MT Book Club December 2nd

Ms. Haiku

hippiemom wrote:

I bought the book and had planned to participate in this, but my older daughter is staying with me unexpectedly this week and I haven't had the time I thought I would to sit and read. I'll try to catch up over the weekend.

Sounds good. It's suspenseful so it goes pretty quick, at least the first 43 pages.

hippiemom

Ms. Haiku wrote:

First let's focus on the writing. I think Kevin Boyle does a very good job of creating a mood. Just by knowing the number of KKK in Detroit at the time, Ossian's personal experiences and witnessing of violence we get a feel for what a scary time this must be for Ossian and his family. However, Gladys' attitude is just. They have every right to live in a nice home that they can afford as anyone else.

It's similar to "The Lovely Bones" in that the main point of violence of the story happens quickly, and we have the rest of the book for resolution. It is not designed so that half the book is build up to the main point of violence of the story. What do you think of the writing so far?

The writing is quite good. I agree, Boyle does an excellent job of setting the mood. He includes a surprising degree of detail for a historical account. I haven't checked the footnotes as I'm reading, but it's clear that this is exhaustively researched.

I'm impressed by the courage shown by Dr. Ossian and Gladys, and particularly by their friends who volunteered to help them. I'm curious to see what the justification was for the shooting. It doesn't seem as though they were in immediate danger (although it was surely a terrifying situation), and the men doing the shooting had to know what the response would be to them killing a white man.

Ms. Haiku

Finally finished the book. I would strongly recommend it not only because it gives a look into the race relations and subsequent social implications of Detroit in the 1920s, but also because it questions what is the most important part of a legal case. Truth is not the most important part, and truth can be harrassed away. Legal knowledge is of course important, but the theatrics of the lawyers along with the media play a large role in the outcome. It is a book about civil rights for all Americans, and in particular African Americans in 1920s Detroit. There is discussion of other important civil rights cases going on in the country at that time. There is discussion of KKK and other hate related groups and what they were up to during that time. The focus in on the one trial where 11 people were tried because they defended themselves against a rock-throwing mob, and one of the mob was killed.

Kevin Boyle is obviously impressed by how Clarence Darrow charmed the nation, and the jury in particular. The story became "gripping" once Boyle introduced Darrow into it. There was a faster flow. The entire book is great. I trusted the research, I did not feel manipulated by the author. I like how the author progressed from the incident, to Ossian's life, to Detroit politics/social issues, to the trial, with an emphasis on the personalities of the lawyers. It is well written, very well formulated. Just like I expected what happened in the 1920's, Darrow's prominence usurped the primary person of the book, Ossian Sweet. Very interesting how the change occured. However, given how "liberal" Darrow was in 1920, he was still affected by his surroundings, and he still thought of unquestioned parameters when it came to basic civil rights for African Americans. So even the "Great Defender" of 1920 who lost and won cases, would by today's standards hopefully be considered too conservative for a defender of civil rights. I'd give it a 5/5 and i don't even like to read non-fiction.

Any other well-written historically significant non-fiction books you suggest I read? Anyone ever read When Smoke Ran Like Water? http://www.whensmokeranlikewater.com/media_coverage/reviews.htm