What Are You Reading

[DNO]

White Devil by Stephen Brumwell. It's an account of the raid by Rogers and his rangers on St. Francis in 1759. Quite interesting so far. 'White Devil' was the Abenaki name for Rogers and apparently still is.

 

[AmateisGal]

That’s a good point about some Germans not wanting anything to do with the Nazis. You take a guy like Werner Klemperer (who played Col. Klink on Tvs Hogan’s Heroes). He was a German Jew who fled during WW2. In fact he, and a host of the actors who played Germans on the series, actually joined the US military and served during WW2. Cpl LeBeau actually was put into a concentration camp! John Banner, (Sgt Shultz) was a sgt in the Army Air Corp. He was born in Austria and fled when Austria was annexed. Geneeral Burkhardt was also Austrian I think and served in our military.

Fascinating.

There were a great many members of the German army who didn't want to be there. In fact, there were a lot of NON-Germans who were part of the German army. Men from Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Russia, etc.; even men conscripted from concentration camps if you can believe it. So there was definitely this tussle between ideologies when these guys were taken prisoners. While they were in the army itself, it was kept in check. But once they were POWs, then things became a lot more complicated. Of course, there were hardened Nazis - but there were a lot of guys that were never members of the Nazi party. I have a diary of a guy named Wolfgang Dorschel who served in Rommel's Afrika Corps. He was never a Nazi. He was captured and sent to Nebraska in 1943, and eventually, he became integral in the re-education program. He went to Mt. Rushmore and called it "a shrine of democracy."

One of the problems was that the propaganda of the time didn't distinguish between "Nazi" and "German." It was all one in the same. But it wasn't like that at all.

I actually contacted Robert Clary - he's the only one of the original cast who is still alive. He wrote me back via email. Kinda cool. Yes, he was a Jew who was put into a concentration camp. I believe he lost nearly all of his family in the Holocaust.

 

[hatguy1]

Not hard to understand why in 1945 there wasn't a lot of appetite in this country to let the German POWs stay. With the passage of time and the ability to bring nuance and reflection, we now know some Germans wanted no part of the Nazis and the war and that they were just sucked into the the vortex of Hitler's rule, but that perspective takes time - in 1945, I doubt that argument would have flown anywhere in the US.

Particularly if you'd had a husband, son, brother or father, nephew or cousin killed fighting the Germans....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jamespowers]

There were a great many members of the German army who didn't want to be there. In fact, there were a lot of NON-Germans who were part of the German army. Men from Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Russia, etc.; even men conscripted from concentration camps if you can believe it. So there was definitely this tussle between ideologies when these guys were taken prisoners. While they were in the army itself, it was kept in check. But once they were POWs, then things became a lot more complicated. Of course, there were hardened Nazis - but there were a lot of guys that were never members of the Nazi party. I have a diary of a guy named Wolfgang Dorschel who served in Rommel's Afrika Corps. He was never a Nazi. He was captured and sent to Nebraska in 1943, and eventually, he became integral in the re-education program. He went to Mt. Rushmore and called it "a shrine of democracy."

One of the problems was that the propaganda of the time didn't distinguish between "Nazi" and "German." It was all one in the same. But it wasn't like that at all.

I actually contacted Robert Clary - he's the only one of the original cast who is still alive. He wrote me back via email. Kinda cool. Yes, he was a Jew who was put into a concentration camp. I believe he lost nearly all of his family in the Holocaust.

Wow! I didn't realize Bob was still alive. He is 89 now! I think he is the only main cast member left from Hogan's Heroes. Helga (Cynthia Lynn) died last year.

 

[AmateisGal]

A Desperate Fortune by Susanna Kearsley.

 

[jamespowers]

A Desperate Fortune by Susanna Kearsley.

We need a What Book are You Writing thread for you.

 

[AmateisGal]

We need a What Book are You Writing thread for you.

I wish the "Writers" thread would get active again. I need some accountability!

 

[jamespowers]

I wish the "Writers" thread would get active again. I need some accountability!

Yeah, I need to get back and finish my George Washington Zombie Hunter. :doh:

 

[AmateisGal]

Yeah, I need to get back and finish my George Washington Zombie Hunter. :doh:

Ha!

 

[jamespowers]

Ha!

I have the outline. I just need to flesh out the details and get an agent to pitch it to the movie studios. Could be my ticket to the big time.

 

[LizzieMaine]

"Women Who Work," by Grace Hutchins. In this book, published in 1934 -- nearly thirty years before Betty Friedan -- Hutchins took a long, careful look at the issues and obstacles facing women in the working world. But unlike Friedan, who focused on the women of the white suburban bourgeoisie, Hutchins focuses on the experiences of the working-class women who staffed factories, offices, stores, and homes -- a sizable percentage of whom were married, and faced extra discrimination for "taking away mens' work. " There are also chapters on the "double burden" carried by women who were expected to support the family in the workforce while also keeping house, and on the special burdens carried by farm women. The special issues facing "Negro women" are also explored. The book concludes with a review of womens' role in organized labor up to the 1930s, and the potential women have for future contribitions in the unions of tomorrow. Much of what the book predicts did, in fact, come true within the next five years.

For those who think feminism and "The Era" have nothing in common, this book would come as a much-needed cold slap in the face.

 

[dh66]

"The Broken Cord"(1989) by Michael Dorris. A pretty hardcore examination of the devastating effects of fetal alcohol exposure.

 

[jamespowers]

"The Broken Cord"(1989) by Michael Dorris. A pretty hardcore examination of the devastating effects of fetal alcohol exposure.

No mention of the deleterious effects of PBR on grown humans?

 

[pawineguy]

When you are done, love to hear your review of it and, if you seen it, how it compares to the movie.

Finally finished plowing through it, I do all of my reading at night before bed, so some nights it's 50 pages and other nights it's 5 or less. I'm going to watch the movie in the morning, but I am glad that I got to read the uncensored version, having those scenes back in gives a whole new dimension to what is already a very very gritty, almost painful read. It's certainly a work of brilliance, and I am glad I finally got to it. If I had a criticism, it would be what I felt was an overly simplified view of "saintly whores and devilish officers", but if that was his experience than I can respect that portrayal. There is so much in depth character development... more than any novel I can recall offhand, that it would probably be too much to delve deeper into some of the villains. I'll write more after watching the film.

 

[AmateisGal]

To Hear Only Thunder Again: America's World War II Veterans Come Home by Mark David Van Ells.

 

[dh66]

No mention of the deleterious effects of PBR on grown humans?

Not so much.........however there is mention of the effects of rubbing alcohol, camp stove fuel, and Lysol, among the many creative alternatives employed by extreme poverty stricken individuals who can't even afford PBR.
I think one of the hardest philosophical issues brought up in the book is where do you put the line between society's responsibility to the individual and the individual's responsibility to society? In the circustances of many of the children affected by FAS, there is a monumental failing from both ends.

 

[Fading Fast]

Finally finished plowing through it, I do all of my reading at night before bed, so some nights it's 50 pages and other nights it's 5 or less. I'm going to watch the movie in the morning, but I am glad that I got to read the uncensored version, having those scenes back in gives a whole new dimension to what is already a very very gritty, almost painful read. It's certainly a work of brilliance, and I am glad I finally got to it. If I had a criticism, it would be what I felt was an overly simplified view of "saintly whores and devilish officers", but if that was his experience than I can respect that portrayal. There is so much in depth character development... more than any novel I can recall offhand, that it would probably be too much to delve deeper into some of the villains. I'll write more after watching the film.

Thanks for writing the review - I've always been mixed on the movie. Not that it is bad, but I've never seen it as the great movie many seem to think of it as. Based on your review, I will add the book to my reading queue.

Which - according to an email from Amazon - will get one book longer today when AmateisGirl's "Nebraska POW Camps: A History of WWII Prisoners in the Heartland" arrives. And being a Fedora Lounger's book, it will jump to the top of the queue and will be read once I finish "Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood," which, so far, is a better book than the somewhat salacious title would lead you to believe.

While not as intellectually inclined as Lizzie's usual and impressive reading material, I think she might like it as it touches on many parts of the early film industry. And the story of the murder of William Desmond Taylor - the main story of the book - is complex and engaging (it would have helped, though, if the three women at the center of it hadn't all had names that started with the letter "M" as I am constantly paging back to keep them clear in my small brain).

 

[ChiTownScion]

Oh Canada! Oh Quebec! by Mordecai Richler. It was never my fight, but seeing how it plays out over time has been a subject of interest to me. Richler definitely was the source of no small controversy in this area: his accusations of anti-Semitism on the part of Quebec nationalists started a firestorm. But he was a fine writer and his works are always a good read.

 

[LizzieMaine]

And the story of the murder of William Desmond Taylor - the main story of the book - is complex and engaging (it would have helped, though, if the three women at the center of it hadn't all had names that started with the letter "M" as I am constantly paging back to keep them clear in my small brain).

I'll have to take a look at this one. I've been interested in the Taylor case since I read Sidney Kirkpatrick's "A Cast Of Killers" back in the '80s. The thing about that case is that the investigation was so compromised by the absolute corruption of the Los Angeles district attorney's office and the interference of the studio that it's doubtful any truly conclusive evidence as to the killer still exists. I came away from Kirkpatrick's book with a feeling that *everybody* did it.

 

[Fading Fast]

I'll have to take a look at this one. I've been interested in the Taylor case since I read Sidney Kirkpatrick's "A Cast Of Killers" back in the '80s. The thing about that case is that the investigation was so compromised by the absolute corruption of the Los Angeles district attorney's office and the interference of the studio that it's doubtful any truly conclusive evidence as to the killer still exists. I came away from Kirkpatrick's book with a feeling that *everybody* did it.

I'm not far enough along to offer any insight into whether or not the author produces "new" evidence or a compelling argument - so far, all background information, but interesting and engaging.