The Last Convertible

Rating:
Summary: The novel of The Greatest Generation
Review: "The Last Convertible" is one of the best novels I've ever read (and I've read a lot); like at least one other reviewer, I'd give it ten stars if I could. But more than that, it is by far the best novel of the GI generation. That is the generation of American men and women born from 1901 through 1924, who were mostly children through the Jazz Age and the Great Depression, bore the brunt of the fighting in WW II, began to take positions of power in the postwar years, and are now rapidly dying off. (See Strauss and Howe, "Generations", a fascinating non-fiction study of generations in America.) This is the generation that Tom Brokaw calls "The Greatest Generation".

There are other great novels, like James Jones' "From Here to Eternity" or Norman Mailer's "The Naked and the Dead", that treat primarily of that generation's role in World War Two. But "The Last Convertible" takes its unforgettable characters, all of whom are beginning college in 1940, through that last year of peacetime (for America, though the war had already begun in Europe and China), and then through the war and the postwar era, through the 1960s and into the 1970s.

I leave it to others to speak of such things as Myrer's style, his plots and subplots, and his development of the characters, all of which I find admirable. For me what makes this a great novel is how it brings the experiences of that generation to life.

I first discovered "The Last Convertible" when it came out in paperback, in the 1980s I think, and have reread it several times since then, always with enormous pleasure. I myself began college just a year later than Russ, Chris, George, Nancy, Dal, Terry, and Jean-Jean, and on almost every page I find wonderful reminders of "how we were".

In short, I can't recommend it highly enough to anyone who wants to know what it was like to live through those years.

Rating:
Summary: A Disappointment
Review: After reading so many wonderful reviews, I was very disappointed by The Last Convertible. Although some of it was well written and the story was interesting at times, it was cliche filled and often trite. Most of the characters were stock types who behaved in predictable ways. Hardly a compelling novel!

Rating:
Summary: The best book I have ever read
Review: Anton Myrer's "The Last Convertible" is probably the best book I have ever read. I could not put it down from the time I picked it up to the time I finished it. I didn't want it to ever end. As soon as I finished it, I wanted to pick it up and read it again. Myrer makes the characters so real that you literally feel like you know them. His tone and style reminded me so much of F. Scott Fitzgerald's, another of my favorite authors. You get so emotionally involved in this book; you feel the characters' happiness and pain, you are torn at their dilemas and conflicts. I had such a respect for the narrator, George Virdon, he is a very real and likeable character. If you like reading at all, especially if you like Fitzgerald or other war-era books, and definatly if you are a romantic or nostalgic, then "The Last Convertible" is the book you want to read. I loved it; it is definatly a book worth re-reading.

Rating:
Summary: The best book I have ever read
Review: Anton Myrer's "The Last Convertible" is probably the best book I have ever read. I could not put it down from the time I picked it up to the time I finished it. I didn't want it to ever end. As soon as I finished it, I wanted to pick it up and read it again. Myrer makes the characters so real that you literally feel like you know them. His tone and style reminded me so much of F. Scott Fitzgerald's, another of my favorite authors. You get so emotionally involved in this book; you feel the characters' happiness and pain, you are torn at their dilemas and conflicts. I had such a respect for the narrator, George Virdon, he is a very real and likeable character. If you like reading at all, especially if you like Fitzgerald or other war-era books, and definatly if you are a romantic or nostalgic, then "The Last Convertible" is the book you want to read. I loved it; it is definatly a book worth re-reading.

Rating:
Summary: A Book Beyond Words...I'd give it 10 stars if I could.
Review: Every so often, and not often enough, we find ourselves given a gift--a surprise gift. A gift of a novel, that changes the very way we look at ourselves and the world around us. Books alone seem to have that ability to transform us. The best of all are the books we don't expect to change things for us. The Last Convertible is one of those books. This book immediately takes it's place on my top ten list.
I bought it because it was called "a coming of age" novel by one critic. Coming of age stories are among my favorite genres. I had just finished a nice coming of age story of the mid-90s, the Fundamentals of Play. A group of people who came of age in the times I had. It was good read. Myrer's Fusiliers (as the 5 men were called) were of the era of my grandparents, so I had no idea what to expect. What I found, pretty much from page one, was a story that would not let go. I finished the second half of the book in 2 days, refusing to put it down. I would read it, go out in "real world" and feel as though the characters and feelings were walking with me. These characters and times are no more--but the feelings are universal. Russ, Jean-Jean, Terry, Dal, Chris (the mysterious and ever deeping charm of Christabel), the infuriating Nancy, Ron, Peg, Irene, the sordid Kay Madden, the unforgettable Liz Payne, Amanda, and Teddy. Not to mention Dr. Mel, Opp, and the Countess. There are so many characters that flood through the years of this novel, yet they all touch you in surprising ways. And of course, the Empress--symbol and fact. Above them of all, is one of my all-time literary heroes, the seemingly ordinary George Virdon.
Grog, Vird, George, call him what you will...keeper of the flame, the steady, old reliable, the loyal, the blindly loyal (?) and truly heroic George. Sarge. Dad. Husband. and Friend.
George is what makes this story for me. As his friends fortunates rise and fall, as his marriage strains and soars, and his children grow, suffer, and live, he fights on. George is endlessly nostaglic, but as Chris tells us, he manages to grow up--somehow. George understands the importance of memory, the mystical power of letters and pictures and objects (even big ones like the Empress). He suffers enormously at times but always maintains his dignity. Nancy is no easy woman, but he endures. George does more than endure however, he maintains the eternal flame. While George is never rich, never quite poor...he is the wealthiest of all the Fusiliers of Fox Entry. He knows that what matters in this world is love. Love--with it's loyalty, pain, schisms, dreams--broken, borrowed, lost and sometimes won, losses, and profound moments...for George it is all about love, moments, and a bit o' stardust. George, as he tells several times, might take longer to understand, but he always knows the score. He denies himself, but he is really the glue of the novel and these men's (and women's lives). He saves lives. Literally and figuratively...if he is still with us, pushing 80 by now, he is probably doing the same. Young Ron, like a generation before him, is transformed by knowing George. And so was I. Thank you George and thank you Anton Myrer.

Rating:
Summary: A Book of Many Flaws
Review: I do not understand why this book gets such good reviews by sophisticated reviewers, despite the author's apparent knowledge of the big bands and expressive writing. The dialogue is high-school sophomoric and there are a great many technical flaws. For example, one character shows up at a reunion of old buddies after the war in his major's uniform, complete with ribbons, because "he wasn't separated yet." No guy would ever go to such an event in uniform, which was not legally required, even if not yet discharged. A Jewish man in the story says "Oi, weh!" That's German, not Yiddish, which is properly written "Oy, vay!" I could go on and on. Besides these flaws, the protagonist's yearning for a woman other than his wife, an important element of the story, was ignored and never resolved in any way at the end.

Rating:
Summary: the author loves big bands
Review: I really enjoyed this book, especially the pre-war era depiction of young people in college. The "kids" were so innocent, so naive (as the author put it), and the joy they found in dancing to big bands simply has no equal nowadays. I loved the author's obviously great knowledge of the subtle beauties of big band musicians.

Rating:
Summary: The Last Convertible
Review: The author magically captures the essence of being naievly innocent in college as the world exploded into World War II. We wallowed in the ecstacy of the music of big bands, our mercurial loves and our confusion while we blossomed into an uncertain adulthood. This book is to me the most sensitive and well written novels that I have ever read. As you read, the author takes you inside each character and you see their view and insights, you feel their agonies and deep regrets. You are also rapturously transported to a paradise of their happiness. I have read this book, at least, once a year since I first read it in 1984 and I have been happy that I did each time.

Rating:
Summary: Destined to become required reading !!
Review: The Last Convertible is an esquiste trek through the past. Author Anton Myrer takes us on a journey into the lives of five young men who meet and become friends while attending Harvard in the era surrounding WWII. They are bound by a fantastic automobile - a gargantuan Packard nicknamed the Empress. Each of the men has a unique life backstory and is uniquely created to demonstrate a life of his own. Myrer introduces us to their girlfriends and families as we journey through these war years learning of their lives and loves and adventures.

I first read this novel while in university. I was an English lit major and I neglected my own studies for a period so that I could finish this wonderful book. I passed the book off to all my friends and my girlfriend. We were already living our own version of this comraderie so reading about this "romantic" era's friends only reinforced what we had. It was as if I could smell the same air and feel the same breezes as the characters.

It is still refreshing to read a story that provides us with such a vast landscape, so finely crafted. It is a book filled with prose-like writing that is elaborate and detailed without being bogged down by the words.

I really can't recommend this book enough. I think that you will find this to be a book you can expect to one day be taught in school.

Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece
Review: This book haunts me for days after I finish it... every time I read it. I read it first in high school over 20 years ago. The characters were so vivid and engaging that I felt as if they were part of me. As another reviewer said, walking around in the "real world" after reading this book is like being away from a group of friends that you hold dear to your heart. You wonder what they're doing and you look forward to seeing them again.

I have encouraged all my friends over the years to read this book and it has never failed to impress, no matter their general tastes in books. "The Last Convertible" has the power to cross genre boundaries and engage people who might not ordinarily enjoy a "romantic" novel. Everybody loves this book.

I have read two of Myrer's other novels, and while his style is the same, he is unable to capture again the absolute magic he weaves in "The Last Convertible." This book is a masterpiece and very few artists manage more than one in a career. I think I'll go read it again.