DNF at 40%.

I'd been "reading" it for a year, yet I could not find it enjoyable.

Rarely did I find the time to chew on it and truly understand its essence.

Unfortunately, this has been the case, and it seems that this particular piece of work is just not for me.

So, after much consideration, I'm going to call it quits.

It's not that I didn't give it a fair chance, but sometimes, despite our best efforts, certain things just don't click.

Maybe in the future, I'll come across something that will capture my interest and keep me engaged from start to finish.

For now, though, it's time to move on and explore other literary adventures.

Who knows what hidden gems await me?

Michener, as always, is long on tooth.

However, in "Texas", he presented a unique approach by breaking up the time periods in a very nice way. He reverted to a modern-day committee that was formed to research Texas history and propose guidance for the teachings of Texas history.

With this structure, whenever there were breaks in time, the reader would come back to characters that they already knew and who were still being developed.

The interesting twist is that the committee members were descendants of those characters read about in the historical fiction.

The book covers a vast time span from 1540 AD through 1983 AD. Michener also pointed out in an introduction where the history was factual and where the stories were fiction. It was quite fun to go back to that introduction after finishing the book.

At a hefty 1400 pages, "Texas" can definitely be classified as a tome. This book was first published in 1985 and has since become a classic in the genre of historical fiction about Texas.

One of the great novels and author

This is yet another epic saga crafted by a master storyteller. The author's talent shines through every page, captivating the reader from the very beginning. The vivid descriptions and well-developed characters bring the story to life, making it a truly immersive experience. It's no wonder that this author is considered one of the greats.

I can't help but admire the author's ability to create such a rich and engaging world. The plot twists and turns keep me on the edge of my seat, eagerly turning the pages to find out what happens next. This novel is a testament to the author's skill and creativity.

What a great author! I look forward to many more great reads from this talented individual. I have no doubt that each new book will be just as精彩 as the last, continuing to delight and inspire readers around the world.

I was initially hesitant to read this book, being aware that it was written in 1985 when whitewashing was a significant aspect of teaching history. Indeed, several reviews have been quite specific about how racist and insensitive the story is, which I aim to address in this review.

Surprisingly, this book is truly fantastic! However, one must approach it with the understanding that it offers a genuine perspective of the main characters and historical figures involved. Texas' history is marred by religious imposition; for instance, Mexico only permitted land ownership to Catholics, and missionaries settled the area with the sole intention of spreading their particular brand of Christianity. Racism and nationalism run deep, starting with the elitist Spanish settlers and highlighting the friction among various European nationalities. Texas was pro-slavery, and Texans had a sense of self-righteous behavior, believing that if a man deserved to be killed, then it should be done.

What this book does exceptionally well is depict the belief systems and the individuals who were crucial to the history of the land. It also presents these flawed, racist, and elitist attitudes as integral to Texas pride. Additionally, it provides valuable information about why the slavery system in the South was doomed long before the war and how the Southern economy would have collapsed even without the war. In the 1800s, much of the South had a small white population and a much larger slave population. As a result, there was minimal investment in public education, infrastructure, industry, healthcare, and other essential areas.

If, like me, you are concerned that this book will not accurately represent the true history and will only present a glorified view of Texas pride and heritage, I encourage you to give it a try. It is extremely long, and while I am no stranger to long books, this one is a bit slower-paced than others, which took me some time to get through. Nevertheless, I highly recommend it to anyone interested in exploring the history of Texas from the early settlers to the 1980s.

For my fifth annual 'Michener December', I selected a Texas-sized novel set in 'Texas'. It is nearly 1500 pages long, a truly monstrous book. My previous Michener stories began with Hawaii (my birth state), Alaska (a place I've never been but渴望 to visit), Centennial (a timeless classic that I somehow never got around to reviewing - shame on me), and The Source (a great story about the turbulent Middle East and the Jewish people). To add some variety, the last time I ventured outside the U.S. with The Source. I initially thought I would return there this year.

However, Texas fit perfectly into my self-imposed 'Year of Long Books', where I aimed to include many more high page count books than usual. The very reason I created 'Michener December' was because by December I typically reach my book goal, and I wanted to tackle one of those intimidatingly large books on my TBR list that I had been avoiding. Texas was a great choice for this theme. I think I have 15 books this year that are 800 pages or longer, so mission accomplished. But the big question remains: was it a good book?

Yes, with some qualifications. It was good, but not great - I'm comparing Michener to himself here. If you've never read his work before, he has an interesting approach to historical fiction. Many writers in this genre insert their own characters into the narrative, either around real people or as minor players alongside them. This is not new. Michener, on the other hand, tends to tell epic and sweeping multigenerational stories. The characters he creates have children who contribute to the continuity of the story. Often, these offspring are quite different from their ancestors. You might be rooting against one character in one section and then cheering on their grandchild later. He makes it interesting in this way. He also constructs these stories by taking bits and pieces from actual historical figures, creating an amalgamation of contemporary individuals.

In 'Texas', he actually had a section at the beginning specifically listing all the fictional and non-fictional characters for our benefit. I generally assumed in his other books that if I hadn't heard of a character, they were probably fictional. Nevertheless, I would often google the history behind the events to figure out who they were based on. I could tell from the intro section that this book featured considerably more real people, which immediately piqued my interest.

Then I delved into the story. The way JM told this one was from the perspective of a fictional 'task force' of individuals trying to build a narrative for the unique way Texas began as part of Mexico, then became its own nation, and later a state of the U.S. - until that Civil War thing, and then back to a state. The members of the task force were mostly descendants of characters we meet along the way. It was an interesting idea, but I found most of the parts with the task force to be boring and not entirely necessary. It didn't really interest me that the descendant of the murderous KKK member who later became an oil magnate and multi-millionaire donated and founded a sports museum.

The historical fiction part starts with the Spanish colonizing what is today Mexico and gradually moving north. I thought this part was quite interesting. The Auto-da-fé scene reminded me of Mel Brooks' History of the World Part I. Of course, the real Auto-da-fé was not nearly as fun as Mel makes it out to be, with yet another example of religion gone wild trying to purify everyone to a particular brand. The story continued for some time with the Spanish missionaries attempting in vain to convert the indigenous peoples to Catholicism. I didn't realize that so few of the missions exist in Texas because they were under such heavy attack, in contrast to California where many such historical structures can be seen today and were not as vulnerable.

Enter the Texians, who later became Texans. I found it interesting that in order to acquire land, anyone who traveled there had to convert to Catholicism, often with no intention of practicing. Everyone remembers the Alamo, but I didn't recall the details about the massacre at Goliad or the blunders that led to it. That part was quite good. Michener portrays Santa Anna as a very intelligent and capable leader, albeit a bit full of himself. I read this chapter around the same time I went to see the film 'Napoleon', and Santa Anna called himself the Napoleon of the West. The legend of the 'Yellow Rose of Texas' was also interesting, although it may have been somewhat embellished based on my research. I thought the capture of Santa Anna after the Battle of San Jacinto might have been exaggerated as well, but it didn't seem too far-fetched.

The lead-up to the Civil War didn't offer many surprises to me, as Texas was pro-slavery. What did surprise me was that after the war ended, they were so anti-Republican and anti-Lincoln, with newspapers not saying anything positive (or even neutral) about Lincoln until 1902. Since modern Texas is pretty much an all-red state, this is quite a change.

There is a significant amount of pages dedicated to the evolution of the ranches. Some of this was overlap material from Centennial, like the changes brought about by barbed wire. One thing I found interesting was the importance of the Ogallala Aquifer. As a resident of Nebraska, I know about the aquifer. What I didn't know is that it extends into 8 states and reaches as far south as Texas, impacting the state's ability to grow many of its crops.

When I read Hawaii and Alaska, both of these stories had interesting bits about the first two world wars. I must admit I was disappointed here. I thought something interesting would have intersected with Texas during that time. He kind of glossed over it as 'we lost many good people over there' and left it at that. Instead, during that time period, they spent a lot of time discussing Texas politics and immigration issues with Mexico. I found it quite interesting that the language and talking points used, as well as the challenges brought up, sound almost exactly like what is being talked about today. It seems like absolutely no progress has been made, and this was written in 1985.

Speaking of 1985, I would have thought that some of the racist language might have softened a bit. I understand when characters in the distant past use slurs, but the more recent ones in the book did as well. The 80's was a pretty bad time for that kind of thing, but I still thought it was a bit excessive.

In Centennial, I found that Michener had a relatively balanced view of Native Americans and white settlers. In Texas, he takes the stance that the primary antagonists, the Comanche, were quite bad. Like most other Native Americans, they were suffering one injustice after another at the hands of the encroaching settlers, whether it was the Spanish from the South or the Americans from the East. They fought back more violently than most tribes, and there are several examples of their cruelty in the book. Had I not read Centennial, I might have thought this was just 'rewriting history' and making the settlers look like saints. Maybe they were that cruel? I will have to research that further elsewhere.

Another thing I found interesting, and one of the few things that intersected with the 'task force', was the discussion on censoring the unsavory parts of Texas' past from history books in the public school system. The arguments used back in the 80's to pretend that the ill treatment of Indians, Mexicans, and blacks didn't happen, coupled with the claim that'slavery wasn't a big deal in the state', sounds a lot like what is happening today, 40 years later. Nothing has really changed.

So, as I stated above, I'm rating Michener against Michener to come up with a 3-star rating. I enjoyed the book, but it wasn't my favorite of his. There were several thrilling parts in each of the other four books I read, as well as many memorable characters. In this case, I didn't find much of it to be that exciting, and I don't know if I will remember the character names a year or two from now. I think I would have been better served to read a non-fiction book about the history of Texas this time around. It was still good, just not my favorite. I think next year I might try out Michener's Chesapeake. (I have about 11 months to decide

Another thousand-page saga unfolds, delving into multi-generational storylines that trace the rich Texan history all the way back to the 1500s.

At the outset, I thought Michener did an excellent job in constructing these narratives. However, as the story progressed into the 1980s, I felt that the characters began to seem too cartoonish to be truly realistic.

Overall, "Texas" managed to cover most of the pertinent points that one would expect in such an epic. It provided a wealth of information about the personal details of day-to-day life for numerous generations and various groups that had settled in the region.

The novel was presented in a rather unusual format, with each chapter split into two parts. One part followed a historical storyline, while the other was a 'task force' that was meant to represent the billionaires of today discussing the prior history that had been covered. This format, as the novel began to draw to a close, was something that I didn't particularly appreciate.

Ultimately, I am left with a deep fascination for this land from which my family hails. Even today, as the course of history continues to bring many new faces, Texas remains a place of great charm, with its bluebonnets and oak groves. I truly appreciated the diversity that Michener covered, including the Karankawa, Caddo, Comanche, Apache, Spanish, Mexicans, Anglos, African Americans, and even the animals that contribute to Texas' unique allure. Michener truly covered a vast amount of ground in this novel.

Deep in the heart of Texas

I truly enjoyed the reread. It was quite interesting to come across and post those various passages.

*Custer!!!....At the neck, he wore his hair extremely long. Since it was naturally wavy and enhanced by his wife's constant attention with hot irons, it significantly added to his appeal.
*This really sums up politics. He has freed the slaves in all those parts of the former Union over which he now has no control. However, he has not freed them in the areas that he does control. “I can't believe it,” Prue snapped. “You better. Your slaves here in Texas—where his words don't mean a damn, thank God—are freed. So are they in Carolina and Georgia, and the rest of the Confederacy. But in Maryland, Kentucky, Tennessee, and even in Louisiana, where the Federals control, they are not freed, because Good Honest Abe does not want to irritate his Northern allies, God damn their souls.”


*And this is precisely why Hispanics are always lagging behind. Thus, Señorita Múzquiz's students came to school at age six knowing almost no English. At seven or eight, they were supposed to transition to the English-speaking classes. But under the new theory of maintenance, they were kept in Spanish right through elementary school. As a result, learning in Spanish, with inadequate mastery of the subject matter, became the norm.

And in Spanish, they learned from certain teachers like the Señorita that they were an oppressed group, discriminated against and obligated to lead the great social changes which would transform their portion of America into a reclaimed Mexican homeland.

*“Yes, I'd like to see a means test for the vote. Only people who have a real stake in society can know what's best for that society.”

These passages offer a fascinating glimpse into different aspects of history, culture, and social issues. They make us think about the complex nature of these topics and how they have influenced our world today.

This one will take a while. If all of Michener’s books are long and sprawling, Texas is what you might call a double header.

As always, the historical information wrapped in Michener’s true to life stories is enlightening and engaging. This one starts fairly far back in time, chasing conquistadors, Comanche, missionaries, Mexicans, pioneers, immigrants, outlaws, brave women, ranchers, Texas Rangers, oil speculators, real estate moguls, politicians and cotton planters through centuries of Texas living.

It’s fun how Michener uses ancestors to the characters in his “study” group to explain the uniqueness of this state, and actually gives them a stake in the movement of the action. Normally, I find these fabricated reasons to tell the history a bit tiresome in Michener’s work, but this time it’s not as cumbersome as in other books.

Perhaps most interesting in later sections of the book is its unexpected timeliness to current national events. Michener highlights voter fraud and illegal immigration in a way that neither chooses sides nor condemns ideologies. Interesting how his telling of modern Texas history shows us that everything old is indeed new again.

I wondered how Michener would treat the controversial growth of Texas, from its turbulent birth as an American state to its history with native Americans to its love for football, big game hunting, and all things big. He doesn’t disappoint, laying down fictional stories to highlight actual fact, showing sympathy and circumstantial understanding across the board. For instance, the character of Otto McNab is endearing, inspiring, and relatable. He’s also a dangerous man living in dangerous times. You root for him, want to see him catch up to his enemies, swoon a little as he courts his bride to be - then find yourself questioning his murderous and vengeful livelihood as an early Texas Ranger.

Michener had a wonderful way of showing the reader that while everything in Texas may be big, it most certainly has never been simple. If you can find time for this one, fit it in. You won’t be sorry.

Moreover, Michener's detailed descriptions of the various landscapes and cultures in Texas add another layer of depth to the story. From the vast plains to the bustling cities, he brings the state to life in a vivid and captivating manner. The reader can almost feel the heat of the Texas sun and the excitement of a rodeo.

In addition, the relationships between the characters are complex and multi-faceted. Michener explores themes of love, loyalty, betrayal, and redemption, making the story not only a historical account but also a deeply human one.

Overall, Texas is a remarkable book that offers a comprehensive and engaging look at the history and culture of this great state. It is a must-read for anyone interested in Texas or American history in general.

Starting to read a book with a whopping 1322 pages is truly a daunting challenge. It can seem almost insurmountable at first glance. However, there is a silver lining. The chapters, which are approximately 100 pages each, provide useful breaks. These breaks allow the reader to take a moment to digest the information and gather their thoughts before delving deeper into the next section. It's like taking small steps towards a much larger goal.

This book is a historical narrative, but it's not for the squeamish. It delves into the nitty-gritty details of the past, painting a vivid picture of a bygone era. The author doesn't shy away from the harsh realities and the complex emotions that come with it. It's a thought-provoking read that will keep you engaged from start to finish.

Despite the initial intimidation, as you progress through the book, you'll find yourself getting lost in the story. The 1322 pages will seem to fly by, and you'll be eager to see what happens next. So, don't be afraid to take on this challenge. Open the book, turn the page, and embark on a journey through history.

I firmly believe that Michener accomplished an outstanding task when it came to dealing with the diverse ethnic groups, as well as the entire historical and geographical expanse of Texas. His work encompasses a wide range of aspects. He delves into the world of armadillos, exploring their significance and characteristics within the Texan context. Additionally, he tackles the complex immigration issues that have shaped the state. Moreover, he doesn't shy away from including the beloved Texas football, which holds a special place in the hearts of many Texans. Alongside these modern elements, he also delves into the more historic aspects such as the Comanche, the Texas Rangers, and other elements that one would assume he'd include. Overall, Michener's work provides a comprehensive and engaging look at the rich tapestry of Texas.

4 stars are awarded for several reasons. Firstly, Mirabeau Lamar received a serious spit shine, presented in a gleaming glory-style. However, education in Texas, which is actually an impressive attribute of the state's citizenry, gets short shrift. Additionally, the rich history of achievements and contributions by Texas blacks and women goes unrecognized. Overall, this is a most enjoyable read. For someone who typically shuns historical fiction due to the unnecessary license taken with fact and fancy, this work offers a different perspective. It manages to engage the reader despite some of its shortcomings. The treatment of Lamar is quite detailed and interesting, but the neglect of education and the contributions of certain groups is a drawback. Nevertheless, it provides an entertaining and somewhat thought-provoking experience.

I did it! I finally accomplished the feat of finishing this enormous, nearly 1100-page novel centered around Texas history. It's true that I read at a relatively fast pace, but the sheer size of this book, combined with the distractions of the holidays, set me back for nearly 2 months. However, I'm truly glad that I persevered and pushed through to the end.

Michener typically initiates his narrative with a few main characters and then weaves a captivating story of that family across time, skillfully intertwining the history of a state with the fictional tale he has crafted around it. Texas follows a similar pattern, but I had the impression that he introduced new characters and abandoned old ones as he progressed, with some family lines vanishing entirely.

There is an abundance of history within Texas, commencing with its native and Spanish roots. Michener took on a substantial task with this one. From the early settlements, Texas's brief stint as an independent country, to its eventual statehood, the author does an excellent job of illustrating the values that define a Texan. They were ambitious, unafraid of hard work, and above all, cherished their freedom. There were numerous instances throughout the novel where Texans took matters into their own hands and got things done - things that are often left to the law or other organizations dedicated to the task.

There were moments when I felt that the book could have benefited from a more meticulous editor (particularly during the "task force" chapters), and there were times when I wished the author had allocated more time to one subject and less to another. But that is only natural when tackling such a colossal subject. Overall, I enjoyed this novel, albeit not as much as Michener's Hawaii and Chesapeake.