A Different Kind of Christmas by Alex HaleyMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Haley dedicates this story, “To the memory of all those whose courage, daring, and self-sacrifice made the Underground Railroad possible.”
It’s almost as if I were leaning over his shoulder as he conducted his family research…So many questions come up when we find the shortest blurbs on what person was where and when. This short story appears to have bubbled up out of a few names and places, and Haley was the fortunate scribe watching it unfold in his imagination. How much of this was anything close to reality? That’s where this story ends and so many others begin…
What might happen if an old-school Southern lad rubbed shoulders with those damned do-gooder Yankees on the hallowed ground of Princeton U? And what if some of their experience starts to rub off on him? Add to that the turbulent period of youth to manhood, and you’ve got yourself the makings of a crisis. How could anyone remain unchanged through an intense trial of spiritual and moral dilemma?
This could easily be a trite made-for-TV movie, as the characters seem very typecast, yet Haley masterfully creates a comfortable discomfort that draws us close enough to consider our own integrity. What ideals do you consider worth fighting for? What ideals would you be willing to die for? Not every author can pull that off so gracefully.
View all my reviews
I hope you don't mind my cheeky title too much. I can't help but see the news headlines in contrast to my experience with people of enormously varied backgrounds, and wonder how anyone can get away with bigotry anymore? Seriously! All it takes is for each one of us to go back a generation or two, or maybe a bit farther for some, and discover their ancestors came from somewhere else. Or at least, one would hope so, otherwise the genetics get messy. Know what I'm saying? Expand your world, people! But I don't need to tell you that—you're obviously a reader, and readers go places.
Apryl's books
Ghosts, Vampires, and Werewolves: Eerie Tales from Transylvania Spariosu, Mihai I. and Benedek, Dezsö; illustrations by Kubinyi, Laszlo. New York: Orchard Books, 1994 ISBN
0-531-06860-9 Contents: Acknowledgements, Introduction Part One:...
A sweet and lovely, opinionated gardener's dodderings on his must-haves and how to prepare them from soil to table. The photos make me want to get out there and mulch my rows. Or
better yet, assign Fergus to do it for me.
I'm a bit disappointed that my expectations failed me on this one, although I'm not sure why. What more can be said about gathering other people's junk and creating new lives and
calling them 'art?' Maybe, "Why am I not doing this, too?"...
A brief and interesting read from the early days of self-help psychology. The field has grown and grown-up over the last 30 years, so this book is somewhat outdated. Nevertheless,
Heimler's wisdom is timeless. If anything, the bizarre c...
If you want to read about the life of Montaigne, best stick to his autobiographical musings straight from the horse's mouth as it were: his "essays". But if you really want to know
all about his life, and EVERYTHING that was going on ar...
Write a comment