Rating: 
Summary: A gem!
Review: I've been an avid fan of Chris Bohjalian since Midwives, he's such a gifted storyteller! But The Buffalo Soldier is his best yet! This book is a MUST for reading groups -- so much to discuss -- don't know what Oprah is waiting for! I was hooked from page one, I could not put it down. Wonderful character development and a rich, unique storyline. I enjoyed the story within a story (pay attention to the short paragraphs at the start of each chapter!). I'm in the book business, and when all your coworkers are talking about a book, you know it's something special.
Rating: 
Summary: Not up to par
Review: I've read most of Bohjalian's books and enjoyed them all, to one degree or another. This book, however, while compelling and well written, could use some editing since it bogs down at times. The ending disappointed with two major convenient twists which were inconsistent with Bohjalian's more realistic and centered tone. It's worth a read but it didn't deliver the punch of The Law of Similars or Midwives and was nowhere near as much fun as Water Witches. Better, however, than Transister Radio which didn't do much for me.
Rating: 
Summary: A GOOD (BUT NOT GREAT) BOOK
Review: In rural northern Vermont Terry and Laura Sheldon tragically lost their twin 9 year old daughters in a flash flood two years earlier. As they both progess along their own paths of grief, they decide to open up their hearts and their home to another child. They decide to take in a 10 year old African American foster child named Alfred after they cannot conceive another child on their own. Due to Alfred's past of neglect and the constant shuffling from foster home to foster home, he is reluctant to open himself up to the Sheldon's and his new home. He feels left out by the other kids at school -- either due to his race or the fact that he his a foster child (or a combination of both) remains unclear --but Alfred takes comfront in his neighbor Paul, a retired college professor. As their friendship grew Paul teaches Alfred about some of his history by the means of the Buffalo Soldiers. Meanwhile the marriage of Terry and Laura continues to disintegrate even after Alfred has joined their family. Terry has a one night stand with a younger woman named Phoebe who ends up pregnant. Now Terry to torn between Laura and Phoebe. But the decision is not all in his hands as these women have a say on their futures in the end. To top it all off Terry has failed to bond with Alfred while at the same time Laura begins to think of Alfred as her son. ... I think one of Bohjalian's strengths was his protrayal of the floods. I could 'see' the cresting riverbanks and destroyed property. Bohjalian really hit the mark! Notwithstanding, I was slightly disappointed in the lack of character development. I often felt that Laura, Alfred and Terry were one-dimensional and 'flat'. Also, the ending was a bit disturbing but it contained a wonderful climatic atmosphere the last 100 pages or so that keep me reading well into the night. Although THE BUFFALO SOLDIER does not live up to the brilliance of THE MIDWIVES, it still remains a good book that I would recommend to others.
Rating:
Summary: An absorbing, literary read
Review: It always amazes me that this very wonderful storyteller can create such a literary novel, while at the same time making it easy enough to read so that you'd become totally engrossed in it and want to take it on vacation with you. I have read two books by Bohjalian before: MIDWIVES and TRANS-SISTER RADIO and I LOVED them. The only reason I gave this book four stars was because I felt that it was lacking some of the pizzaz of the afore-mentioned novels. Mr. Bohjalian certainly has a knack for telling a story not about the events that happen in people's lives but about the actual people and what they are thinking and feeling and what thier perceptions are. Two years after thier twin daughters die tragically in a flood, Laura and Terry Sheldon become Foster parents for a ten-year-old, African-American boy named Alfred. Alfred has been shuffled around from foster home to foster home for years;he has some very real pain of his own and is struggling to fit in in a racist town in Vermont. Meanwhile, Terry and Laura are still trying to claw their way back from the dark depths of thier grief and face a very real threat to thier marriage:infedelity. Alfred struggles to know where he fits in and very cautiously befriends Paul and Emily Hebert, the Sheldon's elderly neighboors who help keep a watchful eye on what's going on. This book gives its reader a good, healthy dose of morality as well as good old-fashioned hope and love and the posibility of redemption.
Rating:
Summary: A Dififcult Book to Review
Review: On many levels I enjoyed Bohjalian's The Buffalo Soldier so, why only the 3 stars? I'll begin with what I liked. The historic introduction at the beginning of each chapter. Although, I have a cursory knowledge of Buffalo Soldiers it has made me want to learn more. The development and insight into Alfred's character. Using Alfred as a catalyst to bring about changes in Laura's character, opening her up as it were, was poignant. The secondary characters of the Heberts brought some lightness into a rather dark novel.
But, and now here it comes,I find it difficult to believe that every child in the town would be so callously prejudice. Especially when Alfred is described as handsome, intelligent and athletic. Or that the class teacher is so indifferent to the "new" kid, rather a brutal commentary on the education system in Vermont.
My biggest problems however, were the relationship between Terry and Phoebe,his character, and the ending of the book. First the relationship,this struck me as an everyman's fantasy. A girlfriend/lover that wants nothing from the relationship. Phoebe was just too good to be true, no demands, no expectations and no recriminations. I suppose I am to feel sympathy for Terry because of the death of his daughters. Does this also mean I am to condone infidelity to his wife and indifference to a foster child? If Alfred hadn't saved his life would the distrust/indifference have remained? A rather stringent lesson to prove one's self worth. I found Terry weak, self centered, manipulative and a hypocrite. Never once did Terry or Phoebe consider that eventually the unborn child might want to locate his father and what results that might have on Laura's and Terry's relationship. Infact, the ending was just too pat. Phoebe quietly leaves with no ill will towards Terry, Laura forgives Terry....but wait how can that be as she has no knowledge of the unborn child? Does this suggest a sequel where she will be just as understanding when the "child" comes a knocking on her door 20 years later? How can a relationship exist between Laura and Terry with this rather onimous cloud hanging on the horizon. No, there are too many problems with Terry's character and the author's lack of accountability with it for this to be a satisfying book.
Rating:
Summary: A Dififcult Book to Review
Review: On many levels I enjoyed Bohjalian's The Buffalo Soldier so, why only the 3 stars? I'll begin with what I liked. The historic introduction at the beginning of each chapter. Although, I have a cursory knowledge of Buffalo Soldiers it has made me want to learn more. The development and insight into Alfred's character. Using Alfred as a catalyst to bring about changes in Laura's character, opening her up as it were, was poignant. The secondary characters of the Heberts brought some lightness into a rather dark novel.
But, and now here it comes,I find it difficult to believe that every child in the town would be so callously prejudice. Especially when Alfred is described as handsome, intelligent and athletic. Or that the class teacher is so indifferent to the "new" kid. Rather a brutal commentary on the education system in Vermont.
My biggest problems however, were the relationship between Terry and Phoebe,his character, and the ending of the book. First the relationship,this struck me as an everyman's fantasy. A girlfriend/lover that wants nothing from the relationship. Phoebe was just too good to be true, no demands, no expectations and no recriminations. I suppose I am to feel sympathy for Terry because of the death of his daughters. Does this also mean I am to condone infidelity to his wife and indifference to a foster child? If Alfred hadn't saved his life would the distrust/indifference have remained? A rather stringent lesson to prove one's self worth. I found Terry weak, self centered, manipulative and a hypocrite. Never once did Terry or Phoebe consider that eventually the unborn child might want to locate his father and what results that might have on Laura's and Terry's relationship. Infact, the ending was just too pat. Phoebe quietly leaves with no ill will towards Terry, Laura forgives Terry....but wait how can that be as she has no knowledge of the unborn child? Does this suggest a sequel where she will be just as understanding when the "child" comes a knocking on her door 20 years later? How can a relationship exist between Laura and Terry with this rather onimous cloud hanging on the horizon. No, there are too many problems with Terry's character and the author's lack of accountability with it for this to be a satisfying book.
Rating:
Summary: Bland...missing Bohjalian usual flavor.
Review: Strangely enough, after finishing this book, I realized that what kept me reading was more my interest in the outcome of Alfred's life (the foster child) and his relationship with Paul & Emily Hebert (his neighbors), than in the main characters themselves, Laura & Terry Sheldon.
I found them to be very superficial and cold. The author seems to only scratch the surface, of these foster parents, emotions and feelings. Something is missing, Laura is bland & colourless and her husband Terry is self centered & arrogant. I could not feel, (even in the end, them seemed fake) compassion and/or empathy towards this duo, no matter how hard I tried.
All the depth and emotion of this story revolves around the genuine loving attachment that slowly progresses between the Heberts & Alfred and also their mutual affection for each other & a horse named Mesa.
I enjoyed that each chapter began with a little more insight into the history of the United States Calvary. I applaud Chris Bohjalian for introducing the reader to the story of the Buffalo soldiers in such an innovative style.( It merited the third *)
After reading ''Midwives'' by the same author, which surpasses by far ''The Buffalo Soldier'', I must admit being somewhat deceived.
Rating:
Summary: This Is Modern Literature?
Review: The best thing about THE BUFFALO SOLDIER is the authentic Vermont atmosphere. From the backstreets of Saint Johnsbury to the "multi-purpose room" of an elementary school to the deer camps of the Northeast Kingdom, everything rings true and real as a brand new snowmobile in a snowless front yard on Christmas morning. ((My amazon.com address may be Georgia, but I used to live in White River Jct.))
The plot is Greek tragedy: a Vermont State Trooper and his wife have twin daughters killed in a flash flood. They become foster parents and take in an alienated 10-year-old Black boy, who is tutored about the Buffalo Soldiers (the Negro cavalry of the old West) by the college professor across the street). The trooper has a one-night-stand with a young woman and impregnates her.
Where to begin? There is no dialogue. The author writes very well, so this must not be to cover a weakness, but rather just an obnoxious literary technique. The point-of-view changes with every chapter, from trooper to wife to boy to professor to pregnant girl. I'll grant the professor and trooper are portrayed well, but I didn't find the wife and pregnant girl convincing, and the boy seemed more like a collection of symptoms from a sociology textbook on foster children than a real flesh-and-blood human being.
Many reviewers have commented on the lame ended of the novel, but if you accept it as Greek tragedy, it works on that level. The twin daughters are taken away, replaced with a son, a woman is provided to impregnate, the wise of professor gives counsel, the environment is hostile, there are threads of family strife over generations, so you really shouldn't be surprised by a deus ex machina solution and an improbable ending.
The author keeps wanting to say something important about fatherhood. The importance of the father-child relationship impacts of every character in this novel, but the lessons never aeem to be drawn. It almost begs for deoconstruction -- is the author showing us a brave new world where fatherhood is obsolete, or is he being ironic, showing what calamity awaits?
Rating:
Summary: A Solid Story
Review: The Buffalo Soldier was an easy, solid read. It's the story of a young African American foster child, Alfred, who after being shuffled around from home to home, lands at the Sheldon residence. Although Terry, a Vermont State Trooper, and Laura, director of an animal shelter, appear at first glance to be perfectly qualified foster parents, the case isn't quite so true. The drowning of the Sheldon twins two years earlier has left Laura in a fog of depression resulting in marital deterioration. Will the arrival of Alfred help to resolve their issues or will it worsen their situation? And what about Alfred? Follow him in his journey of adjusting to a predominantly white town, prejudice, and an unlikely friendship that inspires him to overcome through the study of the true Buffalo Soldiers. I commend Bohjalian for his very real depiction of foster children and their behavior. Alfred must exist in every foster child. What I liked about this novel is that it's a very likely, possible account of the challenges a marriage is faced with after the death of a child. The topic of prejudice and friendship seal the deal on a captivating storyline.
Rating:
Summary: A Solid Story
Review: The Buffalo Soldier was an easy, solid read. It's the story of a young African American foster child, Alfred, who after being shuffled around from home to home, lands at the Sheldon residence. Although Terry, a Vermont State Trooper, and Laura, director of an animal shelter, appear at first glance to be perfectly qualified foster parents, the case isn't quite so true. The drowning of the Sheldon twins two years earlier has left Laura in a fog of depression resulting in marital deterioration. Will the arrival of Alfred help to resolve their issues or will it worsen their situation? And what about Alfred? Follow him in his journey of adjusting to a predominantly white town, prejudice, and an unlikely friendship that inspires him to overcome through the study of the true Buffalo Soldiers. I commend Bohjalian for his very real depiction of foster children and their behavior. Alfred must exist in every foster child. What I liked about this novel is that it's a very likely, possible account of the challenges a marriage is faced with after the death of a child. The topic of prejudice and friendship seal the deal on a captivating storyline.
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