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The BookViral Review:
In his last conscious moment of life a dying man raises his fist and rails against Heaven. It is a moment of protest at a cruel, cosmic joke; of deafness inflicted upon a giant of music. On the edge of eternity, the man demands a moment of pure joy for himself after his deeply troubled life. This is granted him and a spirit guide in the seeming shape and manner of Napoleon Bonaparte. a man he both despises and reveres, appears to him.
And so the reader is led, enthralled, through a crowded life and a host of encounters and experiences, of triumphs and tragedies that are always illuminating in a personal Odyssey in his search for that moment of pure joy with the woman he truly loved.
As with his subsequent novel, ‘Meeting Mozart’, Howard Jay Smith writes movingly and compellingly, and with great authority, knowledge and wit.
Smith is a spell binding Maestro of the art of conjuring up for the reader a stirring and mesmerising blend of history, music, philosophy and fantasy as Beethoven observes and reflects upon a life of both accomplishments and failures.
It is a reflection on a life peopled by a whole host of participants and players who know this bitter, irritable and rancorous man for what he truly is, and for whom their love shines through.
And Smith does indeed assemble for us a truly impressive cast of players in this imaginative and evocative portrayal of the life of the Great Man. And who is it. in this crowded life, that he craves for in this search for a moment of bliss?
Throughout, Smith guides us on the journey with a firm, deft hand in an absorbing and beautifully crafted tale of a man of great passion and tender nature; a man who is almost larger than life in his profound humanity.
Smith is a master of literary synthesis in his creation of a captivating tale, one that leaves the reader entranced.
Senlac is a two-part historical novel that brings to life the turbulent period leading to the Norman conquest of England in 1066, when the English were forced to defend the kingdom against invasions by both the Normans and the Vikings.
Blending fact and artistic licence he creates an absorbing and plausible narrative that moves seamlessly between characters and scenes. A narrative that is fearsomely visceral yet remains exquisitely in period throughout.
Constant speed-reading and jumping from one hyperlink to the next have subconsciously trained our minds to absorb information superficially
Albert Einstein said that. No doubt imagination, then, is a great thing to have if it yields such rich thinking in adulthood-But when does imagination start in the brain? And how important is reading for developing imagination young minds?
Are we desensitising our young people with the graphic offerings of modern media? And going even further, do the conclusions of ‘Bandura and the Bobo doll’ still hold true in the modern era?
Have you ever come home to a hot bath strewn with rose petals and filled with bubbles, in a bathroom bedecked with scented candles and an ice cold glass of champagne fizzing invitingly on the side. If not you might be thinking poor me but you might want to think again!
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