Monday, September 24, 2012

Review: The Five O'Clock Follies



 The sub-title for The Five O'Clock Follies is: What's a Woman Doing Here, Anyway? Well, that was intriguing to me. Theasa Tuohy's book is a "novel of the press in Vietnam." That, also, caught my attention since Vietnam had such an impact on our country. It's already gotten good reviews from well-known authors, as well as Kirkus. Here's my take on it.

I liked it.

It kept me turning pages. The main character, Angela, arrives in Vietnam, determined to cover the war.  She has no paper behind her. But Angela is determined and strong and resourceful. She is also a freelancer who steps into a raging war where the male reporters are not exactly happy about her arrival.

What, for me, made this such a good book is that the author, Tuohy, focuses on the people, not the war, although the war rages and motivates the characters. It is the characters who carry the story. Their dedication to covering the truth, their emotions and feelings, their decisions and determination. There's even room for a bit of romance in the midst of war.

The author, Theasa Tuohy, has worked for the Associated Press, as well as five daily newspapers.  She is able to bring the war to the reader's doorstep. The Vietnam war is no longer history. There are scenes that will stick with you, whether you want them to or not. But it's not all war. When not out in the war zone, reporters have down time -- and Tuohy includes those scenes as well. We come to know the characters. They come to life in our heads. They stick with you after you put the book down.

The book also includes some pictures from the Vietnam war. The Five O'Clock Follies is based on reality but it is fiction with legs. It'll keep you running from one page to the next.

Amazon 



I give The Five O'Clock Follies a rating of Hel-of-a-Time.
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Disclaimer: The Five O'Clock Follies was sent to me the Meryl Zegarek Public Relations Company. That did not influence my review. Even if you lived during the time of the Vietnam War, unless you were fighting there or reporting from there, you didn't have the perspective Tuohy presents here in this fiction book. The book is set there … in the war zone. It doesn't even refer to the protests or arguments raging here in the States. It shows this time from the reporters' POV, there, in the chaos and hell. And that's why I gave it a rating of Hel-of-a-Time.

13 comments:

  1. Sounds like an interesting read! I like the fact that the book focuses more on the characters than the war--and that the author's background likely gives the story some real depth and texture.

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  2. Focusing on the characters was a good idea - more emotional and involving.

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  3. You get the feel of the war, definitely, but it's the characters who drive the story.

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  4. My father served in Vietnam and it's definitely a different perspective from the inside.

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  5. It's all about characters and how they develop for me. A strong sense of place, too, and I suppose a war setting would influence that.

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  6. An insider's view can hit home. Sounds like a great book.

    Morgan Mandel
    http://www.morganmandel.com

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  7. Looks like an interesting read. Thanks, Hel.

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  8. Sounds fascinating. I'm always impressed by those who can bring a new perspective to an historical topic.

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  9. An emotional setting for sure. It sounds fascinating.

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  10. sounds quite interesting, especially a female perspective in Vietnam - don't hear or read much from that angle. I'll have to add it to my long list.

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    1. That's what I thought Joanne. A new and interesting angle.

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  11. Sounds like a great read. I did some research for my last book on the Vietnam War and the role women had there. One of my characters had been there during that time. It was a very scary and tragic time.

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  12. I agree with you there, Kathi. Don't think I could have survived. But I guess you never know til you're in the situation.

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