Great Reading ...

I just finished one of the best novels I have enjoyed in a long, long time. Armageddon by Leon Uris. I remember seeing it on the coffee table when I was a kid. Dad was also a reader who liked to devour book after book. The reason I remember this particular novel is because I had no idea what the title meant.  By the way, it has nothing to do with the movie of the same name that was made several years ago, about an asteroid.

 This novel is amazing … one of the best novels of the 20^th Century. This is the same author who wrote Exodus, Topaz and QB-VII.  Uris is a brilliant writer of historical fiction. I should have known … his other books were fabulous. I have to warn you, Uris does incredible research. The book might seem slow at first, but he sets you up with all the details and research you will need to know.  Wow, what a story.

So now I am in some sort of withdrawal. This book consumed me for the past two weeks. Every page was like a treat, but I knew, with pending dread,  that as I turned each page I was inching closer and closer to the end of the book.

The story is a modern tragedy set in post war Europe, mixed in with several love stories, adventure that will get you cheering, along with anger and sorrow at our human weaknesses. The characters drove me crazy. Some were incredible, others I hated. And I was devastated when some of the characters died … it was like a personal loss.

So I dare you … grab the Kleenex, a fresh bottle of whiskey, and TRY to read Armageddon.  I say try because it will overtake you.

Armageddon, Leon Uris.

672 pages.

Doubleday and Company, Inc.

New York, NY - 1964