Stice's latest collection will hit you in the spinal column. These poems are just the right container in which to distill a measure of the military, nStice's latest collection will hit you in the spinal column. These poems are just the right container in which to distill a measure of the military, not too sweet and not too poisonous, but potent and powerful just the same. Read it!...more
I loved this, and think it's such a brilliant way to introduce people to history - not just military history buffs (although that's certain to be its I loved this, and think it's such a brilliant way to introduce people to history - not just military history buffs (although that's certain to be its largest audience) but anyone who's ever come across an old bunker or rusting piece of equipment and wondered what the story was behind it. And I imagine that those who came of age in the second half of the 20th century in Europe would have had their own plane wrecks on their own beaches as Luca Lazzara had, to play on or near as children, and to puzzle over as adults. Good on him for doing the historical archaeology on this story!
The stories of the pilots are reconstructed from the historical record, and also as reconstructed conversations they might have had on their mission that night (researched and written by Bev Morris). The text is enhanced brilliantly with photographs and maps of the area. The whole book is short and focused, and emotionally affecting, and altogether just "enough" of everything to make me wish there were a whole series of books like this, explaining various leftover bits of a war that we are all still so fascinated by. Imagine teaching WWII to classes of secondary/high school students using books such as this one?!...more
NB - I read the print version (kindly provided by Renard Press) which doesn't seem to have its own page yet but I hope it does soon, and that people fNB - I read the print version (kindly provided by Renard Press) which doesn't seem to have its own page yet but I hope it does soon, and that people find this book and read it.
I'm making up an origin story for this novel, which is that it came out in audio before print because its topic(s), author, and location all converged at a time when it wasn't cool (in publishing) for white writers to tell intimate (in the sense of a deep point of view) stories about characters whose cultural and racial backgrounds they didn't share.
First: I think that's a pretty good operating principle. I haven't read too many books by white writers that get at the nuance of being a non-white person in this world (not that I can possibly really understand what that is, being a white person myself - I'm just comparing books to other books). There are loads of genius non-white writers; we're probably better off, story-wise, leaving this job to people with literal skin in the game.
Having said that, who better to tell an immigration story from a British perspective than a white person on the receiving shore? This is a necessary perspective to share, too, and Ann Morgan does a magnificent job showing the bigotry that Jonah faces, and the extreme fear and trauma he experiences at every stage of his journey. White people need to talk to other white people about race, and she gives us a LOT to think about, very beautifully written but also spare enough that you cannot miss every excruciating emotion. It's a masterful book. Every now and again she can't help but hold up her homework to show the class - see how much research I did and how carefully I wrote my project! - but overall, it's clear she really did put in the time to get it right.
Ditto for the way she portrays Edie's slide into dementia. To tell this story from the perspective of two characters with so much to lose is mostly awful to witness, but it's an important story, and one that book groups would have a lot to discuss. If anyone else wants to read and talk about it, I'm game!
Major props to Renard Press for putting this out there. Really, it's a slam dunk, but good on them for swimming against the tide and taking a chance. This is a good one....more
The writing is beautiful but the story meanders (and is very reminiscent of an earlier novel by Christian Bauman called The Ice Beneath You, in which The writing is beautiful but the story meanders (and is very reminiscent of an earlier novel by Christian Bauman called The Ice Beneath You, in which a troubled combat veteran road trips around the US in search of himself and finds love). I'm glad to find a small press that puts well-written, worthy books into the world! But I'm not sure what the story was trying to accomplish....more
Sorry, that person's shelf is private.
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