Tag: World War II

Fiction Reviews, Film, historical fiction

A Delight: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Writers write books. They also write about books—reviews, literary analysis, how-to manuals. And, of course, fiction. Fiction about books often deal with our relationship to books or what they mean to us. The book, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, is one such novel. Set shortly after World War II, Juliet Ashton, a journalist living in … Continue reading A Delight: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

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Fiction Reviews, historical fiction

War Heroes: The Nightingale and The Paris Architect

I’m not particularly enamored of war fiction though my number one favorite these past few years is one (Anthony Doerr’s Pulitzer prize-winning All the Light We Cannot See). But an audiobook of Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale was available to borrow on Libby and I was curious about a novel that merited a 4.8 rating from more than 30,000 Amazon readers. And since I had some … Continue reading War Heroes: The Nightingale and The Paris Architect

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Non-fiction Book Reviews

The Existential Life: Left Bank: Art, Passion and the Rebirth of Paris 1940-1950

Jean Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. I heard those names spoken with some reverence by my professor of Western Thought, a course deemed essential to round out all college degrees by the university I was attending. In the next breath, the professor uttered, “Existentialism.” Even now, I’m not entirely sure what the word means although its precepts (or at least some of them) are … Continue reading The Existential Life: Left Bank: Art, Passion and the Rebirth of Paris 1940-1950

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Fiction Reviews, historical fiction

War Stories: Why they may be worth your time

“War is nasty; war is fun, War is thrilling; war is drudgery. War makes you a man; war makes you dead.” Harvard University President Drew Faust borrows this quote to illustrate that war fascinates because it is a paradox. The remark actually comes from Vietnam veteran Tim O’Brien about the “awful majesty of combat.” For films and books, war is a readymade but challenging setting … Continue reading War Stories: Why they may be worth your time

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Fiction Reviews, historical fiction

Anthony Doerr’s All The Light We Cannot See

All The Light We Cannot See is a modern day existentialist novel. A book in the tradition of Dostoevsky, although that may not be obvious right away. The title alludes in different ways to the juvenile main protagonists of the novel, Marie Laure and Werner. For Marie Laure, the allusion is more literal. She is blind, from a congenital vision disorder. Nurtured by a loving … Continue reading Anthony Doerr’s All The Light We Cannot See

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