Book Review of King Leopold's Ghost, by.
The historical novel, King Leopold's Ghost did an excellent job of portraying the events of that time period. Many students would think that reading a historical novel would just be like reading any old history book, but reading this novel was much easier than reading a history textbook. The novel showed many aspects and views from many different people of that time.
The usage of direct quotes was a very helpful factor in understanding what was going on in the time period as well as what was going on in a particular persons mind. At times the quotes were lengthy, but overall they gave the novel a bit of personality. The quotes put the reader inside of the novel, and as one reads it, one cannot help but feel captivated, almost as if he or she is living during this time. Quotes add a personal touch to any work of any type, and the quotes in this novel were great. Each quote the reader came across helped him or her get deeper into the novel, and made the novel easier to understand. .
The immense detail used in King Leopold's Ghost was spectacular. The detail really helped out in visualizing what was going on. It almost seemed as if every detail from that time period was captured into one novel. Different countries, different people, and different situations were described so vividly that mental pictures were placed in ones mind as the reading progressed. The detail, along with the direct quotes of people of that time, also placed the reader in the action. Many feel that detail adds a lot of unwanted material to a novel, and that it makes the novel harder to understand, but the detail in a book such as King Leopold's Ghost added so much feeling and visualization.
As with most novels, along with the positive aspects there are negative ones as well. There were portions of the novel that jumped very rapidly from person to person or place-to-place that sometimes made it somewhat hard to understand.