David Fuller (1)Rezensionen

Sundance by David Fuller is a novel built around the premise that the Sundance Kid didn’t go to Bolivia with Butch Cassidy, instead he was arrested under an assumed name and spent 12 years in the state prison in Wyoming. It’s now 1913 and Harry Longbaugh is released into a very different world than the one he left. He is introduced to motor cars and electricity, worker’s unions and women marching for the vote. His first and only thought is to find his wife whom he hasn’t heard from in two years when her letters stopped. Doggedly following her trail, he finds himself in New York City.

Sundance is a clever and highly entertaining story of a man trying to find where he belongs while searching for the woman who holds his heart. He realizes that Etta has somehow gotten herself in trouble with the Black Hand gang and is leaving him obscure clues to help him find her.

The author has delivered a great story and I couldn’t help but picture an older, rugged Robert Redford as Harry Longbaugh. The character is written much the way I imagine the Sundance Kid would be and the author did a fine job of staying true to the character and the time period. An interesting fact to ponder is that while we are told that the real Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid died in Bolivia, when they opened the grave marked with their names in 1991, only one body was discovered and DNA analysis proved it was neither of the famous outlaws. So the legend lives on.

I love westerns. That is why I was excited to read this book when I got a copy back when it was released. I started reading this book and got to about chapter 6 and then I had started to lose interest in the book. So I put is down which has ended up for about a year unread since that moment I put the book down. In an effort to try to dwindle my to be read pile and read some of my older books, I picked this book up again. I did not go back and re-read the first 5 chapters. I just started reading where I left off. After about reading 4 more chapters, I realized that while the background location, Etta, and Harry were fine, I had no real interest in anything that was really happening in the story. Plus, I found that the story seemed to drag on for long periods of time. I finally skipped ahead to the last chapter to see how the story ended. Which the ending was not bad.

Sundance is the story of what might have happened if The Sundance Kid did not die when history says he did. Most of the story revolves around his search for his wife after he gets out of prison. The search takes him to the city where he sees things that he has never seen before. He is out of place in a world of electricity and automobiles. There is a lot of fish out of water, man out of time stuff. The idea may not be unheard of but the original setting gives it an interesting spin. The story is more of a mystery than anything else. Sundance has turned into more of a detective than a gunfighter. There is some action in the story but there is more following of clues than shooting going on. That's not necessarily a bad thing but I went in expecting a western and that is not really what I got. I did like the way he learns about his wife during his search for her; finding out what she has done and who she has become while he was in prison. I thought that was an interesting way to develop a character that you haven't even met. Unfortunately I had lukewarm feelings about just about everyone in the book and had trouble caring much about them. I think I would have liked it better if it was not about The Sundance Kid and just about some other gunfighter. It could have been much the same story and I would not have gone into it with expectations that were not met. It was not a bad story it was just not quite as exciting or as interesting as I had hoped.

I loved the possibility that this story raised. What a great idea! The ending was also a great surprise. Well done.

I live in the south. Every day, I see relics of days that to some symbolize the glory of the south, to others, a time of great shame for humankind. I was not born into southern culture (indeed, my own family fled from persecution elsewhere to settle in the United States in the days before World War I), but I still feel the scars that the enslavement of African Americans left on our world. When a friend from another country had trouble enjoying a visit to Charleston, saying he could feel the pain of slavery as he walked the streets of the city, it was a knife to my heart. It is not the way we live now, at least not in this part of the world, and while we are not perfect, I wonder how long those who inhabit this land will bear the responsibility of scars of the past.

Many people have a romanticized vision of slavery, due in part to its depiction in novels and movies. But even the kindest rendition in print or screen cannot deny that at its core, slavery involves ownership of one person over another. Sweetsmoke presents the reader with a huge array of relationships between between people of the south in that time of our history. The brutality is unflinching, the loyalties complex, the relationships tangled. It is a glimpse into the darkness of our past, exploring diverse aspects of the human psyche. It's a retelling of that wound in our national history called the Civil War. It's a character study of a man of passions and principles, despite his enslavement. It's a reminder that our greatest downfall is man's inhumanity to man, and our greatest strength is our ability to open our hearts to other people, and strive for what is right. I thought the author's technique of using quotation marks around the speech of free people, black or white, and none around the speech of the enslaved was a powerful tool to keep the reader reminded of the degradation of the human spirit when we succumb to the evils of saying we own another individual.

This is a book that is complex, and I may reread, because there are certainly nuances I missed. There were some moments in it that opened my eyes, not so much about the institution of slavery, but more regarding how the world was in that time-- figuring out how to pass a message, cross a river, make a rendezvous. I even found myself looking up some of the herbs and medicinal plants mentioned, as that's an interest of mine.

Many thanks to my friend Maggie, who recommended this book to me. I will pass it on thoughtfully.

Tags: advanced-reader-copy, didn-t-want-to-put-it-down, made-me-look-something-up, made-me-sad, made-me-think, places-i-have-been, read, read-in-2015, read-on-recommendation, set-in-the-south, taught-me-something, uncomfortable-reading-but-good

A "what if?" exploration of the Sundance Kid--like other readers I came in with some reservations, but the story is convincing and well-researched, and the mysterious Etta Place comes to life in a vivid way. The place of the Western outlaw in a rapidly changing world really does make for a great tale.

Sundance was not killed with Butch Cassidy in Central America. No, he was jailed in Wyoming under another name. This story is about the years after his prison release and his search in New York City for Etta Place. Before reading this fictional story, I was biased against the tale. But it is well written and an interesting read; probably contains just about as much truth as many of the nonfiction genre books written about Butch and Sundance.½

I have been totally unable to get into this book. Sundance seems to be extremely tentative in this book. I realize that he's been in jail, so is out of touch with the world (and this was a time of great change), but he's just too wishy-washy for me. And, what I've learned of Etta in the little of the book I've read makes me wonder why anyone would be looking for her. It's not a bad book, per se, just not for me.

Most everyone knows that Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were killed in a shootout in Boliva. But what if Sundance escaped? This is the premise of this novel. Harry Longbaugh (aka Sundance) was not killed in South America and under an assumed name was in prison for twelve years. After being released he searches for his wife Etta Place who is no longer at the boarding house, nor waiting for him any longer. He gets approached by a kid who knows who he is and wants a shootout. This naïve boy is killed and Sundance is on the run again. This time to NYC to search for Emma.

But the world is a different place now and Sundance is out of place in the hustle and bustle of the turn of the century city.

I thought this fictional account was portrayed with such attention to detail that I almost believed it could be true. What imagination the author has to build quite a fascinating work of fiction. II found it to be truly remarkable.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It's a captivating thought that maybe the Kid didn't die in Bolivia.

I found the Kid's wife to be an interesting character - I wish there would have been some chapters from her perspective. I think the author could have developed her character a little more - I would have liked to learn more about a woman who really stood up for what she believed in while facing all the adversity of the time.

I appreciated the interactions The Kid had with Butch Cassidy, but kind of wish there would have been more development there, too.

Long story short, I really liked this book. In fact, I liked it so much that I wanted it to be developed more.½

I admittedly know little about Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Perhaps I would have been more enthralled with this book if that wasn't the case. I really wanted to like it, but found myself uninterested in Harry Longbaugh (aka The Kid) and his search for his wife. Again, since I know very little about the actual Kid, perhaps this is remarkably true-to-life (or as much as we can gather from people who existed a century ago). But I found Longbaugh unlikeable and not compelling as a protagonist. At points, most admittedly in dialogue, he seemed to be trying to be clever, but I just found the tone annoying. Additionally, there were points where dialogue continued for too long without any modifiers, and I found myself losing track of who was speaking.

Really, in the end, I just didn't really care what happened to any of the characters. Which is not how I want to be feeling at the end of a book.

It was worth reading, and the story was fine, but it was a lot less interesting of a story than I was expecting to read about an alternate history of an outlaw who found a second life, rather than dying in Bolivia as everyone thought.

Absolutely wonderful. The story asks the question what if the Sundance Kid never perished in South America and was holed up in jail under an alias for the last twelve years yearning for his wife Etta. When he does get out he is attacked by the son of a former Sherriff, is forced to defend himself and ends up back on the run from the law. At the same time he is searching for his wife who has left a trail of clues to New York. The author has done a magnificent job of setting the scene, we are taken from the Wild West across the country to a new New York City that is coming in to its own. Horses and automobiles coexist, and electricity is quite prevalent. The details are exquisite and I felt like I was walking the streets of New York with Harry Longbaugh. Excellent in every way. Highly recommended.

The author brought the Sundance Kid to life in this alternate version of his story where he did not die in Bolivia but lived on. a great blend of historical fact and fiction. Suspenseful and captivating. Recommend to all who like historical fiction or the Sundance kid.

So who knew that the Sundance Kid did not die in a blaze of glory in South America? if you are like me, you grew up on the legend, watched the movie, and knew about the end of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Mr. Fuller has brought the legend to life and breathed new life into it!!! I enjoyed reading about the various adventures that Sundance goes through in his search for his wife. Would have enjoyed a few more gun battles, but guess that the Sundance Kid is a little long in the tooth for this! Great Book, fast read. Everyone should add this to the beach bag for a couple of days on the beach!!

Sundance by David Fuller
My review will be totally biased since my most favorite movie of all time is Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. When I saw Sundance as an option on the LibraryThings, Early Reviewers list I wanted it! I am so glad I received this book.
I am not sure if David Fuller was trying to capture the same feel as the movie or not but he nailed it. In every short, precise statement Harry utters I could see and hear Robert Redford as “The Kid”. After finishing the book last night I read where Mr. Fuller is a screenwriter, well no wonder I saw each and every person, scene and dialog as a movie! I WANT this to be a movie and I need Brad Pitt to be Harry. He is the only actor I can see pulling off this part.
For those of you who have not seen the movie and have nothing to base this character on but history may find faults with the book and were expecting something different but I am going out on a limb and giving this 5 stars because of the cinematic experience it gave me and the fact that he made so many memories of my favorite scenes came flooding back to me after so many years. I fell in love with “The Kid” all over again.
Very enjoyable read, Thank you David Fuller!

Quite a historical fiction feat for Fuller as he imagines what would happen if Robert Parker (Butch Cassidy) and Harry Alonzo (Sundance Kid) actually did NOT die in a Bolivian shootout. Alonzo is released from prison and goes on a hunt for his wife, Etta, whilst running from those who still want to capture him.
The novel is suspenseful and well-written, and it's a refreshing change to have a protagonist that is likeable even admist all his foibles. However, towards the latter quarter of the novel, the action does start to get confusing and repetitive, and I found myself flipping faster just to get the story over with.½

Having read and reviewed David Fuller's prior novel titled "Sweetsmoke" I was very pleased to be given the opportunity to review this, his second novel. For the most part I was not disappointed. The idea of "The Sundance Kid" roaming the streets of New York was a great stretch of the imagination. The conventional concept of The Kid is that of a cowboy, guns, boots, horses and hats. David Fuller leads us into mentally placing him in a city. Not just any city but New York city, imagining this scene was great fun. There are a great many historical characters included in this tale and if I have any complaints at all about this novel it would be that sometimes the coincidences seemed forced. Other than that Mr. Fuller wrote an entertaining book. This book could probably be loosely called a historical novel, the characters and events are taken from historical events however, it reads more like a mystery/love story. Mr. Fuller's characters are interesting and he tells his tale without loose ends. There is something kind of mind boggling about the historical timing of this story. The city of New York and the Wild West, all motivating at the same time. We are immersed in what most readers like best......a tall tale told well. David Fuller is an author whose novels I would not hesitate to read.½

David Fuller's "Sundance" is a thoroughly delightful read. You quickly develop an empathy with Harry Longbaugh and his search for his missing wife Etta while enjoying the spirited interplay with the characters he encounters as his search takes him through the old west and then to New York. During the search, Fuller injects bits of history that give substance to the era without taking away from the storyline.
The dialogue is quick and sharp - think Robert B Parker at his best with Cole and Hutch in "Appaloosa" - and the relationships he builds are the kind we all would like to have, warm and trustworthy.
I would have liked to have spent more time with Sundance in the west, but that is often the way of things when a novel is so good you don't want it to end.
Four and 1/2 stars and I will look forward to more work from Mr. Fuller.

The Wild West held a fascination for many and no one filled the bill better than the adventures of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. David Fuller takes us to a possible scenerio - what if they didn't die in Bolivia but lived? Harry Longbaugh gets out of prison after doing his time under another name and begins his search for his wife. After a rough start Harry will do his best to follow the clues that lead him to New York City looking for Etta. What better place for Harry to see the brave new world than the wild city in 1913. The city where Teddy Roosevelt is head of the police, the scene of the horrific shirt waist factory fire and where the teeming masses from Europe are rising up and creating havoc. He will become embroiled in a nasty plot, keeping one step ahead of the law and meet up with some old friends. Even with the huge leap in settings from the Wild West to New York, Harry's quiet but deadly manner works. David Fuller does an excellent job of introducing us to this Wild East - where one man is determined to find the love of his life and hope that she still feels the same way about him. Thanks to LibraryThing Early Reviewers for allowing me to read this book early.

Some reviewers and book promoters are describing the plot of "Sundance" along the lines of "The Sundance Kid is released from a Wyoming prison in 1913 and goes to New York City to find his missing wife". But that only describes the first 47 pages. To those 22 words above should be added "....and then....", followed by a long laundry list of people and events that just become too much, way too much. How about The Triangle fire, the NYC Armory Art Exhibition, personages such as Teddy Roosevelt, bomb throwers, marriage counseling, the Mafia, World War I. I'm leaving out a few, which may or may not be spoilers. "Sundance" in my opinion, is a classic example of trying to do too much in one book, very few subtleties here. And, of course, at one point, the Kid must get from here to there to save a fair maiden on a big night in NYC with the streets all congested with new fangled autos, trolleys, carts - what might be his transport??? Yes, you got it - haven't we seen that in a movie or two. The only thing this book seems to be missing is the Rough Riders. Despite all the ingredients above, there were a number of points where the book just dragged for me. Toward the finish I just wanted it to end. Perhaps one factor was all the clues about the final showdown. And I wasn't really crazy about the prose. Too much witty banter; it felt anachronistic. A big disappointment, I was really looking forward to this book.

Butch Cassidy (Robert Parker) and the Sundance Kid (Harry Longbaugh) are still part of popular culture in the 21st century primarily because of the Robert Redford/Paul Newman movie made about the pair several decades ago. That movie proved to be as durable as it was popular at the time of its release and, fact or fiction, it is all that most people know about them today.

David Fuller's "Sundance: A Novel" expands on the story told in the movie by considering the belief that Butch and Sundance may not have died in Bolivia when cornered there by the Bolivian military (as portrayed in the movie). In Fuller's scenario, Sundance was in prison under an assumed name at the time of his supposed death, and by the time he was released, he had lost touch with the love of his life, Etta Place. This is the story of the former outlaw's desperate search for his wife, a search that will bring him to the New York City of 1913, a teeming, wide-open city like he has never seen. Now all he has to do his find his wife before those who want to see her dead find her first.

"Sundance" is a highly atmospheric novel that blends fact and fiction in a way that makes it a believable "what-if" story. New York City is as alien to Sundance as it is to readers of the novel experiencing it through modern eyes a full century later. But, along with Sundance, we grow accustomed to the world in which Etta has hidden herself, and we are happy to go along for the ride. It is a blend of historical fact and characters with well-developed fictional characters and a plot that will keep most readers turning pages.

I suspect that some readers will enjoy the first part of the book that takes place in the West more than they will Sundance's search through the streets of New York. But don't let the movie scare you away from this one; Sundance makes quite a New York cowboy, one who is generally at least one step ahead of the big city boys trying to find him.

One of my favorite films as a teenager was "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." I watched it so many times that I still have large sections of the dialogue memorized, so I was drawn to David Fuller's novel like the proverbial moth. Once I began reading, I fell headlong into the story. Watching Longbaugh make his first halting acquaintance to the new world around him felt true to his character and true to the period. As he tries to find Etta in the land he knows so well, he has time to ponder many things. Has he truly paid for all the crimes he's committed? What about the men in the gang who were never caught-- do they still have a debt to pay, or are they the better men for having not been imprisoned? He's also surprised that Etta has gone off to live her own life; in his mind she's like a fly suspended in amber, waiting for his return.

New York City intensifies the feeling of being displaced in time. Here crowds protest working conditions, and women are fighting for the vote, and it doesn't take him long to realize how much danger he's in while he searches for his wife because strong-minded Etta has made some enemies.

Sundance is a novel that satisfies on many levels. Although it's nowhere close to being an imitation of William Goldman's screenplay, Longbaugh will feel familiar to anyone who knows the 1969 film. It succeeds as a Western, particularly in the beginning just after Longbaugh is released from prison. It certainly succeeds in the mystery and adventure departments as he searches for Etta, and it is also quite the love story. Moreover, Sundance succeeds as the story of a man who finds that-- although he has so much life experience-- he still needs to seek his place in the world. David Fuller immersed me so completely in Harry Longbaugh's world, that it was a wrench for me to leave it.½

Set in 1862 during the bloody American Civil War, part historical fiction and part mystery/intrigue and clearly well researched -- David Fuller's debut novel Sweetsmoke was no simple feat to write. Fuller has an easy straight-forward writing style that serves him well in this novel. He has clearly done his homework in research the period, the caveat to this is that the novel sometimes suffers when Fuller's two strong points collide in the narrative. Eager to share the great details he has researched Fuller sometimes counteracts his own easy writing style by going a little too deep which can make the novel sometimes feel a little uneven. That being said I do very much appreciate the fact that Fuller has done a very good job of working to flesh out all of his character -- imbuing them with both good and bad, right and wrong and therefore enriches the novel as they discover their likenesses in one another as well as the decisions each has made that have set the on opposing sides and different paths. The book should also be commended for crossing fiction genres and in doing so bringing something new to its readers.

David Fuller's first novel follows Cassius, a slave on the Virginia tobacco plantation Sweetsmoke. As the American Civil War rages on the periphery, Cassius spends his days tending to carpentry needs on the plantation and taking advantage of the small amount of freedom granted to him by the plantation master, Hoke Howard.

After a close friend is murdered, Cassius vows to find the killer, even though he risks the few things he holds dear in the process.

At its core, Sweetsmoke is a decent novel, especially coming from a new novelist. But the quality fluctuates through, which leads to a lot of headaches. Fuller often intercuts some well crafted intrigue with laborious descriptions of minutia, almost like he's trying to prove he did his historical research (in case you're wondering, he did). This is especially true for the first half of the novel; it's almost tough to make it through a few pages without grumbling.

That said, it picks up near the end, and the bittersweet conclusion works quite well in the context. Fuller also paints some compelling characters; he does a nice job of showing how multifaceted these people are.

Sweetsmoke was a fairly promising read, even though it had lapse of cluttered, over expository dialogue and descriptions. But some of the good elements made it worth trudging through.

Sweetsmoke is David Fuller’s debut novel set on a Virginia tobacco plantation in July 1862. The Civil War erupts through the South and we are introduced to Cassius, an experienced carpenter and slave to Hoke Howard, owner of Sweetsmoke plantation. Cassius’ skills go beyond carpentry; he was secretly taught how to read and write by a freed slave named Emmoline Jolie. Emmoline was Cassius’ mentor and protector after a horrific incident occurred in his past that almost cost him his life. When Emmoline is shockingly murdered Cassius becomes consumed in avenging her, even if it puts him at risk.
David Fuller spent eight years meticulously researching this novel and it shows. It is rich in its descriptions and characters. The writing is beautifully elegant, composed with emotion and passion. The main plot is a murder mystery, but the layer upon layers of great characterization unveils talented storytelling. Some readers had trouble with the speech of the slaves not being placed into quotation marks. This was awkward at first for me but I came to understand that Fuller was trying to signify the separation and dehumanization of slaves. They were merely property, disposable at any point and time.
Unforgettable characters and a powerful novel. Highly recommended.