The Glory : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Junior-grade "War & Remembrance"
Review: This book and its predecessor, "The Hope", aren't in the same league as Wouk's great duo, "The Winds of War" and "War & Remembrance", but taken by themselves, they're a very good fictionalization of Israel's history in modern times. My rating is purely because I personally can't help the comparison, although the first series seemed to me to have a more global scope, and Wouk's characters there seemed more fleshed out. The characters here are not cardboard cutouts by any means, but one gets the impression on reading this that Wouk has submerged the history to some degree in favor of the personal lives of the characters - or, more importantly, that he's delved too deeply into the lives of his fictionalized real people at the expense of some of the history. Most notable here are Golda Meir, Menachem Begin, and especially Ariel Sharon, who Wouk here portrays as obsessed to the nth degree about his goals, and Moshe Dayan, who Wouk obviously idolizes a little too much. I'm not trying to discourage anyone from reading these two books, but I am suggesting that they be taken with a grain of salt

Rating:
Summary: the glory-an exciting chronicle
Review: This is history come alive in a well paced story that gives you a rare look at the people of a culture sometimes difficult to understand. Difficult to put down. A great read.

Rating:
Summary: the glory-an exciting chronicle
Review: This is history come alive in a well paced story that gives you a rare look at the people of a culture sometimes difficult to understand. Difficult to put down. A great read.