A Distant Flame Summary and Reviews

A Distant Flame
by Philip Lee Williams

A Distant Flame
List Price: $17.99
Our Price: $4.95
You Save: $13.04 (72%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $3.82 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


or

Book Summary Information

Author: Philip Lee Williams
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-11-01
ISBN: 0312348479
Number of pages: 336
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Book Reviews of A Distant Flame

Book Review: A Distant Flame
Summary: 3 Stars

A literary Civil War novel that alternates between Charlie Merrill's grim existence as a sharpshooter in the Army of Tennessee, his sickly but love-touched boyhood and his old age.

I have very mixed feelings about this novel and I note from the other blurbs and reviews it's gotten that my opinion is a somewhat contrarian one.

I certainly have no issue with the research, which appears to have been painstaking. I found, though, that my engagement with the story wavered many times as I read. I honestly can't decide if this is a significant literary work told in a poetic style or if it's essentially sentimental in its themes and given to purple prose in its execution. I had trouble with the narrative's total humorlessness, with the saintly profundity of every character, with the endless repetition of variants on "Slavery was wrong." Yeah, obviously slavery was wrong. Every modern reader, hopefully, realizes that. But I'm not really convinced that the nineteenth-century Georgian character Charlie Merrill would realistically feel so unequivocally about it, and, as ever, the statement would have worked better shown than told. The race relations shown in the novel are all actually idyllic.

And along those same lines, I'm tired of reading about Confederate characters who don't believe in what they're fighting for. I think sophisticated modern readers can deal with protagonists who are fighting for a variety of reasons, some of which we do not consider today to be good. Merrill's lack of commitment to any aspect of his cause (whether resisting invasion or states' rights or his comrades, except for his single companion Duncan, or slavery) actually makes his battlefield actions more, not less, morally questionable for me. It severely undermines the quality of moral spokesmanship that I think the novel is trying to give him.

I was more moved by the failed-romance aspect of the story than I was by the war aspect, which is unusual for me.

I think this would probably appeal to readers who enjoyed books like Cold Mountain more than to readers who enjoy, say, David Poyer's Civil War novels. As for its overall quality, I'm just not sure.

Historical Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Historical Books
Pirate Latitudes: A Novel ImagePirate Latitudes: A Novel
by Michael Crichton
Harper; Published: 2009-11-24; Roughcut; Book
Best price: $2.44
Price in other shops: $27.99
The Master Butchers Singing Club: A Novel ImageThe Master Butchers Singing Club: A Novel
by Louise Erdrich
Harper Perennial; Published: 2004-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.83
Price in other shops: $13.95
The Last Witchfinder: A Novel ImageThe Last Witchfinder: A Novel
by James Morrow
William Morrow; Published: 2006-03-14; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.00
Price in other shops: $25.95
Zorro ImageZorro
by Isabel Allende
HarperAudio; Published: 2005-05-03; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $3.05
Price in other shops: $39.95
The Hot Kid: A Novel ImageThe Hot Kid: A Novel
by Elmore Leonard
William Morrow; Published: 2005-05-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $2.89
Price in other shops: $25.95
The Last Kingdom (The Saxon Chronicles Series #1) ImageThe Last Kingdom (The Saxon Chronicles Series #1)
Mass Market Paperback; Book
Bones of the Hills (Conqueror, Book 3) ImageBones of the Hills (Conqueror, Book 3)
by Conn Iggulden
Harper Collins Canada; Published: 2008; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $44.70
March ImageMarch
by Geraldine Brooks
Penguin Books; Published: 2006; Paperback; Book
Emperor (Emperor 1) ImageEmperor (Emperor 1)
by Conn Iggulden
Harpercollins Pb; Published: 2003-06-07; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.80
Girl With a Pearl Earring ImageGirl With a Pearl Earring
by Tracy Chevalier
Harper Collins Audio; Published: 2002-06-17; Audio Cassette; Book
Best price: $86.82
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
Shades of Gray: A Novel of the Civil War in Virginia ImageShades of Gray: A Novel of the Civil War in Virginia
by Jessica James
Patriot Press; Published: 2008-01-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $21.77
Price in other shops: $21.99
The Unfinished Work ImageThe Unfinished Work
by Frank Meredith
Emerald Book Company; Published: 2010-06-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $11.81
Price in other shops: $23.95
Fire Bell in the Night: A Novel ImageFire Bell in the Night: A Novel
by Geoffrey Edwards
Simon & Schuster; Published: 2007-09-18; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops: $27.99
The Widow's War ImageThe Widow's War
by Mary Mackey
Berkley Trade; Published: 2009-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.84
Price in other shops: $15.00
A Separate Country: A Story of Redemption in the Aftermath of the Civil War ImageA Separate Country: A Story of Redemption in the Aftermath of the Civil War
by Robert Hicks
Grand Central Publishing; Published: 2011-03-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.00
Price in other shops: $14.99
Jacob's Ladder: A Story of Virginia During the War ImageJacob's Ladder: A Story of Virginia During the War
by Donald McCaig
W. W. Norton & Company; Published: 2009-12-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.36
Price in other shops: $14.95
Stonewall's Gold: A Novel of the Civil War ImageStonewall's Gold: A Novel of the Civil War
by Robert J. Mrazek
St. Martin's Griffin; Published: 2000-02-14; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.49
Price in other shops: $13.95
The Year of Jubilo: A Novel of the Civil War ImageThe Year of Jubilo: A Novel of the Civil War
by Howard Bahr
Picador; Published: 2001-05-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.61
Price in other shops: $16.00
The Black Flower: A Novel of the Civil War ImageThe Black Flower: A Novel of the Civil War
by Howard Bahr
Picador; Published: 2000-05-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.28
Price in other shops: $15.00
The Judas Field: A Novel of the Civil War ImageThe Judas Field: A Novel of the Civil War
by Howard Bahr
Picador; Published: 2007-07-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.03
Price in other shops: $17.00