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You wouldn't think a
book about farmers would be interesting. You'd only be half right.
This book is half fictional account of a trio of brothers, and half
history lesson about the United States from World War I on. The narrative,
which also includes a modern protagonist, jumps around in time, and
weaves its way through a central hub--the August Sander photograph
pictured on the cover of the book of the three farmers. Along the
way we hear the tales of Henry Ford and his peace ship, Sarah Bernhardt
and various other historical figures. It's certainly not your typical
historical fiction novel, though, as these figures don't actually
interact with our fictional characters, but act as context and the
sort of connective tissue that bonds disparate people and generations
together. In weaving these tales the author, Powers, points out the
devastating power of war, the design of family and the construction
and philosophy of photography. Portions of the book felt like the
film theory theses I was forced to read in college, as Powers digs
into the societal and historical affect an of photography in great
detail. While a lot of this was interesting stuff, it made the novel
feel a little disjointed and oddly academic at points. He tends to
espouse theoretical ideas like this throughout the book on several
topics, and while they are all interesting arguments--and tend to
make you think about things in ways you may never have approached
them--they feel like they're parts of several different theses, all
of which would have been interesting enough in themselves, but together
make things a little too convoluted. Overall, the book leaves an impression
on you and is oddly informative and mystical at the same time. For
something different from your typical straight forward fiction, it
is certainly a cool read.
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