Confederates in the Attic:
Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War
“There are people one knows and people one doesn't. One shouldn't cheapen the former by feigning intimacy with the latter.” ― Tony Horwitz, Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War
While I first read this book more than a decade ago I still remember it vividly, if for no other reason than the cover art, which I consider to be one of the most hideous of any book that I have read. Fortunately I did not let that stop me and inside I found a delicious mix of cultural history, personal reminiscence and odd, but true (I believe) miscellany about people who are fixated on the Civil War era.
The discussion of the Japanese people's fascination with Gone With the Wind was one of the oddest episodes. They visit Atlanta, Georgia as a result of their fixation, where they are known to look up Tara's location because they appear to believe that there must be a genuine Tara behind the novel. In that much of the book has a similar eccentricity, it reminds me of Louis Theroux's The Call of the Weird: Adventures in American Subcultures. Horwitz definitely looks for strange and perhaps undesirable elements to interview, such as the insane biker bar. There was an insightful conversation with Shelby Foote, and I ended up appreciating a particular pro-Southern viewpoint (even if I disagree with it).
Since the memories of the persons interviewed are fading and times are continuing to change, the book may have lost part of its value with time. It's much more entertaining because the book almost reads like a picaresque novel or anthology of short stories. It might be seen as a snapshot of the 1990s' zeitgeist in regard to the Civil War. The Civil War re-enactors are a genuinely odd breed, yet their fervor for the time period makes them endlessly fascinating. It was enjoyable to read.
The discussion of the Japanese people's fascination with Gone With the Wind was one of the oddest episodes. They visit Atlanta, Georgia as a result of their fixation, where they are known to look up Tara's location because they appear to believe that there must be a genuine Tara behind the novel. In that much of the book has a similar eccentricity, it reminds me of Louis Theroux's The Call of the Weird: Adventures in American Subcultures. Horwitz definitely looks for strange and perhaps undesirable elements to interview, such as the insane biker bar. There was an insightful conversation with Shelby Foote, and I ended up appreciating a particular pro-Southern viewpoint (even if I disagree with it).
Since the memories of the persons interviewed are fading and times are continuing to change, the book may have lost part of its value with time. It's much more entertaining because the book almost reads like a picaresque novel or anthology of short stories. It might be seen as a snapshot of the 1990s' zeitgeist in regard to the Civil War. The Civil War re-enactors are a genuinely odd breed, yet their fervor for the time period makes them endlessly fascinating. It was enjoyable to read.
2 comments:
I hang out with a group of reenactors sometimes. They're a fun bunch, and I've grown to appreciate their devotion to authenticity. I've realized, as the author here did, that the attraction is not so much in playing pretend-soldiers, but in re-living history. They legitimately learn the skills of old -- how to cook food over a fire, to sew their clothes -- and embrace the challenges of old, like marching in rain or sleeping in the snow over a campaign weekend. This is not hyperbole: I've seen them doing it, and when they make it through such misery they are delighted with themselves for persisting. Part of it is longing to be connected to the human thread in a realer way than through watching movies, and part of it is men who have been raised in the machine-world wanting to know they are capable of doing what their grandfathers did, both in enduring the worst nature can throw at them, but also in taking care of themselves and mastering real skills.
Hi Stephen, Thanks for sharing your fascinating realizations. I was impressed with the details displayed by Tony Horwitz.
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