post wwii – Cannonball Read 17

“Their own words are their best memorial:” Civilian Casualties of WWII

Leningrad by Anna Reid

In the Ruins of the Reich by Douglas Botting

March 20, 2023 by GentleRain Leave a Comment

Both of these books illuminate the impact of cataclysmic war on the civilian population, which is an angle I personally find much more compelling than straight military history. I am way more interested in the individual experience and the repercussions of what we in America tend to view of the last good war, or the war in which we foreground ourselves as heroes. These books both complicate that picture and ask the reader to face the consequences of war. Books that deal with the immediate […]

What Happens After the War?

July 31, 2018 by Jen K Leave a Comment

I listened to this one on Audible – figured it’s the kind of story I’m usually interested in but also am more hesitant to pick up nowadays because the genre does sometimes blend together so it seemed like the perfect selection for, “damn, how did I end up with so many Audible credits, I have no idea what I want!” The novel begins in 1947 with nineteen-year-old Charlie on her way to Switzerland for a procedure to take care of “her little problem.” The last […]

In which I take another step toward beatific acceptance of my plebian taste

May 3, 2017 by alwaysanswerb Leave a Comment

This probably qualifies as another lit-fic fail for me, by which I don’t mean that the book was a failure; I mostly likely just failed to appreciate it. It’s one of those oniony books that has a lot of layers, and characters who relate to each other on levels both appropriate and otherwise. Set in the 1960’s, there’s a story of a young woman who finds out she is of European Jewish descent, and finds herself digging into her history by way of trying to […]

A double cannonball to contemplate

October 12, 2015 by alwaysanswerb 13 Comments

What a subtle, poignant, sad book. In post-WWII England, Stevens, a butler of a formerly great aristocratic house takes a road trip through the country and has the opportunity to reflect on his tenure of servitude. Through these memories — many with another employee, Miss Kenton — Stevens sketches a life left rather unlived through the endless pursuit of dignity, that intangible, elite quality embodied by the foremost butlers. What is dignity? No one can put it into words, not even Stevens, but based on […]

Lovely Jenny Lee.

May 28, 2015 by narfna Leave a Comment

I came to Call the Midwife, the first book in Jennifer Worth’s series of nursing memoirs set in post-WWII East End of London, in an ass-backwards way. I had seen the entire series as it aired on PBS, and then again as it was released on DVD, before I happened upon a copy of this first volume in a used bookstore. The show is remarkably faithful to the books, so all of the stories that are featured here I already knew. And I was still riveted by them. […]

This Brilliant Novel

May 22, 2015 by ElCicco Leave a Comment

Have you ever had a friend who seemed effortlessly brilliant, talented and successful in every endeavor, an attention magnet who intimidates just about everyone? I had a friend like this a number of years ago, and perhaps that’s why I loved this book so much and look forward to the next two volumes. Set in a small town outside Naples in the 1950s, My Brilliant Friend is narrated by Elena Greco, friend to the fearless Lila Cerullo. The story begins in current time, with Lila’s […]

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Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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