Look Away Book

Look Away, by Harold Coyle, tells the story of two brothers who, because of their hateful father, find themselves facing each other on opposite sides during the Civil War. The story begins before the war in which we learn that James and Kevin Bannon lead a life of constant fear and estrangement from their father. James is sent south and Kevin stays in the north because of supposed involvement in an accidental murder. Eventually, with the outbreak of war, James fights for the south and Kevin for the north, with Look Away detailing the trials and tribulations that each confront during the first three years of the war. The novel concludes with James and Kevin, dramatically, meeting each other during the climax of Pickett's Charge on the final day of the battle of Gettysburg.

For me, Look Away was a difficult book to assess while reading and once finished. While reading there were some interesting passages. But more importantly, there were several portions that were long winded and poorly written. Hence the three stars. The first issue that I took with Look Away dealt with the lack of character development by the author. By the end of the book I felt like I did not really know or connect with either of the two major protagonists James and Kevin. Neither's story, I felt, was well written enough for me to "root" for either throughout the book. While reading, one feels like they have been quickly introduced to two characters and then you are whisked away with them to what seems to be a repetition of continuous battle. For all of their supposed hatred of their father, the author provides little in the way of background to explain both James and Kevin's deep-seated hatred for him. In addition to this, Coyle's side plot concerning each brothers love interest is incredibly predictable, with each experiencing a soap opera-like romance full of ups and downs that was even less interesting than the brothers' conflict with their father. Overall, the characters seem one-dimensional and shallow, when they could have been much more interesting and intriguing.

Secondly, the plot surrounding Look Away was somewhat garbled for me as well. To me, it seemed like the author was attempting to write a comparable epic in the vein of North and South by John Jakes. However, the author failed to include so much of the drama that encompassed the Civil War. Most striking was the absence of the issue of slavery throughout the book as a driving force of the Civil War. With the exception of the prologue, which did not relate in any way to the main themes or characters of the novel, the issue of slavery is largely ignored. While some might point to the fact that none of the major characters were directly connected to the "peculiar institution" the author could have intertwined the issue of slavery in some manner throughout the novel. Instead, the author provides very detailed accounts of the characters in almost every battle in the eastern theatre, major or minor. While reading, it felt like the author shoved his character into every clash just for the sake of "being there." This also bothered me because, in many instances, having the characters be present in every fight detracted from the larger themes of the novel.

Both James and Kevin's internal struggle to confront the world with assertiveness and a sense of purpose could have been much more interesting in the context of the Civil War, but again I feel that the author failed because of the lack of character development. While reading, I could never really imagine the hatred that James and Kevin felt towards their father and other circumstances that were out of their control because there was not enough background provided for the characters that made their thoughts and actions "feel" realistic or genuine.

Finally, throughout the novel there seemed to permeate a sense of "cornyness" that I could not shake as I progressed in my reading. The idea of literal brothers fighting against each other during the Civil War felt hokey and awkward while I read. In addition to this, I am confident that those who lived during the Civil War Era would not have used terms such as "roomie" "sis" and "boyfriend." Maybe if I had read the novel while a freshmen in high school I would not have felt this way about it. But with my understanding of the Civil War, in 2020 the idea seemed bland, uncreative, and uninteresting. Look Away, it seems, is a product of its time, the mid-90s. A book that has not aged well, it even read somewhat like a bad 90's soap opera concerning the Civil War.

Recommended for those just beginning their literary journey in Civil War fiction. Not for those, who have read works concerning Americas greatest conflict from other, better storytellers.