[.ca] Jacobs Ladder (ISBN 0140282653)

worth reading and rereading:
I picked up this book by chance at a secondhand bookstore, and found it an extremely satisfying reading experience. There are books that you read that are merely good, and books from the first page that are great in comparison. This is one of the great ones. The author's style is unique and original, the story engrossing to the end. What the characters have to say is so authentic, if one can be a judge of that without having direct experience of the 19th century. I bought this book in part because I still carried the memory of having read "Cold Mountain" and wanted to, in a sense, extend that reading experience, and I would recommend "Jacob's Ladder" over "Cold Mountain" any day. This is one of the rare books that I am looking forward to rereading some day.

Sally Hemmings meets Gone with the Wind.:
Well, in light of the fact that one of the fastest-growing past times in America is to beat up on the South by portraying all white Southerners as racist, conflicted, and pitiable creatures who had an insatiable appetite for "brown sugar", I'm not really suprised that people liked this book. It's well-written, but extremely unfair in its portrayal of Southerners and a little sketchy on some historic facts.

Riveting!:
Kept me totally engrossed in the interrelationships of the families of characters. They were extremely well thought out and detailed such that I felt that I knew them. Their varied backgrounds and dependencies on each other were fascinating. Also engaging was the way their relationships changed as the times and "rules" rapidly changed. Better than "Cold Mountain" (which I loved, also). This book goes on my top shelf of prized possessions.

Jacob's Ladder:
This is the panoramic, sweeping sort of historical novel. It has literary qualities, and parts are excellent. But the author tries to do too much. Had McCaig confined himself to his soldiers, perhaps emphasizing the comparison and contrast between his desperate Confederates and his well-fed but disrespected USCT, the book would have had more focus and impact. He writes battle scenes very well. But he gets sidetracked into endless subplots, most of which I found boring and long-winded. The "framing" device of the girl collecting interviews seems particularly irrelevant, but the domestic scenes, in general, drag. McCaig does well at writing from both white and African-American viewpoints without stereotyping or dehumanizing either group; his characters remain individual human beings. I found only small and fairly irrelevant errors here, though McCaig takes some minor liberties with the Battle of Fredericksburg.

An outstanding historical novel:
I read this novel last year. This was well in advance of the recent revelations about Strom Thurmond's unacknowledged child by his family's black maid back when Strom was in his 20s and the young lady was 16. The hypocrisy of that episode brought to mind the story of Duncan and Midge. And of course there is a current film with Anthony Hopkins where he portrays a young black man who "passed" for white to advance in the USA back in the days when this nation was overly obsessed with skin pigment. This book can be appreciated on many levels. There really was an effort made to record the oral narratives of former slaves although by the 30s, very few were still alive or lucid enough to provide accurate histories. The author's skillful use of this actual event in the 30s to construct the storyline was impressive. The hardships and deprivations of the landed Virginia planter aristocracy during and after the war are vividly brought to life. The lives of the slaves and the world they inhabited are also recreated in this book as in no other I've ever read though sadly we dont have much lit dealing with the day to day reality of being a slave in the old South. We read this book and we find ourselves cheering Midge as she ultimately triumphs and earns a spot in "respectable society". But at what cost? Early on in the book we learn that Midge/Maggie/Marguerite ---perhaps unique among her fellow slaves--had the gift of mimicry and could "talk white". That talent--coupled with her lighter skin--- so early displayed in the novel will carry Midge along thru the rest of her life. I dont know if anyone has ever bought the rights to this novel and I'm sure a politically correct Hollywood would badly mangle the storyline, but the role of Maggie/Marguerite would be great for a young Halle Berry. One of my favorite lines is spoken by Duncan to a Confederate soldier and fellow alum of VMI: "Boy we sure did teach them Yankees a lesson back there" \oreferring to a battle\c and the reply: "Yeah, and they keep on not learning it!"