In the Rogue Blood

By:

Synopsis
With "In The Rogue Blood", James Carlos Blake reinvents the American historical novel. His writing talent and execution of detail make reading this novel a cinematic experience. By imagining Cormac McCarthy's interpretation of Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch, one would have the grand scope of Blake's canvas. Set in the world that was the American West, this is the story of the ties of family and the outside forces and circumstances that tear brother from brother. Fleeing a shattered family, two young brothers set out into the land of Texas. In 1845 Edward Little leaves behind in Pensacola a murdered sister and an alcoholic father. Journeying through New Orleans into the Mexican bordertowns of eastern Texas, Edward and his brother John discover that not everyone places the same value upon human life. When the brothers join opposing armies, they find that even the ties of brotherhood cannot span across the Rio Grande during the raging Mexican-American War. This novel is at once a masterful tale of the West that once was and a view of the families that attempted to overcome the vast wilderness that became America. Blake has created a portrait of the American West as it once appeared -- beautiful, barren and deadly.
Copyright:
1997

Book Details

Book Quality:
Publisher Quality
ISBN-13:
9780062227843
Publisher:
HarperCollins Publishers
Date of Addition:
Copyrighted By:
James Carlos Blake
Adult content:
No
Language:
English
Has Image Descriptions:
No
Categories:
Literature and Fiction
Submitted By:
Bookshare Staff
Usage Restrictions:
This is a copyrighted book.

Reviews

4 out of 5

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Contrary to what the synopsis says, James Carlos Blake really doesn't reinvent anything here. I find it interesting that the blurb later name-checks Cormac McCarthy, because In The Rogue's Blood owes a huge debt to McCarthy's Blood Meridian. Blake mimics McCarthy's writing style (the one that people like to call "biblical"), the storyline of "young man flees hellish family life, heads west and goes to war" echoes McCarthy's novel (only here there are two young men instead of one), and even the graphic, gory violence of the battle scenes are similar. Blake might actually take it up a notch with the taboo subject matter (John finds his younger sister working in a brothel and, well, does it anyway). The two brothers are supposed to have different personalities, Edward flinging himself wholeheartedly into the adventure and violence of war, John hoping to give it up and become a peaceful farmer someday, but that all gets lost somewhere along the way, as both brothers engage in their full fair share of brutality. I'm not saying it's not a good book, because it is, and I did enjoy it. But if you've read Blood Meridian, the comparisons are inescapable. Definitely not a book for the faint of heart or stomach.