting in great detail that helps us as the readers get a good understanding of where the book is taking place in.