|
Movies •Books •Music •Food •Tv Shows •Technology •Politics •Video Games •Parenting •Fashion •Green Living •more >

Lunch » Tags » Books » Reviews » The Able McLaughlins » User review

The Able McLaughlins
The Able McLaughlins

A book by Margaret Wilson

< read all 2 reviews

A Best Forgotten Pulitzer Prize Winner

  • Mar 14, 2009
Rating:
-5
I read this novel because it won the Pulitzer Prize in 1924. After reading it I've come to the conclusion 1923 must have been a pretty bad year for good novels or the Pulitzer Prize jury was out to lunch. This is one of most over dramatic, over written, boring novels I've read in some time. The prose is turgid, the characterization is poor, and the plot borders on the unbelievable.

Wully McLaughlin comes home wounded from the Civil War and while there falls in love at first sight with Christie. The last time Wully saw Christie she was a small girl but now she's an all grown up beauty. Wully secures her promise to marry him after the war so he returns to his unit. After the war is over Wully comes home to find Christie distant and cold - and soon finds out why. She is pregnant with another man's child. The rest of the novel is about how Wully and Christie deal with these scandalous events in this very rural, very close knit community.

This novel starts bad and gets worse. First, the scenes where Wully falls for Christie are simply melodramatic flimflam and almost entirely unbelievable. And the way the plot meanders along once Wully returns and the actions each take as they deal with their unfortunate circumstances are poorly thought out from a plotting standpoint.

This is definitely not a novel I'd recommend to anyone. It's a waste of valuable reading time.

What did you think of this review?

Helpful
3
Thought-Provoking
0
Fun to Read
0
Well-Organized
0
Post a Comment
More The Able McLaughlins reviews
review by . September 18, 2010
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
The time of this 1924 Pulitzer Prize winning novel is toward the conclusion of the Civil War when families are receiving notices about the deaths, injuries and capture of their loved ones during the conflict.      Wully McLaughlin returns to his parents' farm after escaping from the Confederates where he had been taken prisoner.      While at home recovering from a minor injury, he visits the home of Christie McNair. The couple spend time together and …
see all The Able McLaughlins reviews (2)
About this book

Wiki

1924 Pulitzer Prize Winning novel by Margaret Wilson.

Wully McLaughlin comes home wounded from the Civil War and while there falls in love at first sight with Christie. The last time Wully saw Christie she was a small girl but now she's an all grown up beauty. Wully secures her promise to marry him after the war so he returns to his unit. After the war is over Wully comes home to find Christie distant and cold - and soon finds out why. She is pregnant with another man's child. The rest of the novel is about how Wully and Christie deal with these scandalous events in this very rural, very close knit community.
view wiki

Tags

Books, Fiction, Family Relationships, Novel, Classic, Debut Novel, Pulitzer Prize, Award Winner, Margaret Wilson
see all

Details

ISBN-10: 0877972508
ISBN-13: 978-0877972501
Author: Margaret Wilson
Publisher: Cherokee Publishing Company (GA) (September 1994)

First to Review

"A Best Forgotten Pulitzer Prize Winner"
© 2013 Lunch.com, LLC All Rights Reserved
Lunch.com - Relevant reviews by real people.
()
This is you!
Ranked #
Last login
Member since
reviews
comments
ratings
questions
compliments
lists