Blogcritics The critical lens on today's culture & entertainment
The Sixties and the early Seventies were a time of change. The air was rife with the indolent smell of marijuana, and free love and understanding were the rule of the day. The Vietnam War was in full swing, Kennedy was president, Martin Luther King had a dream, and young people felt a responsibility for the future of their world. Music and poetry seemed to stand the test of time, each with its own message, understood by those who looked deep enough.
Sure to evoke nostalgia as well as bitter recriminations, Crystal Ships by Richard Sharp takes you back to a time of change. He follows the lives of seven erstwhile friends on their own personal journeys during the time. Often even as they got older their paths crossed in strange ways. Yet through it all they maintain a semblance of friendship and often love. Through the love of poetry to the depths of hell in war we are taken on a journey through the times. We are transported back to a time when, we often hear, things were simpler, yet as you follow along you will see that maybe they were not. The freedom to dream just seemed to expand the view of what was really happening.
Sharp does an amazing job of taking you back to the time of abrupt changes and political upheaval. He brings you the music of the day, and evokes a simple nostalgia. Why do we often hear of the simplicity of the time, when in all reality the era is a part of the evolution that changed the way we think and act?
His characters are so down-to-earth and likable you feel as though you may know them, or at least have met them at some time. They are your friends and family, and you feel a stake in the happenings that shape their lives and world.
If you are interested in history, music, poetry, and politics and just enjoy a story well told, you will enjoy Sharp’s take on this special time in history. He delves into the problems and concerns of the time while bringing you the energy and the beauty as well.
This would be a great book for a reading or discussion group. There is a great deal of information and many would be able to add their own interpretations of events, rounding out a great discussion.
