Wednesday, January 16, 2008
A Bell for Adano by John Hershey
Monday, August 13, 2007
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize
"A Bell for Adano" tells the story of the American take-over of Sicily during WWII and its effect on the small town of Adano. Major Joppolo, an Italian-American, is assigned as the senior civil affairs officer. The beauty of this story is how much the major comes to care for the townspeople and does all he can to improve their lives and the town. Since the orignal town hall bell was melted for ammunition, Joppolo makes it his mission to replace it. The book is filled with eccentric characters, both native Italians and the American G.I.'s serving there. Hersey wrote humor and pathos into his novel. I really liked the characters in the story, although sometimes some of the townspeople became almost cartoonish. The style of writing seems better suited to an audience of pre-teens even though the content is written for adults. While I recommend the book because it's a great story, I disliked the ending and the stilted prose.
Rating: 3.75
Posted by Framed at 8:22 PM
3 comments:
Booklogged said...
I have heard such really good things about this book. Is it short? If so, I may still try and read it some time.
8/14/2007 12:06 PM
Framed said...
It's an inspiring story, and not hard to read. 288 pages. It's on my bookmooch inventory.
8/14/2007 6:43 PM
Literary Feline said...
This one does sound interesting story wise. I may be willing to take a chance on it. I'll keep in mind your thoughts though--sometimes that helps balance out my expectations.
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize
"A Bell for Adano" tells the story of the American take-over of Sicily during WWII and its effect on the small town of Adano. Major Joppolo, an Italian-American, is assigned as the senior civil affairs officer. The beauty of this story is how much the major comes to care for the townspeople and does all he can to improve their lives and the town. Since the orignal town hall bell was melted for ammunition, Joppolo makes it his mission to replace it. The book is filled with eccentric characters, both native Italians and the American G.I.'s serving there. Hersey wrote humor and pathos into his novel. I really liked the characters in the story, although sometimes some of the townspeople became almost cartoonish. The style of writing seems better suited to an audience of pre-teens even though the content is written for adults. While I recommend the book because it's a great story, I disliked the ending and the stilted prose.
Rating: 3.75
Posted by Framed at 8:22 PM
3 comments:
Booklogged said...
I have heard such really good things about this book. Is it short? If so, I may still try and read it some time.
8/14/2007 12:06 PM
Framed said...
It's an inspiring story, and not hard to read. 288 pages. It's on my bookmooch inventory.
8/14/2007 6:43 PM
Literary Feline said...
This one does sound interesting story wise. I may be willing to take a chance on it. I'll keep in mind your thoughts though--sometimes that helps balance out my expectations.
# posted by Framed @ 6:06 PM 
