The Black Flower : A Novel of the Civil War

Rating:
Summary: A beautiful book
Review: Fiction just isn't my style. Why read "made up" stories when the real world of history and science is just so fascinating? In spite of my preference, I picked up The Black Flower based on the Amazon.com Recommendations AI. This book is amazing particularly for the depth of its characters. Rarely do you walk away from a work of fiction feeling that you "know" the characters. Dickens does this for me. So does Steinbeck. No modern writer has come close to this level of character development until now, and the writer's name is Howard Bahr.

The Black Flower focuses on Bushrod Carter, a Confederate soldier in the Civil War at the battle of Franklin, Tennessee. The book opens with the moments before battle begins, mercifully bypasses the bloody gore of the battle itself, then focuses on the aftermath. Mr. Bahr masterfully weaves the imagery of the post-battle carnage and suffering. At some point, you realize that you aren't reading words, you're creating images. You get the feeling that the author really was there.

The story itself is somewhat predictable, but don't let that fool you. This is about the telling of a story more than the story itself. Experience this. It is fiction at its best.

Rating:
Summary: Compelling characters; and the daily personal impact of war
Review: Soon, I knew the likely outcome of the story. I knew that it would be filled with sadness; it would be about difficulties of life; about longing to live. I chose to continue reading on because the people in print became people alive. The compelling journey of Bushrod Carter became present, very real in my life as I held those pages and searched the words and the phrases, hoping that the war would turn and these people could be unscathed.

To be in the civil war must have been so; knowing in the back of ones mind the fear that the outcome would not be good, yet walking into battle because it was the right thing to do; to do otherwise would betray principle, human nature, and the affection of companions. Howard Bahr brings us into the thoughts and experience of the people in this novel. They become familiar because Bahr seems to have walked beside them the whole way, observing, listening, letting us touch the lives of ordinary people like ourselves.

The style of prose is poetic, yet natural to read; the scenes are frequently gruesome, yet open our eyes to the depth of the human beings who walked through it and lived; the telling of the story is complete, yet leaves one yearning for more time with these people.

The Black Flower will satisfy the reader searching for deep character studies and those who seek the telling of a civil war story with intense accuracy. But they will also find the writing very compelling, wrought with vivid images, and depth of insight into ones own life and experience.

Nowhere in the book is there a battle map or talk of strategy. Nowhere in the book is a political agenda. The common soldier knew about being lost and confused. The larger issues were far away when lying wounded on the field. Historical accuracy takes the shape of what it must have been like to find oneself, day to day, in the midst of a miserable hellish war trying to maintain a sense of human dignity, and vision of the future, when all around humans are torn and the future lacks hope.

I would have liked to have met Bushrod Carter. I can easily imagine sitting on the porch talking about the important and ordinary turning of our lives through the years. But Bushrod Carter marched into the civil war, and Howard Bahr tells us how it happened.

Scott Hart

Rating:
Summary: Wow!
Review: This Civil War novel is Red Badge of Courage meets Cold Mountain.

It is a terrific account of the Battle of Franklin told through several extremely interesting and captivating characters. There are no real battle scenes. Mr. Bahr begins with the minutes before the battle commences and then jumps to the aftermath.

The characters are unforgettable from the good to the bad.

Mr. Bahr's writing is as memorable as the characters. It is near poetry in places, yet he also supplies terrific dialogue. After reading - then rereading - a particularly good description, I would then become rapt in the dialogue.

This book captures the horrors of war. One warning, if you have a tendency to eat while reading, you might want to diet through some of the scenes. The author's descriptive powers are immense whether he portraying a piece of scenery or the battlefield hospital.

Bahr shows well the realistically ugly side of war while stringing a thread of romance between a soldier and a woman and the bonds of friendship between life-long soldiers/friends through the book.

This is a book to read with time on your hands so the writing can be savored. You need not be a Civil War buff to appreciate this novel.

Rating:
Summary: Poetry!
Review: This book is sheer poetry masquerading as a Civil War novel. No matter how gruesome the subject matter of the moment, Howard Bahr manages to take it beyond your mind and into your heart -- you understand what he's writing with your soul. His description of the army as a living breathing entity unto itself as it goes into battle, is masterful and helps those of us who have never experienced battle to have an inkling of what makes normal men able to fight and kill. The interactions involving Bushrod and the other characters who have such a strong effect on his life are beautiful and touching. The Black Flower truly brings the horrors of war and death to life, you can virtually feel the characters' pain and smell the smells that surround them. But the beauty of the writer's language pulls the reader on and on no matter what the horrors may be. You care so much about these characters that you must go on. This book will be right up there on the top of my all time list of recommended favorites. If I could give it higher rating than a ten I would.

Rating:
Summary: Effective Depiction of the Personal Nightmare of War
Review: Fans of Civil War literature who are weary of reading the many books out there about major military leaders and their campaigns, battles, weapons, tactics and strategies will discover something of great value in "Black Flower: A Novel of the Civil War." The author, Howard Bahr, applies his narrative skills to a haunting and memorable depiction of the slaughter and carnage of war and its harrowing effects on the common soldier. We briefly discover Bushrod Carter, a 26-year old Confederate soldier from Mississippi and his "pards" preparing for the 1864 Battle of Franklin, Tennessee and then find them again after the battle is over, changed forever. Descriptions of the horrors of war, the wounded and their medical treatment, the nightmare scenes in the plantation house commandeered as a hospital, the tragedies of the lives affected, all serve to make "Black Flower" a most powerful and emotional novel

Rating:
Summary: A 3-Prozac Novel
Review: This novel, centering around Hood's petulant attack at Franklin is, at once, depressing and uplifting. The depression comes from the futility of the battle while the uplifting comes from the spirit of the American soldier and his willingness to endure despite the hardships he must encounter. This book is worth the read, if only to understand somewhat the ultimate weariness that comes from protracted hardship and war.

Rating:
Summary: This one is to be kept
Review: I may live in the South, but that doesn't mean that I know a lot about the Civil War. Though I usually like reading about gruesome battle scenes, this one made me feel for the characters. The book didn't need the battle scene; just the aftermath was enough to rethink the glorification of war and the scenes often seen in movies. Maybe because I know the author, I was able to laugh a certain parts because, to me, the words showed an inside joke. I possibly understood the book better because any part I didn't fully understand, like the mysterious rider, I was able to go to Mr. Bahr and ask. Still, if this book was something I had read a year ago instead of now, I don't think the emotions would have been any different. Powerful and thought provoking, this book is definitely not being sold back to the college bookstore.

Rating:
Summary: Disturbing
Review: I bought this novel after reading "Cold Mountain" and seeing Amazon.com recommendations for "The Black Flower." I therefore went into "The Black Flower" predisposed to liking it, which I certainly did at first. The introduction of the characters as they prepare for the Battle of Franklin is masterful and suspenseful. Bushrod and his two buddies from Mississipi are likeable characters, and the reader feels for them as they psyche themselves for battle. There is a little bit of wandering narrative, but the anticipation of the fighting keeps the reader attentive. Then comes a black hole where the battle took place and the reader finds himself in the aftermath of the bloody fighting. This is where the story begins to lack cohesiveness. Bushrod meets Anna in the country house requisitioned for a Confederate hospital. He is concussed and she is crochety. The reader might wonder what draws these two together when there are hundreds of other wounded soldiers to whom Anna might offer so much as a drink of water (but never does). The story disperses into other characters' viewpoints, the simpleton Nebo's and the boy Winder's, to no obvious purpose except to leave the reader impatient to get back to the main story. There is a lengthy description of a wasp making its long and arduous journey toward a lamp, only to keep bumping against the glass (symbolic of the futility of war?). There are the metaphoric refrains of the black horseman and the black flower. There is also much authorial discussion of the passing of time. I would still rate this novel higher than "Cold Mountain." There is more plot. The characters engender more compassion because they are nobly, albeit unglamorously, involved in the war (Inman in "Cold Mountain" has deserted and is finding his way home). After reading "The Black Flower," I came away with a memory of beautiful passages and a feeling of despair for the waste of human life.--Sophie Simonet, ACT OF LOVE, romantic suspense novel (Fictionwise)

Rating:
Summary: Engrossing
Review: An Amazon pal recommended I read this book, and I can't wait to get to some other titles recommended by the same reader since this one was top notch, and I would have never found it. The novel has garnered some comparison to Cold Mountain and even to The Killer Angels, although I think it is a very different book than those two. It reminded me more of The Red Badge of Courage, since it is also set in a short span of days, adjacent to a battle of the Civil War, but like Crane's novella the action here is mostly introspective and confined to a few characters. There are a couple of historical figures, including a cameo by Nathan Bedford Forrest, but for the most part this novel skips the battle detail in favor of a small group of fictional characters who we come to learn very well.

Bushrod Carter, the main protagonist, is a well-educated rifleman (one of the Cumberland Rifles) who is weary of the war and who can't wait to get home, but who never considers shrinking from his duty. He enters the battle of Franklin Tennessee, in 1864, with a couple of good buddies and an occasional enemy they have made over the course of the war (including one deserter who they temporarily buried alive). We see little of the battle itself, the novel instead focuses on the agonizing wait (with the Confederates knowing full well that General Hood is about to hurl them in another suicidal rush at fortified Union positions) and the battle aftermath.

After the battle, Bushrod finds himself at a make-shift hospital, cared for by a sweet visiting cousin who is initially unprepared for the horrors of war dropped at her family's doorstep. Bahr skillfully builds the suspense, although certain storylines don't seem to really go anywhere. (For example, I was somewhat puzzled as to the space early in the novel devoted to the music professor, I thought he would ultimately play a bigger role in the rest of the novel. However the scene of the band heading into battle was worthwhile). I also would have preferred a little more of an account of the actual fighting, although I suppose Mr. Bahr would respond that is not the book he set out to write.

In any event, the book was a rare find, a thoughtful, well-written character study full of historical detail. Civil War novels pop up as often as legal thrillers it seems, but this is one of the best I have read. Bahr apparently spent years meticulously researching this book, and reviewers with more knowledge of Franklin Tennessee than I possess indicate that he hits the mark, and that much of the novel (including the house where the second half takes place) is based upon actual people and places. If you are a fan of Civil War or historical fiction, you should pick up the Black Flower.

Rating:
Summary: Great writing but depressing
Review: There's no question that the author is a magnificent writer who can make you care about the characters, but then what does he do to you? He leads you down the gloomy path of despair all the way to the end of the book. I much prefer the action-packed stories of vivid battle scenes, which are, oddly enough, not nearly so depressing as this book. Far better are the books like The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara, and the books his son Jeff Shaara wrote after Michael's death.