Snow in August

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Summary: A compassionate read that shows the goodness of human heart
Review: I thouroughly enjoyed the characters and the feel of the era that this book brought to life. A simpler time, perhaps, but not without injustices and racism that we still face today. Of course the baseball and introduction of Jackie Robinson as the first black ballplayer is symbolic of these truths. While I thought the ending was somewhat fantasy and different from the rest of the book, I would definately recommend Snow in August.

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Summary: A fantastic book! A must-read!
Review: I loved Snow in August; it's one of those books that makes you think. I enjoyed reading about the simply days back in the 1940's when kids could be kids, and could just wonder; about the future, about baseball, anything. The language could be offensive, but really gives a good picture of life on the streets. If you love history, baseball, and tales of growing up, you'll becomed hooked on Snow in August within the first few chapters! Go out and read it right now!!!

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Summary: All things considered, wish I hadn't
Review: Mostly enjoyed the first 3/4 of the book, but wound up VERY disappointed in where the author took the lead character. I'm not sure how other readers found an ugly, violent revenge an inspiring ending. I was disgusted.

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Summary: Pages of engrossing drama and beautiful imagery.
Review: This book quickly engages the reader with the promise of its heroes and the beauty of its imagery. The feeling that you were actually there, watching, will come back to haunt you in everyday life. Hamill weaves fable and truth together expertly. Highly recommended.

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Summary: a valuable addition to my small, but select, library
Review: It has been a long time since I read a contemporary book this good. The payoff was excellent and very satisfying! This book did not do what so many do - which is run out of steam and ideas half way through - the author carried it all through, taking me on a journey filled with pathos, fantasy, pain, love and friendship - not to mention history. I advise you to read this book!

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Summary: This book made my heart sing!
Review: This is the kind of book that will lift your spirits and remind you that miracles do happen -especially those created by friendship and loyalty.Pete Hamill reminds us of the power of the human heart and makes us glad to be alive and proud to be human.

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Summary: Michael befriends a rabbi, and then battles anti-semitism
Review: I really liked how a kid that was non-Jew created something only a Famous Rabbi could make. The plot has a lot going on, which makes the book really wonderful.

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Summary: A wonderful classic story with a disappointing ending
Review: I would have given this book 5 stars + if it had maintained the promise of the first 3/4 of the book. I loved the little boy, the Rabbi, the mother. And the bad guys were easy to hate. It was a perfectly woven story, full of good characters, scenes, suspense, surprises, twists of fate. But I feel that the writer didn't know how to end this story and so resorted to a fantasy ending which was so unbelievable and unsatisfying. One reviewer could be right though-- it might well be a good "allegory" to expose young children to. It certainly points out good over evil.

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Summary: God Helps The Defeated
Review: In Snow In August Pete Hamill creates an unusual alliance between eleven year old Michael Devlin, an Irish Catholic and the older Jewish orthodox rabbi, Judah Hirsch, a Czechoslovakian immigrant, who must reluctantly defend themselves and the Brooklyn parish, their neighborhood, from the gang siege of Frankie McCarthy and the Falcons. Hamill's morality play is steeped in the Judeo-Christian ethic as he invokes the age-old conflict of good against evil, and even goes so far as, through absolute faith, and the power of prayer, to have God send a savior, the Golem. Further more, the author involves his readers by asking us to accept his unlikely, miraculous surprise ending, and to take a leap of faith. "A gefalenem helft Got. God helps the defeated.", through faith. Anyone who can entertain the idea that miracles are manifest in this world, big or small, would be enchanted by this allegorical tale.

Michael witnesses a terrible atrocity and is left with a quandary relevant to this system of values. Should he inform the authorities for whom he has not much more regard for than the thugs, and become a snitch? Or should he just keep quiet; what is right and what is wrong? The novel contains many biblical parallels and overtones. Like David, Michael must find a way to beat his Goliath. The good people of the parish rally together, in an act of charity on Easter Sunday, to wash away the sin of anti-Semitism as it is splashed like blood on the door of the synagogue. The Golem, who like Adam, is made from clay, begins his battle by blowing notes through the rabbi's Shofar, as did Joshua in the battle of Jericho.

Fantastic and mythical characters are woven into the story, such as Captain Marvel, Finn McCool the great Irish warrior, CuChulain, and Stickey the magic dog, and Rabbi Loew and his Golem. Familiar types of people, Michael's friends and his dead father, cops nicknamed Abott and Costello and Father Heaney seem real; they flesh out the parish and make the story believable. Kate Devlin is a key player in the drama, and though she does her best to protect her son, her opinion of informers leads him down a slippery slope. Real life characters such as President Roosevelt and Adolf Hitler are representative of good versus evil and add an element of authenticity. Although most of these characters are minor players, they are all integral parts to the world of the eleven-year-old boy and give the tale texture and bring the parish to life. However none of these characters are important as Jackie Robbinson.

Robbinson is the glue in the unlikely friendship between the rabbi and the little boy. "Rabbi Hirsch was working hard at understanding baseball." "He seemed to have chosen baseball as his key to understanding America." "But he was disturbed by Robbinson's slump." "...soon they would have to will Robbinson into hitting. He and Michael, if nobody else." "...[he] did understand how important it was for Robbinson to succeed." Like Michael and the rabbi, the historically significant black ball player is an underdog as he and the Brooklyn Dodgers endeavor to break the color barrier in the major leagues. He stands for the defeated, and baseball, like religion sets down rules and establishes value systems enabling the man to possibly succeed. The two mourn and pray for him when his batting average is abysmally low, and celebrate the miracle when he steals home.

Hamill's ability as a fiction writer is impressive, evoking terrific images such as the Golem coming to life and the snow storms, and the imaginative injection of literary works, music, history, myths and legends all provide an air of sophistication. The use of Brooklyn slang and baseball jargon along side Yiddish sayings and Catholic Latin adds a charming cultural diversity that is uniquely American. Pete Hamill has done his homework this time out. Let's say he is in the catbird's seat. Shazam.

Rating:
Summary: A magical coming-of-age story
Review: An Irish Catholic boy meets and befriends an Orthodox Rabbi in 1947 Brooklyn; the boy teaches the Rabbi baseball and learns Yiddish; they experience hatred and racism writ both large in Nazism and the Brooklyn Dodgers (Jackie Robinson's team), and small in the neighborhood gang of hoodlums; and the boy re-creates the Golem to rescue the good guys in their deepest trouble. If this sounds hokey and perhaps cliched, it is. Nonetheless, Pete Hamill's beautiful 1997 novel Snow in August suspends disbelief, tells an old fashioned touching story, and absolutely carries the day despite the unbelievable deus ex machina ending. This is a book set in a cynical time and place that triumphs over cynicism and hatred. I recommend it to all hopeful readers, and especially to young folks and baseball fans.