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Normandy Revisited
243 pages, Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1958
8 people want to read
About the author
A.J. Liebling
42 books73 followersAbbott Joseph "A. J." Liebling was an American journalist who was closely associated with The New Yorker from 1935 until his death.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 30, 2013
Of Liebling's books I've read, this is the best (though the Earl of Louisiana and Between Meals are not far behind.) As Liebling retraces his steps from the Allied invasion of Normandy to the Liberation of Paris, 11 years after the fact, he recounts the effects of time diffracted through the prism of war. Despite the loss of life and destruction, he still misses the sense of being alive the war brought, and knows that nothing that follows will equal it.
April 10, 2013
A hungry monster ate his way across Normandy in June and July, 1944. The Allied Armies? Not even. Unsparing in his appetites, no farmhouse, chateau, bar or hotel was ignored as Liebling did his best to eat up all the food Normandy piled up during the Occupation. They say a great artist is as much a lucky coincidence of the times and places he is born in. Would Liebling have been half as happy as an embedded journalist in Afghanistan? Or write as profoundly, and not just on food?
Written in 1956 or so, Liebling runs across many a Calvados soaked madeleine as he revisits the Normandy and Paris where he had so many memories in 1926, 1940 and 1944-45. As this is the last book in the Library of America's World War II Writings, I had previously read a lot of Liebling's journalism as he covered the war for the New Yorker. This helped to prepare me for reading this book as I know what his stomping grounds were already.
The detailed maps of the D-Day invasion were invaluable as Liebling recounted the days and nights in June and July as the Allies were capturing town after town and the frontier was moving as the Germans retreated. However, the publisher should have also published a map of what Liebling had where - a shell symbol where he had oysters, or an apple where he had aged Calvados. Because from the time he spends gloriously recounting his eating, it is obvious that the Normandy Invasion was two-fold, once by the Allies, again by Liebling.
Written in 1956 or so, Liebling runs across many a Calvados soaked madeleine as he revisits the Normandy and Paris where he had so many memories in 1926, 1940 and 1944-45. As this is the last book in the Library of America's World War II Writings, I had previously read a lot of Liebling's journalism as he covered the war for the New Yorker. This helped to prepare me for reading this book as I know what his stomping grounds were already.
The detailed maps of the D-Day invasion were invaluable as Liebling recounted the days and nights in June and July as the Allies were capturing town after town and the frontier was moving as the Germans retreated. However, the publisher should have also published a map of what Liebling had where - a shell symbol where he had oysters, or an apple where he had aged Calvados. Because from the time he spends gloriously recounting his eating, it is obvious that the Normandy Invasion was two-fold, once by the Allies, again by Liebling.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews