The Bohemians: The Story of John Reed and His Friends [Hardcover]

Initially, I was intrigued and eager to read this novel because of my interest in the writer and journalist John Reed, his wife Louise Bryant, and their circle (an interest which has grown since I first saw the film "Reds" back in 1981). John Reed led an extraordinarily full life, making choices that are not always easily understood, and dying young. He also left behind a body of work that is compelling to read.

I was disappointed when I discovered that 2/3 of this book is written in the first person. Reading this felt, at times, a little like intruding on someone's fantasy. The author seems to have wanted to convey an autobiographical feel to the story --as if this were the autobiography that Reed never got to write-- but, I don't know, to me a false note was struck almost thoughout.

The final chapter, which is written from Louise Bryant's perspective, is actually quite good. The description of their reunion after Reed's final trip to Baku (where he caught typhus) and his deathbed are excellent, mostly because I believe Mr. Cheuse incorporates a great deal of known facts here, and avoided the temptation of trying to assume what Reed's thoughts were on his deathbed.

Trying to recreate a fictionalized account of a real person brings its own set of problems - namely, that a reader might be familiar with the real life (from biographical material) and have a difficult time with the writer's fictional choices. This was the case with me. The character of Mabel Dodge Luhan comes across as a complete flake, which is pretty much contrary to everything I've read about her. Various characters in THE BOHEMIANS refer to Louise Bryant as "Lou", which just doesn't sound "right". Louise introduces herself to John Reed as "Louise Trullinger", when it's easily discovered that she kept her maiden name throughout her life.

There are some unusual turns of phrase --the author refers to Louise's hair color as "scarlet"; refers to "a rumor of nipples" under her blouse. This is an early novel by this author so these may have been kinks that he needed to work out. Maybe if the novel had gone through one more draft, there would have been less clumsiness and more of a "true" feeling to the story. I don't know. Despite my initial curiosity this was an uncomfortable, and unsuccessful, reading experience for me.

Having now read a novel about John Reed's life, my feeling is: why fictionalize it when the real thing was so fascinating?

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