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Title: Centennial by James A. Michener ISBN: 1-879371-46-4 Publisher: Pub Group West Pub. Date: 01 November, 1993 Format: Audio Cassette List Price(USD): $24.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.37 (35 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: To sir, with love
Comment: Once again, James Michener has created a wonderful story about a place, Colorado this time. From the rock formation, to its inherent animals, and, afterwards, the people - indians, english, german, russian, italian, japanese, Michener presents us with a lesson in writing, describing the arid landscapes, the flat, ugly Platte river, the majestic Rockies, the beaver trappers, the search for gold, the extermination of a race, the cattle ranchers. What more can I say about a book that's more than a thousand pages long and even so a very pleasant reading, never tiresome?
Centennial, the focal point of the book, is an imaginary town, but very vivid in my mind. That's the power of Michener's storytelling. He was able to provide his readers with a great cast of characters, this time spanning a little more than three centuries. Blending history with things as different as, for example, dry-land farm technincs, Michener gives us a fantastic lesson about the United States.
James Michener is one of my favorite authors, and, in my humble opinion, one of the great writers of the 20th century. We have to mourn his passing because Michener is that rare kind of author, the kind that have his readers always on his mind, always respectful, doing excellent researches, providing historical fiction like no one else. Thank you, Mr. Michener, wherever you are. Thank you for your kindness, for worrying about the quality of your books, thank you for compelling me to read more than 10,000 pages of your work, and not regreting even one minute of that reading.
Grade 9.3/10
Rating: 5
Summary: Michener at his best
Comment: I grew to love Michener, when I read Hawaii, Mexico, and The Novel. I lost a little faith in him when I attempted to enjoy the Covenant, Source, and Journey. Fortunately, I'm glad to say that Michener redeemed himself with the Centennial. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is a wonderful novel that is as sweeping as his best works are. Finally, the biggest weakness of his writing, binding all the characters together, is gone because the span of time is relatively short. Even though some events seem hurried and never fully explained, Michener is still poetic and fills the novel with startling images and original characters. I especially liked the final fourth of the book. Michener foreshadowed what would happen in the first few pages, but he took sweet time getting there. The Wendells and the Grebes are the most intriguing characters in the book, so be patient until you read about them. The only gripe I have is Michener's knack of cheating his readers by providing an interesting portrait of a character and then, suddenly, drop them out of the picture: e.g., Elly and Soledad. Overall, he is at his best here and I would rank it third on my list of his best works, behind Hawaii and Mexico.
Rating: 4
Summary: Massive Historical Fictional Tale of Western Frontier
Comment: I've had this book likely over seven years, and it has taken all of that to get through this: seven starts and stops, but at the end here the determination to see the read through.
I agonized over the prehistoric, dinosaurish opening, but then found the Indian and trapper-mountain men section fascinating.
But for me the best section was the establishment of the area of Centennial and the ranching. Having grown up in this area, it sure seems like Centennial would have to be Sterling.
The Hereford and Black Angus are the backbone of the ranching community, here well represented in this epic tale of the West. Panaramic in his scope, Michener provides all the angles, sugar beets, irrigation, livestock wars, minority farm workers, etc.
Easily the funniest part was the tragic tryout of the preacher at Centennial's Union Church who preached lengthily on the sheep and the Good Shepherd passage from John. Hilarious knowing that the sheep-cattle wars were raging and he was preaching to the cattle choir!
Massive research well written, but tedious read through all 1038 pages. Sorry, but I enjoyed T.A. Larson's History of Wyo much more and recommend it to those interested in the area.
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Title: Chesapeake by James A. Michener ISBN: 0449211584 Publisher: Fawcett Books Pub. Date: 01 September, 1990 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Hawaii by James A. Michener ISBN: 0449213358 Publisher: Fawcett Books Pub. Date: 01 April, 1994 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Texas by James A. Michener ISBN: 0449210928 Publisher: Fawcett Books Pub. Date: 01 April, 1994 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Alaska by James A. Michener ISBN: 0449217264 Publisher: Fawcett Books Pub. Date: 01 April, 1994 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: The Source by James A. Michener ISBN: 0449211479 Publisher: Fawcett Books Pub. Date: 01 December, 1992 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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