Between the Lines discussion

Today I finished The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story by Diane Ackerman. I would recommend this book for this theme.

A WWII era book I just finished and liked was The Book Thief. I will be reading Clara's War for this theme...because I was already going to read it anyway. I might read a WWI book too. Anyone have any recommendations?

Fiona wrote: "My favourite book from this era is All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque. I loved the language and the imagery.

By the way - if you want to start indiv..."

I had to read this twice in high school. Once in english class and once in history. I didn't mind though because I like it quite a bit. That was a pleasant surprise because I thought I would hate it based on the subject matter. I should read it again as an adult.

As weird as it sounds, I'm kind of obsessed with reading books about WWII and the Holocaust. I just finished reading Yellow Star by Jennifer Roy, which is a YA book about the children in the Lodz ghetto in Poland. It is written in verse and very beautiful. I would also recommend Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay. I've heard great things about The True Story of Hansel and Gretel by Louise Murphy, a book that's on my TBR list and that I own as well. Wendy T, I own The Zookeeper's Wife and I'm glad to know you enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to reading it.

Julie, I haven't read too many WWI books but I have heard wonderful things about Birdsong: A Novel of Love and War by Sebastian Faulks. This is another book I own but just have gotten around to reading yet.

I hope it turns out to be good, Fiona! I've had it sitting on my bookshelf for years and every now and then I hear someone raving about it.

I would highly recommend The True Story of Hansel and Gretel by Louise Murphy for this theme. I read this book in March for my neighborhood book club and thought it was really good.

A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway is an excellent book in which Hemingway draws from his own personal experiences in WW 1

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller a great book about WW 2 that melds tragedy with satirical humor.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon though this book does not deal with the war diretly, it addresses the struggles and lives of Jewish refugees in America during the time of WW 2 and offers a rather interesting insight on the creation of comic books and the way in which the art form was born out of the war.

I also enjoyed The Book Thief and Empire of the Sun and that is all I can think of off the top of my head that I have read which would be good for this theme.

There is also Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and sweet and When the Emperor Was Divinefor Japanese Internment re WWII

I read an interesting short story about Japanese Interment called The Legend of Miss Sasagawara by Hisaye Yamamoto

For the WW I/II theme I read On Folly Beach which tells a story set in present day times and then flashes back to WW II era. It was more of a light-hearted read for that time period. There are more "intense" books out there!

Can you believe July is almost over? Sunday is August first! Have you decided which book(s) you'll be reading for the WWI/II theme? I will probably only read one since I have a couple of other books going at the moment and I decided it's going to be The True Story of Hansel and Gretel by Louise Murphy, which takes place during WWII.

I want to read that book sometime Beth. Make sure to tell us all about it.

I finished The Bronze Horseman and is WWII times during the seige of Leningrad, Russia. There was awful famine because the Germans had blocked all resources into the city and rations were next to nothing. Was a divine romance that had me glued to it. It was a fast read for being a large book but I couldn't get enough of it and ordered the next two in the saga.

I also just read The Rice Mother and it is set in the same time period and shows a very intense family drama thru the Japanese occupation of Malaysia

Julie, I'll definitely report back after finishing the book.

Tears in the Darkness: The Story of the Bataan Death March and Its Aftermath
Incredible story, not for the faint-hearted but inspiring and informative.

Vince, thanks for posting the above book; I've added it to my TBR list. Right now I'm on page 57 of The True Story of Hansel and Gretel by Louise Murphy and it's really good. It's very horrifying and haunting but well-written. It sounds kind of weird to say that I'm enjoying it, but I am.

Beth wrote: "Vince, thanks for posting the above book; I've added it to my TBR list. Right now I'm on page 57 of The True Story of Hansel and Gretel by Louise Murphy and it's real..."

Beth, I read this book in March and loved it. I am glad you are enjoying it

I'd like to share separately (from WW II )books relating to WW I. WW I was almost an accident, or so history suggests, where Germany supported/defended AUSTRIA's decision to launch war against Spain for the assassination of a member of Austrian royalty....

Joyeaux Noel
by R. de Rousy de Sales
This is a story based on the truth that the ENTIRE WESTERN FRONT on one Christmas eve made a truce! A close German friend corroborates her soldier grandfather's recount of this event.

Also made into an amazing motion picture & share a portion of a fellow Netflix viewer's well-written review: "Another fine entry in the revival of World War I films that Europeans have been exploring lately, this one examines a legendary event that happened early in the war: on Christmas Eve, 1914, the soldiers from opposing trenches spontaneously initiated an unofficial truce in No Man's Land in honor of the holiday. This happened all along the Western Front, but the film wisely focuses on just one quadrant, containing French and Scots against Germans. A breathtaking widescreen epic, it may lose some visual impact in transfer to the small screen, but the power of the story will remain. There are a few clichés to be found, and some occasional treacly sentiment, but writer-director Christian Carion deftly maneuvers these shellholes with wit and irony. The acting is very, very good, with especial applause going to Guillaume Canet as the hesitant French lieutenant, Alex Ferns as the calm, capable Scottish officer and Daniel Bruhl as the firm but understanding German captain. . . Also, I found the film to be distinctly spiritual, rather than devoted to a single religion (a theme reinforced by the actions of the Scottish pastor). Bravo, too, to Phillipe Rombi's exquisite score. Most of all, I loved the minor details that are true to history: the football game in No Man's Land, the exchange of drinks, photos, mail, and even the humorous debate over the name of a cat (for comparison, read Stanley Weintraub's "Silent Night"). A wonderful, magnificent film, not to be missed."

Of course, the Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl (compiled by Otto Frank, her surviving father**), which has quite the interesting story behind its lovely contents being "discovered" and causing its beautiful insights. There has been much dispute about the authenticity of this tale. http://www.hdot.org/en/learning/myth-... ** "The diary consists of three books - not one - and over 300 loose sheets of paper. It covers the period of Anne's life from June 12, 1942 to August 1, 1944. (The Franks were arrested on August 4, 1944).
Anne received the red-plaid covered diary for her thirteenth birthday in June 1942, and she began writing in it before she and her family went into hiding. Anne filled at least two, and probably more, black-covered school notebooks while in hiding. Only two of them survived.
After the Franks and their friends were arrested, Miep Gies found Anne's writings and saved them. Upon his return after the war, she gave them to Otto Frank who collapsed all the materials together into one narrative. He also edited out parts that discussed Anne's relationship with her mother (which was difficult) and other entries dealing with Anne's budding sexuality. Modern editions now include all the material originally edited out by her father.
Anne's diary was first published in Dutch in 1947 and in German and French in 1950. The first English edition was published in England and the United States in 1952. Since then it has been translated into over 55 languages and published around the world. Plays and movies have also been written based on her diary."

Catch-22 and All Quiet on the Western Front are 2 quite dramatic tales. Although fiction, All Quiet on the Western Front (Also an assigned read & report on for College History course) relates the impossibilities of war--How do people stay alive? with head lice, hungry, and battling for years on end? What food could be found with so much of the young and able-bodied sons off to war for years and years. Over 12 million were reported to have died during WW I, some of this was also from the dreadful "Spanish Flu".

WW II So much has been written and so many films, movies and documentaries made about it.

These are lovely works of art, only the first centers on WW II's events directly--as relates to the little Greek Island of Cephalonia.

Captain Corelli's Mandolin
by Louis de Bernières

Snow Falling on Cedars
by David Guterson (also an amazing story which does cover the injustics of Japanese internment in USA)

Atonement
by Ian McEwan

Also there was the REAL life story of Hemingway, wasn't it? with a severe leg injury. In the movie Sandra Bullock played the role of his nurse--quite some years back! Does anyone else know whether a book was published which was the basis for this movie?

There is a movie "In Love and War," (1998) directed by Richard Attenborough, which I have on good authority was "based on the diaries of Agnes Von Kurowsky, who while serving as a nurse during World War I had a love affair with a young man who would later become one of the great literary figures of the 20th century, Ernest Hemingway."

In 1918, Hemingway was only 18 and volunteered to serve in the war but suffered a severe leg injury.

[Updated Just found this here on Goodreads:} Hemingway in Love and War: The Lost Diary of Agnes Von Kurowsky
by Agnes Von Kurowsky, Ernest Hemingway

I recently read City of Thieves by David Benioff about the seige of Leningrad in WWII. I really enjoyed it -- humorous in some parts, heartbreaking in others. It was a based on the story of his grandparents, though obviously is not a biography. Really nice little book.