North And South – John Jakes, 1982 ★★

Too Thick for its Own Good

Why do big, thick fiction novels invest in me a sense of awe that smaller tomes do not? Do I not recall Hemingway’s thoughts on the value of concision? Or how a tight narrative framework often works best, even when the subject is the American Civil War?

You can fit The Red Badge Of Courage in your pocket or purse. Good luck trying that with North And South.

John Jakes followed up the amazing success of his eight-volume “Kent Family Chronicles” by kicking off what proved an even bigger commercial triumph, the story of two American families united in duty but driven apart by war and the “peculiar institution” known as slavery. The result is a hodgepodge of crafty plotting and loose writing, of flat characters and engaging storycraft.

The Bastard – John Jakes, 1974 ★★★½

Come for the Sex, Stay for the Revolution

Sex sells. That’s an idea as old as history itself. Sex sells even when the subject is history, as John Jakes amply demonstrated with the release of this, the first of eight lusty novels tracing the history of an American family spreading their seed from just before the American Revolution to the dawn of the 20^th century.