About this title: Set during World War II, this novel is about four black American soldiers caught in local partisan politics behind enemy lines in Italy when they are forced to expose a traitor in the town. One of them, Private Sam Train, becomes the protector of a small orphan boy who is deeply involved in the events.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Riverhead Trade
Date Published: 2008-09-02
ISBN-13:9781594483608ISBN:1594483604
Description: New in None as issued jacket. New/None as issued; New, unread copy with publishers inventory markSorry, due to postage costs, oversized or heavy items cannot be shipped internationally. We ship 6 days a week, generally within 24 hours; single CDs and DVDs upgraded to 1st class! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Riverhead Trade
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9781594483608ISBN:1594483604
Description: New. New books small to none shelf wear A brand-new, unused, unread copy in perfect condiion. ******PLEASE NOTE****** Orders placed after Dec. 7 cannot be guaranteed delivery before Christmas unless you select EXPEDITED shipping! Thank you & Happy Holidays! read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9781594483608ISBN:1594483604
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. clean, well bound and unmarked 1st printing, black marker line on the bottom, taped top back spine short tear. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 306 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
"Wish I'd gotten out a map of Italy while I was reading this. I think I would have appreciated the geography better if I could look at a map. I never knew much detail about WWII, and certainly nothing about the Buffalo Soldiers of the 92nd Division. McBride does a good job on the topic "how it feels to be black"--one of the characters reflects on the way the Italians perceive African Americans compared to the way he is perceived and treated at home and compared to the way the white Americans (and the Germans) perceive and treat the Italians."
"War is hell, and this book proves it. It's all here. The S.S. murdering entire populations, partisans fighting Fascists, betrayals, starvation, gore. Added to this mix is the prejudice experienced by "colored" troops fighting in Italy during WWII under mostly white officers. Along with the lack of respect dished out by their fellow white soldiers, there is prejudice within the ranks of the African-Americans. Those who are college-educated and are officers look down on the men who were drafted off of farms, mostly in the South, and who are uneducated and, in some cases, illiterate. There are a number of problems with this book: the lack of sympathetic characters, the endless repitition of dialog and scenes, but for me, the biggest problem is its title. The Miracle at St. Anna leads one to believe that out of this madness something good happens, but the survival of one child among the slaughter of 500 Italians was not enough for me to feel that I had witnessed a miracle. I assumed that somehow these African-American troops would be able to save or at least save some of St. Anna, but they couldn't, and it ends up with even more death. This was a difficult read. I expected better from the author of The Color of Water."
"I loved this book. Loved the way it was written, the story it told, the poetry that moved within the sentences.
Set in Italy, towards the end of World War II...the lives of four men are changed forever. The simplicity of the Chocolate Giant as he lets love take over, the avoidance techniques of Bishop as he hides from what he's really hiding from, the strength of Hector who just wants to do what's right, and the leadership supplied by Stamps, who just wants it all to end. Mix up these four men into the lives of Italian villagers who just want to survive...and you get a story that really is a miracle.
I raced through this book, wanted to spend much more time reading each day than i actually could. When the ending arrived...i was sad, angry, frustrated, deeply involved...the sign of a great book and a good author...is to evoke all that."
This book is very hard to rate. It is extremely well written and that alone should merit more stars than the number I gave. The storyline is brutal and disturbing and full of suffering and cruelty, just like war itself. I found it hard to follow all of the battle scenes and had to finish this for my book club, so I did something I would usually never do and borrowed the movie from the library. I thought this would give me the overview of the plot and I could go back and read the book with more understanding. This turned out to be a BIG mistake. The scene in the courtyard of St. Anna was probably one of the worst things I have ever watched onscreen. What made it so terrible was that due to the title of this book I was expecting a miracle to occur to save these people--a sudden rainstorm, guns jamming, a voice from heaven--ANYTHING, and when instead the German soldiers showed no mercy whatsoever to unarmed civilians, I was caught off guard and shocked. It was terrible enough to shoot the priest in the head (this was quite graphic) but then to gun down everyone until one crying baby is left in his dead mother's arms...even then I was thinking that maybe the miracle is that this one baby lives? But NO, instead he is quite viciously stabbed with a bayonet and silenced. One young boy does run and escape and is traumatized from seeing his mother and brother killed. Don't get too attached to anyone here since only three people are alive at the beginning (end) of the book and one of the three kills one of the other two. I will be relieved to return the book to the library and try to forget it. For this reason, I did not rate it highly. There were scenes that I will never be able to remove from my mind, so for that reason I could not give it a low rating. The only book that comes to mind to compare it to would be Sophie's Choice."
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