War Through the Generations

Review: A HAND FOR EACH: THREE SHORT STORIES by J. Kathleen Cheney

sagustocox — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 05:00:50 +0000

Carole Rae’s Random Ramblings recently read and reviewed A Hand for Each: Three Short Stories by J. Kathleen Cheney for the WWI Reading Challenge in 2012. Here’s an excerpt:

These three are the first short stories I have read in a long time. I had to keep reminding myself that, yes, these are short and the story will be quick and…well…short. Since there are three short stories, I’ll break this review up into three categories. . . . All three stories were creepy, but really good.

Read the full review.

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Review: WAR HORSE by Michael Morpurgo

sagustocox — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 05:00:06 +0000

Reva recently read and reviewed War Horse by Michael Morpurgo for the WWI Reading Challenge in 2012. Here’s a sample:

War Horse was written from the horse’s point of view as he grew up on a farm, then was sold to the military and put into service in Europe during The Great War–World War I. It is also the love story of a boy and his horse, the betrayal that caused the two to be separated and the long journey toward their reunion. I think this would be a great book to read to a child.

Read the full review on GoodReads.

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Review: ALL OUR WORLDLY GOODS by Irene Nemirovsky

sagustocox — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 05:00:27 +0000

Impressions in Ink recently read and reviewed All Our Worldly Goods by Irene Nemirovsky for the WWI Reading Challenge in 2012. Here’s an excerpt:

I loved this book and was quickly swept away by this story. I could easily relate to Agnes and Pierre’s marriage beginnings, the depth of love they had for each other, the growing realizations of the transformation in their marriage, the quickness of time, and the anxieties over children and the choices they’d made. My curiosity was satisfied in what life was like for French citizens during World War I, the aftermath of the “Great War,” and then World War II.

Read the full review.
Becky’s Book Reviews recently read and reviewed this book as well. Here’s a bit of what she had to say:

What All Our Worldly Goods lacks in characterization, it more than makes up for in beautiful writing. Nemirovsky’s novel has great atmosphere: a rich, detailed setting. The characters are more simple than complex human beings, but, I think there are enough presented to get a flavor of what life was like across the generations in the troubled decades between the start of World War I and the beginning of World War II. They’re more sketched than developed.

Read the full review.

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Guest Post: How Pure Curiousity Generated a WWI Novel by Alexis Harrington

sagustocox — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 05:00:08 +0000

Alexis Harrington’s latest book, Home by Morning (published Dec. 2011), is a book of betrayal, heartbreak, and redemption set during WWI, specifically October 1918. Jessica Layton, the protagonist, is on her way from New York to her hometown Powell Springs, Oregon, before heading to Seattle when she meets up with her first love Cole Braddock. As a clinical physician preparing for a new job in Washington state, Jessica is confronted by the past given that Cole is now courting her sister Amy. However, an influenza epidemic throws a wrench in Jessica’s plans, and she’s the only doctor available to treat the growing number of patients.

Today Alexis will share her connection to WWI, The Great War with us. Without further ado, please give her a warm welcome, and please do consider her book for your reading lists this year.

I can’t point to a family photo of a doughboy or a Tommy in uniform. My direct connections to World War I are more complicated. My grandparents were Turkish nationals of Greek ethnicity. My grandfather had already come to America by the time the war started. My grandmother was still living in Constantinople (Istanbul) when the war broke out. Eventually, she married an American naval officer and came the United States in about 1920 to live with her in-laws, which was extremely difficult for her; she didn’t speak much English, and they spoke no Greek or Turkish. The marriage did not work out, and she met and married my grandfather.

The primary of reason for my interest in World War I is that I learned practically nothing about it in school. In fact until my curiosity drove me to research it, I think the single fact I knew about World War I was that it preceded World War II. I had no idea what started it (and I’m convinced that the stated reason isn’t the true one), or any of the details. In high school English, I wasn’t in the class that read All Quiet on the Western Front.

For me, writing Home by Morning was intensely connected to my desire to write about characters facing the Great War, the challenges on the home front, and the ravages of the flu epidemic. I have very strong opinions on the subject of World War I, having devoted 10 years of research to it. There were so many lives lost to that meat grinder war of attrition—over fifteen million deaths and twenty million wounded. It was a very complicated affair and its resolution led the way into World War II and the rise of Adolf Hitler. Before that, of course, the world was gripped by the “Spanish flu,” which in 1918 and 1919 killed at least three times as many people than the Great War.

Thanks, Alexis, for sharing your story with us.

About the Author:

Alexis Harrington’s first book, Homeward Hearts, was published in 1994 and she has been entertaining readers for the past 20 years with stories about the American West and small-town life. She can be reached at www.alexisharrington.com.

Movie Review: MY BOY JACK

sagustocox — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 05:00:59 +0000

One Great War recently watched and reviewed My Boy Jack a television movie based on a true story of Rudyard Kipling’s family, particularly his son who fought in WWI, for the WWI Reading challenge in 2012. Here’s a snippet:

A 2007 telemovie based on a play, based on the true story of Rudyard Kipling’s family, particularly his son Jack, who fought in the first world war. Rudyard Kipling was a famous and well-established English poet by the outbreak of war, and along with various others, like Thomas Hardy, was involved in pro-war writing and poetry early in the war. His son Jack had very poor eyesight. Following the outbreak of war, he set his heart on a commission in an infantry regiment, and after failing a succession of medicals, Rudyard Kipling used his influence to get him a commission in the Irish Guards.

Read the full review.

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Review: A FAREWELL TO ARMS by Ernest Hemingway

sagustocox — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 05:00:56 +0000

Book Scorpion’s Lair recently read and reviewed A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway for the WWI Reading Challenge in 2012. Here’s a sample:

A Farewell to Arms is the first book by Ernest Hemingway I have ever read and I’m in two minds about it. I had a hard time staying involved in this book. The parts that I enjoyed most were the chapters taking place in the actual war, during a retreat and an attack. It’s not because there’s the most action in those sequences, but they felt most vivid for me. Bleak and depressing, but vivid.

Read the full review.

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Review: MY BROTHER’S SHADOW by Monika Schroder

sagustocox — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 05:00:27 +0000

Helen’s Book Blog recently read and reviewed My Brother’s Shadow by Monika Schroder for the WWI Reading Challenge in 2012. Here’s a sample:

World War I is one of my favorite periods in history, I loved learning about it in school, teaching about it as a World History teacher, and I like reading about it now through fiction. This book began slowly for me and I almost gave up around page 30, but by page 50 I was in for the duration.

Read the full review.

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Review: THE WINTER GHOSTS by Kate Mosse

sagustocox — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 05:00:38 +0000

Living to Think recently read and reviewed The Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse for the WWI Reading Challenge in 2012. Here’s an excerpt:

WWI is nearly a third character in the book. The war weaves itself through Freddie’s heart and soul. We read about his parents receiving the news that George is lost and presumed dead. We see the effect of Freddie’s hopes that George will be found alive. The war never really ended for Freddie even though he was too young to fight.

Read the full review.

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Movie Review: WAR HORSE

sagustocox — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 05:00:14 +0000

Victoria Janssen recently watched and reviewed War Horse, the movie, for the WWI Reading Challenge in 2012. Here’s a sample:

I’ve never read the novel War Horse by Michael Morpurgo; all of my comments are based on the Spielberg movie. I imagine the novel is a much different experience, because it allows for narration from the horse’s point of view. In the movie, the horse is not given a voice.

As someone who’s done a lot of reading about World War One, I really enjoyed the visuals of this movie, particularly the trenches and No Man’s Land. Some of it looked so familiar, I suspect I’ve seen some of the research photos that were used. In particular, I liked how accurately the British and German trenches were differentiated. In general, the German trenches were larger, better-constructed, and more comfortable; this is clearly shown in a scene during the Somme offensive when the lead character, Albert, makes it into a German trench before being gassed.

Read the full review.

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Movie Review: BENEATH HILL 60

sagustocox — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 05:00:37 +0000

One Great War recently watched and reviewed Beneath Hill 60 for the WWI Reading Challenge in 2012. Here’s an excerpt:

Beneath Hill 60, a 2010 film based on the diary of Captain Oliver Woodward, commander of the 1st Australian Tunnelling Company. This film is essentially formula WWI – the tunnelling aspect would provide a novel element, if Birdsong hadn’t done it first. That said, it isn’t a bad film: well-written, well-acted, and with less than the usual dose of maudlin What’s-the-Point-of-it-All? meandering.

Read the full review.

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