Rating: 
Summary: Seems real to me
Review: In the Author's Notes at the beginning of this lengthy book, Russell Banks emphasizes that this is a work of fiction. However with the amount of detail he puts in this work (they ate skillet bread from Indian meal and drank creek water mixed with ginger and molasses on the trail), it certainly seemed real to me. If you enjoy this amount of minutiae, then the book should enthrall you. To me, I found it hard going at times, but many parts were fascinating. There are some interesting concepts presented here: That John Brown "secretly believed...he was a Negro;" that Brown went to Europe to study the military strategy of Napoleon; that Brown, in fact, was the pawn of his third son Owen (the narrator of this book). Banks claims that if it were not for Owen, his father would have remained a farmer and preacher in upstate New York. And therein lies the rub: Are these ideas fiction or fact? What is real or what is the author's immagination. I felt this confusion made for an unsatisfactory read. If nothing else, the book has made me want to delve further into Brown's life. Absolutely the author exhibits exceptional writing skills, however I wish he had either done a biography on this scale of background and detail, or written purely fiction without use of real people as central figures. One more point: It would have been very helpful if Banks had included some dates as guideposts along the way.
Rating: 
Summary: It Belongs On Your Bookshelf!
Review: Russell Banks is a wonder to the literary world! Here we have a man who has invested so much of his time to give a fictionalized account of the life of martyr John Brown and his mysterious son Owen. Banks spent years learning the history of this historic family, and before creating his fictionalized version, he spent a cold winter in the mountains near the location of the Brown Family for many years.Banks loves to play around with the ideas of truth vs fact, insanity vs sanity, private life vs public scrutiny, and more than anything else, the relationship between father and son. His recreation of the mythical John Brown seems almost too real for comfort, and the imaginative birth of the historically allusive Owen Brown is likewise worthy of praise. Cloudsplitter is a book of biblical proportions, existing on multiple levels and asking a reader to do, what in today's standards is virtually unheard of, stick with him through the short of 800 page novel. Not many today have what it takes to embark such a monumental effort as Banks has, and his merits are his rewards. This book belongs on your shelves, next to Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath" and snuggled up beside James's "The American" for this truly is American Fiction at its most prolific best. It is one for the ages, and Banks can sleep soundly at night, he has done no injustice to John Brown nor the world for bringing such a wonderfully spun tale to life.
Rating: 
Summary: Unfocused, uneven, & hugely unsatisfying
Review: John Brown is among the most fascinating figures in American history, but you'd never know it from reading this book. Russell Banks is a talented writer (I enjoyed the hell out of "Rule of the Bone"), but he was the wrong man to take this subject on. Let's face it: he is a regional writer who is really only capable of evoking northern New York and New Hampshire of the late 20th century, in the wintertime--with the occasional excursion to the Caribbean. You can see the fact that Banks is afraid to leave his familiar territory in the title itself: he has attempted to convince himself that the Adirondacks, one of a great many places Brown and his family lived, is actually the most significant place in Brown's life, when very little of any real consequence happened there. Banks lives in the Adirondacks when he's not teaching. Coincidence? Banks's preoccupation with father-son relationships also results in a foolish choice for a narrator: his son Owen, whom Banks goes to great lenghts (unsuccessfully) to make into an interesting character. Owen, in well over 700 pages, never really comes to any understanding of his father, so neither do we. Banks further bogs himself down with his ridiculous concern with versimilitude (who CARES if this whole novel is supposed to be some huge letter the elderly Owen is supposedly writing to Brown's biographer?). Much undue praise has been given the novel's language. As period-perfect as "Cold Mountain"?! Have we read the same books here? The 19th Century language in "Cold Mountain" isn't perfect, but next to "Cloudsplitter" it reads like Melville or Hawthorne. Odd 19th Century-sounding phrases and dialogue coexist with glaring 20th Century colloquialisms and a great deal of contractions which are so out of place I wondered if Banks even bothered to proofread his own work. And what about the plot itself? Well, there or occasional spurts of it, but it doesn't really get underway until around page 600. Up until then, we're stuck in the Adirondacks most of the time, while Owen goes on about his relationship with his father and about white-black relations (about which he has some very enlightened post-modern opinions). Ironically, the most interesting portion of the book is a completely unnecessary 100-or-so page excursion to England, where Brown hopes to sell some dirty wool to the British. When important things finally start happening in the final 150 pages, we're so worn out that we're practically praying for the denoument to be thrilling in at least SOME way, but the conclusion is so incredibly anticlimactic that we close the book and replace in its three-inch-wide space on the shelf brooding about all the other things we could have read--or done--in the time we spent on this boring mess. The life of John Brown is a fantastic subject for a historical novel; unfortunately, that novel has not yet been written.
Rating: 
Summary: Ambitious
Review: A thoroughly meticulously and hugely ambitious telling of John Brown's life, culminating in the bloody rebellion at Harper's Ferry. Russell Banks strays from his normal storytelling formula in Cloudsplitter; this novel reads like a well researched piece of historical fiction. Banks concentrates not only on capturing the characters with accuracy and depth (which he accomplishes here as in his other novels) but also on painting the mood and character of the time itself. This is the story not only of Owen and John Brown, but of pre-Civil War America itself. At 758 pages it isn't a quick read, and the characters develop more slowly than they do in his other novels, but I never found the book to be needlessly verbose. We get a picture of John Brown that is comprehensive and complete, warts and all. And we also get an interesting look at the institution of chattel slavery in the United States, its crushing effectiveness, and the racial norms of the time. Brown is painted as a man of principle, but a fanatic nonetheless. His power over his small band of followers is based largely on his overwhelming charisma, not on his vision or his doomed mission. The novel is based on actual events and therefore the reader knows how the action will end before it even begins, but Banks manages to keep the suspense building. Banks employs some strange tactics in this novel, including a risky "out of body" experience that mixes an element of fantastic into his otherwise literal and meticulous storytelling (you might think you've wandered into a Rushdie or Gabrial Marquez novel). But somehow it all works. In summary: an interesting and challenging novel.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent read!!
Review: This book was an excellent read for me, especially since I knew the name John Brown, but did not know much about him beyond what I learned in school. Banks did a masterful job of taking you back to that time period...this book truly made you feel like you were there. The only complaint that I have is that it could have been a little edited. Some of the scenes were drawn out a little too long. All in all, though, a wonderful read about a tremendously interesting time in our nation's history.
Rating:
Summary: The Secret History of John Brown by His Son Owen
Review: Russell Banks creates a memorable portrait of an emotionally crippled man who is overwhelmed by his father's personality and beliefs. Owen Brown shows his father, John Brown, as a man who if he was not pushed into it by his son, might have avoided the move to Kansas and thus changed the course of American history. Were Owen's reasons from a pure belief in the righteous cause of abolishing slavery or based in a more deep-seated need to lash out at the world? Russell Banks creates an incredibly detailed world where the Brown family comes to life in a way that few biographies can duplicate.
Rating:
Summary: A Political Voyage
Review: I have been surprised by the reviews that call for more editing, better history, and increased interest in the Civil War. This book seems to me to not be about the pre-Civil War period or even John Brown. It is about how the personal becomes the political. And how a person moves up the scale from a child honoring someone else's political opinion to an extremist adult goaded to terroristic action to a senior citizen who is nothing but the memory of a political opinion and can only be freed by death. This could be the story of a modern day anti-abortion fighter or a Kosovar nationalist terrorist. It just happens to use Owen Brown, the son of anti-slavery terrorist John Brown, to tell the story about the inner voice that drives someone to political extremity. On that basis: it is not too long; it does not fail some history test; and, it is not a pre-Civil War primer. Consequently, it does not seem to be missing a woman's voice or a black person's voice or the voice of the burnt over district of New York's 1830's that gave rise to so many -ism's. The occasional meandering shows Owen's indecision. The action of the story shows his decision. The narrative style shows that the story is meant to be a personal search for understanding, not merely historical re-telling. On this basis, the book succeeds wonderfully. Mr. Banks is to be congratulated. However, after reading the reviews here I suppose it loses a star for eluding so many readers...but then maybe I'm the one who has missed the point. It wouldn't be the first time -- and that would be worth losing a star, too.
Rating:
Summary: Enter the World of John Brown -- Madman or Visionary?
Review: In his sprawling, rivetting 758-page novel, Banks tackles the myth of pre-Civil War abolitionist John Brown, telling his story through the eyes of his son, Owen Brown. In this fictionalized account of the events leading up to the ill-fated raid on the federal armory at Harper's Ferry, Virginia, Banks weaves a story describing the demons that drove John Brown. He presents Brown as a religious zealot, equally obsessed with living piously and fighting for the abolition of slavery. Amazingly, the reader comes to understand Brown as a domineering patriarch and as a soldier during Bloody Kansas, essentially a holy war waged against pro-slavers. It's this contradiction, a religious individual who is repulsed by the idea of slavery, but on the other hand feels that his God justifies the spilling of blood during the fight for slavery's abolition, which is fascinating. Quite simply, Brown is a man who believes in two things only -- God and abolitionism -- and his belief in both is so strong that he risks his life and tears apart his family without a second thought. Few people are so single-minded; few historical figures are so intriguing.
Rating:
Summary: Well written, but too long!
Review: Written from the perspective of Owen Brown, son of John Brown there is a great deal within the pages of Cloudsplitter that can be admired. It is in many instances well written, evocative, moving and extremely powerful. The strengths of the novel are to be found in its depth of description both in terms of events and environments. For example the reader gains an excellent understanding of the hardships of existing in certain parts of 19th century America. Furthermore, the author develops the characterisation of both Owen and John Brown with a great deal of skill. However, at 758 pages this book is far too long and at times I found that length of description replaced depth of description which for this reader was reflected in a lack of momentum and development. Consequently, I at times became frustrated at attempts to flood me with language rather than lead me with it. The second half of the book - after Owen and his brother Fred head off to Kansas ( a move which would lead them to Harper's Ferry) - picked up pace and I felt that I had more invested in the story. I do wish however that this could have happened before page 549! I gave this book three stars because that's right in the middle of what I could have given. I suppose this is because Cloudsplitter for me hangs in the balance, one side represented by fine writing and the other by at time over indulgence. Ultimately I'm glad I read the book but for me it isn't an epic or the great American novel (as it is described on its cover). A measure for me of how much I've enjoyed a book is how many times I'll loan it out to friends and family - Cloudsplitter I regret to say will spend some time of my bookcase.
Rating:
Summary: Too long, too melodramatic and a touch over indulgent
Review: Do you remember at school when there was something that you didn't quite understand - usually algebra for me - and everybody else seemingly did? The last thing to do was to put your hand up and ask the teacher for clarification, thus one would stay quiet rather than be viewed as the class dunce. The psychology of my school days apart, the reading of Cloudsplitter by Russell Banks has left me with a similar feeling. The book has received a great many plaudits and I don't quite understand why. So I think maybe it's just me, that maybe I'm just missing something. But unlike my algebra classes I like to put my hand up! Described on its cover as 'a splendid epic' and ' A great American novel' when I finished it's mammoth 758 pages I agreed with some of these assessments and indeed still do. However, with the reflection of a couple of weeks maybe rather than the pleasure of completion what I actually was feeling the relief of completion. Written from the perspective of Owen Brown, son of John Brown there is a great deal within the pages of Cloudsplitter that can be admired. It is in many instances well written, evocative, moving and extremely powerful. But the flip side is that it is also repetitive, boring, difficult to read and at times sleep inducing. The strength of the novel is in its depth of description both in terms of events and environments. The reader gains an understanding of the hardships of existing in certain parts of 19th century America. However, for this reader there is a vast difference between depth of description and length of description. On occasions I felt length replaced depth and furthermore became frustrated at attempts to flood me with language rather than lead me with it. The second half of the book - after Owen and his brother Fred head off to Kansas - picked up pace and I felt that I had more invested in the story. I do wish however that this could have happened before page 549! Narrating his recollections via written correspondence to a researcher the melodramatic older Owen Brown suggests that he has become "nothing but paper.... a great disheveled heap of words" and for me coming to the end of the novel that's how I was beginning to feel. I gave this book three stars because that's right in the middle of what I could have given. I suppose this is because Cloudsplitter for me hangs in the balance, one side represented by fine writing and the other by over indulgence. Ultimately I'm glad I read the book but for me it isn't an epic or the great American novel (living in England I'm never quite sure what the great American novel actually is!). A measure for me of how much I've enjoyed a book is how many times I'll loan it out to friends and family - Cloudsplitter I regret to say will spend some time of my bookcase. Now about that algebra!
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