The Fall of Rome: A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Remarkably Intelligent
Review: I loved this book. I loved its prose. I loved how the author was able to articulate such emotion on its pages. The old saying of those who write is "show, not tell" and Marth Southgate certainly has a talent for conveying emotion on the written page. This book talks to all of us -- black and white -- and the work that we must continue to strive towards to be better people. It talks particularly to young African-American children, who are pressured into perceptions of what is "black" and what is "white." It speaks to families who grieve over the loss of a child that died a violent death, and the measures they must take to move forward in their lives. And it speaks painfully to those who have not identified with their "blackness." I would strongly recommend this book to anyone.

Rating:
Summary: Not bad. Not Good.
Review: Its hard to determine what Southgate's story is really about. . I started out enjoying the the introduction of characters because they were multi-dimensional. They come accross as real folks, everyday people. However, towards the end, they become more one-deimesional and lack any real substance. Southgate just down right bores the reader to death about a death. If you read the book you will surely know who and what happened over and over again. Jerome Washington is sort of the main protagonist. He is sort of the guy who is black and who has sort of pulled himself up by the boot straps and ends up teaching at a all white, all boys school. He bascailly is a living contradiction and ends up losing his teaching position at the school. Southgate is a talent and writes will but this story just didnt have much to offer other than that.

Rating:
Summary: excellent book
Review: Martha Southgate's THE FALL OF ROME is a story about three characters, two African-American, and one white, whose lives are forever changed after they meet and interact with each other. Jerome Washington, the only African-American teacher at Chelsea school, believes that he is above the color lines and barriers that other African-Americans usually have to deal with. Rashid Bryson, the new comer and a child who doesn't come from a rich background, learns how life is being one of a few African-American students at a school that makes him feel intimidated and out of place. Rounding out the story is Jana Hansen, the new white teacher who takes a personal interest in Jerome and Rashid and who learns valuable lessons about both of them.

Written from the perspective of three people, The Fall Of Rome takes you on a journey that helps you discover how each of these three characters ends up at Chelsea. From this story you learn, through their interaction with each other, what happened in their pasts to make them act and think the way they do. The story has a continually slow build of tension between the characters until its explosive end.

With dialogue that was sincere, honest, and true, The Fall Of Rome was excellent and it's been my favorite book so far this year.

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Spellbinding...
Review: Martha Southgate's The Fall of Rome was simply the best book that I have read all year. I had no idea what to expect when I purchased this book. I didn't want to judge this book simply by its cover, but I have to say that the cover itself was enough to pique my interest.

Ms. Southgate's captivating writing immediately drew me into the colliding worlds of Rashid, Jerome and Jana. Through the author's vivid descriptions of her characters and the story's setting, I easily envisioned myself at the Chelsea School witnessing the story unfolding.

The issues of race and class are aptly dissected in The Fall of Rome, and the author allows us to see each character's perspective even though much of the story centers around the title character, Jerome.

I'm not going to give away any more details about the book because I feel that I shouldn't. I believe I would be doing future readers a serious injustice by revealing the plot. I must admit that I had some preconceived notions about The Fall of Rome before I started, but it was nothing like I would have expected. At the end of the book, I found myself rethinking my own prejudices and how I let them affect me.

I was so enraptured with The Fall of Rome that I could not put it down, and finished it in, literally, a few hours.

I would highly recommend The Fall of Rome for book clubs/reading groups, and especially to colleges as a required reading for their students. This book is a must-read for everyone.

Rating:
Summary: excellent book
Review: Sensitive portrayal of a young African-American youth who, still recovering from the untimely death of his older brother, struggles to find his place academically and socially at a boarding school. He finds an ally in an English teacher (who narrates part of the book) and a baffling opponent in an African American Latin teacher who also coaches track. In the end it is the adult who cannot come to terms with his own past who is destroyed by his pride and blindness. Recommended.

Rating:
Summary: solid book
Review: The Fall of Rome; What a befitting title that vividly displays the collapsing of ideas that take place in this book. Martha Southgate introduces a triangle of sorts between a Black man, a Black boy and a White woman; All having their own individual issues however linked by an external element in the name of Chelsea, an all-boys school in Connecticut.

Jerome Washington is the only African American faculty member and a teacher of Latin at the prestigious Chelsea. He comes to Chelsea to escape life defined by race, as he had known it to be, and to pursue excellence and comfort in the ideas and standards of the ancient philosophers of Rome and the traditions of Chelsea. Rashid Bryson, a fourteen year-old boy from New York City comes into an unfamiliar environment of Chelsea with fear and a heavy heart looking to Mr. Washington as a possible salvation. Jana Hansen is a new teacher at Chelsea who has seemingly taken an interest in both Jerome and Rashid; Jerome as a potential mate and Rashid as a student with potential. As they get to know each other all three soon find out when one is in unfamiliar territory one should have no expectations. Their journey together is plagued with certain expectations misdirected in the midst of their own personal losses. When their issues lead up to a powerful, and anticipated confrontation we find that the results are unexpected but ultimately not surprising.

This book is complex and layered. There are so many things that could be discussed that one review couldn't cover it all. I can fully see this book as required reading in an English, Philosophy, or Sociology class in high school and college. It is beautifully written and unhurried. The only thing that keeps this book from a 5 star rating is my personal issue with how certain relationships within the book were portrayed. Aside from this, The Fall of Rome by Martha Southgate is a highly recommended read.


Kotanya
APOOO Bookclub

Rating:
Summary: Excellent and Very thought Provoking
Review: When I first choose this book I didn't expect a literary read. I thought this would be another novel just like those I've read in the past; I was happily mistaken. This book was a wonderful journey into the life of Rashid Bryson a glimpse of his brothers death through Rashid his mother and father's eyes, his latin teacher Mr. Washington a man so absorbed in his own pain a racial marathon, he can't see for looking, and lastly but not least Ms. Hansen Rashid's caucasin English teacher who comes to his aid. The Fall of Rome is told by these three main characters.Mr. Washington is a villian you love to hate - and Rashid the character you continue to root for. Ms Southgate outdid herself with this first novel and I look forward to her works in the future...^5 and a courtesy to you Martha Southgate.