Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

This is the thread for the April 2023 Buddy Read of The Year of Jubilo: A Novel of the Civil War

I’m looking forward to this. I’ve wanted to finish the trilogy since reading The Black Flower last year.

I have a copy of the book from the library, but I have a few other books to finish before starting it. I loved "The Black Flower," so I'm looking forward to reading more of the author's work.

Same here Connie. Finishing up some others but so very excited to get back to this story. The Black Flower was one of my favorites from last year.

I can wait.

I started reading The Year of Jubilo: A Novel of the Civil War a couple of days ago. I haven't gotten very far yet, but oh my goodness, I'd forgotten how powerful Bahr's writing is. I like to read at night, but his are not bedtime stories. But I already know I'm going to enjoy this one as much as I did The Black Flower: A Novel of the Civil War. Can't wait to hear your thoughts as we get going.

I read The Black Flower in 2017 and not sure why I didn't continue sooner. Probably because I own this book so it doesn't have a due date. I have one book to read for a local group then this is next.

I'm going to join in this this but will have a hard time getting to it until the second half of the month. I'll try to sneak in a few pages here and there before that when I can.

I am now through Chapter 2 and definitely back into the smooth and descriptive prose we loved in the Black Flower.

What an opener. My spoilers are through ch 2: (view spoiler)[ I was on pins and needles as we experienced Willy Landers’ traumatic event. This was a year before the war ended. And the treason Willy’s father is accused of is deserting or just not enlisting which I suppose is the same thing. Did anyone see a different reason he is hanged?
We still don’t know Willy’s fate a year later as his cousins never saw him again. I hope we learn of his fate. I am not sure how a 12 year old boy could survive being blind but maybe someone found him and took him in.
Gawain Harper is a very interesting character being a teacher who waited until he had to before enlisting. It sounds like he enlisted for a girl, Morgan Rhea, the judge’s daughter who was a 30 year old widow. Gawain (what an appropriate name for an English teacher!) is old for a soldier at 37. I am reminded of Cold Mountain a little as he walks home to find his love who doesn’t know if he is alive. At the end of ch 2 he is remembering some of the dead soldiers thinking they could talk to him. He knows they are not, that they are dead, but how could a soldier returning home after seeing so much death not think about those who will never get the chance? (hide spoiler)]

I am eager to see where this story is going. I am already drawn into the characters and I can’t resist the writing!

I read Chapter 1 yesterday, and am also wondering about Willy's fate.(view spoiler)[ How can people be so heartless to leave a terrified blind child alone in the middle of the woods?

I already like Gawain since he seems like a caring person who has many terrible war experiences bottled up inside. The men that returned must have experienced survivor's guilt when they returned to their hometowns without their buddies. (hide spoiler)]

I agree with you, Lori, about getting back into Bahr's smooth, descriptive prose. His writing is so unique. (view spoiler)[That first scene was almost unbearable, "seeing" the brutal murder of Lily and Simon Landers through their blind 12-year old son's other senses (hearing, smelling,...). In true Bahr fashion, the death of an individual or animal is so abrupt! His deaths never drag on, as we witnessed in The Ox-Bow Incident. It just makes me wonder if Bahr witnessed a tragic death when he was young, and it affected his outlook on life. To me, these sudden deaths is what made The Black Flower: A Novel of the Civil War so incredibly tense! (hide spoiler)]

I certainly hope we meet up again with Willy. (view spoiler)[I don't know how he was able to survive or get out of the woods on his own. (hide spoiler)]

I thought the same thing about Gawain Harper's first name. I love it! I wonder if Gawain's parents were also English teachers.

I am currently on Chapter 6, and even though I'm reading four other books, I just cannot put this book down.

So glad Connie and Shirley that we are reading together. I am loving Gawain’s character.

I had to go back and reread the part where Gawain got a signed pardon that now proves he’s not an enemy of the United States. I wasn’t aware that this was something that was done. Here is a Wikipedia link in case anyone else wants to know about President Lincoln’s ideas for amnesty to Confederate soldiers allowing the. To return to their homes after declaring an oath of allegiance. Then when Johnson took office, he outlined his ideas for prosecuting and punishing Confederate leaders.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pardons...

Thanks for your comments, Shirley and Lori. That's an interesting Wiki article, Lori.

Lori, you had mentioned a Charles Frazier book in your spoiler. There was an interesting interview on libhub today about his latest book, "The Trackers," which will be published next week:

https://lithub.com/charles-frazier-on...

Shirley, that was a good point about how Willy had to use all his other senses during that terrifying event since he was blind. It really showcased Howard Bahr's storytelling skills during that tragedy since the reader also was trying to make sense of what was happening, along with Willy.

Thanks Connie for the article. I will definitely be reading Frazier new book!

I have finished part 1 which is through Ch 6.

One thing I keep noticing is Bahr’s use of birds throughout. Every time a bird comes on the scene, I seem to take notice. I’m sure it’s just a nice way to bring nature into the narrative as they spend almost the entire time outside walking. And it’s not just for a particular character that the birds are referenced.

In Ch 4-5 we met a very odd and scary character, Molochi Fish (view spoiler)[he is going to be a character I do not look forward to. He was so nonchalant about his dogs killing Gawain’s fyce.

Shirley, you said it perfectly about how Bahr’s death scenes are abrupt and this one was brutal and just awful.

I can’t be,wife his story is done especially since we’ve been teased with his background being dipped in the hog boiling water by his mother. Could this actually be a true event that Bahr is using here? I can’t even imagine. (hide spoiler)]

Then in ch 6 we meet the Union soldiers who are in the town where Gawain is coming to - Cumberland. The Colonel Burduck has an interesting background. I’m finding these characters, after the war has ended, are very reflective. I am enjoying how Bahr is connecting the storylines and even character sightings. Col Burduck watches Gawain talking to the dog and then take off running. They are both at Wagner’s Stretch. That was very cool, because we saw that scene from Gawain’s perspective at the end of ch 2.

Lori wrote: "I had to go back and reread the part where Gawain got a signed pardon that now proves he’s not an enemy of..."

I was surprised by Bahr's statement that Gawain had obtained a pardon after the Civil War. According to the article you linked to, Lori, and my past understanding, rank and file Confederate soldiers were simply allowed to go home after the surrender at Appomattox. Only those soldiers that fell in one of the 14 exceptions would have required a pardon. The only category that I could see Gawain falling in is if he had been a senior officer. Do we know what rank he held before the war's end? I haven't seen any mention of it. Maybe this was just literary license?

Thank you for posting the link, Lori. That was very interesting information I had not seen before. It truly is amazing that both Presidents Lincoln and Johnson were more interested in unity than revenge.

Connie wrote: "Shirley, that was a good point about how Willy had to use all his other senses during that terrifying event since he was blind. It really showcased Howard Bahr's storytelling skills during that tra..."

Yes, indeed, Connie! Thank you for pointing out how we the readers also had to rely on Willy's senses to understand what was going on. Such brilliant writing!

I have also noticed many references to Time throughout. It seems natural when you think about all the time away from home, loved ones, normal life they all lost.
I loved the philosophizing of Stribling at the end of Ch 7. (view spoiler)[He’s talking to Morgan about how changed Gawain will be as a result of the war. I think about how those left behind keep a picture in their minds of the one who leaves for war and Vice versa. They probably expect that same person to return. But it’s never that way.
I loved the part when she asks “How much do you get to keep? How much can you bring along when you die and come back as somebody else?”
And then my other favorite quote “You can’t be not afraid when you wake to life again.”
At first I wasn’t happy that Stribling sought Morgan out to tell her Gawain is home because a part of me thought he took away the special moment they could have had when they met for the first time again. But I think it is good for her to know that Gawain is afraid so she won’t be hurt that he didn’t come to her just yet. (hide spoiler)]

Shirley I don’t think we’ve been told Gawain’s rank. Good catch though on the pardon specifics. Im guessing you are right about liberties on that.

Lori wrote: "One thing I keep noticing is Bahr’s use of birds throughout. Every time a bird comes on the scene, I seem to take notice..."

I hadn't noticed this, Lori, but I'll start paying attention now.

As you say, Molochi Fish is really a weird and scary individual. (view spoiler)[I was so sad that his dogs killed the sweet little fyce like they did. And what an introduction to Molochi's part in hunting down runaway slaves. Poor little Peter! That was so sad! When I was reading the story of how Molochi's mother threw him in the boiling water, I couldn't help but compare this situation to the two despicable characters in Requiem by Fire - but I can't remember their names. I think you read that book, too, Lori? It just made me realize that such horrid abuse at such a young age scars a child emotionally for life. (hide spoiler)]

There are so many other great characters in this story already: (view spoiler)[Harry Stribling (I can't wait to know more about him); Dial Ethridge, who kept digging up his father-in-law; and Colonel Michael Burduck, who blanks out (PTSD?). (hide spoiler)]

Oh, and how I love Bahr's use of language. I had to underline this excerpt (in my own book, of course - LOL):

...the thunder murmuring farther away, and the lightning seemed to be looking back over its shoulder as it passed eastward... and still, way off beyond the eastern hills, the thunder grumbled, reluctant to leave but leaving anyhow because God said it had to.

I'm currently on Chapter 7 (Part 2).

When you think of the childhood that Molochi Fish had (view spoiler)[with a sadistic mother, it seems logical that he would grow up to have no regard for life or suffering. He probably was abused all through his childhood if his mother would do something so painful and life-threatening to him.

Getting burned by a boiling cauldron of water filled with hogs brought back thoughts of Harry Crews's autobiographical book, A Childhood: The Biography of a Place. He was a curious child that climbed up to see the hogs in an almost-boiling pot of water, and fell in. His parents were poor, but they managed to get help to save him.

That's a lovely quote, Shirley. Bahr seems very observant of the natural world. As I read, I'll have to look to see if he personifies other natural things. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 7

The theme of Time(view spoiler)[ is running through Chapter 7. There are mentions of clocks and watches as well as Time itself.

p.87-88 At the door of his childhood home: "He dropped his hands. For a moment longer he stood watching, suddenly aware that he was balanced on the thin edge of time between one moment and another, between one life and another. The thought hung in his mind and left him immobile. He wondered how long he could sustain these last seconds of the war; he found in his tired heart, just for an instant, the smallest glimmer of regret that it was over and something else about to begin. What it was he couldn't imagine, wasn't even supposed to imagine now; he only knew that every breath brought him closer."

p 93 When Knox fell asleep after carving his dates of birth and death: " 'The kind maiden, Sleep. How soft she comes.'
'And the thief, Time.'"

p 96 Seeing his senile father for the first time since his return: "The hearth spilled cold ashes across the floor, and the clock on the mantel tick-tocked as it always had. But the clock lied, Gawain thought. There was no time here, not by the clock, not by day or night or season. His eyes darted to the chair by the hearth; it was empty, or so it seemed."

p 97 "There is a moment when the day's axis turns, when time begins to slide away toward night again. The exact moment is imperceptible, though if a watcher is careful, he might perceive the signs. He might see how light and air conspire to make a stillness, to soften the sharp edges of the world. He might note how sounds no longer ring so brightly, and how shadows creep into places still warm from the sun. Shadows, the first sure tendrils of night, reach into fence corners and woods and up the eastern face of houses, and with the shadows come the birds again, hurrying against the night, and timid feeders move quivering over the grass, who know the hawks have folded themselves away, and the owls not yet awakened." (hide spoiler)]

Edit: Lori, I had forgotten that you already mentioned the theme of Time in message 19. Bahr has lovely quotes with both Time and birds.

Death, ghosts, and burned houses with only chimneys standing - the sad results of war - are also beautifully described. I'm reading Chapter 9 now.

Connie, you have answered my question about whether what happened to Molochi was a real event or not by telling us about the Harry Crews book. I have not read that and would certainly have remembered an incident so horrible. My goodness! It's unbelievable to me.

And you have beautifully provided some wonderful quotes about Time - I noted each of them as I read. I feel like reading Dickens has helped me in being able to notice these details even in other authors. Gotta love that education!!

There is a lot of melancholy throughout on both sides of the war - whether confederate or federal.

I finished Part 2 last night so through Ch 12.

Here is a quote from Ch 9 that stood out

A mirror hung over this motel as well, and once more he considered the reflected image of his face, ghostly in the candlelight. He thought of the other face hidden behind the glass and wished he could draw it out somehow, bring it into the light again just so he could assure himself that he'd been here once. Again he was surrounded be the shapes of the artifacts of his old life, left just as they were on the day he turned from this room and closed the door behind him - forever, he had thought then.

This is Gawain looking in the mirror and reflecting over the past and how it is possible for him to be these two individuals - the one from before the war and the one created as a result of the war.

I'll try to come back today and comment further, but my reading and GR time will be limited as my son is coming in for Easter today and I'll be prepping.

Happy Easter everyone!

The quote about the mirror gives me chills, Lori. I hope that Morgan (and maybe Harry Stribling) can help Gawain eventually unite the two individuals he sees in the mirror.

Enjoy the weekend with your son, Lori!

Happy Easter!

Connie wrote: "Getting burned by a boiling cauldron of water filled with hogs brought back thoughts of Harry Crews's autobiographical book, A Childhood: The Biography of a Place. He was a curious child that climbed up to see the hogs in an almost-boiling pot of water, and fell in. His parents were poor, but they managed to get help to save him. ..."

Connie, I had never heard of this author or this book, but after looking into it, it is definitely one I want to read. So many great Southern authors that deserve more recognition!

Now that you, Lori and Connie, have pointed out Bahr's allusions to time and birds, I find myself looking out for them now. Also, I think it was you, Connie, who pointed out that Bahr shows the same events through more than one person's perspective. I love that! It seems like I remember Dickens doing that in Bleak House, so I'm wondering how much of an influence Dickens had on Bahr's writing.

I just finished Chapter 10. So many times, I am just overwhelmed with emotion. When Bahr described Morgan's pent-up grief in Chapter 9, I was reading through eyes filled with tears. It was such a poignant moment! In Chapter 10, when (view spoiler)[the Indian woman that Molochi "buys" is repeatedly raped and then shown by Molochi that he expects her to commit suicide (hide spoiler)], the pain I felt was almost unbearable.

I'm really worried for Stribling. (view spoiler)[Carl Nobles had borrowed Stribling's horse Zeke to meet up with Gault and his band, and I'm hoping that Burduck doesn't think it was Stribling that was meeting up with them. Especially after the gruesome murder of the boy, Private Tom Kelly. (hide spoiler)]

Shirley, I have wondered as well about whether Bahr was influenced at all by Dickens. I found this article which tells a little about him and that his favorite authors are William Faulkner, Mark Twain, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Edna St. Vincent Millay.

https://www.mswritersandmusicians.com...

I was equally horrified by your spoiler from Ch 10 (view spoiler)[It's just an unbearable thing to even imagine. (hide spoiler)]

I may have completely read over the scene you mention in the second spoiler about Stribling. I do not remember Nobles doing that.
But I can understand your worry now.

I am currently reading Ch 15 and we finally learn of Willy's fate. And learn further details about Tom Kelly(view spoiler)[I hate that he dies so horribly and when Molochi's dogs had him he was still alive enough to say Gault's name and point the finger.

So I was under the impression that Molochi had killed Tom Kelly but now we have a different story from Molochi who was following him and say Will Stutts - Gault's lackey - was the one who killed him. (hide spoiler)]

Boy, this is turning into a real mystery as well which I wasn't expecting at all.

I’ve also just realized that Old Tom Carter, where Morgan and her family are staying in ch 13 he (view spoiler)[ has an episode where he’s with Alex and thinks he his talking to Bushrod. I did a double take because I did not even realize the connection to our main character from The Black Flower. Yet, another way to keep the previous book that much more memorable. (hide spoiler)]

Lori wrote: "I’ve also just realized that Old Tom Carter, where Morgan and her family are staying in ch 13 he [spoilers removed]"

I finished The Year of Jubilo: A Novel of the Civil War, and never picked up the connection, Lori! I really liked that sensitive young soldier in The Black Flower: A Novel of the Civil War.

The third book, The Judas Field: A Novel of the Civil War will bring us back to the setting of The Black Flower: A Novel of the Civil War in Franklin, TN. So the three books are loosely connected.

I can see how Howard Bahr was influenced by Faulkner with his long sentences, lyrical language, and the use of grotesques. I'll read the article about Bahr later.

Shirley, I'm glad you mentioned Morgan's pent-up grief. It's easy to forget how much anxiety and worry people experienced back home. (view spoiler)[Morgan already lost her husband and her child, and their house burned down. She's anxious about her father, her mother may have dementia, there's a possible move to Brazil, and she thinks that Gawain may be dead. That's a lot on one person's plate! (hide spoiler)]

I've just barely started on this and won't have time to continue until the end of next week, but I loved it from the first words. I can't wait to continue!

I started later and am through chapter 7. I have been thinking about the birds, which made me think about silence - the silence after a battle because noise drove most of nature away, the silencing of nature by the noise of thousands of encamped soldiers, the silence of comrades who were killed, the silence of coming home and not talking about war experiences. I can only imagine the pleasure of listening to a bird sing.

Marilyn, I can only imagine the joy the soldiers had at listening to the songs and sounds of the birds as they trekked home. They couldn’t turn the noises of the war off and I’m sure those sounds will linger on in their memories. Silence is penetrating to them in all of those ways. Those are perfect examples.

Lori wrote: "Shirley, I have wondered as well about whether Bahr was influenced at all by Dickens. I found this article which tells a little about him and that his favorite authors are William Faulkner, Mark Tw..."

Thank you so much, Lori, for that link to "Mississippi Writers & Musicians". (Mississippi is unsurpassed as a state gifted with artistic talent!) I loved the article on Bahr, and I can't wait to delve into the website further. It looks like a wealth of information.

I had to put Jubilo on hold for a week while I finished two other group reads, but I'm reading to get back into it today. I have missed being immersed in the story.

Such great observations about "the sound of silence" (the title of an old Simon & Garfunkel song) and the sound of birds! This was another thing that I wouldn't have thought of on my own. How deafening and relentless the sound of war, the constant chatter of fellow soldiers that never brought peace for reflection. How precious it must have been to walk away from it and enjoy such a complete silence that you could once again listen to the chirping of birds! Thank you for bringing that thought to mind, Marilyn.

I finished this last night. I have also been slow this month with my reading but I was juggling 3. I understand what you mean Shirley. And somehow life ramped up at the beginning of April?!?!?

I’ll be back to post more about the second half. I got to where I didn’t have time to post thoughts after a few chapters.

This was so different from The Black Flower but so good in the way it looked at the lives of both sides in the direct aftermath of the war.

One other thing I learned was that many southerners (like Judge Rhea) left home for other countries. Something else to research!

Lori wrote: "I’ve also just realized that Old Tom Carter, where Morgan and her family are staying in ch 13 he [spoilers removed]"

I just read this part last night, Lori, and had given up hope that Bahr would tie The Year of Jubilo: A Novel of the Civil War to The Black Flower: A Novel of the Civil War. It just made me so sad when I realized that old Tom Carter (view spoiler)[was Bushrod's father and was still waiting for him to come home. I could have cried, both for Mr. Carter and Bushrod! (hide spoiler)]

Now that just about everyone has finished or at least gotten into this book, I am just now starting! I am holding off on reading this discussion until I get into the novel, but I did like that the first chapter got off to a quick start.

So glad you’re reading this Terry. Sue is still reading and Shirley, as well as Marilyn. I think just Connie and I are done. You’re not alone. I look forward to your inputs.

Every time I read "Citadel of Djibouti" it makes me stop and wonder about it as the name for a bar. It reads like it's a reference to something and I can't figure out what. The current country of Djibouti didn't exist in 1865. Any thoughts?

Marilyn, that’s a great question and I don’t have an answer to it. I was puzzled by the name as well. Maybe it is an homage to slaves who are now free being an African name. It was set up by the actor and double spy who seemed conflicted about his part in the Confederacy. I really haven’t figured that out.

I found this article from the NYT archives from 2000 and wanted to post the link. I recommend waiting until you are finished to read it. It is one of the most insightful reviews of this book that I have read. It brought out a few new questions that we could discuss.

https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytim...

Terry wrote: "Now that just about everyone has finished or at least gotten into this book, I am just now starting! I am holding off on reading this discussion until I get into the novel, but I did like that the ..."

I only read the first two chapters awhile back, Terri and started back on it today. I just finished part one, which is page 70 something.

I've been loving this from the beginning. The part with Willie and his family was brutal. Solomon Gault is a monster. I hope Willie appears again later and that Gault pays a price for what he did.

Great comparison with Cold Mountain, Lori. I love the part where Gawain is walking home and feeling nostalgic but starting to feel like he's having someone else's memories because it's both familiar and unfamiliar with the changes in the landscape.

Bahr's writing is breathtaking once again. In part one, we're like a bird in the Cumberland sky instead of a bee on the wall in Franklin. It's less intimate than The Black Flower so far, but just as powerful.

I'm looking forward to reading more of the book and everyone's comments.

I am on page 78, Sue. The writing is really good. I gave up underlining and writing in books a while back, but I have four post it notes marking passages so far.

I agree about the writing Sue. The birds are very prevalent throughout and I especially love that you brought back the bee imagery from the first book. Bahr really is a special writer.

Lori wrote: "I found this article from the NYT archives from 2000 and wanted to post the link. I recommend waiting until you are finished to read it. It is one of the most insightful reviews of this book that I..."

Thanks for posting this review. I completely agree with his comments on the secondary characters.

Lori wrote: "I found this article from the NYT archives from 2000 and wanted to post the link. I recommend waiting until you are finished to read it. It is one of the most insightful reviews of this book that I..."

Thank you for posting this review, Lori. I love how Morgan acknowledges that so much of our understanding of history is actually through reading novels like this one or War and Peace, Gone with the Wind, etc. Bahr has certainly added to my understanding of the Civil War, particularly on the Civil War's effect on rank and file soldiers.

I will come back and add more comments later about other aspects of The Year of Jubilo: A Novel of the Civil War, but I really wanted to see everyone's opinion on the ending. I will put the rest of my review in a spoiler alert, so my comments don't ruin the experience for the ones who haven't finished this story yet.

(view spoiler)[I am really confused about Harry Stribling! As outlandish as it sounds, I wondered if Harry wasn't really a ghost who had not found peace and was doomed to roam the earth. The last scene when he meets up with Major Cross (who sounded like he might have been killed at Nashville) and Willy Landers (who we know was killed by Molochi's dogs) were very real to Harry. This scene sounded like three ghosts meeting up and starting a journey together. After reading this scene and being so confused, I went back to the part where Harry leaves a farewell note to Gawain. In the note, Harry mentions where to find three guns. Morgan asks Gawain, "How did he know that... about the pistol?" To which Gawain replies, "He knew a lot of things he oughtn't to." This just reinforced my belief that Harry was really a ghost.

The other alternative is that he was just clairvoyant, like Molochi and so many other characters in this story was. But that wouldn't account for him meeting up with and traveling with Cross and Willly." (hide spoiler)]

Was anyone else confused? I would love to hear your thoughts!