The strength of The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse by Vicente Blasco Ibanez
lies in tiny details, like a farmer swerving his plow around mounds that indicate buried corpses.
Archive for the ‘Psychological novel’ Category
War’s Horror Is in the Details
Posted in 1919 Bestselling Novels, Historical, Propaganda, Psychological novel, War, tagged France, Germany, Vicente Blasco Ibanez, World War I on October 7, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Old Pybus is guilt-free romance
Posted in 1928 Bestselling Novels, Psychological novel, Romance on September 23, 2009 | Comments Off
If Old Pybus had been written by someone other than Warwick Deeping, the story could have dissolved into sentimental claptrap.
Realistic Tale of Black Single Mom in 1870s South
Posted in 1929 Bestselling Novels, Psychological novel, tagged 19th century, black experience, Julia Peterkin, Reconstruction, single mothers, The South on September 2, 2009 | Comments Off
In Scarlet Sister Mary, Julia Peterkin deftly shows how one woman copes as a single parent. Mary’s choices may not be good ones, but Peterkin makes them appear plausible.
Great Story Trumps Technical Flaws
Posted in 1929 Bestselling Novels, Psychological novel, tagged America, black community, Du Bose Heyward, gentrification, race relations on August 26, 2009 | Comments Off
Mamba’s Daughters will knock your socks off.
Clear-eyed romance entrances
Posted in 1929 Bestselling Novels, Coming of age, Psychological novel, Romance, tagged London, medicine, Warwick Deeping on August 12, 2009 | Comments Off
Warwick Deeping’s Roper’s Row is an engaging romance about a brilliant doctor who finds love on his doorstep and tries to step around it.
Dodsworth: Two themes in one cover
Posted in 1929 Bestselling Novels, Psychological novel, tagged automobile industry, culture wars, England, European culture, Sinclair Lewis, Yale University on July 29, 2009 | Comments Off
Dodsworth is the story an American businessman’s midlife crisis.
All Still Disquieting in WWI Tale
Posted in 1929 Bestselling Novels, My Top Pics, Psychological novel, War, tagged Erica Maria Remarque, Germany, soldiers, trench warfare, World War I on July 22, 2009 | 1 Comment »
In All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque takes readers into the German trenches of World War I. As long as nations send their young people straight from schoolyards to combat zones, All Quiet on the Western Front will continue to be an important book.
Escape Is Impossible to Put Down
Posted in 1939 Bestselling Novels, Adventure, My Top Pics, Psychological novel, Suspense, War on June 10, 2009 | Comments Off
In the opening scene of Escape, a doctor tells actress Emmy Ritter she’ll be able to walk in a week.
“Just in time for my execution,” she replies.
Ethel Vance hooked me with that line, and she didn’t let go until I’d read the rest of her novel that evening.
Authorities refuse to allow Emmy’s son, Mark, [...]
Dull lead character makes vivid reading
Posted in 1949 Bestselling Novels, Psychological novel, tagged banking, finance, investments, John P. Marquand on April 15, 2009 | Comments Off
You won’t remember Point of No Return long, but you won’t be bored while you’re reading it. John Marquand is so skilled a writer that he makes an entertaining novel out of experiences that didn’t excite even their participants.
Boring, Not Shocking
Posted in 1959 Bestselling Novels, Psychological novel, Romance, tagged banned books, D.H. Lawrence on January 28, 2009 | Comments Off
When it was first published, Lady Chatterley’s Lover was banned in America. I doubt if most contemporary readers would plow through D. H. Lawrence’s ponderous paragraphs to get to the passages offended censors.
