These boots were made for walking

Earlier I wrote a post about the role of pacing in how I experience a novel. Cloudsplitter is an interesting example to consider in this light. First, some quick background. This is a historical novel about the life of Owen Brown, the son of John Brown of the famous Harpers Ferry raid. In some ways, it's equally about John Brown as seen through the lens of Owen Brown (as seen through this fictional account, of course, but there you go). It is also very long, and since I had a hardback edition, not particularly portable. I actually broke one of my rules and read a couple of shorter books while reading this one, since it wasn't super fun to lug it all over creation. I don't like doing a book for home and a book for the bus/gym, but in this case it seemed the best option.

The pace of the novel lent itself to this approach, since it really is a very thorough life story, beginning with the protagonist as a young child (will, it's told in a series of letters he's writing, so technically at the start he's an old man, but whatever) and traversing up to the raid. It's a very meditative novel, so a meditative reading approach fit well. The character really is reflecting on his life and it's meaning, not simply recounting the events.

A major issue of concern to the narrator is, of course, race. Throughout the novel, he struggles with his internal racist feelings, and his rational knowledge and external stance which is aligned with his father's very radical views for the time. This struggle is central to his character, and really is the center of the novel as a whole. I can't imagine a book club ever actually being able to get through this one because it is so long, but I think it would be an excellent choice if people were willing to really engage with it (I imagine it would make many white people feel rather uncomfortable if they're completely honest).

I'm familiar with the basic outlines of the raid and John Brown's life, but I should read some more to get a better sense for how to judge the novels account of all of this. I don't know enough to really know the fictional aspects from the historical facts (aside from the obvious pieces, of course).

If you are the kind of person who likes books on tape, it might also be a good choice for an extremely, extremely long road trip.