Review #43: Crystal Ships by Richard G. Sharp

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


While reading Crystal Ships by Richard Sharp, it reminded me of a spectacular quote of Oscar Wilde,
“America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between.”

And Richard Sharp has strikingly captured that era in American history which influences the whole world to change along with America's drastic effects.

Synopsis:
A sweeping saga of American idealism and disillusionment, Richard Sharp’s exquisite Crystal Ships traces the lives of seven friends through two decades of violence, hope, and cultural change
Sharp spins an epic tale that starts back in the heady days of the Kennedy administration, when Camelot appeared as a shining beacon of hope for all Americans. But as the years tick on, riots, assassinations, drugs, gender conflicts, and the Vietnam War come crashing into the country’s consciousness.

Through it all, seven very different individuals live out their lives against the backdrop of these monumental events, unwittingly encapsulating the spirit of the time. From a youthful strive from Boston’s Irish working class inspired by JFK, a Harvard-educated would-be poet of the drug culture, and a dedicated Vietnam War volunteer, to an abused aspiring dancer and her repressed girlfriend, a conflicted housewife-career woman and a South African exchange student following the American dream, each individual carries the burden of the times.

An epic journey for seven citizens of America, whose lives go upheaval with America's changes in its socioeconomic aspect. From finding jobs to surviving this Cold War era, these seven characters are wrapped in an inevitable adventure that not only turns out to be life-changing but also life-threatening, thus justifying the ugly era in America's history. Now here is an award-winning author, Richard Sharp who has once again made his readers to relive that ugly era of American history through his novel, Crystal Ships. And Sharp's eminent seven characters crashes and collides during Kennedy's presidential period to his brutal assassination.

This the kind of novel which makes you see things, which make you believe certain stuffs, which make you trust the truth, and finally which tick your gray cells. Exquisitely written, and flawlessly delivered, Richard Sharp is not skillful, but a master mind, who knows how to take his readers back in time.

Well on the negative side, the characters sometimes left me confused with their mixed-up dialogues, sometimes I felt I was looking hard into their minds, but in return not able to learn anything. The plot is brilliant, but with too much history, the characters sometimes washed up in their demeanor. Moreover, the mysterious aspect of the book was not that strong, I can guess beforehand what was going to happen.

Anyways, still, it's a must read for all those who have lived that era and who have learn about that era in their history book, and watch yourself getting swept away in time and history when Kennedy almost ruled the whole world.

Courtesy: Thanks to the author, Richard Sharp, for providing me with a copy of his book, in return for an honest review. 
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Author Info:
Richard Sharp earned a BA from Harvard as well as a Masters Degree from Princeton, launching a career as an international development consultant before recently retiring.His vast experience across the United States and over four dozen countries provides settings for his historically authentic novel settings. He is the author of "Crystal Ships" (2013) his sweeping epic of America's decades of discontent, the Sixties and Seventies; "The Duke Don’t Dance" (2012),a saga oh the "silent generation," and his 19th century historical novels "Jacob’s Cellar" and "Time is the Oven," tales of the domestic impact of the Civil War and its aftermath. His publications have garnered him multiple accolades, including a place on the Kirkus Best Self-Published Book list (2013), the Independent Publishers gold medal for Best Adult Fiction E-Book award (2013), and a finalist finish in the ForeWord Clarion Firsts (2012) and Reader’s Favorite (2012) categories. Sharp is married with two adult children.


Book Purchase Links: 

• Amazon US
• Amazon India
  

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