I always marvel at how things work out ...sometimes.
Of all the thousands, even millions of book choices out there at my local library, on-line through ebooks and at the big box bookstore .... our book club made the choice for this month's read, Laura Hillenbrand's Unbroken. It was pretty much my choice since book club will be held at my home later this month.
I believe it's our first non-fiction book.
It reads like a epic war movie.... well, it is! The setting is about survival in a World War II Japanese POW camp.
The biggest shock I had, or maybe now it's a revelation .... in all the years I had basic studies in US History.... even advanced History in 9th grade.... I don't think we ever made it to World War II.
Oh yes, I can't help but know a lot about World War II, mainly because of epic war movies, History Channel re-enactments and great modern movies like Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers.
If you are looking for a good book to read, I recommend Unbroken. I heard that Angelina Jolie is actually in the works of directing the movie version to come out at the end of the year.
The lieutenant’s name was Louis Zamperini. In boyhood, he’d been a cunning and incorrigible delinquent, breaking into houses, brawling, and fleeing his home to ride the rails. As a teenager, he had channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics and within sight of the four-minute mile. But when war had come, the athlete had become an airman, embarking on a journey that led to his doomed flight, a tiny raft, and a drift into the unknown
Over this past weekend we went and saw George Clooneys' Monuments Men. There were mixed reviews in the paper. I enjoyed the movie and was quite entertained.
Based on the true story of the greatest treasure hunt in history, the film is an action drama focusing on an unlikely World War II platoon, tasked by FDR with going into Germany to rescue artistic masterpieces from Nazi thieves and returning them to their rightful owners.
Sometimes we need to get a little insight into our past history to appreciate what we have in front of us in the here and now.
There are so many stories to be told and heard about what made our country great!!
War is not the genre for everyone.
It's sad.
War is HELL.
If you are looking for something new (old) to read, or just a really good movie that makes you think ... I find it so very interesting that I learned so much about WWII in the past few weeks than I ever knew studying it in the classroom. Get a hold of the book, Unbroken and go see the movie, Monuments Men.
No comments:
Post a Comment