It took me a long time to get up the energy to read this 750 page historical fiction novel about the abolitionist/terrorist/martyr John Brown, but I ended up glad I did. Russell Banks is an excellent writer and had me completely immersed in this family's life and times. The focus of the book is actually Owen Brown, the third son of John Brown. When most people think of this family, they probably think of their time in Kansas and the fight between those who wanted Kansas to be a free state and those who wanted in to be a slave state. And then, of course, the raid on Harpers Ferry. But Banks, instead, explores the growth of the family and their time in the Northeast, meeting other abolitionists, codifying their beliefs, and just trying to make ends meet as a large, poor family.

I really liked this approach. I thought it was so interesting to imagine how John Brown and his family came to their beliefs during a time when it was not the norm to actively crusade for an end to slavery. Banks spends 600 pages on this time and a mere 150 on the final, famous events in Kansas and Harpers Ferry. It made the novel unique and presented a more nuanced view of John Brown and his family/followers.

I don't think this book will be for everyone, but if you have an interest in Civil War era, I think it is well worth your time. ( )

Long and wordy, slow moving, and untrustworthy, this is the great American novel. Written from the point of view of John Brown's son Owen, some 50 years after the raid on Harper's Ferry, it tells Owen Brown's story from the time he was a young man, one of 20 children sired by John Brown. The book is set in Ohio, upstate New York, and of course Kansas. Over time Brown, a religious fanatic to start with, becomes even more and more obsessed with biblical retribution until it comes time for him and his family to commit some heinous murders. I call this the great American novel because it encompasses so much: live on the frontier in the first half of th 19th century, the relationship of a father to his son(s), the relationship of fiction and memories to truth, the relationship between black people and white people. Long, but intensely moving and just plain absorbing. ( )

Awesome detail. If you do not appreciate total tiny descriptions skip this. ( )

A remarkable book which depicts the history of pre-Civil War America and the life of the abolitionist John Brown, but also the life of a son forever under the control of an obsessive and domineering father. These two themes intertwine to bring the reader to a powerful yet understated ending... a man alone for decades, filled with grief and guilt. ( )

(40) This is quite a book. 760 pages of closely spaced small typeface. It took me forever to read and I often interspersed other reading or only read small chunk. It is definitely fine writing, but dense and slow to develop. This is a biographical novel of John Brown the famous, or infamous abolitionist that conducted the raid at Harper's Ferry that is said to have sparked the Civil War. It is told to us by his surviving son reflecting on his father's actions and his relationship with his father many years later. John Brown is portrayed as a fascinating character - part religious fanatic, part renaissance man, with a dash of loving father mixed in. He seemingly was a courageous visionary standing up and fighting for what was just - the end of slavery. But, his zealotry and his egomania along with his bloody actions serve to vilify him.

I have to say, I mostly come down on the side of crazy villain despite the righteousness of his cause - the ends did not justify the means. And interesting Owen's overarching theme that loyalty to family is almost a form of slavery.

Anyway, I digress. The novel is powerful and transformative, but tedious and repetitive at times. Owen is a sympathetic character and one wishes he could have broken free. I think this is an important novel about race from the white perspective - Lyman and Owen's relationship leaves us much to ponder. Will we ever be post-racial in this country? This book suggests we will not.

In any event, if one is ever depressed about the culture of divisiveness in this country; we can feel better at least that it is not the 1850's. A rewarding reading experience that is worth the time commitment, even if it is not always enjoyable. Recommended for lovers of the Civil War time period and historical fiction with gravitas and literary merit. ( )