msand3's review against another edition
2.0
1.5 stars. Another novel by Robert Penn Warren -- this one of the Civil War in New Orleans -- that has so many conflicting strengths and weaknesses that I find it difficult to review. Warren presents the tired old story of the “tragic mulatto,” an archetype that had been around for a century by the time Warren wrote this in the 1950s, which he somehow combines with the equally clichéd "Southern Belle in peril" narrative. Warren presents the classic parade of stereotypes: the Mammy, the cruel slave seller, the religiously-inclined Northern abolitionist, the mysterious New Orleans massa with a dark past, and the tragic mulatto herself.
Perhaps this would have been a more admirable novel if Warren had done something unique or new with these character types, or even tried to subvert them from a mid-20th century perspective, but really he just gives us [b:Gone with the Wind|18405|Gone with the Wind|Margaret Mitchell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1551144577l/18405._SY75_.jpg|3358283], Part II, combining the Southern Belle and tragic mulatto heroines. The prose, as is so often the case with Warren, shifts between poetic and purple. For every passage of beauty and insight, there are several that wallow in cheesy romance novel tripe, where everything is repeated three times for emphasis. ("I seized him by the shoulder and began to shake him. 'I've got to know!' I cried, desperately. 'Don't you see, I've got to know? I've got to know something.'")
Even so, there were some specific details and touches, especially about the city of New Orleans, that struck me as quite authentic. As someone born and raised in the city, I found certain details to be the type that only locals with a strong sense of history would know: the use of white shells for old roads leading out to the lake; the passing reference to Tenerife (although misspelled as "Teneriffe" in both the Random House first edition and the LSU Press reprint), the main island of the Canaries that has a strong connection to Spanish New Orleans; the description of banquettes along the New Orleans streets; and the infamous terrors (perhaps exaggerated?) of General Butler's occupation of the city during the Civil War. As a New Orleans novel, it has certain merits. But that's the strongest praise I can muster.
Despite reading a melodramatic and Romantic tale of the Old South, I couldn’t stop turning pages, even with all the noteworthy flaws -- and sometimes BECAUSE of them, as I wanted to see just how schmaltzy Warren could get. If this hadn't been written by a Pulitzer Prize winner -- in fiction AND poetry, no less-- I would have tossed it aside as cheesy and clichéd. But Warren’s writing kept me just interested enough to finish this Civil War soap opera. ("Finished it, I say! Oh, I finished it!" he cried, desperately....)
Perhaps this would have been a more admirable novel if Warren had done something unique or new with these character types, or even tried to subvert them from a mid-20th century perspective, but really he just gives us [b:Gone with the Wind|18405|Gone with the Wind|Margaret Mitchell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1551144577l/18405._SY75_.jpg|3358283], Part II, combining the Southern Belle and tragic mulatto heroines. The prose, as is so often the case with Warren, shifts between poetic and purple. For every passage of beauty and insight, there are several that wallow in cheesy romance novel tripe, where everything is repeated three times for emphasis. ("I seized him by the shoulder and began to shake him. 'I've got to know!' I cried, desperately. 'Don't you see, I've got to know? I've got to know something.'")
Even so, there were some specific details and touches, especially about the city of New Orleans, that struck me as quite authentic. As someone born and raised in the city, I found certain details to be the type that only locals with a strong sense of history would know: the use of white shells for old roads leading out to the lake; the passing reference to Tenerife (although misspelled as "Teneriffe" in both the Random House first edition and the LSU Press reprint), the main island of the Canaries that has a strong connection to Spanish New Orleans; the description of banquettes along the New Orleans streets; and the infamous terrors (perhaps exaggerated?) of General Butler's occupation of the city during the Civil War. As a New Orleans novel, it has certain merits. But that's the strongest praise I can muster.
Despite reading a melodramatic and Romantic tale of the Old South, I couldn’t stop turning pages, even with all the noteworthy flaws -- and sometimes BECAUSE of them, as I wanted to see just how schmaltzy Warren could get. If this hadn't been written by a Pulitzer Prize winner -- in fiction AND poetry, no less-- I would have tossed it aside as cheesy and clichéd. But Warren’s writing kept me just interested enough to finish this Civil War soap opera. ("Finished it, I say! Oh, I finished it!" he cried, desperately....)
jeanetterenee's review against another edition
3.0
Motherless Amantha "Manty" Starr grows up white in Kentucky in the mid-1800s. She is coddled by her father and adored by his slaves. Her father dies when she's a teen, and she discovers that her mother was a slave. Without her father to protect her, she is then sold into slavery herself in New Orleans. She has it pretty easy compared to most slaves. She marries a Union soldier she met during the Civil War and spends the next 25 years agonizing over her half-black identity. She passes for white, but blames every slight and setback on her being a "nigger." She's constantly worrying that she'll be found out, even though her husband already knows her secret. Her petulance and self-pity are out of proportion to her suffering. She never recovers from the sudden debasement after having grown up feeling superior as a white person. In truth, she's loved and accepted by both white and black communities, but she can never let herself feel like she belongs on either side of the color bar. In the end Manty understands that her continuing enslavement is a result of her perception, and only she can free herself.
It took me a long time to get through this book. The writing is solid, but the story's progress is lethargic. I stayed with it only because I found All The King's Men so compelling.
Band of Angels has value as an in-depth exploration of race and identity issues. I'm sure it had greater relevance in the South when it was published in 1955.
It took me a long time to get through this book. The writing is solid, but the story's progress is lethargic. I stayed with it only because I found All The King's Men so compelling.
Band of Angels has value as an in-depth exploration of race and identity issues. I'm sure it had greater relevance in the South when it was published in 1955.
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