Tag: world war 2

Categories
books and reading

Beneath a Scarlet Sky

I’ve seen this title floating around for awhile and had heard it was great, but I really didn’t know much about it. I had added it to my “to-read” list at some point and when I saw it was available on Kindle Unlimited, I went ahead and downloaded it. I have read a great number of books about World War II, but I had never heard the story of Pino Lella. As told to the author, Mark Sullivan, Pino’s story is one of the most dramatic and craziest I’ve read, outside of Holocaust stories. And this one is sad, make no mistake, but it’s also really interesting and unique.

Pino is just an Italian kid trying to avoid being drafted into a war he doesn’t support. His family sends him and his younger brother to a church/school where Pino learns to climb the Alps to help persecuted Jews escape to freedom. Clearly, we see which side Pino is on and rooting for him is easy. Once he turns eighteen, he is expected to join the war, though. So he agrees to join voluntarily and gets assigned to be a diver for Hitler’s left-hand man, a German in Italy who must communicate with Mussolini, decide where “slaves” are deported, which weapons need to be delivered to which location, etc. Pino turns spy. He reports everything to the authorities, never forgetting where his allegiences lie.

There is a really beautiful love story woven in with the war. And knowing all this really happened and that Pino is a real person is just heartbreaking and amazing. I’ve learned that nothing is unfathomable when it comes to World War II and that I should never be surprised when I read another true account, but this was one I didn’t see coming. Once Pino starts driving for the general, I really couldn’t put the book down. I knew Pino lived (spoiler alert, he has to tell the author his story….) but I was constantly wondering where the main players in his story would end up. I really enjoyed this one and think it’s one of the highlights of my year.

Categories
books and reading

WWII Graphic Novels

I recently read two very powerful graphic novels that coincidentally were both about WWII. I was aware the first one was about the Holocaust, but it wasn’t until I picked up the second that I realized it was about the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Back when I was a teacher, I taught gifted and talented kids, and one of our semester-long curriculums was about the 1940s. Not just about the war, but the entire decade. Two of our books that I taught were MAUS II and Hiroshima, both excellent books. Maus II is a graphic novel telling the story of the father of artist Art Spiegelman, who has taken his father’s survival during the Holocaust and turned it into a graphic novel.  The Jews are depicted as mice, the Germans are cats, French are frogs, etc. The book is beautifully illustrated with haunting depictions of life in Auschwitz. I’ve always meant to read the first MAUS book, but reading them out of order doesn’t lead to any confusion. The first book tells of Spiegelman’s father’s early life, how he met Art’s mother, the birth of their baby, the beginning of the German’s deportation of Jews, etc. Although it is equally important as MAUS II, it isn’t as graphic. That said I taught MAUS II to middle school kids, and some were really bothered by it, but it’s a very powerful book that needs to be used in schools. Of all the books we read, this one was the one that haunted the kids most.

The other book I taught, Hiroshima, was equally as powerful, but from a very different standpoint. Written by a journalist, John Hersey, it is told from a third person perspective of what life was like immediately before, during, and after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. The book follows a handful of people through the event. It is at times very graphic and hard to read, but expertly written and an important piece of journalism. When I picked up Pika-Don yesterday, I truly had no idea what the subject matter was. This quick read follows the story of Tsutomu Yamaguchi, a man who survived not one, but BOTH atomic bombs dropped during WWII. This book was put together by the Stanford Graphic Novel Project, has several contributors, and is an excellent, beautifully drawn graphic novel. If you can get your hands on it, I absolutely recommend it.

Categories
books and reading

Cryptonomicon

Neal  Stephenson is smarter than I am. By a long shot. I really deserve a medal for finishing this book. Not because the book was bad, not at all. But because it was so math and computer science heavy that I was really lost at times. I still enjoyed the book, though, and gave it 4 stars.

For the 2017 book challenge, I had to read an espionage thriller. And Goodreads told me this book was along those lines. And it was, but not wholly. But let me tell ya, I’m counting it! Part of the plot dealt with WWII and the Enigma code, which obviously works. The story was told from a variety of perspectives and time periods. During WWII, we have Laurence Waterhouse, who is a codebreaker, Bobby Shaftoe, who is a Marine, and Goto Dengo, who is a Japanese military man. In present day, (book was published in 2002, so present day enough) we have Randy Waterhouse, Laurence’s grandson, and Amy Shaftoe, (I’m going to leave her lineage a mystery because it isn’t fully revealed at first, but yes, the last name is important) in the Philippines trying to set up some Internet whatnots.

I don’t do math. I have to count on my fingers. So, the math in this book is way WAY more than I can even comprehend. But that’s okay. The story was interesting enough to keep my attention, but I imagine a math/computer person would be in heaven with this book. There was a lot of logic puzzle solving as well. At 900+ pages, I feel like it could have been condensed without missing a lot, but overall I still enjoyed the book.

Categories
books and reading

Sarah’s Key

A few friends recommended this book to me last year. And for my 2016 book challenge, I needed a book set in Europe. I’m not a big historical fiction fan, but books about WWII and the Holocaust are too important to avoid, so I took the plunge and read this book, even though I was told that it would rip my heart out.

And let me tell you. It didn’t. At a couple points in the book, I thought, “Oh, that’s sad,” but that’s about it, honestly. Partly because the big reveal that usually happens toward the end of the book happens in the middle. I wasn’t invested enough in the story to be truly emotionally hooked. That said, I’m not like post people. I don’t cry about books, really. But if you are looking for an emotional upheaval, this book probably fits most people.

A good chunk of the book is told in alternating chapters, past and present. I enjoyed the present day ones more, but I really don’t have a reason why. The main character is writing a story about a particular event in Paris history,  (The Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup ),  but people aren’t talking. So she has to do some investigative work. The story from the past is Sarah’s, who was one of the children picked up in the roundup. Why she has a key is a particular tragedy, and one that is eventually resolved in the book.

Overall, this was a good book. Not as good as others, but still worth reading. I’m happy to report that I do not need therapy (as was suggested) after reading it.