War portrayed in books

For the last week, I have been pleasantly stuck with a book about the First World War in France. This is actually one of few books I saw as a movie first. It came about because the leading star in the movie was Audrey Tautou. Since I saw her in Amelie de Montmartre I fell in love with her. She is such a fantastic actress and her work with the director, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, is amazing. Therefore I went on a hunt to find more films starring her. This is when I ran into this book/film called A very long engagement by Sébastien Japrisot.
The story is a regular boy meets girl love story, but without the regular clichés you often find in these types of books. The loving couple (Mathilde and Manech) meets years before the Great War even starts but as many other couples, the war is the event, which separates them. When Mathilde in 1917 receives a message that Manech was killed in action, she first refuses to believe it, later she learns to accept it. But, the mysteries around his death she cannot believe, instead she starts her own investigations to find out the truth…
This is how much I will tell you, now it is up to you to find out what happens in the end. Let me know what you think. Then see the movie. It is worth spending a summer night inside to re-live the story all over again with Audrey Tautou.

Another book about a lost soul in the First World War, this one non-fiction, is Living unknown soldier by Jean-Yves Le Naour, which I read earlier this year. It is about an unknown solider coming back from the war disoriented and not able to say who he is and where he is from. This starts a search for his real identity and his family as well as a conflict of its own of desperate wives, mothers and brothers who want their missing soldier back. The truth about this unknown solider is never found and the families never see the end of their missing soldier. A strong emotional book that gives you some insights of the terrors of war, a soldier who survived the war, but at the same time never really left it.

These books are two of many written about the First World War, a war to end all wars. I am sure there are many more out there, on my list is one about the battle of Verdun by Jules Romains if you have any favourites, let me know.
Josefine

My recommendations: The Alphabet house by Jussi Adler-Olsen, a book about two English pilots during World War II.

The value of historical novels in teaching history

Using historical fiction novels when teaching history was an ongoing discussion in my classes at the university. In one class my professor used historical fiction in his teaching and encouraged us to read it. Another professor asked us to not pick one for our book report, since he was not going to approve it.
For me the topic is a double edge sword. I have a strong belief in people reading historical novels actually can learn something. Most important, it might spark an interest in the reader to actually study more about the period. In introduction classes a historical novel might just help more than it breaks. On the other hand I can also see the faults in historical novels, which like any other book can be badly written and researched, which then leads to blatantly wrong descriptions of the period. If then the reader doesn’t bother to look up the facts, this will create a problem.

When I was younger, I learned much about Swedish history through the novels by the Swedish author Olov Svedelid. This helped me in class because many of topics we learned about there, I was already somewhat familiar with. A situation like this can give a boost to any student in the 5th grade.
Nowadays, I like to read Philippa Gregory’s stories about Tudor England, different stories about World War II and the books by Marek Halter (whom I wrote about in my last post) purely for their entertainment. These are books of fiction and I now that there are some inaccuracies in their books. Mostly about personalities or when they include fictional characters as well as real people and events. That is why it is fiction.
I believe that as long as you have a clear understanding of the differences of fiction and non-fiction, go ahead enjoy some of the many great historical novels there is out there. Enjoy them for their writing and storytelling and then pickup a non-fiction book which is well researched and accurate to study the period.
Josefine

My recommendation: Girl with a pearl earring by Tracy Chevalier. The book NOT the movie.

The book of Abraham

Among my more recent read authors, I have found a really good storyteller in Marek Halter. I read his book about his ancestors The book of Abraham, recently and even though it was a thick book (+900 pages), it kept me captivated until the end. It is a story told through the men in his family living over the centuries in Europe and Northern Africa. The story begins with the writer Abraham who, with his two sons, escapes the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE by the Romans after his wife is killed. They end up settling down in Alexandria, Egypt where his sons grow up and starts families of their own. To remember what they have been through and to record the family history as refugees in a faraway country, Abraham starts writing a family history on a scroll of parchment, something that will continue to follow the family over the centuries until the end of World War II when the author is grown.
Combining fact with fiction, Halter paints a remarkable story that shows you the destiny of the Jewish people in Europe and northern Africa over the centuries. Halter combines the saga with writings of his own, which tells us about the adventures he made trying to retrace the path of his family over the centuries.
This is a well-written book, which capture your mind. He intertwines historical events and persons in his story but without overshadowing the true purpose of the book, telling the life of his family.

With the lasting impression he left on me with his first book, I am thrilled to start his new trilogy, called Canaan trilogy, about the women of the bible. The first one is a free adaptation of the Bible story about Sarah the wife of Abraham. The two books to complete the trilogy are called Lilah and Zipporah, two books I have yet to purchase as I am waiting for them to be translated into Swedish.
This topic has led me in to the discussion about using historical novels in history classes and how it affects what people learn and think about history, but this I will discuss in my next post. Until then, please feel free to give your own comments on the topic or anything else that interest you.
Josefine

My recommendation: The book of Abraham. Marek Halter

Libraries, what a great concept

A library is such a wonderful place, to who ever came up with this idea I am grateful. Just take a moment and think of the concept.
You can go there and borrow almost how many books, CDs, DVDs, magazines and newspapers that you want. And all this for free. Or, you can sit there all day reading and no one would bother you.

Wherever I live I go to the library for some peace and quiet. In Washington DC I loved the Library of Congress. The tranquility of the large marbled rooms combined with the vast amount of books to borrow there were amazing.
In Honolulu the design of the library was great. It was built like the letter O, with a courtyard in the middle. During the hot balmy days, which are typical for Hawai’i, I sat outside in the cool shadow studying.
When I lived in Waukesha, they remodeled the library and when it was done, it looked sleek, modern and fresh. I loved the fact that you could get books and DVDs from other libraries in the county sent to your local library at your convenience.
The library in my hometown got a real facelift when it moved into the spacious halls of the old firehouse.

I must admit that my bias towards libraries might come from my mother who works at one and so am I at the moment. Every time I come to work I browse the shelves of returned books to find something interesting to read. This leads to my nightstand being overcrowded with books that I am about to read but it also means that I will never run out of books.

Yes, of course you can borrow e-books online and never have to set your foot in the library, but it won’t beat the feeling of going to the library and browse the many bookshelves and pick out just the one that looks great.
So to everyone, go visit a library and enjoy the free access to a wide variety of reading material. It is just a bike ride away.

As always check out my Swedish blog if you want at bokstolen.
Josefine

A recommendation from my current readings: In Cuba I was a German Shepard by Ana Menédez.

The Grande Première

A big Welcome to everyone.

I decided that this blog would be about books, simply because I love to visit the library and its vast amounts of books and I love being captivated by their stories. There is few things that gives me more contentment than follow a protagonist through happiness and sadness the whole emotional circle. I also enjoy recommending great books to others, as well as warning them from failures.
However much I like books, there is one problem. Once I start reading a book, I can’t put it down. No matter how terrible it is and how much I really want to quit and get on with the next, I can’t. I always feel that it will be better as I read along and I don’t want to miss that good ending. However, most of the time it doesn’t. This often means that I have struggled my way through many books that clearly did not deserve my attention. But then again, perhaps I learned something from just that one book that took me forever to read.

On my spare time I like to try my own hand at writing, and the most common advice given to any aspiring writer must be read, read, read. Therefore I go through heaps of books, good and bad and everything in between.

Now to a more serious subject, I want to dedicate these last few words to a Swedish author that passed away recently. Her name was Maria Gripe and she wrote beautiful Young Adult novels, which I read when I was young. If you haven’t read anything from her yet visit your local library and see if they have some of her books, they are translated into English and several other languages as well.

I hope to see you soon again. Here or at bokstolen, this blog’s sister site in Swedish and practice your Swedish.
Josefine