The March by E.L. Doctorow

...has won two different awards--the National Book Critics Circle Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award.

The National Book Critics Circle Award has been around since 1974. Each year, 700 book reviewers get together in committees and select what they feel is the best fiction (and other categories) book of the year. Past winners include Toni Morrison, Louise Erdrich, Cormac McCarthy, John Upchuck, I mean, Updike (twice no less), Anne Tyler and Stanley Elkin. Incidentally, Liz, Jane Smiley won the award for A Thousand Acres. Doctorow has won three times, once each for Ragtime, Billy Bathgate, and The March.

The PEN/Faulkner Award is even newer...it has been around since 1980. It was named in honor of William Faulkner (who didn't give a fig for quotation marks and most usage standards) who used his Nobel prize money to create an award for young writers. PEN is an international organization of writers. This particular award honors only American authors and is considered the largest peer-juried award. Winners are "first among equals." Kind of like the Oscars..."it's an honor simply to be nominated"...yeah, right. Three judges (different each year) who happen to be noted fiction writers select five books from the over 300 that are submitted. They then choose the one they consider the best.

Doctorow deserved some sort of award for The March as he quite nicely gives the reader the overall feeling of war...in this case the Civil War. I could not help making comparisons in my mind to other wars and our current unrest in Iraq. I guess war really is hell and its effects are universal. Although Doctorow focuses on Sherman's march through Georgia, North and South Carolina only, he does a great job of showing how the war effected all peoples...the slaves, the plantation owners, the children, the military on both sides, the parents, the political leaders, etc. It was really quite well done. I enjoyed the read...even if the subject matter was dark and dreary. I found it most relevant to today. Ain't history awesome!

Happy reading!

Bookish Thots

In re security...I think its perfectly fine to block a personal blog. I read a set amount of blogs each morning and sometimes I wonder about the personal details they give out. On the other hand, I read some that just give opinions without revealing much. I don't know that our book blog reveals anything we wouldn't want any stranger to know. I do like the fact that only certain individuals can make comments or post things. That, in itself, is a security. Abby, you are great to keep us technologically savvy. Let's just be careful.

Liz...I didn't want to say anything re A Thousand Acres when you picked it as your book. I didn't want to prejudice you in any way. I'm glad, though, that you ultimately chose not to read it. I kept thinking of your little ones and wanted to tell you to skip it...but figured you had the smarts to make that decision on your own!

I read it years ago in conjunction with King Lear, which it is supposed to be a modern retelling of. [How's that for a bad sentence?] I wouldn't recommend it for any other reason. It's quite a dark and depressing story. Not uplifting at all. An Oprah book :) Something I have had to learn over the years is that even some books that are very well written are not worth our time.

What I find really intriguing is that The Good Earth, which so many of you have chosen to read, addresses some very adult issues. But I found that book uplifting and unforgettable. It just shows ta goya that an author can take on dysfunctional topics without making the reading oppressive or distasteful.

Happy reading!