Fiction-Stories – Page 8 – Scott J. Pearson’s Book Review

Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick

By Scott J. Pearson | January 16, 2021January 16, 2021 by Scott J. Pearson

Zora Neale Hurston was one of the pioneering authors during the Harlem Renaissance and is most well-known for the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. This work is a compilation of short stories published during her life. Many of these short stories are previously unavailable to a wider audience. Together, they open a tall and wide window to African American life in Eatonville, Florida, Hurston’s hometown, and Harlem, New York, in the early twentieth century.…

Native Son by Richard Wright

By Scott J. Pearson | January 9, 2021January 9, 2021 by Scott J. Pearson

Historically, this work was written before the Civil Rights era (1940) and shed light on the terrible social circumstances that pervaded African-American life in the North. Set in Chicago shortly after the Great Migration, it portrays what we now would characterize as systemic racism – the realities of a dysfunctional society. A black everyman has his life cast away by a lack of opportunity to make his life count for something. It can remind today’s…

Fiction-Stories History

Le Morte d’Arthur: King Arthur and the Legends of the Round Table

By Scott J. Pearson | December 27, 2020August 13, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

King Arthur’s mythic Round Table – with Queen Gwynevere, Sir Launcelot, and the famous sword Excalibur – resounds through England’s history. They might be fable, or they might have a historical root. Either way, they make for a good telling and national myth. Sir Thomas Malory recorded these tales in book form in the late fifteenth century, and Keith Baines adapted these for modern languages in the mid-twentieth century. Their storytelling power remains full of…

Fiction-Stories

Your Story, My Story: A Novel

By Scott J. Pearson | December 8, 2020December 8, 2020 by Scott J. Pearson

This novel, originally composed in Dutch, profiles two famous English-language poets. Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes romanced, married, and had two children together. While the children were extremely young, Plath committed suicide after Hughes had an affair. This tale, written from Hughes’ perspective (apparently later in life), imagines how his inner life was haunted by her downfall. It accurately captures human nature and the depths of two poets’ struggle with the unfolding of life and…

Fiction-Stories History Humanities

I Jonathan: A Charleston Tale of the Rebellion

By Scott J. Pearson | November 26, 2020November 26, 2020 by Scott J. Pearson

Recent events remind us that America – especially the South – is still haunted by the oft-unspoken tale of the Civil War. This tale, Scott’s first novel, shows us why. It reminds us of the myriad of lives forever altered by this event and that simple narratives of good-versus-evil fall short. It showcases decency of many Southerners, the hideousness of slavery, and lives caught in a tale of lost-and-found. Apparently, the author received in the…

Biography-Memoir Fiction-Stories History

My Dear Hamilton: A Novel of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton

By Scott J. Pearson | November 19, 2020November 19, 2020 by Scott J. Pearson

Thanks to Ron Chernow’s award-winning biography and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s award-winning musical, interest in the historical figure of Alexander Hamilton has experienced a rebirth in recent years. Many have also fallen in love with his wife Eliza who endured much for the birth of America – a revolutionary war, the country’s first sex scandal, deadly duels impacting her family, whispers and improprieties, a hostile post-revolution political environment, and fifty years of being a widow. However, the…

Fiction-Stories

The Last Correspondent by Soraya M. Lane

By Scott J. Pearson | October 6, 2020October 6, 2020 by Scott J. Pearson

This tale, told from the perspectives of three female protagonists during World War II, exalts the inner strength of war correspondents/journalists, especially women. In fictionalized form, it tells of the courage it takes to report on war as it really happens. It speaks to the obstacles that must be overcome as well as the emotional toll that reporting can take. The note at the end shows how Lane borrowed from real-life history to inspire her…

Fiction-Stories Humanities

The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy

By Scott J. Pearson | September 14, 2020September 14, 2020 by Scott J. Pearson

Throughout recorded time, humans have wondered about the afterlife and its relationship to this life. Tolstoy takes a spin on that and focuses on the interface between the two. What exactly happens as one approaches death? Few have experienced near-death, but no one has experienced death fully. What is dying like? Tolstoy provides his answer in this short depiction of a Russian lawyer Ivan Ilych. He lives a normal, even boring, life and suddenly gets…

Fiction-Stories Humanities

A Single Swallow by Zhang Ling

By Scott J. Pearson | September 12, 2020September 12, 2020 by Scott J. Pearson

This tale, translated from the original in Chinese, centers on events surrounding one Chinese woman during the Second World War. It is told through the perspectives of the ghosts of three men who loved her and who she loved back, albeit in different ways. It narrates how war augments human stories of love, family, and relationships. The translation is generally excellent and fluent. Only the prevalence of Chinese customs make it obvious that this story…

Fiction-Stories History

The Woman in the Moonlight

By Scott J. Pearson | August 10, 2020August 10, 2020 by Scott J. Pearson

In one of the all-time most famous works of classical music (The “Moonlight” Sonata), Beethoven cryptically dedicates the tune to a Countess Guilietta Guicciardi, whom he taught piano to. Julie, as Morrisroe re-nicknames her, did not leave behind much in history, but as detailed in the Author’s Note, she likely had some form of romantic relationship with the Ludwig van Beethoven. Morrisroe imagines this relationship and Julie’s life as a whole in this work of…