Miracle at Sant'Anna
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Amazon.co.uk Review
The Buffalo Soldiers were the black American troopers of the 92nd Division who fought and died in Italy in World War II. In Miracle at Sant'Anna their remarkable story has been "novelised" by James McBride, bestselling author of The Color of Water. To get at the emotional and metaphorical heart of the fate of the so-called "Negro Division", McBride has invented a number of black soldier heroes and antiheroes; Sam Train, Stamps, Bishop, Hector, etc. Using the eyes, ears and voices of these and other soldiers McBride tells how the Buffalo Soldiers fought, loved, cursed, cooked, stole, whored, wept, suffered, killed, and mule-trained their way up the war-torn Italian peninsula. It's in many ways the standard war story, told in McBride's admirably calm, judiciously lyrical prose: this is an author unafraid of saying things the simple way, nor of utilising slang or cliché: "he fell asleep and slept like a dead man", "the big galoo was sitting in the path of twelve thousand Germans, and he couldn't even read a map".
And yet, and yet. This isn't just your average bit of combat fiction. These are black American soldiers, two generations from Africa and slavery, fighting in the cradle of Christendom, the birthplace of the Renaissance. With cleverness and subtly McBride makes great play with the perceived and supposed distinction between the savage uncouthness of the "jitterbugging negroes" and the refined and elegant beauties of Tuscany and Rome. And it's when these distinctions are truly disproved, or even upended, that this skilful, intelligent, deeply felt novel carries frank emotional power--earning it comparisons with the likes of Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain. --Sean Thomas --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
'Stunning...Incandescent prose which at once marks up a new voice and calls up Tennessee Williams, Isaac Bashevis Singer and streetwise black America rolled into one' - Financial Times on The Color of Water; 'An extraordinary story, beautifully told' - Jewish Chronicle on The Color of Water; 'A wonderfully evocative, moving book' - Literary Review
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Like most people who may read this book, I picked it up on the strength of his Color of Water book, which was thoroughly excellent.
The is a very different book. The story itself has a great deal of potential, but I felt it lost its way somewhere in the middle. The characters are somewhat muddled and don't develop the level of complexity I had hoped. And, I had the nagging feeling I was reading a follow up to Captain Corelli (which for me isn't a compliment by any means!). However, unlike Captain Corelli I did make it all the way through this book without actually cursing author. It's reasonable read, but it'll leave you thinking it could have been better.
jwk
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I read this wanting to know more about what happened at St Anna Stazzema, this isn't the book but it does weave a reasonable story around the event but like a previous reviewer I thought it got lost in the middle. I'm not a reader of stories about battles and making war, rather the human stories that surround it, for me it was the interweaving stories about what was going on back in camp that lost it for me. If however you like novels about battles you would probably rate it higher than I did.
Format:Hardcover
This is a tender and emotional tale of survival of the heart and soul in the harsh reality of war. The hero manages successfully to overcome his thoughts of the recklessness of war by falling in love with the hostile environment in which he is placed. This is a truly touching book for those who can share our hero's experiences from true life.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Highly original
I am not going to give anything away about this story.
I thought it was a strange but beautiful effort. Go read.
I thought it was a strange but beautiful effort. Go read.
Published 18 months ago by Mr P
IT COULD HAVE BEEN A CONTENDER...
The author, who penned the classic international bestseller, "The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother", and was the recipient of the prestigious... Read more
Published on 4 Sep 2003 by Lawyeraau
Magnificent descriptive work
Having spent most of my childhood summers in the Barga area, I feel I have a real affinity with the place, and the peak of La Pania to the west has a special place in my heart. Read more
Published on 16 Feb 2003
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