Goodreads Reviews: A Company of Heroes

A Company of Heroes: Personal Memories about the Real Band of Brothers and the Legacy They Left Us by Marcus Brotherton

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A Company of Heroes is a collection of stories and memories from the families of the Easy Company men. Men such as Alex Penkala and Skip Muck who were killed in Bastogne, several of the prominent Easy Company soldiers (Ron Speirs, Carwood Lipton, Joe Liebgott, Eugene Roe, Floyd Talbert, etc.) and lesser known men who didn't have the opportunity to tell their stories.

As the title points out, 'the legacy they left us,' fits quite well. These families show great pride in the service that their fathers, grandfathers, uncles and brothers gave to the world. And many of these stories tell of the primary aftereffects of the war and the adjustments theses veterans went through.

Just like all families are different, all their stories are different. Some are hopeful, others are heartbreaking. Many men suffered from PTSD that led to alcoholism and broken families. While others were able to move on the enjoy the successes of their labors and honor the sacrifices of those who didn't come home. Also, several of these families corrected the inaccuracies that were made in both the Band of Brothers book and miniseries.

Reading the men's stories from the families point of view brought a better understanding to the men that are revered as heroes. These men were heroic, but they were still human. Susceptible to falling and failing. They could save the world, but some couldn't save their own marriages. The hardest story to get through was Joe Liebgott's. While a popular, well loved and comic presence in the miniseries, Joe had nothing to do with the book or the series. The war damaged Joe greatly and he was never the same. The show took great artistic liberties with the life of Joe Liebgott, but in reality, the man was very different.

Duty and sacrifice make a soldier. Moving on from trauma and shock can create a hero. Regardless of what path the men of Easy Company went down after the war, each created a legacy for their families to remember and honor.

Goodreads Reviews: We Who are Alive and Remain

We Who Are Alive and Remain: Untold Stories from the Band of Brothers by Marcus Brotherton

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

After reading so many books about Easy Company, you would think one would get tired of the stories? Not true. Not with me at least. We Who Are Alive and Remain tells the stories of the lesser known soldiers (Dick Winters, Don Malarkey, Babe Heffron, Bill Guarnere and Buck Compton already had their own biographies, plus they were also prominent characters in the mini-series). Starting with the bombing on Pearl Harbor, 20 Easy Company men give their testimonies of their lives before, during and after WWII. Every chapter has a contribution, sometimes a couple of pages, sometimes a sentence from each men.

One of the most unique aspects of the books is there's a guide that shows the battles that each man fought in and if they were original Taccoa men or replacements. Some men were complete Taccoa veterans and fought all the way from Normandy to the Eagle's Nest. Some men only fought in one battle. However long their record was each men dedicated his life and soul to the war effort. When they came home, some adjusted to the new America and others did not.

There is a raw and deep honesty with these men. For so long they never talked about the war. Even during the reunions they said they would talk about anything and everything except the war. So to open up after so many years must have been very painful at first. I loved reading their stories and seeing everyone's' different perspective on the same events. I also enjoyed reading about their growing up years in Great Depression and how that 10 year span molded 'the greatest generation.'

In the beginning 5,800 men volunteered to become paratroopers, 1,948 survived their training and earned their wings. By the end of the war only 366 men came home. Less than 50 of their stories have been told. We Who Are Alive and Remain was written 12 years ago and many of these men featured are not alive today. At the very least, they told their stories for generations to follow.

Currently: Winter/Spring 2021

So, it's been ages since I've done one of these posts! Summer is just around the corner and that includes my 10 year blogging anniversary on June 25th. 10 years! 10 years I've been on Blogger! I love this blog and everything that I've written, plus all that I've started to write and are still my WIP. I'm not going to go the usual route and do a 'ask me anything,' but rather just give a shoutout to all the people who have followed me and encouraged and inspired me throughout the years. Even people who have left Blogger for other avenues in life or for different social media platforms. I wouldn't have gotten this far without the comments and support I've received from the Blogger community. 

So to recap...

Toxic Fan Syndrome Encased in Anti-Semitism

For the last several weeks, the Middle East has been in an absolute uproar due to the Israel/Gaza conflict between the Jews and the Arabs. This conflict is nothing new and has been ongoing since their ancestors, Jacob and Ishmael. Most people already know the story of Abraham's two sons and the enmity that was born between them. To give a little bit of background on the nation of Israel, in 1948 the country originally known as Palestine (which had been the supposed promised land) and was home to the Arabs (Muslims) was created as Israel. Led by the Zionist movement, there was a mass immigration of Jews from all over to the tiny Middle-Eastern country. The Arabs who had been living there for centuries felt cheated, believing that the land was rightfully theirs both legally and religiously. However, the Jews have always seen Israel as their true home and birthright. Since then, there has ensuing conflict between the two nations. 

Goodreads Reviews: The Red Tent

 

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fictionalized accounts of the Bible, especially to Christians, can be difficult to enjoy. The Red Tent is based on the life of Dinah, the only daughter of Jacob and Leah. In the Biblical account, Dinah is only mentioned a handful of times. As is the case with most females in the highly patriarchal Old Testament, females were minor characters who lived in the shadows of men. Well known women like Sarah and Rebecca, Dinah's great-grandmother and grandmother, and Rachel and Leah, Dinah's aunt and mother, served their purposes by serving their husbands and the men in their lives.

Dinah served her purpose by getting raped by a prince, invoking the rage of her brothers, Simon and Levi, who slaughtered an entire city and subsequently lost their inheritance from their father. That was Dinah's role in history, the downfall of her brothers. Afterwards, nothing was ever written about Dinah. She was silent or silenced. In old history, women spent time in a red tent during their menstruation cycle, pregnancy and post-partum. It was an area strictly off limits to men. The red tent was a woman's domain. This is where Dinah's story begins.

The Red Tent takes the historical account of Dinah's demise and places it at the center of the story. Told from Dinah's POV, she starts with Jacob's escape from his brother and meeting the daughters of Laban. This is where the fictionalization comes heavily into place, however, it was interesting to see the fleshing out of the beginning of Jacob's legacy. How did Jacob really feel about Leah? Who were the two concubines? Also learning about the pagan culture that was so vastly different from Jacob's monotheistic upbringing.

Then there is Dinah's life before her role in the Bible and the imagining of the after effects. When she so conveniently disappeared from history and from Jacob's legacy. The Red Tent did stay as true as possible to the original Bible telling, with some changes. Seven years were changed into seven months. The 'rape' narrative has been disputed for years. Was Dinah assaulted or was she just being held from her home until her father agreed to marriage? The author takes a more romanticized--if not an unrealistic--view on the situation.

As a whole, I enjoyed the story. My few complaints were that there were so many pagan rituals for everything! The endless descriptions of bracelets and backrubs and red powders and numerous gods became monotonous after awhile. Also, it seems like Egyptian woman only give birth to boys. I know it's a ridiculous complaint, but when you read the book you'll understand. Can you at least mention giving birth to a girl every once in a while, seeing as this is a story celebrating females?

This book is definitely not a Church book club read either. It's gritty and raw and real. Sex plays an integral part and it's frequent in almost every chapter. That's why I liked it so much. It didn't clean up history, it presented history as it was. These Biblical characters that always seemed so larger than life in Sunday School were humanized. The Red Tent took a small and seemingly unimportant character from the Bible and made her a voice of an ancient history.

The Dark Knight

While this film is considered the best among the fans, it's actually my least favorite. I felt it focused too much on the Joker and not on Bruce himself. That being said, the acting all around was excellent. This movie really gets into the psyche of the human mind. In Batman Begins, Bruce was discovering what can turn a good man to become a criminal. In The Dark Knight, it's about the decisions that can ultimately define who we are as a people. Do we determine who lives and who dies? Can justice and mercy based on chance? Are some lives deemed more valuable than others? And can hiding the truth be of benefit to others?

Batman Begins

I did my review of The Dark Knight Rises shortly after I saw it in theaters in 2012. It never dawned on me to review the prior two movies beforehand! Nine years later, I'm finally gotten around to it. Anyways, I saw Batman Begins in theaters with my family when I was 15 and even though I wasn't a big superhero fan (with the exception of X-Men), I was a big fan of Christian Bale (I still am). So, I really didn't know a great deal about Bruce Wayne, Gotham or the Batman fandom. Unlike prior Batman interpretations, Christopher Nolan's Batman universe really delved into the life and mind of Bruce Wayne instead of just focusing on his alter-ego. By centering on Bruce and his personal struggles and demons, the audience could have a deeper understanding of the man who forever balanced himself on the line between right and wrong. 

Leverage: Redemption Preview

The team is set to steal 2021

Goodreads Reviews: The Nightingale

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Two different sisters with a broken relationship forge different paths in Nazi occupied France. Vianne and Isabelle Rossignal lost their father when he returned home from WWI, suffering from trauma. Not long afterwards, they lost their mother. Their father leaves the two of them to be raised by other people, having little to no contact with them for years. The loss of her mother and the absence of her father caused Vianne to retreat and neglect her younger sister, Isabelle. Something that Isabelle has never forgotten or forgiven.

By 1939, Vianne is happily married with a daughter. Isabelle is rebellious and wild with no regards to the rules. After Hitler invades France, the country becomes a shadow of its former self. Vianne's once happy life ends when her husband enlists and leaves, then her home is billeted by two Nazi officers. Soon she sees loved ones disappear and must fight to survive. No longer able to witness any more loss, Vianne quietly begins to deceive the enemy to protect the innocents of France.

Isabelle, desperate to fight back and reclaim her home, finds herself aiding the underground Resistance. Overtime, she becomes an absolute asset to the Resistance, seeing as the enemy would never suspect a woman with enough courage (or foolishness) to outsmart them. Vianne and Isabelle wage their own private wars against Hitler, believing that the Nazi's have severely underestimated the strength of the people of France.

Due to my WWII study and research, it was a no-brainer that I was going to be interested in The Nightingale. I loved the characters of Vianne and Isabelle. Both sisters, so different and yet so passionate for their loved ones and their home. This is the second book that I've read about the French Resistance and say what you want about the French, they were a tough people that didn't go down without a fight. In spite of the novel's size, the story was captivating and I really felt that I was fighting this war alongside Vianne and Isabelle.

Goodreads Reviews: Where the Crawdads Sing

 

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

From the time she was a child, all Catherine "Kya" Clark has known is abandonment and loneliness. Born into abject poverty in the marsh lands of North Carolina, Kya watches as everyone in her life leaves. Starting with her mother walking away when she was six, followed by her older siblings and the finally her drunkard father. By the time she's ten years old, Kya is completely alone. All she has is the nature of the marsh. And that's all she needs to survive.

In segregated times of the 1950s south, the townspeople despise and reject those from the marshes. Kya faces prejudice and disdain at every turn, but the kindness of one person changes everything. Kya's sheltered world begins to open up and she discovers a gift of understanding the birds and aquatic life of the marsh lands. However, as she matures and becomes more beautiful, Kya becomes the object of desire from two different men, both who will mold and change her life.

When Kya is marked as the prime suspect in a murder investigation, her life is now in the hands of those who have despised her for no other reason than being different. Yet, Kya will soon come to understand that she is not as alone as she once was.

While I was reading this at work, I had at least five people tell me what an excellent book it was and how much they loved it. I can certainly understand why. Where the Crawdads Sing is heartbreaking, beautiful and full of the wonders of nature that connects you so deeply to Kya and the story. The author, Delia Owens, is a zoologist and her ability to weave her knowledge of animals and biology into a romance/mystery novel was exceptional. As Kya is learning, the readers themselves are also learning.

This book evokes every emotion you can think of. I was so captivated by Kya and her survival. Overcoming the abandonment of her family, the prejudice of the townspeople and the loyalty of the few friends who helped raise her. At the center of this story is the selfish pursuit of one man that contrasts with the gentle love of another. The New York Times review of Where the Crawdads Sing says it all:

"Painfully beautiful...At once a murder mystery, a coming-of-age narrative, and a celebration of nature."

The Mask of Zorro

If there was ever a movie of my childhood that was the definition of an epic romantic adventure, then The Mask of Zorro is it. Starring Anthony Hopkins, Antonia Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones, The Mask of Zorro was probably the first PG-13 movie I ever saw and I remember absolutely falling in love with the story.