William Ratigan

I'm glad I read it, I learned about an event and a construction I hadn't known existed. But I didn't enjoy reading it. It's written in an odd style to modern eyes - I'm more used to books on this sort of subject that show their research much more strongly. This reads, now, like a children's story - a bit about what happened and a lot about hoorah, America, hoorah Harvey and Ringgold, look at what they did and hurray! It's hard to tell what's fact, what's accepted legend, and what the author made up to fit his story (he does call it a novel). Female characters are few and far between, and have extremely simplistic motivations; though I must admit the men's motivations aren't much more complex. Longfellow is the most amusing character, though he shows up only a few times. And I really, really wish there had been some maps in here! I have no idea where, in more than the most general terms, the Soo Canal is/was, and it would have made things much easier to visualize. So - glad I read it, never intend to read it again.… (altro)