What are you reading?

[JackFavell]

My mother in law does talk about how it was during the war, and the times just before. She's remarkably open about it all, but of course she was just a young girl when it all happened. She also seems to be pretty free from prejudice, considering her age and the circumstances she grew up in.

Alice once watched The Grapes of Wrath with me, right from beginning to end, she bawled her eyes out, and looked stricken, but I am proud she watched it with me of her own choice. I think rare lessons on tolerance and such deep subjects as the holocaust and poverty can have some impact on children for the good. I'm not saying that you should show them photos of victims or anything. The Diary of Anne Frank should be required reading for kids of a certain age or reading ability. I think Libby's old enough to understand and get something from it. I read it in my aunt's basement, I remember very clearly, I couldn't put it down, was shocked at the way it ended, just left hanging, with the epilogue....I must have been around Libby's age.

[charliechaplinfan]

I remember vividly reading it myself, to be left hanging there, it's gutting and it completely breaks away from the happy ever after endings of traditional stories. Of course I grew up knowing about the war but it was only from my Grandparent's experience, I had no idea about the death camps or the final solution, my parents had probably decided that it wsan't something to know until I was old enough to understand. My kids have known from an early age about some of what happened, they can process it but I still don't think it comes home properly until you enter into the world, like by reading Anne Frank's diary. We went to the house, such a moving place yet I'm sure some people had jjust joined the queue out of interest. I overheard a comment of 'a bit depressing and cramped isn't it?

I just finished reading a biography of Sophie Scholl, then watched the German film, I was in tears. It isn't a bad thing to be reminded of how strong people have been in the face of a force like Naziism.

[JackFavell]

I agree.

The great thing about the diary is that it puts you right in Anne's place. It becomes personal, you know her.

[RedRiver]

I like Herman Wouk's THE WINDS OF WAR. It doesn't affect you the way Anne Frank does. But the slow boiling of the inevitable conflict, the politics and statesmanship. It's appropriately titled. The soap opera doesn't hurt either. History getting a little dry? Throw in some sex!

[charliechaplinfan]

I've never watched or read The Winds of War, I know the series was big news when it was on over here. Maybe I should give it a go.

[RedRiver]

I haven't seen the mini-series either. Mitchum is not what I pictured as the main character. But he's a good actor and a striking presence. I imagine he's entertaining in the role. I found this book more interesting than the follow up, WAR AND REMEMBRANCE. The one is about the world wide storm brewing. The other is the storm itself!

For the record, THE CAINE MUTINY, also by Wouk, is one of my favorite novels. It's exceptionally well written. Incredibly developed characters. And I gather the author has a new book out? Is this possible? How old is that guy?

[Rita Hayworth]

I would love to see WINDS OF WAR on television again ... I find it very entertaining and its somewhat a good docudrama that left me wanting for more. I enjoyed it very much.

[charliechaplinfan]

I've never watched The Caine Mutiny and sometimes that's the best way to come to a book, without seeing the film but I don't think I could see anyone but Bogie as he's so well known in the role. It's a film I've been meaning to watch for ages.

I've been reading a book by an American journalist called David Grann, it has episodes, some where really interesting, like the one about the Sherlock Holmes boffin who commited suicide and made it look like a murder, another about a Polish author who supposedly wrote about a murder he commited. A man wrongly given a lethal injection in Texas even thought the expert testimony brought in at the last minute showed that he couldn't do it. Othe episodes like the search for a giant squid and the career of a ball player named Rickey didn't move me as much.

Now I'm reading The Other Boleyn Girl, haven't seen the film, know the history quite well, it's an era that lends itself so well to literary fiction.

[JackFavell]

What's a boffin?

I downloaded the Diary of Anne Frank for Alice. She can read it when she wants to, I hope she will, it's important for her to know about these things, and to take it personally. I don't want to force it on her though. But I guess that's what I did.

[charliechaplinfan]

A boffin is a person of high intelligence can be specialised but that person doesn't necessarily good common sense.

I was telling Libby about Sophie Scholl today, she immediately wanted to read the biography which is an adult biography, I think it would be a dry read for a child. Libby's keen to grasp at history but there aren't a great deal of history books out there for her age group. She has struggled to grasp the horror of the time and how mankind can behave to one another but then don't we all? All in all I'll be really pleased if she grows up without being glued to the TV or computer and knows actual 'stuff'

[JackFavell]

That's wonderful! Alice hasn't got any interest in history. I sometimes think she isn't my child.

[charliechaplinfan]

Joe is like that, he's nothing like me, well he does like talking but there aren't many similarities.

[Ann Harding]

I read recently Lenore Coffee: Storyline - Recollections of a Hollywood Screenwriter. It's a very interesting autobiography of a woman screenwriter who started working in Hollywood in 1919. She worked for DeMille, Clara Kimball Young, Thalberg, Goldwyn, etc. It's a very sharp view of the wings of Hollywood and New York film productions. Coffee reminds me of Frances Marion in her no-nonsense view of the olden days. She isn't quite a witty, but has a remarkable eye in her description of the movie people. Her husband was a writer who became a director, William Cowen who directed Kongo (1932) a very notorious Pre-code. All in all, it's an interesting book for anybody looking for informations on the silent era.

[JackFavell]

Ann it's good to see you!

I've had my eye on this book for a while, I think the women behind the scenes at the start of filmmaking write the best books. Frances Marion, Lenore Coffee, and Frederica Maas all had a keen eye for Hollywood's changing landscape.

[Ann Harding]

hello JackFavell! I haven't been much around as I was finishing my book. But now, I'll have a little more time. I need to read that Frederica Maas book.