Word: fictions
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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When he turned to fiction, Hersey practiced what he called the novel of contemporary history. "The important 'flashes' and 'bulletins' are already forgotten by the time yesterday morning's paper is used to line the trash can," he wrote. "The things we remember for longer periods are emotions and impressions and illusions and images and characters: the elements of fiction...
There are more inviting ways to introduce a 700-page novel, especially one that relies on the gradual accumulation of incident rather than the easy gimmicks of popular fiction. But there are no acceptable shortcuts in Treadup's journey of selfdiscovery or Hersey's exploration of the missionary character. Among his primary sources are the letters of his mother and father, although Treadup is not Roscoe Hersey, as the book's appended notes make clear, but a composite of at least half a dozen Protestant evangelists. As such, he can be a charismatic teacher who scoots around northern China...
...FIRST the phrase "historical novel" sounds like a contradiction in terms. Can a writer really combine in one book events of far-reaching importance with a close-up look at a few unique characters and still produce a viable piece of fictions. The problem appears to be one of scale. To most history considers significant occurrences, often affecting millions of people while fiction focuses on the intricate subtleties of individual lives...
...Child of assimilation-bent parents, he doesn't come to terms with his Jewish ancestry until he's nearly through law school (Harvard, of course). His life in Israel doemonstrates that not only is there life after Harvard, there's life after Harvard Law--but remember, this is fiction...
...criminals, not foreign heads of state. But it degenerates into repetitive scenes about how Rivers and his friends, the good guys, use knives, guns, and high explosives to kill off all kinds of terrorists, the bad guys. Rivers' idea of narration is more suited to Dirty Harry than non-fiction...