Long Remember

Rating:
Summary: A love story and war from the ground up
Review: A solemn realistic novel that is historically consistent, but I would not necessarily recommend it for the Civil War buff. It is more a great drama than a great story of history. I would compare it more to "Gone With the Wind" than, say, "The Killer Angels."

It is wonderfully written and somewhat depressing. It takes us to the unsuspecting town of Gettysburg before and through the great battle there.

Rating:
Summary: tragic story
Review: I usually do not read fiction . The name Mackinlay Kantor is the reason I purchased it. This is not what I would call historic fiction exactly. It was truly fiction with very little history. It is a story of innocence lost, forbidden love,selfishness,betrayal, and the horors of war. I was disappointed, especially after reading 'Andersonville'. I feel a litle ashamed of myself for giving this great author only 3 stars but this just was not an enjoyable read for me.

Rating:
Summary: tragic story
Review: I usually do not read fiction . The name Mackinlay Kantor is the reason I purchased it. This is not what I would call historic fiction exactly. It was truly fiction with very little history. It is a story of innocence lost, forbidden love,selfishness,betrayal, and the horors of war. I was disappointed, especially after reading 'Andersonville'. I feel a litle ashamed of myself for giving this great author only 3 stars but this just was not an enjoyable read for me.

Rating:
Summary: the very best...
Review: I was ever so happy to see that "Long Remember" was back in print. I re-read it again after 35 years, and savored every page all over again. Kantor developed a style of telling a Civil War era tale of Gettysburg citizenry caught up in the vortex of that July battle so credible, so packed with flawless imagery that you are virtually transported back in time and disappointed that a taste of the past has come to an end. What other novel includes such an impressive bibleography as well? Few if any. Kantor did his 'home-work'..from bran poultices to the distant 'thudding' of artillery batteries . A masterful companion piece for Sharaah's "Killer Angels" to be sure.

Rating:
Summary: the very best...
Review: I was ever so happy to see that "Long Remember" was back in print. I re-read it again after 35 years, and savored every page all over again. Kantor developed a style of telling a Civil War era tale of Gettysburg citizenry caught up in the vortex of that July battle so credible, so packed with flawless imagery that you are virtually transported back in time and disappointed that a taste of the past has come to an end. What other novel includes such an impressive bibleography as well? Few if any. Kantor did his 'home-work'..from bran poultices to the 'mmm' sound of overhead projectiles . A masterful companion piece for Sharaah's "Killer Angels" to be sure.

Rating:
Summary: best book to start with
Review: This book is the first fictional account of the Civil War that I read. I read it in college and it lead me to other authors such as Michael and Jeff Shaara, Allen Eckert, and James Alexander Thom. When you read this book, the resons why people believed the way they did back then make sense. The story is told very much in the way of a Tennyson poem, only less formal. It is a very gut wrenching story at times, and a tender one as well. Very few authors around today can even dream of coming close to Mr. Kantors work. Read this book and it will stay with you forever.

Rating:
Summary: This terrific book shouldn't be labeled a Civil War novel
Review: This is so much more than a Civil War novel. Long Remember is the compelling story of a pacificst who returns home after a several years living in the West. Home happens to be Gettysburg Pennsylvania and the time is June 1863.

Happily, Long Remember takes it time before the armies clash. We get to know the main characters, particular our hero and the woman next door. The two fall in love. Their romance is complicated by the fact that she is married to a Union officer.

The battle of Gettysburg is retold in a unique way, its presentation here is much more meaningfull than the dry accounts of battle tactics readers usually have to endure.

I gave Long Remember four stars instead of five because I did not like the ending, However, I suspect most readers would not share my dissatisfaction.