Book Description
"Casey at the Bat," the legendary poem detailing the abysmal failure of a small-town baseball hero, has become as much a part of American culture as baseball itself. But until now, little has been written about the circumstances surrounding its creation and its first performance in New York's Wallack's Theater in 1888.
In this incredible new slice of Americana, John Evangelist Walsh gives the story behind the poem, shaping vivid pictures of the poet, the poem's original and favorite performer, New York in the 1880s, and America in the earliest years of its love affair with baseball.
Surveying the day's great comic performers to its most legendary baseballers, from the streets of Manhattan to the zeitgeist of a young America, the story of "Casey" is as dramatic as the poem itself. With an amazing wealth of detail, Walsh explores the road leading to the poemÂ's first performance and its immediate popularity. Baseball fans, theater lovers, and American history buffs alike will enjoy this dramatic tale of a culturally definitive moment--The Night Casey Was Born.
Book Description
Sandburg was not only a poet but also a noted collector and performer of american folk music. This anthology contains words and music to 290 songs that people have sung in the making of americanca. New Introduction by Garrison Keillor; Prefatory Notes by the Author; Index.
Customer Reviews:
Bedrock of American folk singing .......2006-08-02
Back in the early 1960s when I was a high schooler getting into music, I took this book out of the library and took this book out of the library, and took this book out of the library.
People trying to find great folk songs with both wit and wonder and laughter, heart ache and beauty probably have been doing this since Sandburg published this book in the 1920s. Being so familiar with this book, back in the day, and still today, I can identify different folk singers who have a repertoire of traditional songs by the ones who like myself studied this book and learned to play its songs, and those who had learned from the Lomax Collections, though in all the big Lomax books, there were credits to the inspiration and work Sanburg put into this book, as well as songs taken from this book.
Sanburg wasn't a folklorist, but a poet and someone who liked to sing these songs and play the guitar. He includes a few songs that aren't folk by any description like the very funny "Horse Named Bill" written by a friend of Sandburg's named Sinclair Lewis whom you might heard of!
The legions of folkies who once had only this book and the Lomax collections have spewed forth generations of serious scholars of folk music in this country and the world. Specialized monographs can be found on Kentucky fiddling or the musics of Mali, on down picking banjo, and Black song before the blues. With the specialization that has developed over the decades, few would even attempt to write one book and call it the American Songbag.
Especially if you like to sing and play, this book will take you back to an easier time, with some good songs. You will be surprised at how many of them you know the tune to, even if you can't read the music!
Literature? Folk Song Anthology? Both!.......2003-09-09
An absolute classic of American arts and letters, the "Songbag" has been cited by traditional musicians including Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan. It's a primary source of American cultural heritage.
Sucking Cider Through A Straw.......2003-01-02
Compiled with difficulty and a lot of elbow grease during the years when American master Carl Sandburg was also writing Rootabaga Stories, Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years and poetry volume Slabs Of The Sunburnt West, The American Songbag is one of the many valuable gifts Sandburg produced for the American people. A collection of 290 "songs, ballads, and ditties," each entry consists of the extended lyrics and "complete harmonizations or piano accompaniments."
These folk songs are grouped under loose headings such as 'Dreams And Portraits,' 'Pioneer Memories,' 'The Big Brutal City,' 'Picnic and Hayrack Follies, Close Harmony, and Darn Fool Ditties,' 'The Great Open Spaces,' 'Hobo Songs,' and 'Tarnished Love Tales And Revolutionary Antiques,' and 'Mexican Border Songs' among others.
Many, understandably, have a British origin - 'The Foggy Dew,' 'Barbara Allen,' 'As I Was Walkin' Down Wexford Street,' 'Pretty Polly,' and 'The House Carpenter' - while the origin of others, like 'The E-RI-E,' 'The Ballad Of De Boll Weevil,' and 'The Buffalo Skinners' seem to be distinctly American. 'Turkey In The Straw,' however, like "When The Curtains Of Night Are Pinned Back,' is a "classical American rural tune," and "as American as Andrew Jackson, Johnny Appleseed, and Corn-on-the-Cob." Sandburg provides a brief introduction to each song, many of which are informative, while others are humorous and so idiosyncratic that each only muddies the waters of clarity if taken at face value. American music lovers may believe that 'Shenandoah' is a wholly American creation, but Sandburg sensibly suggests that the original may have referred to the name of a foreign ship or an Indian chief, rather than to 'the Historic Virginia valley.' 'She'll Be Comin' Round The Mountain" was adapted by mountaineers from the "old-time negro spiritual" 'When The Chariot Comes.' 'The John B. Sails' has its origin in the West Indies. Sandburg seems to be underscoring the fact that most songs, like most people, come from somewhere else; origins are often hazy and partially a result of wishful thinking.
Musicians, educators, and youth leaders should have special interest in this book, which is as pure a piece of Americana as Duncan Emrich's Folklore On The American Land. The American Songbag will also thrill lovers of Americana and those searching for a legitimate, productive, and useful avenue into our country's history. Highly recommended for all audiences.
...a grain of salt.......2001-07-21
I purchased this book partly [because of what others ere saying.] The lyrics of the obscure selections from American popular music are of some value but the arrangements of the music and the tune transcriptions are terrible. This is not a book to buy if you are looking for music.
A Treasure.......1999-12-15
Sandburg's American Songbag is a national treasure. I suppose the words and music of these 280 songs, ballads, and ditties that people have sung forever could be found elsewhere, but where? This important work, which breathes life back into some of the most memorable old songs, was originally published in 1927.
Book Description
To Nora Kavanagh, the tiny Irish village of Killala is the only home she has ever known. But her home is being ravaged first by the devastating Potato Famine of the mid-1800's, then by the merciless absentee landlords who threaten to take over her family's one precious possession the land. One after another, the fever brought on by the famine claims her husband, daughter, and closest friends, leaving Nora and her young son Daniel in immeasurable sorrow and poverty.
Their single hope for the future lies with Morgan Fitzgerald, the love of Nora's youth. But his rebel activities with the Young Ireland movement keep him in constant danger. Morgan, a poet and wanderer, has never lost his wild and reckless ways, and all his good intentions may not be enough to save what remains of the Kavanagh family.
Song of the Silent Harp begins the story of two Irish families trying to survive and hold on to their faith in God during one of the bleakest periods of Ireland's history. It is a story of deep spiritual struggle and commitment and of the surprising work of God among nations and individuals.
The Ireland they knew and loved was crumbling around them. Could they survive the famine? And if they did, what would their world be like?
Customer Reviews:
Incredibly Long...and Detailed..........2007-02-21
Okay, so this wasn't as boring as Eragon(perhaps worst written book I've read in a long time, but I digress), and it was certainly well- written....but all in all I'd say it was just plain long. You will get a good feel for the hardships these poor people faced, but sheesh, they didn't get to America for how many pgs???
As for overdetailing things, you'll prob know the character's middle names, favorite food, and birthmarks by the end.
Ballads of the Emerald Isle Series.......2004-12-04
Five years ago as I was returning to upstae NY from a visit to my daughter in Texas, I asked her for a book to read as I had a long layover on the trip. She gave me the Song of the Silent Harp and my life changed forever. By the time the plane landed in NY, I was 3/4 of the way through it. I immediately called the Life Discovery Book Store locally and went over and bought the next four books in the Series. I read continually, only taking time out for the necessities, and was totally mesmerized by the stories. Let me say here, that both my parents were born in Ireland, and so much of the stories brought back memories of tales my parents told me about life in Ireland and their immigration to Upstate NY. I couldn't put the books down.
I had a wonderful Italian friend, Angie, who loved to read and had an empathy for the Irish so I bought her the set of books and her last note to me before she died, she thanked me for introducing her to the writings of B. J. Hoff. She claimed it was the best gift she ever got. I subsequently gave a set to my younger sister, who ws traveling to Italy, and she likewise was mesmerized with the books, even more so than her trip to Italy.
To read these books, the author gets you caught up in the story of what it was like to be Irish and an immigrant and makes me so proud to be of Irish descent. I have 10 grown children who are avid readers and the books are a real education for all of them and helps them understand the sacrifices their grandparents made and the hardships they overcame as immigrants. In the five years since I first read them, I have yet to read a book that left me with such wonderful feelings. I read that B.J. Hoff wrote these books from memories her grandmother shared with her about her life. The language is wonderful and can be read by anyone able to read. The books have a prominent spot on my bookcase. Thank you B. J. Hoff
Amazing Start to a Wonderful Series.......2004-09-05
I read these books years ago when I was twelve or thirteen. I honestly couldn't put the books down once I started, I devoured them in every sense of the word and was not dissapointed. This book sparked in me a love for history and literature that I don't think ever will be quenched. My teachers that year were I think a bit shocked when I decided to pick the Irish Potato Famine as the topic for my research/presentation project. LOL You won't be dissapointed with this book or series, you will be left wanting more like I was.
This is only the beginning..........2002-07-11
My friend got this book from the library when I was fourteen or so... I remember she kept telling me what a WONDERFUL, AMAZING book it was, and I could only think, "What on earth could be interesting about the potato famine?" She went on to read the rest of the series, and eventually through telling me more about the story, I became extremely interested, and when I read it it surpassed my wildest hopes. Of course, as I said, I was fourteen or fifteen, and girls that age live on this kind of book. I did live on it. I read it in two days and had to wait a whole week to meet my friend at church and get the second one from her.
But enough on how I found B.J.Hoff... The "Emerald Ballad" series is the best series of books that I think I've ever read. I don't get into romance novels like Grace Livingston Hill or Janette Oke or Beverly Whats-her-name that writes the Amish soap operas - I find them pretty predictable and tacky... With B.J. Hoff I never knew what was going to happen, and she made it all seem so REAL. I have read all five of the books in this series through at least three times, some I've read four or five times. This first one is the best, and could stand alone. It's after you read the second book that you know you HAVE to read the rest.
The story is, essentially, about three people - Nora Kavanagh, Michael Burke, and Morgan Fitzgerald. They were friends in childhood and went separate ways as adults. Nora married, Michael went to New York, and Morgan is a wandering dreamer who writes poetry, plays the harp, and is obsessively devoted to Ireland. It's been a while since I last read the book, so I'm not good with details, but this book has famine, fear, death, romance, white slavers, evil landlords, stuttering Englishmen, near hangings, one killing, one chase scene (what's a good story without at least one chase scene? That was Alfred Hitchcock's idea). But more than anything else, God is the centre of this story, providing all the central people with faith to pull through all the events and survive all the villains I mentioned above.
You should definitely give this book a try. Now that I'm a bit older, it's no longer the staple and sustenance of my literary life but I still enjoy them once in a while and fondly cherish the memories of my friend and I going ga-ga over Morgan.
Let me say a few words about Morgan. For one thing, he's a great big tall guy. For two other things, he has copper hair (which the sun can light ablaze) and green eyes. He's poetic and musical, as I said, and whenever he talks, his choice of words is fittingly dramatic, just as if it came straight out of those dear old melodramatic 30's movies. Personally I find that pretty neato. I would say that he was definitely my favourite character. My friend liked him a lot, but she liked Michael more. I learnt to like Michael a lot toward the fourth read-through, but Morgan remained my favourite.
Okay, I believe I have waxed descriptive enough. If you want to know more, go get this book!
Couldn't put it down!.......1999-11-20
I really like this book.It takes you from the dark dispair of the Great Famine of Ireland, to the shores of hope imigrating to the US. I was 1/2 way finished the book, and thought, I have to get the rest of the series! It also teaches about faith. You grow with the characters growth in faith. You can see that even in our darkest times, God does not abandon us. He's always there with us, and can use even the most dismal circumstances to bless us. Truley a good read!
Book Description
Music and lyrics for over 200 songs. "John Henry," "Goin' Home," "Little Brown Jug," "Alabama-Bound," many more.
Customer Reviews:
a few words on this edition.......2007-09-10
An inclusive collection of different American ballads and folksongs- a classic indeed. Lovely that it includes sheet music as well! Rather than just being a collection of the lyrics to different ballads, for special study (like the Child ballads collection, however admirable), it also operates as a songbook
An old favorite.......2001-03-19
My father has an original copy of this book that I grew up reading. I was so very glad to see it back in print. The way that the book is arranged (railroad songs, chain gangs, blues, reels, cowboy songs, etc.) makes it easy to navigate. The bulk of the songs cataloged are not the familiar ones that one is used to seeing in other collections.
An essential reference.......2000-08-21
This is not an exhaustive catalogue of ballads nor does it always contain the same version of a ballad that are published elsewhere under the Lomax name. The ballads are arranged by subject matter: Working on the Railroad; The Levee Camp; Southerrn Chain Gangs; Negro Bad Men; White Desperadoes; Mountain Songs; Cocaine and Whiskey; Blues; Creole Negroes; Reels; Minstrel Types; Breakdowns and Play Parties; Songs of Childhood; Vaqueros of the Southwest; Cowboy Songs; Songs of the Overlanders; Miner; Shanty-Boy; Erie Canal; Great Lake; Sailors and Sea Fights; Wars and Soldiers; White Spirituals and Negro Spirituals. Often there is a short story of the song in addition to the collection notes.
A decent introduction to the ballad form and its music precedes the collection. This is an essential reference to anyone interested in ballads in America.
On "American Ballads and Folk Songs".......1998-09-09
Not a bad book... Not the best, though. The Lomaxes put together a very complete and exhaustive volume of folk music, that's for sure. However, some of it manages to contradict their other books, or has some songs more or less complete than they are in those works. Some of their choices of songs as "folk music" are a little odd, too; "Beautiful" would be a good example of this. I would suggest Folk Song USA as a better reference, if you can find it.
Average customer rating:
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Poetry and Violence: The Ballad Tradition of Mexico's Costa Chica (Music in American Life)
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Banda: Mexican Musical Life Across Borders (Music Culture)
ASIN: 0252025881 |
Book Description
In the American imagination, the word Appalachia designates more than a geographical region. It evokes fiddle tunes, patchwork quilts, split-rail fences, and all the other artifacts that decorate a cherished romantic region of the American mind. David Whisnant challenges this view of Appalachia (and consequently this broader imaginitive tendency) by exploring connections between a comforting cultural myth and the troublesome complexities of cultural history. Looking at the work of some ballad hunters and collectors, handicraft revivalists, folk festival promoters, and other cultural missionaries, Whisnant discovers a process of intentional and systematic cultural intervention that had (and still has) far-reaching consequences.
Why, Whisnant asks, did so many Bluegrass ladies and upper-class graduates of Seven Sisters colleges rush to erect cultural breakwaters around mountaineers? Why would a sophisticated New England woman build a Danish folk school in western North Carolina? Why did a classical musician from Richmond who hated blacks love southern mountain music? How did the notions and actions of all these cultural missionaries affect the lives of the mountaineers? And what do these episodes of intervention teach us about culture and cultural change—in Appalachia and elsewhere?
Whisnant pursues these and other questions in closely documented case studies of the Hindman Settlement School in eastern Kentucky, the cultural work of Olive Dame Campbell throughout the mountains, and the White Top Folk Festival on the Virginia-North Carolina border. Moreover, he relates them to broader social and economic developments of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: the coming of the railroads and the opening of the mines, the Depression, the advent of TVA, and more diffuse processes such as urbanization, the decline of agriculture, the movement of radio and the commercial recording industry into the mountains, and the implicit restrictions Victorian America placed on the political perspectives and activities of socially conscious upper-class women. "We must begin to understand the politics of culture," Whisnant writes, "especially the role of formal institutions and foreceful individuals in defining and shaping perspectives, values, tastes and agendas for cultural change."
All That Is Native and Fine opens the way not only to a reexamination of the history of a single region but also to a more sophisticated understanding of the dynamics of cultural continuity and change in other regions and in the nation as a whole.
Customer Reviews:
Foundational Research on Cultural Politics.......2004-02-08
In the early part of the 20th century, northerners headed to the Appalachian Mountains to establish programs that Whisnant termed "systemic cultural intervention." This phrase refers to projects designed to affect change in a community through new forms of cultural programming. The intervention can be in the best interests of the community, or the intervention program can reflect primarily the goals and aspirations of the interveners. It can have positive and negative effects, and the interveners frequently create unintended consequences in the host communities. This important rubric provides a fascinating way to look at the impact of settlement schools and a folk festival in the mountains. Whisnant's analysis is interesting and provocative and well-worth considering when one is working in a community.
Pioneering Work on the Politics of Culture.......2001-01-31
David Whisnant coined the term the "politics of culture." He provides an application of a theory of "systemic cultural intervention" in this book. Essentially, Whisnant argues that cultural intervention is a process in which specialists work to create change in a community. He looks at ways that positive interventions can bring about positive as well as negative effects. He also provides ways to examine how cultural intervention can be developed for negative purposes. Whisnant is a folklorist, and he examines how wealthy northerners went to Appalachia to promopte folklife programming in settlement schools and festivals. The book is very useful for examining how outside interventionists need to understand the culture and political dynamics in communities that they enter. At times, however, there is a degree of cynicism in Whisnant's writing that seems to emerge from a nativist stance by Whisnant himself. The lines he draws between "outsider" and "insider" are too neat and rigid, and the analysis would be improved by recognition that the case histories that he examines had far more complex issues at stake. Nevertheless, I highly recommend reading this work to understand fascinating aspects of Appalachian history and to consider ways to work more effectively in contemporary communities.
Book Description
The outlook wasn't brilliant
for the Mudville nine that day:
The score stood four to two
with but one inning more to play....
Since 1888 Casey at the Bat has been read and loved by baseball fans around the world. Now Mighty Casey has been brought to life by celebrated illustrator C. F. Payne, who captures the old-fashioned fun of an afternoon at the ballpark for a brand-new generation.
Customer Reviews:
Fantastic gift for the young ball player in your life!.......2005-05-24
This is by far the best rendition/publication of this poem that I've ever seen. The combination of the real-life looking people, but have their legs look like pencils, is quite humerous. Our particular favorite is the smoke coming from Casey's ears when he has struck out twice. The pictures in this book greatly enhance the story. Especially when Casey is standing there examining his fingernails on the first strike. Pretty cute and funny stuff.
Grab this book for all the young ball players you know - it really tells a nice tale of always doing your best, no matter how good you get at whatever you do. It made my little guy pretty sad to read this book/poem, but it definitely opens the door to emphasizing the importance of always doing your best. Highly recommend!
Casey at the Bat Book Review.......2002-02-27
I thought this was a wonderful book. I enjoyed Thayers use of poetry to exrpress the emotion in the story. The language used in the text is of very high quality and when read by an adult to a child, the child is able to thourghly understand. The illustrations play an important role with the text. They not only enrich the text, but they tell a story in itself. We can feel the emotion of the players and the crowd through Polacco's work. Overall I thought this was a wonderful book and reccomend it to a child of any age.
Casey Strikes Out; Polacco Hits a Homer!.......2000-06-19
Thayer's classic ballad, `Casey at the Bat,' is greatly enhanced by Patricia Polacco's brilliantly achieved, big-hearted illustrations. Ms. Polacco captures emotion, action, and character through wittily exaggerated, slightly loopy pictures, and through lots of uncrowded background shenanigans. It's very cinematic: She effectively isolates action through extreme close-ups, and extends time through a montage of events occurring within a single picture. Like the auteur she is, she even adds some opening and closing story elements (while leaving the poem intact) that augment the poem's appeal to the younger reader.
This book is simply great fun to read aloud; you'll find yourself wanting to memorize its evocative imagery and epic aspirations:
"Ten thousand eyes were on him as he rubbed his hands with dirt; Five thousand tongue applauded when he wiped them on his shirt. Then while the writhing pitcher ground the ball into his hip, Defiance flashed in Casey's eye, a sneer curled Casey's lip."
You and your youngsters will love the humor and the drama in this a classic rendition of Thayer's beloved poem. Infants and toddlers will enjoy the bright pictures, and all readers will appreciate the perfect teaming of Thayer and Polacco.
Great story!!!.......1999-05-05
Casey at the Bat tells about mighty Casey and his missing 2 strikes - like messing up in life.
This is a beautiful version of this classic poem........1998-04-21
This is a beautifully illustrated version of this 1888 classic ballad about baseball. The beautiful watercolor illustrations for this centennial edition were rendered from historic photographs and drawings from the archives of the National Baseball Library in Cooperstown, New York. Finally, an illustrated versions whose pictures match the beauty of the language of this timeless ballad. Young and old, lovers of baseball and language will all cherish this book.
Book Description
In famine-ravaged Ireland, the revered poet-patriot Morgan Fitzgerald, himself brought down by a gunman's bullet, seeks to restore his ruined life and bring hope to the next generation. With the help of his mysterious West Indies companion, Sandemon, Morgan establishes a school at Nelson Hall and provides a home for the "fey Belfast orphan," Annie Delaney, and the beautiful, mute "Innocent," Finola. But when violence and tragedy strike, Morgan finds himself locked in battle with the powers of darkness for his own future and the future of those he loves.
On the other side of the ocean, Morgan's friends Michael and Nora discover that the Land of Opportunity teems with poverty, political corruption and racial tension. From the opulence of Fifth Avenue to the squalor of the slum at Five Points, the city of New York staggers under the injustice and degradation brought on by organized crime and the exploitation of the flood of immigrants pouring into the nation. Unaware that his own son Tierney has been lured into the nefarious schemes of Patrick Walsh, Michael vows to bring Walsh to ruin and may bring down Tierney in the process.
In Land of a Thousand Dreams, award-winning author B.J. Hoff continues to spin the unforgettable drama of Ireland's battle to survive both on the Emerald Isle and in the streets of the New World. Their faith is strong, but will the dreams of a better life prevail?
Customer Reviews:
The Third Installment.......2002-07-12
I had forgotten I wrote the other review on here. A long time ago, that was. It's so wordy and descriptive and sparkling with life and vitality, too. So I'm going to try to do this book more justice, now that I've had more practise writing reviews.
I believe this book is the fullest of tragedy and melodrama of the five in the series, and at the time I wrote that other review it was my favourite book of all. When I think of this book, I think primarily of Morgan, Finola, and the rest of the clan in Dublin, because most of the action really takes place there. Occasionally you cut back to New York City for a dose of Nora's, "When am I ever going to have a baby, sweetheart?" or "Sara, darling, you will take down your hair just for me!" It must be that I didn't read the New York episodes as often and they aren't implanted in my mind as the Dublin ones are.
In New York, Nora is married, Michael is engaged, and Tierney is working for a crime boss. In Dublin, Morgan is still trapped in the wheelchair. There is no miracle cure here, unfortunately. A Nun (capital N) named Sis. Louisa and a wolfhound named Fergus join the staff at Nelson Hall. Finola becomes the victim of unfortunate circumstances in the red light district and is brought to live at Morgan's house while she recovers, and her "wicked woman" friend Lucy comes along. I think somebody dies too, but I won't say who. Oh, and I think Nora finally was going to have a baby, too. Sandemon's deep, dark past is uncovered, Aine waits patiently to be adopted by Morgan, and so forth and so on. I love the part when there IS a miracle cure - not for Morgan, but for Finola - when she can suddenly talk again. It is a very incredible scene, perhaps a bit unrealistic, but perfect for fifteen or sixteen year old girls who dote on that kind of romantic dramatisation and swoon over it with their friends.
I shall say no more of the wonders between the front and back covers of this book. You must read it yourself and find out all about it.
This is the best.......2000-07-18
I love this book. A friend loaned it to me and once I started reading it I couldn't put it down. It is filled with excitement and inspiration. I was very encouraged to read this wonderful story.
Book Description
The compelling sequel to Song of the Silent Harp!
Having escaped the famine that ravages their beloved Ireland, Nora Kavanagh and her son Daniel begin the difficult process of building a new life for themselves in America. Befriended by the wealthy Farmingtons and supported by the constant friendship of the injured Englishman, Evan Whittaker, Nora nevertheless finds herself caught in a conflict of the heart.
Michael Burke, the strong, competent Irish policeman, desperately wants to keep his promise to his best friend Morgan Fitzgerald that he will marry Nora and take care of her. But something in Nora resists his proposal, and she must decide whether to give in to Michael's urgings or find a different direction. Can she trust her heart?
In the midst of Nora's personal struggle, the heartaches from the old country continue to plague her. Will she ever overcome her grief and find peace?
Heart of the Lonely Exile continues the saga of the Kavanagh pilgrimage a journey of the soul in a strange new land, where all those who are exiles and aliens must find their true home.
Customer Reviews:
This one earns the 4 stars.......2007-03-08
I believe I gave the first book of the series 4 stars, but I def mentioned I was being overtly generous there. This book does actually earn the 4 stars. Again Hoff goes into WAY TOO MUCH detail over the silliest things, but at least the plotline had more in it than they're on a boat....they're still on a boat....they're still on a boat...o yes, and they're still on a boat.
The characters are finally starting to come to life. Some of the dialogue is entirely ridiculous, I mean I think Daniel's supposed to be 14 or something like that and he speaks like a 45 year old woman. Sensitive, mature young man or not he really needn't come off like someone's grandmother.
Tierney's got good potential as a conflicted young man, but we don't get much more than "I'm mad at Da" "I hate all things not Irish" and "Nora's evil" from him.
We shall see where the other 3 books in the series lead.
My least favourite of the series, but still four stars.......2002-07-12
This book is really full of little details that blossom out into nice bits of plot in the remaining three books of the series. It introduces almost all the rest of the main characters that the rest of the epic revolves around - Patrick Walsh the cad, who merits no further description here; Aunt Winifred, married twice, widowed twice, and still gorgeous going on sixty; Sandemon, Morgan's Negro servant, who is I think one of the best people in the book - so kind and longsuffering; Finola, a beautiful girl who doesn't talk a bit; and Aine, a scruffy little waif from Belfast. Maybe some others too that I've forgotten about. The main thrust of this book, I believe, is to set the stage for the rest of the books - to get Nora and Michael's marriage question settled, match up Evan and Sara with appropriate spouses, paralyse Morgan to keep him from getting into trouble. Also establishes Tierney's character a little better. But enough about that - you just need to read the book. Definitely read the first book, Song of the Silent Harp, before this one, because although you can just read this one, SotSH gives you more insight on what has happened beforehand, thus making it easier to follow the characters and the twists and turns of the plot.
I enjoy this one but I don't think I have read it as much as the other four simply because I can't deal with Evan's stuttering sappiness very well. Nora also turns into a mush-pot of sentiment, and I don't like her nearly as much from here on as I did in the first book. Same for Evan.
Well, I think I've said enough for now. I hope I have sparked your interest at least a bit in this grand and glorious saga of the Irish.
Read a Classic.......2002-02-16
This book is really good. I have only read it once and would love to read again. It is just one out of a series of five. The series is called The Emerald Ballad. I read the second book called Heart of the Lonely Exile. This is a story during the famine. When the family gets to America they are brought in by the Farmingtons. The story is about their hardships, disease, and deaths that they must over come.
I really enjoyed reading this book because I like reading about things that happened in history. Things that happen in the olden days just fascinate me. I am now reading the third book in the series. It is called Land of a Thousand Dreams. It is really good too if you are interested in anything about history this would be a great series for you to read. I know that I enjoyed reading it.
Read a Classic.......2002-02-16
This book is really good. I have only read it once and would love to read again. It is just one out of a series of five. The series is called The Emerald Ballad. I read the second book called Heart of the Lonely Exile. This is a story during the famine. When the family gets to America they are brought in by the Farmingtons. The story is about their hardships, disease, and deaths that they must over come.
I really enjoyed reading this book because I like reading about things that happened in history. Things that happen in the olden days just fascinate me. I am now reading the third book in the series. It is called Land of a Thousand Dreams. It is really good too if you are interested in anything about history this would be a great series for you to read. I know that I enjoyed reading it.
Excellent book, Hard to put down!.......1998-10-03
If you loved the first book then this one you will not be able to put down. The story continues to follow Nora and her son, Daniel as they make a new life for themselves in America. All kinds of challenges face them, including their Irish background, racism, trying to make ends meet and romance - will she end up with Michael or Evan? We can't forget Morgan who is still in Ireland...he continues to encourage peace between the English and the Irish and the Protestants and the Catholics. Now that's a challenge. Bottom line, I really liked this book and will pass it on to my friends.
Book Description
With passion and power, gifted novelist B.J. Hoff ignites the pages in this eagerly awaited fifth book of the EMERALD BALLAD saga, weaving a spellbinding tale of courageous individuals on both sides of the Atlantic those who left their homeland of Ireland to make a new life in America, and those who remained behind, anchored to the terrible beauty and mystery of the Emerald Isle:
Morgan Fitzgerald, confined to a wheelchair because of an assailant's bullet to his spine. Now he must confront the ultimate challenge to his faith a choice that could cost him everything the woman he loves, his family, even his life.
His wife Finola, facing her own moment of truth the hidden memories and dark secrets of her past that could well destroy her-unless she can find the strength to face them.
Michael Burke, a New York City cop caught in the conflict between his faith and his obsession with bringing Patrick Walsh to justice.
These and other unforgettable characters will captivate your heart and inspire your spirit with their faithfulness, their endurance-their reality.
Customer Reviews:
Nice End to a Great Series.......2007-05-09
Truth be told, I thought the first book in this series was pretty boring. However, the second book got slightly better, the third better still, and so forth. The fifth book definitely continued that trend. It was very slow going in the beginning of the series, but by the time this book comes about, you've had a chance as a reader to get to know the characters and learn to love them, and their faults.
Awesome and Provocing.......1999-12-10
This book was one of the best in the entire series, It causes you to think about who is really in control of your life. At first I thought I didn't like the series but then I couldn't put it down.
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