From the Bookshelf of What's the Name of That Book???…

Red Sky at Morning

Richard Bradford

Why we're reading this: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...…more
[close] https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

No group discussions for this book yet.

What Members Thought

Apr 26, 2008 El rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 20th-centurylit-late

Somehow I had it in my mind (solely from the title of the book) that this was going to be along the same vein as Pat Frank's Alas, Babylon or Nevil Shute's On the Beach; I always thought there would be some form of a nuclear attack, so I have put it off for a while, claiming to "not be in the mood" for a nuclear attack story (considering I cried like a baby at the end of On the Beach).

I finally picked a copy up from the library and was interested to read in the front cover that it really is a st Somehow I had it in my mind (solely from the title of the book) that this was going to be along the same vein as Pat Frank's Alas, Babylon or Nevil Shute's On the Beach; I always thought there would be some form of a nuclear attack, so I have put it off for a while, claiming to "not be in the mood" for a nuclear attack story (considering I cried like a baby at the end of On the Beach).

I finally picked a copy up from the library and was interested to read in the front cover that it really is a story of World War II, and there was a blurb from Groucho Marx - not quite a person I would expect to blurb a depressing book about bombs killing people. The story is about Joshua Arnold, a 17-year-old boy living with his family in Mobile, Alabama. His father is in the Navy and volunteers his work for the war. Josh and his mother leave Mobile for their summer home in Sagrado, New Mexico to wait out the war. Josh goes to school in Sagrado and makes new friends, but the story is not quite that mundane. The friends have whole back-stories that are surprisingly believable and great insights into their character. In the meantime Josh's mother has to fight her Southern aristocratic lifestyle and try to embrace a completely different culture. Josh wants what most 17-year-olds want, which is simply to be a kid; the difference being there is a war going on in which his father is a part, and Josh struggles daily to maintain the innocence of his childhood by not wanting to grow up.

As in any good coming-of-age novel, the growing up process is inevitable. This one is considered to be the Catcher in the Rye of the Southwest, but I beg to differ. There is no angst and self-pity in Josh's character. He does not think he is better than anyone; in fact, he is an honest character, open to new ideas and the people around him. He embraces the people he meets, and each one, down to the local thug or the sexually loose high school twins, makes an impact on him.

For the first book by a non-writer, it's a great one. Josh Arnold makes Holden Caulfield look like a bigger wuss than I originally thought of Holden. ...more

23 likes · Like · see review

Jun 10, 2010 Erin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2010, multiple-reads

Oh, I love this book. Josh is hilarious, way smarter than he has any right to be, and pretty much always upbeat, which is refreshing. I love The Catcher in the Rye as much as any other smart person who went to public high school and feels alienated a lot, but I'd definitely spend time with Josh Arnold before Holden Caulfield. And we'd eat really delicious food prepared by Excilda and laugh about how stupid racist people are and drink lots of his dad's expensive wine. ...more

6 likes · Like · see review