| |
Book
Review: Camp Ford
Jonathan Leshanski
June 18, 2005
Book
Review: Camp Ford
by Johnny D. Boggs
Fiction (Western)
P. 266
Published by Five Star Press
I’m not usually a western kind of guy, in fact this might be
the first western that I have ever read. This book was certainly
a far cry from what I’ve always thought westerns were about
and that alone raises in my estimation. The story is told as a narrative
of an old baseball player and Civil War veteran, Win MacNaughton.
He reminisces about the greatest baseball game that he has ever
seen, as he watches the 1946 World Series.
The game that he recalls is not a major league contest though Win
has seen and played with many of the best including Cobb and Wee
Willie Keeler, it’s a game that took place in a Confederate
POW (Prisoner of War) camp during the closing days of the Civil
War and how that game came to pass.
Baseball was really still in its infancy then and both versions
- the New York Game (which is essentially the game as we know it
today) and the Massachusetts game (quite a bit more like the English
game of rounders from which baseball probably was derived) were
fighting for acceptance and dominance as far as rules and general
acceptability. The Civil War brought men from both areas into close
contact and they took the baseball with them as they marched, not
actually introducing it down south but certainly spreading it’s
popularity and teaching the game as they went.
Historically this book is almost true to that heritage and the author
has gone to great pains in both research and in weaving his story
and characters around that central thread of baseball, making it
one of the core issues of the book while still managing to tell
a tale that is more than just baseball.
At the opening of the book, the central character Win MacNaughton
is 99 years old and is watching the Cardinals and the Red Sox struggle
for the World Series title. He’s an interesting character who
has been around almost as long as baseball itself has existed and
he is one of baseball’s earliest and youngest champions, teaching
and playing the game as a child in both his home town in Rhode Island
and as the son of an abolitionist down in Texas.
The action progresses via a series of flashbacks first to set the
stage for Win and his love of the game and then to his enlistment
in the Union army and subsequent capture in battle along with his
best friend and the tragedy they encounter. After their capture
they are moved to the locale after which the book is named Camp
Ford.
It’s here that the majority of the action, as well as the baseball
unfolds along with a variety of subplots and intrigues that evolve
into an eventual baseball showdown between Union prisoners and their
Confederate captors.
I’d hesitate to call this book a real western, certainly it’s
not stereotypical of a western tale, since you won’t find a
cowboy, sheriff, or even an Indian anywhere but on a ball field
in a prison camp, but it’s a very enjoyable read that blends
western flavor with Civil War fiction and the national pastime into
an entertaining story. It’s a well written and worthwhile book
for fans seeking something a little bit light and very entertaining.
Give this one two balls and add more if you are a fan of the genre.
Our
Rating System is based on a four ball system as follows:
One Ball: Average. It has something to say but is nothing
special.
Two Balls: Something men usually have - also means its a
cut above average, and worth reading/owning.
Three balls: Stands out from its peers and is highly recommended.
Four Balls: More than just what two men have when hanging
out together, it means it is an exceptional book that truly earns
a walk - straight to the local book store to get a copy.
|
|
