A Moment in the Sun / by John Sayles

[Kim Allen Scott]

The same people who tell you that history repeats itself often couple the old saying with a dire warning that you are doomed to that repetition if you do not learn it.  What they don’t tell you is the historical novelist has to learn history down to the gnat’s eyelash if he or she expects to be taken seriously and produce believable prose.  John Sayles demonstrates he has certainly learned his history lessons well in this sweeping novel, and his story is as relevant today as the evening news on your television.  A Moment in the Sun tells the story of several American families caught up in the events which consumed the USA in the years surrounding the turn of the century from about 1898 to 1902.  The Klondike Gold Rush, the Spanish-American War, the race riots of Wilmington, North Carolina, the Philippine Insurrection, and even the assassination of President William McKinley are all vividly described through the eyes of a large cast of fictional and historical characters.  Royal Scott, a hardworking black citizen of Wilmington, joins the army with his upper-class friend Aaron Lunceford, Jr. and both sent off to fight on foreign shores while back home their families and friends suffer the horrific violence of racial warfare at the hands of some really despicable bigots.  Their story is only part of this epic, lengthy novel (955 pages!) Most of the narrative is recorded in present tense, giving the story an immediacy that helps the reader draw parallels to the America of the twenty-first century.  I found the description of the Yankee takeover of the Philippines to be uncomfortably familiar to my country’s ill-fated campaign in Iraq, and the unvarnished racism that some of the characters display is so disturbingly contemporary that it is sometimes hard to take.  But don’t let that stop you from reading this book.  As a historian I can vouch for its factual accuracy, and as a contemporary American, I can vouch for its narrative truth.  This is simply the best book I have read in a long time. 

I classified this review as "Historical" rather than "Fiction" as a sign of respect to the obvious research that went into it.  It's quite an accomplishment.

[Lindach]

I really enjoyed this review. I think this type of book is an interesting way to learn some American history and to understand the USA today.