Bluffton Library Book Club

Bluffton Branch Library Book Club

The Bluffton Branch Library Book Club meets the third Wednesday of every month at 1 p.m. in the small Conference Room (unless otherwise noted). All are welcome to attend. Participation is your choice; no pressure! A list of the 2007 book discussion selections can be found at the following web address: http://www.bcgov.net/bftlib/bookclubs2.htm#Bluffton.

The March selection is The March by E.L. Doctorow and the Book Club will meet on Wednesday, March 21st at 1 p.m. All are invited to join in the discussion.

Synopsis:

“The march in question is that of General William Tecumseh Sherman and his Union soldiers as they slash and burn their way through Georgia and the Carolinas, and the "march to freedom" as liberated slaves fall in step with the liberating army. But it is also, given the poetic depth of Doctorow's vision, the great march of time and of humanity in all its cruelty and glory. As Doctorow dramatizes the fury, conviction, and chaos of the Civil War, he portrays historical figures, as he is wont to do, most electrifyingly Sherman himself. But he focuses most on brilliantly imagined characters who embody the epic conflicts of that cataclysmic era, including Pearl, the smart and courageous daughter of a slave and slave owner; an excessively clinical military surgeon; the valiant daughter of a Southern judge; a freed slave who becomes a war photographer; and Arly, a scheming Rebel soldier who provides shrewdly comic relief. Doctorow writes with blazing clarity about the "brutal romance" of war and its gruesome realities, with lyrical splendor about nature, and with wry wisdom and nimble satire about human folly." (Booklist)
(Random House,c2005, 384 pages)