Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1065960 in Books
• Published on: 1997-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 267 pages

From Amazon.com
Howard Bahr compresses this moving Civil War novel into 48 hours--two short days filled with grim deaths and the prelude, at least, to a love story. First issued by a small Baltimore press in 1997,The Black Flower was nominated for four major awards, including one from the Academy of Arts and Letters, but failed to garner the attention paid to Cold Mountain. Civil War buffs will rejoice in Bahr's vivid retelling of the November 1864 Battle of Franklin, Tennessee. More to the point, The Black Flower transcends its historical fiction niche and deserves a wider audience. Confederate rifleman Bushrod Carter, the novel's protagonist, is wounded during the battle and taken to a nearby house. In this makeshift hospital, he and two childhood friends huddle together, "shivering with cold and exhaustion, ignoring the ghostly shapes still shuffling through the coiling smoke around them, calling the names of men who would never answer." Bahr has poured 20 years of research into his novel, but this haunting portrayal of suffering and death is the product not merely of historical diligence but also an impressive literary imagination. --Eugenia Trinkle

From AudioFile
It is the afternoon before another battle in 1864; the soldiers are war-weary Confederate troops facing possible defeat. Bushrod Carter contemplates his future and ruminates about past battles and adventures. Bahr has created a highly visual novel, describing all the minutiae of war and the ravaged countryside. Emerson's monotonous tone drones on and on, never getting caught up in the action, fear and horror of the Civil War. Rather, Emerson echoes the weariness of the troops as they struggle to survive yet another day and continue to fight for their cause. With the stream of consciousness shifting of scenes, the listener will have to keep very alert to follow both the story and the messages of this novel. M.B.K. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Booklist
The senseless agony of armed conflict is expertly evoked in this elegiac Civil War novel. As Bushrod Carter, a seasoned Confederate rifleman, grimly anticipates his next battle, he experiences both the mind-numbing terror and the detached resignation characteristic of most common foot soldiers. Shortly after the infamous Battle of Franklin commences, Gen. John Bell Hood's Army of Tennessee is quickly overwhelmed by the firepower of the superior Union forces. Before succumbing to his own wounds, Carter bears witness to the grim aftermath of combat as he roams through the carnage haunted by the visages of his departed comrades and horrified by the gruesome reality of the slaughter. The mournful tone of the narrative serves to underscore the powerful drama of this harrowing tale. Margaret Flanagan

Customer Reviews

Wow!
This Civil War novel is Red Badge of Courage meets Cold Mountain.

It is a terrific account of the Battle of Franklin told through several extremely interesting and captivating characters. There are no real battle scenes. Mr. Bahr begins with the minutes before the battle commences and then jumps to the aftermath.

The characters are unforgettable from the good to the bad.

Mr. Bahr's writing is as memorable as the characters. It is near poetry in places, yet he also supplies terrific dialogue. After reading - then rereading - a particularly good description, I would then become rapt in the dialogue.

This book captures the horrors of war. One warning, if you have a tendency to eat while reading, you might want to diet through some of the scenes. The author's descriptive powers are immense whether he portraying a piece of scenery or the battlefield hospital.

Bahr shows well the realistically ugly side of war while stringing a thread of romance between a soldier and a woman and the bonds of friendship between life-long soldiers/friends through the book.

This is a book to read with time on your hands so the writing can be savored. You need not be a Civil War buff to appreciate this novel.

A 3-Prozac Novel
This novel, centering around Hood's petulant attack at Franklin is, at once, depressing and uplifting. The depression comes from the futility of the battle while the uplifting comes from the spirit of the American soldier and his willingness to endure despite the hardships he must encounter. This book is worth the read, if only to understand somewhat the ultimate weariness that comes from protracted hardship and war.

This one is to be kept
I may live in the South, but that doesn't mean that I know a lot about the Civil War. Though I usually like reading about gruesome battle scenes, this one made me feel for the characters. The book didn't need the battle scene; just the aftermath was enough to rethink the glorification of war and the scenes often seen in movies. Maybe because I know the author, I was able to laugh a certain parts because, to me, the words showed an inside joke. I possibly understood the book better because any part I didn't fully understand, like the mysterious rider, I was able to go to Mr. Bahr and ask. Still, if this book was something I had read a year ago instead of now, I don't think the emotions would have been any different. Powerful and thought provoking, this book is definitely not being sold back to the college bookstore.