Book Shelf Seminar: War Heroes

The Good German

I'm an unlikely war correspondent, but I've gotten well-acquainted with many heroes over the years. In fact, I've met them in cafes, trains, airplanes, even in bed, and listened to their tales breathlessly. Just today Helen Kirkpatrick shared her experience during the London Blitz:

"London still stood the next morning, which was the greatest surprise to me as I cycled home in the light of early dawn, after the most frightening night I have ever spent. But not all of London was still there, and some of the things I saw would scare the wits out of anyone.

"When the sirens first shrieked on Saturday, it was evident we were in for something . . . the first screaming bomb started on its downward track . . . punctuated by guns near and far. The smoke brought tears to my eyes, and the glow around the horizon looked as though the entire city would be in flames any minute."—9 September 1940, Chicago Daily News

Woman Writing in Cafe

Helen was a writer, and though she never knew me, she's one of my war correspondents. I can sit on this side of World War II and pore over the adventures of heroes and heroines both real and imagined by authors like her. Recently I read four very different novels about that intriguing time:

1. The Reader, by Bernhard Schlink
2. Defiance: The Bielski Partisans by Nechama Tec
3. Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosenay
4. Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer

The situations in each book are true. Defiance is true to the last detail, with quotes by descendants of the characters talking about the realities. The movie is fascinating, too, but with violent war scenes.

The Reader is provocative. It has several descriptive love scenes at the first of the book. You don't have to read every word to get the important story line. Two thirds of the book takes place after the love affair is over. The movie follows the book almost word for word, but the love scenes are pretty vivid during the first half hour. If that is not your cup of cocoa, you might enjoy the book more, or use your ff remote button.

Sarah's Key would be a great book-club selection, and even has discussion questions at the end. It's about 4,000 Jewish children who were rounded up in Paris by French police, and separated from their parents in 1942. I was unfamiliar with this story from history. The book is poignant, heart-breaking and sweet. I love the way it was written—back and forth between two characters in 1942 and 2002.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a collection of letters from a journalist to people who lived through the war on an occupied island in the English Channel. We watched a beautifully filmed British mini-series a few years ago called Island at War, which tells a similar story.

Photograph by Doisneau

The atmosphere, secrecy, daring—the locations and history of the era fascinate me. In the World War II book genre I have dozens of recommendations, but I'll limit myself to just a dozen more. All of these books are historical fiction with the exception of The Hiding Place, which is a true story. Expect mystery, spies, thrills and romance.

1. The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom
2. Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett
3. A Princess in Berlin by Arthur R. G. Solmssen
4. The Odessa File by Frederick Forsythe
5. Spies of Warsaw by Alan Furst
6. Salzburg Connection by Helen MacInnes
7. The Shellseekers by Rosamunde Pilcher
8. Night Sky by Clare Frances
9. Winds of War by Herman Wouk
10. Enigma by Robert Harris
11. The Unlikely Spy by Daniel Silva
12. Ordinary Heroes by Scott Turow

Read all of Alan Furst's books

As I drag myself out of a bookstore my thought is always, "So much to read, so little time." I am exhilarated by so many subjects. One interest leads to another, and so it goes, until I'm off on another tangent that's entertaining and new.

"What we learn depends on what we read after all the professors have finished with us.
The greatest university of all is the collection of books."
—Thomas Carlyle.

Homework: Choose any or all, or be inspired.

~Write about a hero you met in a book as if you actually know them. Idea: "I was in 5th grade when I met Helen Keller. She was about my age, but_____"

~Google or check Amazon for a novel that takes place in a time that fascinates you. Ideas: San Francisco in 1900; Shanghai in 1930; New Orleans in 1820.

~What books or movies about World War II would you recommend?

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