Unbroken

Book: Unbroken
Author: Laura Hillenbrand
Edition: eBook from Fresno County Library
Read: Oct 10, 2014
879 pages
Rated: 4 out of 5

Synopsis:
This is a biography of Louis Zamperini. It tells of his life as someone who was a thief as a youngster. He then gets turned around by his brother through running track. Not only was he good, he was very good-making the 1936 Olympic team in the two mile race. He was very close to be the fastest miler of his time.

Then the war hit and he became a bombardier on a B-24D in the Pacific, stationed out of Hawaii. He made many flights and helped save his plane during one particularly hard bombing run. But on another flight his plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean-ironically looking for another plane which had gone down in the Pacific. Three men were able to escape from the plane and were a drift on a life raft for 40+ days, without food or water. Two of them surviced only to be picked up by the Japanese.

The book describes the tortures he faced at the hands of his Japanese captors for two years. It traces Zamperini's time on the island where he was first captured then onto Japan. Here he was detained at three POW camps, each progressively worse than the previous one.

After the war ended, he returned home to marry, have a child, become an alcoholic and to plot out his vengeance on a particularly evil POW prison guard. Along the way, his wife takes him to a Billy Graham crusade in Los Angeles. There his life changes. It then briefly tells of his life and others lives, including some of his captors. 


Thoughts:
Eugenics.When Zamperini was running, eugenics (39) was a major scientific theory, attracting a lot of attention. At this time Zamperini was only interested in running, not in understanding implications of philosophical bents. So when he ran in Germany, he did not recognize how eugenics was affecting life there. Eugenics is the thought that if we can be selective about human breeding, we can improve a race.

Running.He ran because it was what his body wished to do. (48) This is very reminiscent of the Eric Liddel statement about the I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast! And when I run I feel his pleasure. When we do what we are made for, we usually feel good about doing it and we do it effectively.

Kunichi James Sasaki (91). He was one of the strangest characters in the book. He was a college friend of Zamperini. But in reality was a Japanese spy before the war. He eventually became attached to the Japanese embassy in Washington DC and returned to Japan at the outbreak of war.  Sasaki then meets Zamperini in Japan, introducing himself as the chief interrogator-but never interrogating Zamperini. After the war, it is revealed he was only a low-level perfunctory. Later on he is accused of beating a prisoner to death.

Aircraft Loss. Hillenbrand brings many details into the book. One of them talks about the amount of loss of aircraft. She states that combat losses of aircraft and crew was less than those by accidents-this was by a ratio of 1 combat loss to every six accidental losses. (159) It would seem like this would have been a great realization and something would be done. Would it have been better to stopped training and doing the actual combat? Was the equipment that unstable?
Hillenbrand really does not go into the causes of the accidents.

Mental strength. Mental strength at least as important as physical and innovation abilities. This is why Phillips and Zamperini survived and Mac did not. In Zamperini case, it was built both through his long distance running and his schooling once he decided to concentrate. He also undertook perpetration for survival by getting himself schooled in what if's. His intuitiveness was based upon knowledge. This mental strength is the biggest take away from the book. It is what make the difference in survival when lost and the hopelessness of those who will not be found.

Japanese POW Camps. The thing which impresses you about the Japanese in this book is there viciousness. How being the masters of the earth gave them the right to be cruel and barbarous to those who they had conquered. To them strength equaled rightness of action. The weak were to be beaten.

Does the US engage in this? By what standards do we now engage in warfare?

Hillenbrand points out that they were able to hold out after the crash despite the loss of food, water and shelter. It was at the Japanese hands where they were most at risk: the loss of their dignity. It is interesting that what the Japanese treasured the most and feared losing was what they sought to remove from their prisoners.

The results of racism was similar to what happened with slavery in our South. The belief of inherent superiority leads mistreatment of the believed inferior.

The kill all orders-see chp 32. These were orders from the highest up in Japan. If an area looked like it was going to fall to the Allied forces, then kill all the POW's. The Japanese had a history of killing their prisoners anyway and several examples of this was given throughout the chapter, including the massive killing of Chinese.

Truth. When you tell the truth, you are in a good position to do one of two things: continue to tell the truth or lie. When you lie, you can only do one thing: continue to lie.

Japanese Good Guys. After the war, the histories of the various people were recounted before progressing on to Zamperini's.  It is interesting to see two of the "good guys" on the Japanese side of things. One there is no record of him after the war-he was likely killed in battle when the American's took over an island he was on. The other noted sympathetic person was Yukichi Kano. They both saved Zamperini's life, and other POW's as well. Why did they do something which their other countryman doing? Even their own country was advocating-cruelty to the POW's, killing them off by deprivation? Was it because they both were Christian? Was it the Western influence which comes with Christianity? or the teachings which they submitted themselves to? They both did not benefit from their actions.

  As I was reading about these two people who if caught would have been disciplined at best and may have had their actions judged as betrayal to their country, I was thinking what caused them to take action? I suspect it was the complete lack of humanity shown to the POW's by their country and countrymen. They felt the need to be human and care those in life-threatening need.  Now you move 60 years later and think about the wars in the Middle East and how America has treated their prisoners in Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo.  Has America treated their prisoners with respect for their humanity? Have we beaten them? Have we starved them? Deprived them of their senses? Has any of our guards stepped up and tried to restore that sense of humanity? Would we be judged equally as hard as the Japanese were judged? Most importantly, how would I react when I see cruelty and inhumanity?


After the War. After being released from being a POW and returning to LA, Zamperini would eventually be consumed by two things: alcoholism and vengeance. The alcoholism was because as a war hero and an Olympian, he was in constant demand to tell his story. It was his story which he wanted to forget. The alcohol helped deaden that sensation of reliving his story. But it fed into behavioral problems which came close to ruining his life. We do this to our heros. Build them up and when their feet are exposed as clay, tear them down.

Vengence. The vengeance part is really potent. The chief tormentor of Zamperini was constantly in his dreams, constantly torturing him This man had taken his dignity and left him feeling humiliated, ashamed and powerless... (644) This caused Zamperini to want to restore himself by killing his former tormentor. Here Hillenbrand makes the same point which Desmond Tutu makes in his book, The Book of Forgiving. The paradox of vengefulness is that it makes men dependent upon those who have harmed them... (646) This chained Zamperini to his former tormentor. It is a lesson for all of to remember: to release the hold a person has on us, forgive them.

Relief from Vengence. Billy Graham asks, why do good men suffer? Why does it seem like a God I'd silent in the midst of our suffering? Graham's answer is we see good all around us-in the sunsets, in nature. But he Is not too busy for us. He is there with us. These thoughts stirred in Zamperini the turmoil which had been raging within. Eventually he turned to God and obtained relief. The book concludes with a summary of his history and accomplishments after his conversion.

Evaluation:
There is a good reason why this book is called Unbroken. It is the biography of a child hoodlum, Olympic runner, World War II bombardier, ocean crash survivor,  Japanese prisoner of war, and alcoholic. Through it all, Louis Zamperini found ways to survive, to continue his struggles.


Hillenbrand tells Zamperini's story well. It flows smoothly, letting us ponder both his strength and weaknesses. She also exposes the thin layer between humanity and human cruelty. For both reasons, this is a book worth reading.



New Words:

• Cahuilla (47): Iviatim are Native Americans of the inland areas of southern California.
• Fundoshi (149): the traditional Japanese undergarment for adult males, made from a length of cotton
• Immolated (571): kill or offer as a sacrifice, especially by burning
• Cenotaph (695): an "empty tomb" or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere.
• Raconteur (708): a person who tells anecdotes in a skillful and amusing way.

Good Quotes:

• First Line: All he could see in every direction was water.
• Last Line: There was no trace of them here among the voices, the falling snow, and the old and joyful man, running.
•  Goodwill needs no translation (335)
• After three and a half years in person camp, I had been liberated by the great American blonde! (572) quote by Tom Wade, pow upon being greeted in a Japanese railroad station
• Life is cheap in war. (165) words from Martin Cohn.

Table of Contents:
Map
Preface
Part I

1. The One-Boy Insurgency
2. Run Like Mad
3. The Torrance Tornado
4. Plundering Germany
5. Into War

Part II

1. The Flying Coffin
2. "This Is It, Boys"
3. "Only the Laundry Knew How Scared I Was"
4. Five Hundred and Ninety-four Holes
5. The Stinking Six
6. "Nobody's Going to Live Through This"

Part III

1. Downed
2. Missing at Sea
3. Thirst
4. Sharks and Bullets
5. Singing in the Clouds
6. Typhoon

Part IV

1. A Dead Body Breathing
2. Two Hundred Silent Men
3. Farting for Hirohito
4. Belief
5. Plots Afoot
6. Monster
7. Hunted
8. B-29
9. Madness
10. Falling Down
11. Enslaved
12. Two Hundred and Twenty Punches
13. The Boiling City
14. The Naked Stampede
15. Cascades of Pink Peaches
16. Mother's Day

Part V

1. The Shimmering Girl
2. Coming Undone
3. The Body on the Mountain
4. Twisted Ropes
5. A Beckoning Whistle
6. Daybreak

Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index

References:

• Publisher's Web Site for Book
• Author's Web Site
• Wikipedia-Book
• Wikipedia-Author
• Wikipedia-Louis Zamperini
• Amazon-Book
• Amazon-Author
• Barnes and Noble
• Facebook-Author
• GoodReads-Book
• GoodReads-Author
• GoodReads-Book-Devil at My Heels
• GoodReads-Author-Louis Zamperini
• Senate Resolution S531
•  LA Times review of Louis Zamperini's book Devil at My Heels
• Washington Post on Laura Hillenbrand
  Wall Street Journal review
  NPR review
  New York Times review
  
  
  
  
  

  
  

  Reading Guide:

  From Barnes and Noble site: 

  1. Louie’s experiences are singular: It’s unlikely that one person will ever again be in a plane crash, strafed by a bomber, attacked by sharks, cast away on a raft, and held as a POW. And yet the word most often used to describe him is “inspiring.” What does Louie’s experience demonstrate that makes him so inspirational to people who will never endure what he did? What are the lessons that his life offers to all of us?

  2. Is Louie a hero? How do you define heroism?

  3. In Louie’s boyhood, he was severely bullied, then became a delinquent and hell-raiser. In these experiences, did he already display attributes that would help him survive his wartime ordeal? Did he also show weaknesses or tendencies that foreshadowed the struggles he would face postwar?

  4. Do you think Louie’s athletic career helped prepare him for what he would face in war?
  

  5. Louie was especially close to his brother, Pete, who devoted himself to him. If Pete hadn’t been there, what do you think would have become of Louie? Does Pete deserve credit for shaping Louie into a man who could endure and survive his Odyssean ordeal?

  6. Hillenbrand explores the extraordinary risks faced by America’s World War II airmen: 52,000 men killed in combat, 36,000 killed in noncombat aircraft accidents, and a stunning 15,000 killed in stateside training—at times, an average of 19 per day. Men faced a 50 percent chance of being killed during combat tours of only 30 to 40 missions. Were you aware of the dangers faced by airmen in the Pacific war? What facts and stories were most surprising to you?
  7. What are your feelings about Mac? Do you feel sympathy for him? Anger? If you endured the trauma of a plane crash and were placed in a situation that you knew very few men survived, might you have reacted as he did? In the end, do you think he redeemed himself?
  8. When Louie, Phil, and Mac were on the raft, a key factor in their survival was optimism. All three men were young and able-bodied, veterans of the same training, experiencing the same hardships and traumas, yet Louie and Phil remained optimistic while Mac was hopeless, seemingly doomed by his pessimism. Why are some people hopeful and others not? How important are attitude and mind-set in determining one’s ability to overcome hardship?
  9. What did you find most remarkable about the things Louie and Phil did to survive on the raft?
  10. After more than forty-seven days on the raft, the men lost half their body weight and were rendered mere skeletons. Yet they refused to consider cannibalism, which had not been uncommon among castaways before them. Would you, in the same situation, ever consider cannibalism? If it could ensure that two men survived, when otherwise all three would almost certainly perish, would it be a moral decision?
  11. Louie believed he was the beneficiary of several miracles, among them his escape from the wreckage of his plane, the fact that he and the other men were not hit with bullets when their rafts were strafed, and the appearance of the singers in the clouds. What is your interpretation of those experiences?
  12. The POWs took enormous risks to carry out thefts, sabotage, and other acts of defiance. Men would risk their lives to steal items as trivial as pencil boxes. What benefit did they derive from defiance that was worth risking death, or severe beatings?
  13. In the 1930s and 1940s, Germany and Japan carried out what are arguably among the worst acts of mass atrocity in history. What leads individuals, and even whole societies, to descend to such a level? What motivated the notoriously sadistic POW camp guards in Japan, particularly the Bird? Do you think we all carry the capacity for cruelty?
  

  14. After the war, Louie would say that of all the horrors he witnessed and experienced in the war, the death of the little duck, Gaga, was the worst. Why was this event especially wrenching for him and the other POWs?

  15. Louie, Frank Tinker, and William Harris planned to escape from Ofuna, walk across Japan, steal a boat, and make a run for China. It was a plan that very likely would have ended in their deaths. Was it foolish, or did it offer a psychological benefit that was worth the enormous risk?
  16. Louie joined a plot to kill the Bird. Was he justified in doing so? Would it have been a moral act? Do you think Louie could have found peace after the war had he killed the Bird?
  17. Unbroken reveals that, under the “kill-all order,” the Japanese planned to murder all POWs, a plan that was never carried out because of the dropping of the atomic bombs. The book also explores the lengths to which the Japanese were prepared to go to avoid surrender. How did the book make you feel about America’s use of the atomic bomb on Japan?
  18. “Anger is a justifiable and understandable reaction to being wronged, and as the soul’s first effort to reassert its worth and power, it may initially be healing,” Laura Hillenbrand wrote in an article for Guideposts magazine. “But in time, anger becomes corrosive. To live in bitterness is to be chained to the person who wounded you, your emotions and actions arising not independently, but in reaction to your abuser. Louie became so obsessed with vengeance that his life was consumed by the quest for it. In bitterness, he was as much a captive as he’d been when barbed wire had surrounded him.” Do you agree?
  19. Many of us struggle to forgive those who have wronged us, especially since forgiveness is often so difficult to find. What makes it so hard to let resentment go?
  

  20. “What the Bird took from Louie was his dignity; what he left behind was a pervasive sense of helplessness and worthlessness,” Hillenbrand continued in her Guideposts article. “As I researched Louie’s life, interviewing his fellow POWs and studying their memoirs and diaries, I discovered that this loss of dignity was nearly ubiquitous, leaving the men feeling defenseless and frightened in a world that had become menacing. The postwar nightmares, flashbacks, alcoholism and anxiety that were endemic among them spoke of souls in desperate fear. Watching these men struggle to overcome their trauma, I came to believe that a loss of self-worth is central to the experience of being victimized, and may be what makes its pain particularly devastating.” Do you agree?

  21. Hillenbrand wrote that among the former POWs she interviewed, forgiveness became possible once each POW had found a way to restore his sense of dignity. Was this what Billy Graham gave to Louie? If so, what was it about that experience, and that sermon, that gave Louie back his self-worth?

  22. Do Louie Zamperini’s wartime and postwar experiences give you a different perspective on a loved one who was, or is, a veteran?

  23. Why do you think most World War II literature has focused on the European war, with so little attention paid to the Pacific war?
   

The Monuments Men

Book: The Monuments Men
Author: Robert M Edsel
Edition: eBook, read on OverDrive from Fresno County Library
Read: Oct 10, 2014
760 pages
Rated: 3 1/2 out of 5

Synopsis:
This is a historical account of some of the people whose assignment it was to save the art of Europe during World War II. The book traces the actions and works of about 5% of the MFAA personnel during this war. They range from privates to Captains, but almost all have a background which has an appreciation of beauty.

Thoughts:
What is the place of saving art during war? Besides the recounting of certain peoples actions in World War II, this is the central issue in the book. Edsel's indicates that art, because it is an expression of humanity, it must not be destroyed. But I am not sure how you do that without endangering human life. Edsel uses Eisenhower's directive as a model: It is the responsibility of every commander to protect and respect these symbols [historical monuments and cultural centers]  whenever possible. ... the lives of our men are paramount. (92) That is a good balance to work towards, particularly if you are winning.

Edsel states that Hitler had found his true calling. I think Edsel was saying that the calling was as a maker of an empire which would be a cultural marvel even a millennium later, not to create, but to remake; to purge and rebuild. (35) Of course that remaking is in Hitler's own image.You would think that eventually all art would be ones which Hitler would approve of. Eventually, the only art would resemble Hitler and not the full image of humanity.

What kind of art was Hitler interested in? It sounds like all the arts-paintings, sculptures, music, dance, picture....  (38)

Mortimer Wheeler, a soldier in the British army, noted when he saw the ruins of Leptis Magna that this is what power looks like. But the corollary also resides in these ruins-it is a lesson in our own mortality.(67) When we think we build for eternity, time will destroy our works, wearing them down. We are to remember, the works of our hands is only momentary; but that the works of our spirits lasts forever.
 
No one had in the army had considered the historic and cultural value, and therefore the propaganda value .... (69) Is that all which historic sites are good for, propaganda? Or is this a residual value? I am thinking of the later, these things have an intrinsic value to us, rather than utilitarian. The value is that things like this express who we are as a people.

If we have to choose between destroying a famous building and sacrificed our own men, then our men's lives count infinitely more and the buildings must go. General Eisenhower, report of the American Commission for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historic Monuments in a War Areas, pg 48

George Stout's thoughts about seeing an English Chapel, as reported by Edsel, there wasn't anything overtly beautiful, but there was nothing out of place, nothing extravagant or shabby, and that held a beauty all it's own. (108) Simplicity will win out over complexity to hold our imagination. Complexity is a thought already imagined; simplicity allows us to imagine.

... Here death had been so fouled by degradation that it both stunned and numbed us. (438) words by General Omar Bradley. These were spoken after Bradley saw one of the concentration camps. Edsel describes the effects of seeing or hearing about the camps on the Monuments Men. Some visited, some declined because of concern it would have on their relations with their German contacts. All were affected, mostly negative in their thinking about the German people. 

Perhaps one of my weaknesses has been that I love to be surrounded by luxury and that I am so artistic in my temperament that masterpieces make me feel alive and glowing inside. (595) From the Nuremberg Interviews, spoken by Herman Goring. It is interesting to me that what makes Goring feel alive is art. I wonder why. I picture people like Goring as having a deaden core, else how can they live with what they have done. What would bring Goring alive in a painting? Might he be mistaking the thrill of the chase, the coveting of another s possessions, with the warmth of being loved?

When Goring discovered that a painting he possessed and probably bought from a looter was a fake, it is reported that Goring for the first time ... had discovered there was evil in the world. (595) If the worst Goring ever experienced was being duped, I am not sure this qualifies as a great epiphany. Discovering that ones self is capable of evil, or even worst has done evil, that is true revelation.

Evaluation:
Edsel is a person who is passionate about the subject of Monuments Men-those who were charged with saving the art of Europe during World War II. He speaks well and is very worthwhile hearing. But this evaluation is not about his talks but about his book, The Monuments Men. Like many true believers in a cause, he has lots of information to tell, but whose talent is not necessarily one whose is highly skilled in the conveying of that information through the art of writing. 

I liked the subject matter and Edsel's style of writing is easy to read. But Edsel is telling a story, a true story, but still a story. As such, there should be a flow to the book. Instead there was a lack of focus in the story. He writes about several people in the MFAA (Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives). He would have done better to have selected three of the people he wrote about and told their stories, weaving the other men's stories into theirs. Who would have been those three people? I would have picked Rose Valland, James Romier and George Stout.

The other thought which I was having was, was this written with the thought of making a movie? It sometimes feels like a movie would tell this story better., and there was a hit movie made from this book with George Clooney.

So would I recommend this book? Yes, particularly if you are interested in either World War II or the visual arts. He has much material which is a good place to  launch off onto other writings on this subject.

Book References:

• Extensive Bibliography and end notes
• The Rape of Europa: The Fate of Europe's Treasures in the Third Reich and World War II by Lynn Nichols
• Feuilles by  Jacques Jaujard
• The Battle for Art by Rose Villard
• Survival by James Rorimer

New Words:

• Sacristan (158): an officer charged with care of the sacristy, the church, and their contents
• Amontillado (429): a variety of Sherry wine characterized by being darker than Fino but lighter than Oloroso.
• Filigraine (466):French word-not sure what it means
• Gauleiters (469): the second highest Nazi paramilitary rank, ranking below the new rank of Reichsleiter (National Leader)
• Reliquary (508): a container for holy relics

Good Quotes:

• First Line: This is a long road we have to travel. Eisenhower in a letter to General Vernon Prichard
• Last Line: No one seemed interest in the fact that the painting was the Rembrandt from the museum in Karlsruhe, and that the nineteen-year-old solder standing next to it was a German Jew who had grown up three blocks from that museum, and by chance had descended seven hundred feet into a mine to behold, for the first time, a painting he had always heard about, but never had the right to see.
•  These monuments are not merely pretty things, not merely valued signs of man's creative power. They are expressions of faith, and they stand for man's struggle to relate himself to his past and to his God. pg 53 quoted from George Stout's pamphlet entitled Protection of Monuments: A Proposal for Consideration During War and Rehabilitation
• An expert and a precisionist makes his analysis first, then his decision. pg 59,  quoted from George Stout to Francis Taylor, "General Museum Conservation", December 31, 1942 
• Destiny is not one push, .... but a thousand small moments that through insight and hard work you line up in the right direction, like a magnet does with metal shavings. pg 300, thoughts of Rose Valland
• The crowd will succeed in remembering only the simplest concepts repeated a thousand times. 345, quoted from Adolf Hitler in Mein Kamf
• It is amazing how the world can change during the life span of a fruitcake. 358 as quoted from George Strout
• The eyes have one continual feast. 463, quoted from a letter from Walker Hancock to his wife
• No age lives entirely alone; every civilization is formed nor merely by its own achievements but by what it has inherited from the past. If these things are destroyed, we have lost a part of our past, and shall be poorer for it. (552)  Ronald Balfour, draft lecture to soldiers, 1944
• There are fights that you may lose without losing your honor; what makes you lose your honor is not to fight them. (608) Jacques Jaujard in Le Figaro, Nov 21, 1968
• it is not enough to be virtuous, we must also appear to be so. (625), quote from Edith Standen in Report on Germany
•  

Table of Contents:

1. I The Mission
1. 1 Out of Germany 3
2. 2 Hitler's Dream 10
3. 3 The Call to Arms 16
4. 4 A Dull and Empty World 25
5. 5 Leptis Magna 32
6. 6 The First Campaign 37
7. 7 Monte Cassino 44
8. 8 Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives 50
9. 9 The Task 63
2. II Northern Europe
1. 10 Winning Respect 70
2. 11 A Meeting in the Field 83
3. 12 Michelangelo's Madonna 97
4. 13 The Cathedral and the Masterpiece 102
5. 14 Van Eyck's Mystic Lamb 113
6. 15 James Rorimer Visits the Louvre 120
7. 16 Entering Germany 139
8. 17 A Field Trip 146
9. 18 Tapestry 155
10. 19 Christmas Wishes 164
11. 20 The Madonna of La Gleize 173
12. 21 The Train 177
13. 22 The Bulge 190
14. 23 Champagne 193
3. III Germany
1. 24 A German Jew in the U.S. Army 209
2. 25 Coming Through the Battle 214
3. 26 The New Monuments Man 220
4. 27 George Stout with His Maps 230
5. 28 Art on the Move 239
6. 29 Two Turning Points 242
7. 30 Hitler's Nero Decree 250
8. 31 First Army Across the Rhine 253
9. 32 Treasure Map 259
10. 33 Frustration 270
11. 34 Inside the Mountain 280
12. 35 Lost 284
13. 36 A Week to Remember 287
4. IV The Void
1. 37 Salt 303
2. 38 Horror 309
3. 39 The Gauleiter 314
4. 40 The Battered Mine 316
5. 41 Last Birthday 322
6. 42 Plans 327
7. 43 The Noose 332
8. 44 Discoveries 339
9. 45 The Noose Tightens 344
10. 46 The Race 348
11. 47 Final Days 353
12. 48 The Translator 359
13. 49 The Sound of Music 362
14. 50 End of the Road 367
5. V The Aftermath
1. 51 Understanding Altaussee 373
2. 52 Evacuation 382
3. 53 The Journey Home 391
4. 54 Heroes of Civilization 400
5. Cast of Characters 427
6. Notes 431
7. Bibliography 447
8. Acknowledgments 455
9. What Is Your Connection to the Story? 459
10. Index 461

References:

• Wikipedia-Book
• Wikipedia-Author
• Amazon-Book
• Amazon-Author
• Barnes and Noble
• GoodReads-Book
• GoodReads-Author
• Harvard Magazine on The Art Army
•  Just Us Gals web site
• LitLovers web site
•  Monuments Men Foundation
• The New Yorker
• Archives of American Art
• Smithsonian
•  Records of the American Commission for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historic Monuments in War Areas 
• 
  
  
  
  Notes from my book group:
  How many lives is an irreplaceable piece of art worth?
  

  
  

  Why did the French give in so easily to the Germans? Was it worth the cost?

  
  

  What is art?

   
  
  
  Study Guide Questions
  From Just Us Gals web site:
  
  

  1. Robert Edsel calls the Monuments Men, “The Heroes of Civilization.” What do you think Edsel means and do you agree? 

  2. What do you think drove the Men to do what they did and how did they find the strength given circumstances at the time?

  3. Discuss Hitler’s obsession with art and his personal connection to art. Do you think there was any correlation between art and power for him? Do you think there is a correlation in society today with art and power?

  4. At any point while reading Monuments Men did you think of the war in the Middle East? Are there similar atrocities taking place today? Examples? What’s different?

  5. Why do you think this is a relatively unknown story? Is it not interesting? Exciting?
  

  6. During the book did you feel differently about national treasures being stolen rather than a families' personal items being stolen and destroyed during the war?

  7. We happened to read this book when new pieces were discovered in Germany. Did this give you any hope that more pieces are soon to be discovered?

  8. If found, should they be returned to their original owners?

  
  

  --------------

   From LitLovers web site:

  
  

   1. "It was a good group, he had to admit. A group [Stout] himself might have chosen, if given the chance." Talk about the original group of 11 men put together to salvage the world's artwork. What made George Stoat believe that it was the right team for the job? What were the men's individual qualifications, both personal and professional?

  
  2. What kind of man was George Stout? How would you describe James Rorimer? Why was his service so invaluable to the mission? Who else stood out among the Monuments Men?
  
  3. What role did Rose Valland play? How critical was she to the success of the Monuments Men mission?
  
  4. Why were the pieces of art so important to Hitler? Why was he so intent on creating his "Führermuseum...the largest, most imposing, most spectacular art museum in the world"?
  
  5. Should the team who rescued the stolen art be elevated to the level of heroism as Robert M. Edsel indicates? Or should we consider them as good men doing a hard job very effectively—and extend our gratitude and respect?
  
  6. Another question that must be asked is the degree of importance accorded to the mission. Is protecting art worth the price of a human life—or diverting resources otherwise used to protect lives? What do you think? What does Edsel suggest?
  
  7. If you have seen the George Clooney directed movie, how does it compare to the book? What do you think of the film...it's music (especially), visuals, and actors. If you haven't yet seen the film, do you intend to after reading and discussing the book?
  
  8. What have you learned from reading The Monuments Men—about the war, the Nazis, and most of all about art?
  

  
  

  ---------

   From Hol Arts Books web site and the Mint Museum

  1. Robert Edsel calls the Monuments Men, “The Heroes of Civilization.” What does he mean? What common traits or aspects did these men possess? What kept them going during incredibly difficult and often miserable times?

  2. Discuss the Monuments Men. Which ones were you more drawn to? Why? What in their personal stories drew you in? Which Monuments Men sacrificed the most?

  3. Would museum employees, librarians, and artists do today what the Monuments Men did during and after WWII?

  4. Are there similar atrocities taking place today? Examples? What’s different?

  5. Discuss Hitler’s fascination with art and its power. What about societies’ fascination with art? Is it strictly monetary fascination or is there more to it?

  6. On page 393, Monuments Man Harry Ettlinger states, “My knowledge of the Holocaust started really with the realization that it was not only the taking of lives—that I learned much later in my experience—but the taking of all their belongings …” Discuss the difference in stealing personal belongings and stealing national treasures. Is there a difference? What effect does this have on a nations’ collective mental health?

  7. Robert Edsel has said, “Rose Valland is my candidate for the greatest heroine of WWII.” Do you agree? What about Rose made her so special? Discuss her relationship with James Rorimer and Jacques Jaujard.

  8. Discuss George Stout. How did his knowledge and passion for art conservation come into play? Discuss his creativity in the field. What was his relationship with the other Monuments Men?

  9. Why do you think this is a relatively unknown story? Is it not interesting? Exciting?

  10. Where do you think the thousands of still missing works of art are located? Once found, should they be returned to their original owners?

  11. Discuss what you found the most fascinating about Monuments Men. The brazen theft of the Bruges Madonna with the Allies mere days away? The discovery of the Ghent Altarpiece in the Altaussee mine? Which story touched you the most? Or shocked you?

Childern of Dune

Book: Childern of Dune
Author: Frank Herbert
Edition: eBook from Fresno County Library
Read: September 15, 2014
763 pages
Rated: 4 out of 5

Synopsis:
This is a sequel to Dune and Dune Messiah. It follows the development of Leto II and Ghianima, the young twin children of Paul  Atreides and his sister, Alia, on Arrikas, the planet of Dune. The storyline involves Alia turning into the Abomination and the twins fight both to reclaim and enlarge the vision of their father as well as resisting the forces which turned Alia.

Thoughts:

Abonimation Herbert uses the term Abomination to describe a person who is under the influence of another person. Or more precisely, a Bene Gessert who succumbs to a controlling influence by one of the ancient voices  in them. This is because the Bene Geesert have the knowledge and wisdom of those preceding them, the voices within. But Paul, Alia, Leto and Ghianima not only hear the voices, but were born or induced through the drug melange. Consequently they can be controlled by these voices. I think that by the voices, Herbert meant more than just hearing sounds, even if in the head. But more like a multitude of persons within. I suspect there is certain similarities to schizophrenia, but not being schizophrenic.

The question which comes to my mind is, is Herbert saying when we let others control us, we are less ourselves? If so, then I wonder what he would think about how we develop ourselves? When we are children, our parents, teachers direct our thinking. As adults, we read writers, like Herbert, to better view our world and to better understand ourselves. Is Herbert saying we should not have influences like this? If so why does he write? If not, what is the nature of this Abomination?  I for one am a combination of my influences and the uniqueness which God has made me in.

As I am writing the above, the thought did occur to me that the type of influence which is an Abomination is when it corrupts the image of God in me. Advertising which seeks to take over his place, porn which seeks to deter me from righteousness, greed which seeks to be the primary goal in my life, pleasure which lulls me into complacency.

Religon

It appears that Herbert thinks that in the future religion will be come superfluous. I cannot point to a particular passage in the book, but the general direction seemed to be in that direction. The one religion presented here is a religion of God made in man's own image. A God of the strongest; a God lacking compassion for individuals but using people and discarding them. This is not the God which I do or desire to worship. In this way, he is more like Ann Rand and her image of a superman.

Future of the human race. 

Herbert's view of the future of the human race. In order to stop the slaughter which humans seems to inflict on themselves, Herbert thinks that it will take a superhuman with a benevolent vision. In Herbert's vision all others need to bow to him or be crushed. What is the difference between this vision and any other penny-ante dictator's lust for power? 

Evaluation:

This is the third book in the Dune series and the last one written by a Frank Herbert. The last time I read beyond this book, the writing really was not up to par. Even this book is not as good as Dune, but it is highly enjoyable, particularly if you are a Dune fan. 

There is plenty of intrigue to keep one busy, but you do have to enter into the world of Dune to understand it.  Some of it is artificial-of course the whole set up is artificial. But the hypnotic play-acting of Ghianima going from hatred to partner. Or Leto meta-morphing into a super-human requires a certain amount of suspension of reality. There is a character called the Prophet. He had the possibility of being strong and defining justice. But in the end, Herbert undercuts the character and leaves him broken.

But the question, does Herbert write well enough to make these type of transitions? For someone like me who enjoys Herbert, the answer is yes. But for others, I think the answer will be in the negative.

New Words:

• oneironmancy (165): a form of divination based upon dreams; it is a system of dream interpretation that uses dreams to predict the future.
• Abrim (222): full to the brim
• Desiccate (230): the state of extreme dryness, or the process of extreme drying.
• Coruscate (246): to emit vivid flashes of light; sparkle;scintillate; gleam.
• Qanat: one of a series of well-like vertical shafts, connected by gently sloping tunnels. Qanāts create a reliable supply of water for human settlements and irrigation in hot, arid, and semi-arid climates.
• Motile(447): (Biology) capable of moving spontaneously and independentl; Psychology) psychol a person whose mental imagery strongly reflects movement, esp his own
• Pasigraphic (532): a writing system where each written symbol represents a concept (rather than a word or sound or series of sounds in a spoken language).
•  Cilia(31): Biology. minute hairlike organelles, identicalin structure to flagella, that line the surfacesof certain cells and beat in rhythmic waves,providing locomotion to ciliate protozoansand moving liquids along internal epithelialtissue in animals
• Haruspication(650); a form of divination from lightning and other natural phenomena, but especially from inspection ofthe entrails of animal sacrifices. 
  
  

Good Quotes:

• First Line: A spot of light appeared on the deep red rug which covered the raw rock of the cave floor.
• Last Line: "One of us had to accept the agony," she said, "and he was always the stronger."
•  Failure to make a decision is a decision. Pg 23
• Too much knowledge never makes for a simple decision. Pg 38
• One observes the survivors and learns from them. pg 58
• Most deadly errors arise from obsolete assumptions. Pg 150
• Can you walk in mud and leave no tracks (paraphrase). pg 160
• For proper government, the tribe must have ways to choose men whose lives reflect the way a government should behave. Pg 221
• Our civilization could well die to indifference within it before succumbing to external attack. Pg 286
• How seductive it is to live in peace. Pg 293
• When we come to the end of our rope, that's an important point to recognize!  Pg 373
• There's unknown all around at every moment. That's where you seek knowledge. Pg 446
• Knowing was a barrier which prevented learning. Pg 448

References:

• Publisher's Web Site for Book
• Wikipedia-Book
• Wikipedia-Author 
• Amazon-Book
• Amazon-Author
• Barnes and Noble
• GoodReads-Book
• GoodReads-Author
•  Wikia pages
• Science Fiction Review

The Invisible Wall: A Love Story That Broke Barriers

Book: The Invisible Wall: A Love Story That Broke Barriers
Author: Harry Bernstein
Edition: eBook from Barnes and Noble
Read: September 11, 2014
239 pages
Rated: 3 1/2 out of 5

Synopsis:
This is an autobiographical story of Harry Bernstein's childhood and family. He tells of growing up in a Protestant Northern England slum as a Jew. He talks about the harassment and the comradery of a divided neighborhood-Christian and Jew. Throughout the book, an invisible wall lurks-Christians on one side of the street and Jews on the other, barely interacting. He talks about his own heritage's boundaries which make it easy to be hated, and easy to be isolated. Also he talks about the event which brought the community together, briefly.

Thoughts:
Even though there seemed to be separation between Jews and Christian, there was some interaction between the two groups. Such as on Friday nights or Saturdays when the Jews could not light their cooking fires, they used a Christian to start their fires. Or they crossed the wall to go teach others shops.  Also when Harry was running an errand, he talked to two Christian neighbors who seemed to not mind his Jewishness.

Bernstein starts the book off with that Jews and Christians living in the same ghetto. But there was an invisible wall separating them, down the middle of the street.(7)  Later, he talks about the war almost destroying that wall (130). The telegram lady would come with her notices of death and injury. All the neighborhood would come together to co-commiserate. When the war ended, the wall returned. Later on, Lily's baby, half-Jew, half-Christian came, breaking down the barrier when the street celebrated life rather than mourned death.(230) But at the end of the book, he wonders was it ever really torn down, but maybe just breeched for short times.

Harry's father was an alcoholic and an abusive father/husband. From Bernstein's book you gain insight into the hell which such a person inflicts on their family. How insecure it makes all feel, even though it maybe only verbal threats. In Harry's case, it was both verbal and physical, particularly towards Harry's mother.  The father was this way from childhood. Harry's father 's family had moved away from him when he was young, he terrorized them so. Even though they moved from Poland to England, Harry's father searched for them and found them, terrorizing them even more. Apparently his abused was not alcohol induced, but something he was born with. Why would someone grow up that way? 

The Bernstein children had dreams of what they wanted-such as a parlor like another family they had a room, but nothing to make it livable. As these dreams got squashed, they grew resentful. His sister, Lily, had the dream of furthering education, going so far as getting full scholarship. But this two was dashed by the father who seemed to enjoy only killing hopes and dreams. Was some of the things which came up in the book because of these hopes were killed? Do you find ways to live your dreams in other ways, which causes more hurt?

In chapter three, there is an instance where a Christian, Arthur, saves the lives of the five children of the Bernstein family from other non-Jewish kids. The daughter, Lily, is smitten by Arthur. The part which causes me to ponder is while the mother is grateful to Arthur, she does not want Lily to associate with him because of being a Christian. The question is why? Is it because the name Christian is so reprehensible to her? Because she feels a need for total isolation away from non-Jewish influences? Fear of the unknown? I am at a loss at why, particularly since he saved her children. But maybe in her culture, the religon is more important than her children. Later on, a baby helps her to show love to her daughter , but only through a great personal turmoil. What about a person;s religon is more important than a relationship?

A boarder comes to live with the family. Bernstein makes the comment, thanks to this man who brought new life into our house. Bernstein's description of the household before Larry is a house of fear, lacking joy, the house of the walking dead.  Larry is a guy who has a lot of things wrong with him. But the one thing he has is the ability to bring joy to others, including the father of the household. He sings, he engages, he understands, he does. How is it that simple joys can bring change this this? Why was it not there before? The reason was principally the father. How sad that what formed him is being 

In contrast to the father, the mother holds the family together. She is the one who stays up late at night to mend clothes. She is the one  feeds the children. She is the one who tends to their education, both secular and religious. Later Bernstein realizes this. 

For the most part, Bernstein does not address philosophy or beliefs. He is Jewish, but it is an identity, not a belief. But he recounts one incident where the rabbi's son is to give the Passover sermon. He does it in the form of the four questions said at Passover. But he introduces a fifth question, which is not answered: why does God allow so much suffering in our world? He does not provide an answer. But just raising the question, leads me to think Berstein does not approve of his Jewish God.

Another place where Bernstein inserts his personal values is in a letter to his sister Lily from Arthur, a goy who eventually marries Lily. In the letter, Arthur describes scenes from the front in World War I. He says there is no heroism... only dirt and mud and cold and men crying like babies. He says there is no glory in worry and doubts if he could go on fighting. The only reason to continue to fight is that this is the war to end all wars. Such optimism. Given that there was even a much greater war fought within three decades, would he have thought this war worth it? I think that is Bernstein's point. War does not solve war. Only by changing the circumstances of war can you reduce the possibility of war. We will always have greed, or the need for survival with us-my thoughts, not Bernstein's.

After the war, Arthur wants to marry Lily. From Arthur's view, he fought in World War I and that prejudice should have ended with it. But Lily understands there is deep seated divisions which even war does not settle. Marriage would mean the end of her families love for her. She would be a dead person. Arthur thinks that when capitalism ends, so will the wall between Christian and Jew. But we know that this thinking was not correct. It is not economics which separates us from each other, but our upbringing, our own prejudices, our own weaknesses and blindness, ourselves.

There was so little beauty in her life, and so little hope, that even a bouquet of buttercups and daiseys gave her enormous pleasure and put her in a gay mood. (189) this sentence is from when Harry gave her a bouquet. It just struck me that to bring joy to someone does not require you to have some elaborate gift, but a simplicity of the heart in a gift.

Death is darkness.(209) the description Berstein gives is that all is silent, all is dark during the time of mourning. No comfort is allowed to be given; no comfort is allowed to be taken. Darkness mimics death where all is darkness. In this case it is when a Jewish girl marries a Christian man. The Jewish family considers her dead. 

But this acting like the daughter is dead has another reaction. Those living across the street take this as a sign of rejection of them as people, by the Jews. A bit of prejudice and lack of communications goes a long ways to divide people from their neighbors. Only one Christian person crosses the invisible wall to help out with the Friday fire.

Berstein ends the book with a re-enactment of why you cannot go back home. After about 30years away, he returns back to England and to his old town. But the town has changed. The tailors shop has been bombed during World War II; while the streets are still there, the horse drawn carriages are gone, replaced by cars. His street is deserted, scheduled to be demolished for public housing.but one of the residences is still there, but only for a few days. The conversation is of where has everybody gone. Berstein is not necessarily sadden to find the place gone, but wonders if the invisible wall still remains.

Evaluation:
This is not a book of big pronouncements of living together, but more of one man's reminisces of living closely together with hatred. The question in my mind is this one man's experience worth reading? My response is that it is for understanding, but not for deep insight.

 
Notes from my book group:

• A lot of the discussion was based upon the racist family background-separation between the Jews and the rest of the world.
• Gary's comment: Was this because of what happened in Ezra's time? One of the Church's reaction to the world is to withdraw and be separate. Is this the outcome?
• In many ways, bad behavior gets the attention. So bad behavior gets perpetuated.
• There is prejudice on both sides.
• Is what the book protrayed, still present in today's world? How much is there prejudice against Jews?
• Gary's note: When i was growing up, a good friend noted at our 10th high school reunion that I was one of the few people who did not mock him because of his Jewishness. So I suspect there still is an undercurrent, like there is in much of our society when someone is different than ourselves.

Publisher's questions from Arkansas Library
1. How would you describe The Invisible Wall? A social history exposing religious prejudice? A story of star-crossed lovers? A young boy’s coming of age?
2. Harry’s sister Rose dreams of one day having a parlor and a piano; why does she consider her mother’s faded fruit shop to be a betrayal?
3. If you were in young Harry’s position, would you have kept Lily’s love affair a secret? What was at stake for Harry in maintaining his silence?
4. Despite all that divides them, there is a level of everyday mutual dependence linking the Jews and Christians of Bernstein’s street– gaps in the invisible wall, so to speak. What examples of this mutual dependence can you think of, and do they work to dismantle the wall or to reinforce it?
5. Harry’s mother is a remarkable woman. Her selfless acts sustain the impoverished family, and yet she disowns her daughter for marrying a Christian boy. Discuss this seeming contradiction in her character, and how she ultimately reconciles it within her own heart.
6. In the accompanying interview, Harry Bernstein states that “wars always bring people face-to-face with reality, causing false barriers to disappear.” Do you agree or disagree?
7. By encouraging Lily to improve herself through education, is her mother sowing the seeds that ultimately lead to Lily’s dissatisfaction with the boundaries of Judaism and her involvement with her Christian neighbor, Arthur?
8. Why do you think Lily’s father prevents her from going to the grammar school after she’s won the scholarship?
9. What does America represent to the Bernstein family?
10. Fatherhood and forgiveness are important themes in Bernstein’s story. Do you think Bernstein has forgiven his father? Do you think his father deserves to be forgiven? On the other hand, what do you think of the rabbi’s son, Max? Does he betray his father and his faith by going to Russia to fight in the revolution?
11. Have you ever experienced living in a divided community, like the street on which Harry lived as a child? Reflect on the religious, class, or racial separations you may encounter in today’s society, both outwardly and self-imposed.
12. Harry Bernstein published his first memoir in his nineties; what are your own dreams, and how does Bernstein’s story inspire you to reach for them?

New Words:

• Middens (11): an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, vermin, shells, sherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofacts associated with past human occupation
• Goys-fire (17):  Yiddish-It is regularly used by Jews to refer to any and all peoples of faiths other than Judaism. The word is also used to pejoratively describe those not of Jewish descent.
• Batesemas, batesy, bates (26): interesting, about have of the references in Google refers back to this book.
• Ragamuffins (26): A dirty, shabbily-clothed child; an urchin.
• Clogs (27): a type of shoe; a type of footwear made in part or completely from wood.
• Slattern (30): a dirty, untidy woman
• Dreeing (35): endure (something burdensome or painful).
• Kop (35): 
• Shabbos (39): the Jewish day of rest and seventh day of the week, on which religious Jews remember the Biblical creation of the heavens and the earth in six days and the Exodus of the Hebrews, and look forward to a future Messianic Age. Shabbat observance entails refraining from work activities, often with great rigor, and engaging in restful activities to honor the day.
• Alacrity (40): brisk and cheerful readiness.
• Chedar (63): 
• Siddurim (64): a Jewish prayer book, containing a set order of daily prayers.
• Shul (68): Yiddish, school, synagogue, from Middle High German schuol school
• Shaigets (74): a male goy married to a Jewish woman
• Emmos (75): 
• Shivah (78): the week-long mourning period in Judaism for first-degree relatives: father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, and spouse. The ritual is referred to as "sitting shiva."
• Inveigled (93): persuade (someone) to do something by means of deception or flattery
• Talith (93):  tallit-a Jewish prayer shawl
• Chomish (99): the god of the Moabites  (another similar spelt word is the fifith part)
• Rossellini (103): 
• Chometz (103):  leavened foods that are forbidden on the Jewish holiday of Passover
• Bris 160): or brit mailah:  a Jewish religious male circumcision ceremony performed by a mohel on the eighth day of a male infant's life

Good Quotes:

• First Line: It was one of those rareSummer evenings when it did not rain, and the smoke cleared  from the atmosphere, leaving the sky a deep blue color, and the air soft and balmy.
• Last Line: Then there was silence and my eyes would close and I was asleep.
•  But there are few rules or unwritten laws that are not broken when circumstances demand, and few distances too great to be traveled. Pg 8

References:

• Publisher's Web Site for Book
• Wikipedia-Author
• Amazon-Book
• Amazon-Author
• Barnes and Noble
• GoodReads-Book
• GoodReads-Author
•  New York Times review
• Lit Lovers guide
• USA Today's obituary for Harry Bernstein
• The Telegraph's obituary for Harry Bernstein
•  You and Us-Women's View
• Books on the Brain blog
• Susan's Literary Cafe blog