Literary Hall of James Critique: Miracle at St.Anna

I must give a shout out to ‘St. Anna’ because this is a World War 2 epic that features the valiant efforts of the famed Buffalo Soldiers. The fact is my father served as a medic in a Buffalo Soldier regiment in Italy. He had spoken of how the racial imbalance among the troops played out at the time. The novel displayed how America’s deep-rooted racism (particularly of the southern variety) persisted even with their lives at stake in the midst of world war waged against Hitler’s Nazi regime. So, yes the topic alone is worth the reading.

The story is pretty good too. It literally starts off with a bang. A shot fired out of a gun by the character that brings the narrative to light moves it from 1980’s Manhattan to the peaks of the Apuane Alps located in W.W. 2 Italy. The mainland ‘St. Anna’ much like its isle counterpart, “The Sicilian” (Mario Puzo) tells not only the central story but paints the picture of the setting with the swath of a historical brush dipped in a mystic hue.

The quasi action/adventure fantasy (at times) war novel speaks of how a “chocolate giant” led the efforts of soldiers in their endeavor to save an orphaned boy from the atrocities that war has plagued upon he and his homeland. The boy can talk but little if at all but his presence speaks volumes about the peoples’ ability to remain human in inhumane circumstances.

I apply the “James Gang” rating to this work. It stops short of being a ‘Literary Hall of James’ classic nominee but it’s special. It is among the 3 mustreadteers of novels that made 2002  one of the best years for books in this first quarter of the century. *

Read the book. Watch the movie. Each is among the most under rated works of their kind in recent history. The book has not received its critical or popular due.(yeah, I know it has received literary rewards)

The movie should have been a commercial block buster but I can’t help but feel the marketing effort must not have been there. Come to think of it the Buffalo Soldiers haven’t really received their due either.

-This review originally written on goodreads was edited Veterans Day 2022
*The other two from ’02 are “Queen of the South” and “The Emperor of Oceans Park”

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