In the final chapter of her World War I saga, Pat Barker really turns the screws. You’ve become emotionally invested in several characters, while knowing that, since this story is about the war, it’s not going to end well. The Ghost Road, told in the waning, but most urgent, year of the War, really questions the notion of war, choosing to return to an almost-certain death, and the psychological traumas beyond war that can plague us. William Rivers and Billy Prior are again major characters, […]
the Reader
I read several “popcorn” books this month and wanted to read something with a bit more substance; the Reader had been on my ‘to-read’ list since I purchased it at a book fair in August. Michael falls ill on his way home from school and is rescued by Frau Schmitz, after his recovery he goes to thank her and they begin a sexual relationship. During their affair 15-year-old Michael reads his school books to thirty-something Hanna, it’s part of their ritual: bath, sex, reading. They […]
On Despotism, Famine, and Glimmers of Hope
Imagine this. You’re a college student from a fairly prosperous family. You know things are starting to go wrong in your country, but your position in life shelters you from the profoundly bad shit that’s going down. You have a girlfriend, but social mores and the difference in your stations mean that the most you’ve ever done is hold her hand during late-night walks down unlit streets. But then, your family begins to run out of money, long after less fortunate people have already begun […]
The Tragedy of Orphans at Any Age
The orphan train movement “transported a reported two hundred thousand children from the East Coast to the Midwest between 1854 and 1929.” (273) Somewhere, at some point, I heard about Orphan Train (2013) by Christina Baker Kline and I apparently decided it should be on my reading list. For reasons I cannot remember, I thought that this book was about shipping children from London to the countryside during World War II. I’m not sure if I’m confusing it with another book, or if I just […]
He was so much more…
Where Men Win Glory takes it’s title from a translation of the Iliad – “Who among mortal men are you, good friend? Since / never before have I seen you in the fighting where / men win glory, yet now you have come striding far / out in front of all others in your great heart…” I don’t think that the parallel to Achilles is particularly apt. Achilles desired to win glory for himself whereas Pat Tillman never seemed to care for glory. Nevertheless, it […]
Good Night, Mr. Tom – Review #12 for AamilTheCamel
A poignant tale of the discovery of love.
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