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Product Description
Review
"["A Moment in the Sun"'s] true importance lies not in its rearview relevance but in its commitment to recalling in heroic detail a little-known and contradictory historical moment, a sunny time of American pride but also of hubris in sun-beaten locales... Sayles is not a neutral channel, but in his respect for facts both documented and extrapolated, he is devoted to offering us a new understanding of the past."
--Tom LeClair, "New York Times Book Review"
"A brutal picaresque complete with melancholy whores, militaristic robber barons, desperate cutthroat prospectors, and puppet soldiers... His period slang rings dead-on perfect. [Sayles's] great achievement is to illuminate the parallel between imperialism and racism in turn-of-the-century America--indeed, to shine so glaring a light on it that even if we screw our eyes shut, the horror remains."
--William T. Vollmann, "Bookforum"
"Independent filmmaker John Sayles has managed to create a work that is both cinemati
--Tom LeClair, "New York Times Book Review"
"A brutal picaresque complete with melancholy whores, militaristic robber barons, desperate cutthroat prospectors, and puppet soldiers... His period slang rings dead-on perfect. [Sayles's] great achievement is to illuminate the parallel between imperialism and racism in turn-of-the-century America--indeed, to shine so glaring a light on it that even if we screw our eyes shut, the horror remains."
--William T. Vollmann, "Bookforum"
"Independent filmmaker John Sayles has managed to create a work that is both cinemati
Product Description
Spanning five years and half a dozen countries, Sayles's latest novel takes the late 1890s in its sights--from the white coup in Wilmington, North Carolina, to the bloody dawn of U.S. interventionism in Cuba and the Philippines.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
John Sayles last book"Los Gusanos" was published in 1991, so a long wait, but a book of this quality, scope and range of characters, famous and infamous is very rare. This is a big book,955 pages, with a splendid cover, gold inscribed letters reminiscent of the printing on the book-spines of old novels. But it is a big book inside the covers also, giving the reader hours of pleasure, knowledge and enjoyment. It tells the story of an America just beginning to don the mantle of a world power in the years between 1897 and 1910. It deals with the Yukon gold rush, the sinking of the Maine in Havana harbour, Cuba and the resulting war against Spain, fought in Cuba and the Philippines and when Spain cedes control of the Islands the continuing struggle between the American troops and the native population seeking their own independence.
The central theme of the book recounts the events leading up to the little known racist riots that took place in the town of Wilmington, North Carolina in 1898. Wilmington's population consisted of a black majority, but during voting day a section of Democratic white supremacists seized power from the elected government of the town, shooting and killing many African-Americans in the process. They confiscated their houses and property and drove the black political and business leaders from the town, among them, Aaron Lunceford, a negro doctor, a prominent pillar of the community and living in a white section of the town with his educated children, Junior and Jessie, friends of Royal and Jubal Scott, African-Americans from the poorer area of town. Junior and Royal had enlisted in the regular army after the sinking of the Maine and are in Cuba fighting and risking their lives for their country when the riots take place and their families are exiled to New York.
The strength of the book lies in John Sayles ability to tell in detail the disparate lives of his chacters, to get inside their minds and express their aspirations and actions as their paths meet and diverge, before and during the War.
Hod Brackenridge, Yukon prospector, hard-rock miner, sometime pugilist, enlists in the Colorado Volunteers to fight in the Philippines.
Lon Mei a young Chinese girl working in the village fields, taken away to the pleasure houses of Hongkong and Manila before becoming a washer woman in the army hospital.
Diasdado Concepcion, at the start a University educated, dandified Filopino, turning over the years into a dedicated insurgent commanding a small company fighting first the Spanish then the Americans as they strive for independence.
John Sayles is multi-talented, film director and author, his affinity in telling and showing the lives of ordinary working people is unsurpassed. I highly recommend this book
The central theme of the book recounts the events leading up to the little known racist riots that took place in the town of Wilmington, North Carolina in 1898. Wilmington's population consisted of a black majority, but during voting day a section of Democratic white supremacists seized power from the elected government of the town, shooting and killing many African-Americans in the process. They confiscated their houses and property and drove the black political and business leaders from the town, among them, Aaron Lunceford, a negro doctor, a prominent pillar of the community and living in a white section of the town with his educated children, Junior and Jessie, friends of Royal and Jubal Scott, African-Americans from the poorer area of town. Junior and Royal had enlisted in the regular army after the sinking of the Maine and are in Cuba fighting and risking their lives for their country when the riots take place and their families are exiled to New York.
The strength of the book lies in John Sayles ability to tell in detail the disparate lives of his chacters, to get inside their minds and express their aspirations and actions as their paths meet and diverge, before and during the War.
Hod Brackenridge, Yukon prospector, hard-rock miner, sometime pugilist, enlists in the Colorado Volunteers to fight in the Philippines.
Lon Mei a young Chinese girl working in the village fields, taken away to the pleasure houses of Hongkong and Manila before becoming a washer woman in the army hospital.
Diasdado Concepcion, at the start a University educated, dandified Filopino, turning over the years into a dedicated insurgent commanding a small company fighting first the Spanish then the Americans as they strive for independence.
John Sayles is multi-talented, film director and author, his affinity in telling and showing the lives of ordinary working people is unsurpassed. I highly recommend this book
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
23 reviews
64 of 66 people found the following review helpful
Worth Your Time
30 May 2011
Format:Hardcover
Around page 700 or so of Moment in the Sun, it occurred to me that the book was so long because John Sayles needed that many pages for everything bad in the world to happen to his characters. Set in 1897 and the years immediately after, this story takes the reader on a tour of American oppression and misery. From an Alaskan Gold Rush boom town to a white supremacist insurrection in Wilmington, NC, to the invasions of Cuba and the Philippines, this is not a happy, feel-good novel.
It is, however, a well-told story. While rich in detail, Sayle's writing is clear and easy to read. For a novel that's almost 1000 pages long, it doesn't feel slow or padded. We get an in-depth view of his characters and their worlds, and really come to feel for them. We root for them to find happiness (some do) and shed a tear when horrible things happen to them (some of those do, as well).
What's fascinating, reading this book in 2011, is how many of the situations mirror those going on today. The Philippine response to the American occupation doesn't seem too far afield from the way our armed forces are treated right now. The fear-driven attempts to keep African-Americans from gaining any sort of political power is horribly painful to read, but it's even more so when I walk down my own block and see someone has posted a bumper sticker on a stop sign with an anti-Muslim epithet on it. This is the story of a time over 100 years ago, but it's also a story of today.
John Sayles' writing may be easy to read, but what he's talking about is difficult. But they're the sort of themes that should be written about, because they're the sorts of things still going on in the world today. This is a well-written piece of fiction because it's a gripping read, and because it's thought-provoking. The length is intimidating, but it's very much worth the effort.
It is, however, a well-told story. While rich in detail, Sayle's writing is clear and easy to read. For a novel that's almost 1000 pages long, it doesn't feel slow or padded. We get an in-depth view of his characters and their worlds, and really come to feel for them. We root for them to find happiness (some do) and shed a tear when horrible things happen to them (some of those do, as well).
What's fascinating, reading this book in 2011, is how many of the situations mirror those going on today. The Philippine response to the American occupation doesn't seem too far afield from the way our armed forces are treated right now. The fear-driven attempts to keep African-Americans from gaining any sort of political power is horribly painful to read, but it's even more so when I walk down my own block and see someone has posted a bumper sticker on a stop sign with an anti-Muslim epithet on it. This is the story of a time over 100 years ago, but it's also a story of today.
John Sayles' writing may be easy to read, but what he's talking about is difficult. But they're the sort of themes that should be written about, because they're the sorts of things still going on in the world today. This is a well-written piece of fiction because it's a gripping read, and because it's thought-provoking. The length is intimidating, but it's very much worth the effort.
30 of 31 people found the following review helpful
A Moment in the Sun
21 May 2011
Format:Hardcover
Powerful reading. Rich in history that few of us have much knowledge of, the war in the Phillipines at the turn of the twentieth century. As with Sayles other works, his cast of characters is large, but finely drawn. Multiple story lines, yet each fully developed. Was lucky enough to hear Sayles read from his new book and discuss it last night in Los Angeles. Don't be put off by the near thousand page length. This book will hold you all the way through.
45 of 50 people found the following review helpful
Wonderful!
7 May 2011
Format:Hardcover
There are some books that despite the size are horribly conceived and ultimately unreadable, but not this one. Sayles' take on the Philippine-American War at the turn of the century is rich, deceptively readable, and satisfying. Rich in terms of the amount of research and historical details that went into its writing, Sayles has certainly produced a one-of-a-kind monumental literary work. I am sure Filipinos residing in the Anglosphere world will appreciate Sayles' effort in bringing light into this often lost and forgotten part of Philippine history. Highly recommended. Buy one now. Share this with friends. Better yet, buy another and share that reading copy with friends.
As for the artwork and production values by McSweeney's in the making of this volume, I have to congratulate them for making A Moment in the Sun a KEEPER.
As for the artwork and production values by McSweeney's in the making of this volume, I have to congratulate them for making A Moment in the Sun a KEEPER.
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