Saga of a Marine
R. KRITHIKA
FIFTY years after Battle Cry, Leon Uris goes back to his pet topic — the Marine Corps — in O'Hara's Choice. This, his last novel, ranges from the end of the Civil War in the United States to the end of the 19th Century. Zachary O' Hara is the son of Civil War hero, Paddy O' Hara, and is brought up on the lore of the Marine Corps. No wonder then, he joins the Corps and is well on his way to saving the force, which is heading up a dead end, when he commits an unforgivable act - as far as the Marines are concerned.
He falls in love and that too with an heiress, Amanda Kerr. Horace Kerr, Amanda's father, puts up with most things from his daughter but is not willing to countenance his only child throwing herself away on a Marine.
Zach is the only one with a plan to save the Marine Corps from extinction and, in the process, protect the country as well. So the guiding lights in the Marines are not likely to let him off that easily. Neither is Amanda. Halfway through, she suddenly turns into a pragmatic and shrewd businesswoman, but continues to pine for her lover.
Just as the reader thinks that it's going to be an "all's well that ends well" kind of story, especially with the introduction of a melodramatic family secret that has been weighing on Zach and is his passport to an escape from the Marines, there comes another dramatic twist at the very end. Certainly O' Hara's Choice is not as satisfying a read as Exodus but it is still a good read. This book sees the end of Leon Uris' long career that has seen other brilliant novels like Exodus and Trinity. The author died in June 2003.
O'Hara's Choice, Leon Uris, HarperCollins, £10.99, special price Rs. 395
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Magazine
