Last Proud Gallop

By Gerald Sweeney

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1591138876
• ISBN13: 9781591138877
• Release Date: February 2006
• Publisher: Booklocker.com
• Length: 260 Pages
• Weight: 0.73 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Awesome writing, description of a time

Awesome piece of writing. The use of the English language is something one can only envy. His description of the times, places and people is incredible. The observance of that time period is gripping and one feels that one is there. The first-person treatment is effective, which if memory serves, was the technique in Gatsby. The one problem the writer may encounter is that Fitzgerald was of that time, whereas this is a reflection and people may not care as much. The only way for them to care is to give them a well structured story. The story part has some problems. For the most part, the characters are mainly a part of the tapestry of that whole period. One assumes that was the writer's intention and it works well. The only real story, however, doesn't begin until the middle of the book; namely, Tad and Pamela. The "reluctant lover" role, which is what finally drives Pamela away, was a little difficult to fathom. Unless, of course, Tad's over-intellectualizing is the way people thought in those days. What the writer seems to have chosen to do, and not necessarily wrong, was to build character traits out of the times rather than from inside the players themselves. One could say, of course, that their behavior was a reflection of the times. The incredible description (perhaps a tad too much) of that era somewhat overpowers a chance for a dramatic arc in the characters. There was no character one could root for or care about. And that is probably just what the writer wanted to accomplish; a sad condemnation of the values of the time. Joyce was brilliant and there was a lot of his stuff one didn't get. Maybe one got through Ulysses and then went on to Finnegans Wake, thinking it would be easier, and couldn't even finish it. So, the writer is placed in pretty good company. One small problem is the double-spacing between all the lines of dialogue. It almost created a break in the thought process, much as a new paragraph is supposed to do. Also, there would be those who'd think that it's an attempt to beef up the page count to make the book look bigger than it really is. Many, many accolades. Mr. Sweeney certainly can never be accused of writing a typical, straightforward, linear piece.

A powerful window into a tumultuous time!!

If you are fascinated by the time in US social history that fell between the Great War and the Depression this is an insightful and poignant read. Jerry Sweeny has captured the essence of the moment in a vibrant and erudite narrative. A sensitive perspective wrapped around arresting characters in a moving story of the time!!

Adventure, Suspense and Romance

For me, Gerald Sweeney's book opened the door to one of the most fascinating eras in history. I went through the door and was immediately hooked. The First World War had been over for only a year, and the Roaring Twenties were just beginning. Then as I turned the pages of Sweeney's book, one unexpected event after the other came to life. I was intrigued, and I predict that others readers will be too. Sweeney's style, I suppose, will inevitably be compared to Scott Fitzgerald's, but I believe the comparison is beside the point. Ironically, Fitzgerald wrote from what to me seemed like a calculated distance while Sweeney immediately plunges the reader into an era full of romance and the unexpected. I can only hope that he writes a sequel or another book on the same era.

Transportive and cinematic

An homage to Fitzgerald -- like Nick Carraway, this narrator, Mike Jamison, entangles himself in the lives of the affluent from his view from a rented boathouse on Long Island. This story transports you to another time, when war was raw, and heroics and vanity ruled the day. The story reminded me of my own dream summers. Super-snappy dialogue, and so visually descriptive that I couldn't help imagining a movie version as I read -- especially the crisp polo scene and the Southampton parties. This book centers on the hero's vision. Watch it bloom.