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21 reviews
36 of 38 people found the following review helpful
Naslund's Triumph
15 Sep 2003
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Naslund uses her sensuous language to bring alive events surrounding some of the most shameful events in our national history. Her telling of the story of the four little girls bombed to death in a Birmingham church concentrates on those who were there -- those affected by these tragic deaths in many different ways. In short and sparkling chapters Naslund brings these characters to life: Not only those struggling to right the wrongs, but those responsible for committing them. Should you read this book? Yes. If you were not alive during the tumult of the early sixties, you should read this book and think. Yes. If you were alive you should read this book and remember. Always remember. For it is ever true that those of us who do not remember our history will find a way to repeat it.
Naslund, with unimpeachable skill, fictionalizes the horrors, creates recognizeable humans to populate her story, and makes an imperative of remembrance. Naslund's skill is formidable. She is a writer to pay attention to. She knows the human heart in darkness and in light.
30 of 33 people found the following review helpful
Breathtaking
2 Oct 2003
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Having lived and grown up in Birmingham, AL during this period of its history, this book was of particular interest to me. Ms. Naslund has captured the flavor, the ectasy, the heartbreak of this time in a very ingenious manner, focusing on the lives of some ten to twelve individual people during this time of turmoil and heartbreak. Her chapters are short, which makes the book more compelling and difficult to put down, and the ending is truly magnificent. Ms. Naslund with her latest book continues to add to her reputation as a tremendously gifted and deeply sensitive writer. It is truly a breathtaking and unforgettable novel.
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Not like any reading experience I have ever had.
9 Jan 2005
Format:Paperback
I just finished "Four Spirits" this weekend--after TWO MONTHS of reading. In part, it took me this long because it is over 500 pages; in part, because I kept it at work and only read on my lunch break; and, in part, because the emotional weight of this story is so intense that it just isn't material that you breeze through...you have to absorb its impact if you are to reap the full benefits of the experience.
Naslund brilliantly weaves real events (such as the bombing of a Birmingham church in which four little girls perished) and real people (Martin Luther King, Jr. and others in the civil rights movement) into a rich tapestry of fictional characters and events. Through these fictional characters, we see and feel the impact of the horrific events of this shameful period in our history.
In the beginning, I had a hard time with the format--each short chapter was about a different character, so it might be many chapters before the storyline you were most interested in would resume. I understood that it was necessary to introduce the characters fully and deeply enough that I would care about them when the tragic events of this story start unfolding. In that, Ms. Naslund was very successful.
It must be said that this book is very difficult to read--not journalistically or linguistically, but emotionally. That is not to say it is a story that should not be told or read. I am deeply grateful that I have experienced it and yet, there were times when I said "I can't take any more" because the intensity of emotion and piling-on effect of tragic events was just too much (the irony that the people in Birmingham--and all across the South--in the 1960s may have been feeling the same way is not lost on me).
I have read many sad books. I have read many books that have made me weep, that have made my heart ache. But this...this goes beyond that. Reading "Four Spirits" is like going into battle...it is not a passive experience. I am better for having read it, but it was not without a price.
Naslund brilliantly weaves real events (such as the bombing of a Birmingham church in which four little girls perished) and real people (Martin Luther King, Jr. and others in the civil rights movement) into a rich tapestry of fictional characters and events. Through these fictional characters, we see and feel the impact of the horrific events of this shameful period in our history.
In the beginning, I had a hard time with the format--each short chapter was about a different character, so it might be many chapters before the storyline you were most interested in would resume. I understood that it was necessary to introduce the characters fully and deeply enough that I would care about them when the tragic events of this story start unfolding. In that, Ms. Naslund was very successful.
It must be said that this book is very difficult to read--not journalistically or linguistically, but emotionally. That is not to say it is a story that should not be told or read. I am deeply grateful that I have experienced it and yet, there were times when I said "I can't take any more" because the intensity of emotion and piling-on effect of tragic events was just too much (the irony that the people in Birmingham--and all across the South--in the 1960s may have been feeling the same way is not lost on me).
I have read many sad books. I have read many books that have made me weep, that have made my heart ache. But this...this goes beyond that. Reading "Four Spirits" is like going into battle...it is not a passive experience. I am better for having read it, but it was not without a price.
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