Centennial: A Novel
by James A. Michener

List Price: $15.95
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions

or

Compare Prices for Centennial: A Novel

Book Summary Information

Book Reviews of Centennial: A Novel

Book Review: A triumph.
Summary: 5 Stars

No-one who reads Centennial will ever forget its characters: Lame Beaver, the proud Arapaho brave, who counted coup on his enemies many times, introduced the horse to his people, and retained his dignity even as the world he knew disappeared; Alexander McKeag, the solitary trapper existing alone amidst huge forbidding landscapes, dwarfed by the surrounding peaks, wracked with guilt and angst; Colonel Frank Skimmerhorn, bigot and fanatic, hater of all indians indiscriminately, and egregious hypocrite; and Levi Zendt, the outcast Amish youth who sets forth on the Oregon Trail to seek his fortune. I first read Centennial in my early teens, and I have returned to it many times - these people are as real to me as the person living next door.

Though a novel in its own right, Centennial can be regarded as a series of independent but connected stories, each story set one or two generations after its predecessor. Major characters from early chapters sometimes appear later on, much older, as minor characters; and mysteries, remaining enigmatic through the centuries, are solved hundreds of pages later. Cast from the same mould as Michener's Texas and Hawaii, placing fictional characters in and around historical events, Centennial excels by developing its characters more deeply and more believably. We share their lives and thoughts and struggles, but ultimately we realise they are just grains of sand caught up in the great whirlwind of human affairs - Michener's true gift is in showing us the mortality of man and his true place in the order of nature.

Sadly the pace and the excitement do decline as the book progresses. Modern history is by nature less dramatic than ancient history simply as a function of its proximity. Nevertheless this is a book which can change the way you perceive the human psyche and the world around us. At once dramatic and soulful, Centennial can change your life.

Literature & Fiction Books