Book Description
In this moving and compelling memoir about parent and child, father and daughter, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Lucinda Franks discovers that the remote, nearly impassive man she grew up with had in fact been a daring spy behind enemy lines in World War II. Sworn to secrecy, he began revealing details of his wartime activities only in the last years of his life as he became afflicted with Alzheimer's. His exploits revealed a man of remarkable bravado -- posing as a Nazi guard, slipping behind enemy lines to blow up ammunition dumps, and being flown to one of the first concentration camps liberated by the Allies to report on the atrocities found there.My Father's Secret War is an intimate account of Franks coming to know her own father after years of estrangement. Looking back at letters he had written her mother in the early days of WWII, Franks glimpses a loving man full of warmth. But after the grimmest assignments of the war his tone shifts, settling into an all-too-familiar distance. Franks learns about him -- beyond the alcoholism and adultery -- and comes to know the man he once was.Her story is haunting, and beautifully told, even as the tragedy becomes clear: Franks finally comes to know her father, but only as he is slipping further into his illness. Lucinda Franks understands her father as the disease claims him. My Father's Secret War is a triumph of love over secrets, and a tribute to the power of the connection of family.
Customer Reviews:
My Father's Secret War.......2007-10-18
The book was received very promptly, and was a very good depiction of her experiences in trying to understand WWII from her father's perspective. So many of us "baby boomers" have a difficult time getting our parents to open up and tell us of their experiences during that time. This is a very good book to read.
A Book You Just Can Put Down.......2007-10-04
After all the hype and with the authors oh-so-impressive cred, one expects a book that you just can't put down. She delivers a nice, warm story, but by all means, you CAN put it down.
Slow start.......2007-09-10
As I read the other reviews, I realized they are all true. In many ways this is a poignant and touching story. But Franks takes so long describing their disfunctional family and getting to the interesting part -- her father's war experiences and the process of finding the information -- that I almost put it down without finishing it. I'm glad I stayed with it, as Lucinda finally gets to the real story and redeems herself. (I didn't like her at all at the beginning of the story but I forgave her for her honesty at the end.)
Disappointment.......2007-06-16
You asked me for comments. Perhaps I was expecting more focus on the father. If one enjoys home videos of other families, this book might be of interest.
Buried secrets.......2007-06-13
I almost wish Lucinda Franks chose not to write this book.It was fairly obvious from the start that her father didn't want to remember his role in war..at one point she even asks him if he was a nazi sympathizer.definitely not.My goodness Ms. Frank,leave the poor old guy alone.The book tells a lot about her father and a lot about his daughter.When one of his old buddies phones her and said her dad needs living expenses, some extra cash, she responds that she and her husband have to maintain 3 houses, she can't send dad a few extra dollars..she visits , sees a pile of rancid leftovers in the refrigerator and proceeds to reheat the freshest one for her dad's meal..Golly Lucinda, buy and roast a chicken, peel a few potatoes, buy some canned vegetables.. how hard can that be? Poor dad wears K-mart clothes, so order something for him from Lands'End, you don't even have to go to a store. Again, this is a book that didn't need to be written.
Average customer rating:
- Maus: Explores the ineffable with creativity and ease
- A Compelling Graphic Novel
- Approbation for Maus
- Excellent seller!!
- DEMEANIG, INSENSITIVE, CRUDE STEREOTYPING, HURTFUL TO "OTHER" HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS
|
Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History
Art Spiegelman
Manufacturer: Pantheon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Holocaust
| Historical
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Jewish
| Ethnic & National
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Memoirs
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Comic Strips
| Comics & Graphic Novels
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Comics & Graphic Novels
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Graphic Novels
| Comics & Graphic Novels
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Europe
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Jewish
| World
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Holocaust
| Jewish
| World
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| World
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| World War II
| Military
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Classics
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Literature
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
Look Inside Children's Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Look Inside History Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Look Inside Fiction Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began (Maus)
-
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
-
Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
-
Survival In Auschwitz
-
Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth
ASIN: 0394747232
Release Date: 1986-08-12 |
Amazon.com
Some historical events simply beggar any attempt at description--the Holocaust is one of these. Therefore, as it recedes and the people able to bear witness die, it becomes more and more essential that novel, vigorous methods are used to describe the indescribable. Examined in these terms, Art Spiegelman's Maus is a tremendous achievement, from a historical perspective as well as an artistic one.
Spiegelman, a stalwart of the underground comics scene of the 1960s and '70s, interviewed his father, Vladek, a Holocaust survivor living outside New York City, about his experiences. The artist then deftly translated that story into a graphic novel. By portraying a true story of the Holocaust in comic form--the Jews are mice, the Germans cats, the Poles pigs, the French frogs, and the Americans dogs--Spiegelman compels the reader to imagine the action, to fill in the blanks that are so often shied away from. Reading Maus, you are forced to examine the Holocaust anew.
This is neither easy nor pleasant. However, Vladek Spiegelman and his wife Anna are resourceful heroes, and enough acts of kindness and decency appear in the tale to spur the reader onward (we also know that the protagonists survive, else reading would be too painful). This first volume introduces Vladek as a happy young man on the make in pre-war Poland. With outside events growing ever more ominous, we watch his marriage to Anna, his enlistment in the Polish army after the outbreak of hostilities, his and Anna's life in the ghetto, and then their flight into hiding as the Final Solution is put into effect. The ending is stark and terrible, but the worst is yet to come--in the second volume of this Pulitzer Prize-winning set. --Michael Gerber
Book Description
A story of a Jewish survivor of Hitler's Europe and his son, a cartoonist who tries to come to terms with his father's story and history itself.
Customer Reviews:
Maus: Explores the ineffable with creativity and ease.......2007-09-18
The book is adumbrated in the form of a graphic novel, giving a seemingly new perspective on the holocaust. The issue itself is nothing spectactularly new, although it approaches the holocaust in such a way that the most acerbic of events are bearable.
Most simply stated, the visual aid that accompanies the text allows for the reader to fully understand the author's stance, or viewpoint on the touchy issues of the holocaust. One does not need to have any sort of historical acumen, to grasp the concepts and ideas of the story.
The facade, of animals, instead of humans, used by the author also makes the events seem a little less human. However, throughout the novel, the thought doesn't escape your mind, that this was actually happening, to real people.
The reader is also easily captivated by the father-son presentation of the story, as Art (the author), interviews his father. With nothing but acrimony polluting the stories told by his father, a bond is formed between the reader, Art, and his father, as you must approbate anyone who braves these hardships, more specifically, the characters.
Overall, this story makes something new, that has been done so many times. It entertains, as well as informs. However, it isn't something I'd recommend for casual reading, as time must be set aside to truly appreciate the events in this book.
A Compelling Graphic Novel.......2007-09-18
When hearing the words "Graphic Novel" most people do not think of a moving and inspirational story, yet Maus by Art Spiegelman is just that. Firstly I would recommend this novel for its crafty and meaningful graphics. Various groups, such as the Jewish and German, are depicted as numerous animals. In doing so, the author expresses underlying themes, as one judges another's character by how they look, or their origin. Each picture also conveys the deep feeling in each moment. Frighten and sometimes acerbic faces, give the reader acumen on how the characters feel and are reacting. Also, several depictions of maps and drawings, heightening one's understanding of each setting. The second reason I would recommend the novel is because of the compelling story lines it contains. The first is Vladek's poignant account on how he and his wife survived as the Nazis abrogated their rights. From witnessing friends being hanged, to hiding in attics, the reader gains and insight on personal experiences of the Holocaust. The second is of a strained father and son relationship. As the father ages, the interest and reminiscence of a troubled past becomes their last connection. These assiduous characters are connectable for the reader, and acquire my last approbation. Anyone with a stained relationship or even an experience with isolation, can relate to the feelings and manners of the characters. With evocative graphics, gripping story lines, and relatable characters, Maus is a compelling novel which I highly propose.
Approbation for Maus.......2007-09-18
Maus should be greatly encouraged with approbation. The book displays the crude reality of the Holocaust and World War II in a creative, artistic way that makes the book classic and unique. Having Jews displayed as mice and Nazis as cats, Spiegelman uses much acumen in how the book is laid out and the story told. Even without reading, the graphic art adumbrates the story enough to understand.
Artie is a comic book writer who decides to write meaningful stories instead of useless funny ones, and wishes to interview his father about his experiences during the Holocaust. Vladek willingly tells his story to Artie, who seems unchanged by the troubling information his father is offering him. Throughout the story, Vladek becomes almost an anathema to Artie, and Artie finally finds the hate for his father that was always brewing. Although Artie dislikes his father, his father dislikes himself as well. After the war, life was never the same for Vladek. Having never gotten over his wife's death, and feeling antipathy for his new wife, he seemed to abjure all opportunities to enhance his life and adopted a new, somewhat acerbic personality.
Overall, the story told in Maus is an unforgettable one. It brings about several ineffable issues such as the harshness of World War II and how the Nazis arrogated lives with no right to do so. In addition, how these times were difficult even for the high class. The graphic art in the book ties all of the information together and allows a visual interpretation what the book is saying. Although the story is based on World War II and the Holocaust, it is as much about family issues and hidden hate as it is about history. Throughout the whole experience, Artie and Vladek discover where they truly stand with each other and decide that this deleterious relationship is not worth the trouble any longer.
Excellent seller!!.......2007-09-15
Good seller! Highly recommended for all buyers. My item was timely sent and the condition of the item was as described.
DEMEANIG, INSENSITIVE, CRUDE STEREOTYPING, HURTFUL TO "OTHER" HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS.......2007-09-14
This is as bad, as the 1st Maus: Horribly GRAPHIC, EXREMELY CRUDE and INSENSITIVE to the "OTHER" victims of the holocaust. Spiegleman shows absolutely "no" sympathy or sensitivity to the 3 million Polish-Catholics that were killed by the Germans. Adding insult to injury, he portrays the Poles in a very negative and hurtful manner, when in fact the Poles themselves lost everything. Poles, as well as Jews, lost their homes. Poles, as well as Jews, came home to homes that were piles of rubble. There are so many better vechicles out there to teach about this. This is the last one to use, as it seriously offends many innocent students whose parents and grandparents also suffered, died and lost everything in the Forgotten Holocaust. Better books are: Sybille Steinbacher's "Auschwitz. Steinbachers book gets the job done without all the grusome graphics and vulgar demeaning that is in Maus. Richard Lukas' "The Forgoten Holocaust; Poles Under Nazi-Occupation," and "Did The Children Cry: The suffering of Polish & Jewish children in the holocaust." After reading the latter one by Lukas, you'll never go anywhere near a Maus book again! "Did The Children Cry," will be a wake-up call - unless you are inhumane. Lukas, in both book, talks, OBJECTIVLY about "all" who suffered, without the sick graphics and personal attacks that maus has. Michael Marrus' "The Holocaust in History." Marrus, like Steinbacher and Lukas is controlled, scholarly and informative - Spiegleman is not. These 3 books will explain and teach you something, unlike Maus, that only teaches hateful generalizations through stereotyping and is grusomly graphic. Don't be fooled by the hype. Maus gets an F- for humanity. TEACHERS, PLEASE, BE TEACHERS!
Average customer rating:
- Mysteries of my Grandfather
- A Tender Account of a Tough Man's Life
- Classic American Memoir in a League with Hickam and Wolfe
|
Mysteries of My Father
Thomas Fleming
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Political
| Leaders & Notable People
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| United States
| Historical
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Memoirs
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| World
| History
| Subjects
| Books
New Jersey
| State & Local
| United States
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Essays
| Historical Study
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Marriage & Family
| Sociology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
All Deals
| Blowout Books
| Stores
| Books
Biographies & Memoirs
| Blowout Books
| Stores
| Books
Nonfiction
| Blowout Books
| Stores
| Books
All Amazon Upgrade
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
Biographies & Memoirs
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
History
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
Nonfiction
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
The Irish in New Jersey: Four Centuries of American Life
-
Remember the Morning
-
Banished Children of Eve, A Novel of Civil War New York
-
Looking for Jimmy: A Search for Irish America
-
Washington's Secret War : The Hidden History of Valley Forge
ASIN: 0471655155 |
Book Description
A son comes of age in a fiercely political world
"Thomas Fleming gives us an unforgettable story about an immigrant family—his family—as it struggles to find a place in the American century. He shares with us the dreams and heartaches of his parents, and, in the end, he reminds us of the mysterious and forgiving power of love."
—Terry Golway, author of The Irish in America
"A truly moving story of a lifelong duel between father and son, Mysteries of My Father also vibrates with the great good humor that grows out of ward politics, and pulses with the heartfelt drama of a family just getting by. There were some bad times in the Fleming family story, but Tom Fleming prevails to the good times, and the best time is left to the reader. What a wonderful time I had reading this book."
—Dennis Smith, author of the Report from Engine Co. 82 and Report from Ground Zero
"A well-written, fascinating political history."
—Margaret Truman, author of Murder at Union Station
"With a historian's fidelity and a poet's empathy, Tom Fleming has created a textured study of three generations of Irish-Americans, whose clashing spiritual values inform their integration into New Jersey's social and political hierarchy. Mysteries of My Father is an American classic achieved by a master storyteller's talents for exploring the tensions and bonds between a father and his sons. Among the literary wonders of this brisk and moving memoir is the father's emergence as a seminal American character—brusque and pragmatic, yet capable of expected tenderness to his sons."
—Sidney Offit, author of Memoir of the Bookie's Son
"If you care about what it means to be an Irish-American, or about New Jersey political history, or about the relationships between fathers and sons, or about wonderful writing, run—don't walk—out to buy Tom Fleming's Mysteries of My Father."
—Nick Acocella, publisher of Politifax
Customer Reviews:
Mysteries of my Grandfather.......2005-09-29
This is an excellent book that mixes the talents of a good story teller with that of an historian. While the title has "An Irish-American Memoir" in it, it is certainly far more universal than that. It shows how people have to adapt to the world they live in not the one they wished they lived in, and how someones outward appearance can be quite different than the real inner person. This books works at several levels: the inner workings of marriages, parents and their children, making it in America as a newcomer or child of a newcomer, politics, and history. It's accuracy makes me realize how far we have come in 70 years but it also reminds me that for many of us our success and happiness traces back to some pretty tough, not highly educated, ward bosses like Teddy Fleming who cleared the way probably never fully realizing how much their day to day hard work would slowly change the world's major superpower to a more pluralistic and democractic country--even if some of their methods might shock our modern sensibilities.
I recognized the authenticity of this boook immmediately. My grandfather was also, for a while, part of the Frank Hague machine but as county engineer. He eventually left to be county engineer for Bergen County because he refused to approve a sewer project that Hague wanted to give to a friend of Hague's who my grandfather felt was not qualified to do the job properly. With a degree in engineering it was much easier for my grandfather to pick and choose where he worked.
Overall, a very enjoyable book at many levels.
A Tender Account of a Tough Man's Life.......2005-09-19
Ernest Hemingway observed that there is nothing more difficult to write about than a man's life. In Mysteries of My Father, novelist and historian Thomas Fleming superbly does just that, as he examines his father Teddy Fleming's entire life in "downtown" Irish-Catholic Jersey City in the first half of twentieth-century America. Soul, verve, wit and heart emerge throughout.
Teddy Fleming, with an eighth grade education and an indomitable will, overcomes the limited opportunities of his impoverished environment by first leading men in World War I combat. There he learns to trust himself while at the same time accepting the role of luck, or fate, in life. Once home, he rises as a ward organizer for legendary political boss Frank "I am the law" Hague, who eventually appoints Teddy as sheriff of Hudson County, New Jersey.
The author weaves family history with the shared experience of early Irish-Americans who struggle for security against Protestant domination. This rich document speaks of fathers and sons, urban politics in the Tammany Hall era, the education of a historian, the imperative of finding a vocation, the power and influence of the Catholic Church, the pressures of poverty in the days of "Help Wanted---No Irish Need Apply" signs, and most directly, the dissolution of the marriage between the author's mother and father.
The first half of the book, which predates the author's birth, introduces many extended family relatives. The time you spend getting to know everyone is a modest chore as the son deliberately assembles his father's portrait. As we move toward the author's first person perceptions in the second half of the account, though, the book begins to sprint.
We watch as Teddy courts and marries refined schoolteacher Kitty Dolan, who detests her husband's immersion in lowbrow political chicanery and the Hague machine's reciprocal hold on Teddy's identity. Kitty's frustrated desire to transform her husband from a "thick mick" into someone more upright and discerning informs her estrangement from him. She hardens her resentment with efforts to alienate father from son, and the author labors to find the cause of his mother's sorrow. Teddy Fleming, the man, is much more than the simple hack Kitty sees him to be, but the author never judges either parent. He accepts the love they can give.
Thomas Fleming is an elegant writer with a raconteur's facility for storytelling, tempered by a historian's devotion to accuracy. The author tells it like it is, to the extent he can, given his involvement in the events. The writer's willingness to confront his parents' disconnections all but verifies this commitment. He takes us to dark places but thankfully never loses a sense of humor along the way.
Lively tales of Teddy's varying roles as a Hague functionary and family patriarch are aplenty. Amid the systemic graft, massive corruption, and revolving cast of rogues, decency lies in Teddy's delivery of jobs for the needy and votes for the boss. Teddy Fleming, hardly a paragon of good government, is not without honor. He lives modestly and obeys his conscience so as to look proudly at "the guy in the glass"---his reflection---every day. Teddy's abetting of odiousness is secondary to his ethic of self-reliance. He is, at all times, true to himself.
This dignity makes Teddy's drift from Kitty all the more crushing. His rise in the Hague organization corresponds to an increasing distance from her, and a free fall ensues.
Thomas Fleming yearns to excavate his father's ways in the unforgiving political, cultural and economic landscape of Irish-Catholic Jersey City. To his son, Teddy Fleming's outward adherence to an iron code of loyalty, nerve and force conceals an inscrutable inner life which the author aches to know. The author's empathy and unforced voice are just right for this journey to find his father's spirit.
In this tender account of a tough man's whole life, Thomas Fleming reminds us that to love is to risk pain but also to know the fullness of being.
Classic American Memoir in a League with Hickam and Wolfe.......2005-05-24
Acclaimed historian Thomas Fleming has written popular histories of the Revolutionary War, several controversial re-examinations of such hallowed 20th century figures as Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt and best-selling historical novels.
No one, however, could have guessed that his personal history, as told in "Mysteries of My Father," would provide the material for arguably his most gripping and powerful work.
"New Jersey" and "corruption" go together like "hot fudge" and "sundae." The phrase recalls cliched images of fat, cigar-smoking pols raking in the big bucks and stealing from the poor.
Fleming's family memoir takes an inside look at the ultimate political machine run by Jersey City Mayor Frank Hague, a boss who had presidents coming to him to curry his favor. But the picture is not quite what the tsk-tsk tone of the stereotypical history book would suggest.
Fleming points out that the old-fashioned political machines often were all that certain poor, ethnic communities had to stand up for them.
Like Homer Hickam's "Rocket Boys" (the basis for the movie "October Sky") and Brian McDonald's "My Father's Gun," this is the story of an important subculture going through the pressure cooker of 20th century changes, told by a narrator who is close enough to the action to take an inside look but enough of a nonparticipant to have the distance required for a proper perspective.
Above all, these books tell, at their heart, the universal story of sons struggling to make their way out of their fathers' shadows - very big shadows, in fact, cast by larger-than-life figures.
At the center of "Mysteries" is Thomas "Teddy" Fleming Sr., who fought bravely in the trenches of France during World War I though he had little use for the cause. Irish-Americans at the time had no interest in saving Britain from Germany, and they had legitimate trouble with the argument that Germany was any more expansionist than the country that had occupied the auld sod for centuries.
However, the war would pave the way for two fateful factors of Teddy's life. First, he was away while most young people his age married, and second, his heroic status brought him to the attention of the Irish Democrat political machine that held power in Jersey City.
It was only logical that the city's most eligible bachelor and the most popular single girl would be thrown together by their friends. Kitty Dolan was a pretty socialite who still was available only because her fiance had fallen fatally ill.
What even her friends and family did not realize, however, was that Kitty saw her beau as a ticket out of what she thought of as low Irish life and society.
Like the politicians, Kitty saw the potential in Teddy and how she could use it to her ends. Unlike them, however, Kitty had wholesale changes in mind for her husband, while the political machine gave him a job that perfectly suited his abilities, personality and skills - and immersed him in the life that Kitty so despised.
The war hero and the tragic figure seemed like the perfect couple to the outside world, but there's no loathing like self-loathing, and when Kitty turns it outward, it's breathtaking in its intensity. When their children were old enough to recognize it, they were not merely caught in the crossfire of a contentious marriage, but Kitty also tried to enlist them as combatants.
Fleming presents his parents, warts and all, but also with affection. While showing Kitty as the aggressor, he refuses to take sides, as each person reacted in the exact wrong manner to make amends - perhaps because each was so ill-suited for the other and not prepared to change.
By the time the usually taciturn elder Fleming -?hen a county sheriff and arguably the second-most powerful man in the nation's most effective political machine - tearfully exclaims to his sons, "You're all I have," the reader's heart will be as broken as if it were his own family's trauma.
"Memories of My Father" shows the inside of ethnic politics, such as how genuine grievances become excuses for corruption though the justification of "It's our turn to get ours now." This manifests itself in vote-stealing (the author personally was responsible for keeping his deceased grandmother on the absentee voter roles for years), heavy-handed patronage and outright theft.
Fleming also takes shots at the notion of "hyphenated Americanism," noting that no matter how much reverence is expressed for the Old Country, after a generation, immigrants invariably become so Americanized as to be completely alien to those in the country they left.
This book has enough subplots for at least another couple of hundred pages. If he had chosen to, Fleming could have serialized his and his family's life like the great memoirist Tobias Wolfe. He takes a hard look at the role of the Catholic Church in the Irish immigrant culture of the time, and the author's Navy experiences during the fall of China undoubtedly could have filled more than just one chapter.
"Mysteries of my Father" is a uniquely American memoir and a story as old as Genesis. As Father's Day approaches, this heartfelt, powerful and ultimately loving book is an ideal gift for the reader on your list.
(review run in the Flint Journal, Flint, MI)
Customer Reviews:
A revealing, impressive book.......2007-08-28
My husband and I were good friends and neighbors of John and Eleanore Richardson during their years in Mexico. We knew them well, but not nearly as well as we did after reading their son's My Father, The Spy, which is an excellent book. John never betrayed his oath of secrecy, so that, though he was a marvelous conversationalist, widely read and with a large range of interests, one received only the barest outline of the lives these two and their family had lived in the circles of power and often, of international intrigue. The book's prose has both grace and balance. John Richardson, Jr. constructed the chapters so that My Father, the Spy reads very much like a novel, and a really gripping one at that. Beyond the personal element, we valued the fineness of the book, its careful research, its compelling explanation of historically-known episodes and its ability to interweave the personal with the broader historical picture.
Clever and honest.......2007-01-23
After reading this book I felt like I really saw into the life of this family. How interesting is it to live in North Korea duriing your teen years when your Dad is a spy? John Richardson is honest about his teen selfishness, and also honest about his family struggles. Its a human tale. Although I was a little bored at times, overall I liked it enough to pass the book along.
My Father the Spy; an intriguing memoir.......2006-03-19
I found My Father the Spy to be an intriguing,finely written memoir exploring the dynamics of family, country and the internal workings of the CIA. The author takes the reader from World War II, through the turbulent Vietnam era to Watergate and beyond. He explains the burst of behavior against the sadness of his father and his generation during the 60's and 70's and raises questions about current affairs.It's written in an honest and sensitive way, drawing the reader into personal,realistic details of family life.
Richard has made this book difficult to put down, combining mystery and realism so well.
I found myself thinking about this book long after I read the last page and highly recommend it to readers of all ages.
5 stars!
Barbara G. DeCesare, Warwick, RI
The Dad Who Knew Too Much.......2006-03-16
When John Richardson's father died, he decided to investigate the elder Richardson's mysterious career in government, resulting in this partially interesting family memoir. The unassuming and bookish father was actually an old-school cold warrior, with many years at fairly high levels in the CIA spy organization. This includes playing a big part in the early years of America's involvement in Vietnam, plus working in several other countries where the CIA was obsessed with knocking off the communists. For about the first two-thirds of this memoir, we get an enjoyable look at the history and politics surrounding the elder Richardson's responsibilities in the CIA, as we learn along with Richardson Jr. how nail-biting his dad's life really was. The general family biography is also pretty interesting, as we learn about young Richardson and his sister growing up as expatriate American kids in several different foreign nations.
Unfortunately, this book collapses in the final third, as we reach dad's retirement from the stressful spy life and the family's return to America. Here the younger Richardson moves inexorably into unfulfilling ruminations of his own problems during his teen and college years, apparently trying to atone for his substance abuse and other embarrassing peccadilloes. But he writes as if he was the only young person who ever felt aimless and got into trouble, and as if his family's dysfunctions were unique just because they were more worldly than most. Well none of this is unique, or instructive for the reader. Here Richardson Jr. gets ridiculously self-indulgent, and this family melodrama has nearly nothing to do with his father's intriguing career as a spy, which is what made the first parts of the book pretty interesting. Then the book ends with excessively tortuous coverage of the father's slow and agonizing death from cancer, and this is disrespectful both to Richardson Sr. and to the reader. Hence, Richardson Jr.'s apparent attempt to mix political history, family memoir, and self-examination is unsuccessful. [~doomsdayer520~]
Better than the Washington Post review.......2006-03-03
I heard the author speak on TV and decided I wanted to know more. In the meantime, a rather negative review appeared in the Post. The sense of the review was that the author had many stories to tell--and conflated them in a confusing and ultimately poor manner. The review had much substance, BUT, I really enjoyed the book as a combined family/CIA memoir. It is VERY incomplete with regard to the author, his father, his family, and the CIA, BUT it presented an interesting and informative overview of geopolitics as seen by a disturbed teenager (is there any other kind?).
Average customer rating:
- True to life
- the real story
- Could not put it down
- Shedding a different light on the Greatest Generation
- Shedding a different light on the Greatest Generation
|
My Father's War
Julia Collins
Manufacturer: Four Walls Eight Windows
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Historical
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Military & Spies
| Professionals & Academics
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Women
| Specific Groups
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Family & Childhood
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Military
| Leaders & Notable People
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Memoirs
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Military
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Naval
| Military
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| World War II
| Military
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Naval
| World War II
| Military
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Ships
| Transportation
| World
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Military Science
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Our Fathers' War: Growing Up in the Shadow of the Greatest Generation
ASIN: 1568582609 |
Book Description
Jerry Collins was emotionally scarred by “the good war” and failed to live up to the standards set for the men of his era. He found unlikely solace: Collins began confiding in his daughter about the war before she turned five. Drawing on her recollections and a suitcase of her father’s old letters and photographs, Julia Collins pieces together his experience during the war, his return home, and his subsequent descent — offering a new perspective on the men of “the greatest generation.” Photographs are included in this candid recollection.
Customer Reviews:
True to life.......2004-08-31
I picked up this book because I was interested in reading someone else's experience. My father was a Korean war vet and his experiences early in his life certainly changed who he was as a father. Julia Collin's book is inciteful and true to life and anyone who has a parent who has served in combat whether their parent talks about their experiences or not will find it enlightening. Experiencing war is an ugly thing and we all must remember that now and in the future when our veteran's return home to piece their lives together.
the real story.......2002-08-10
At first, I could only read this book in bits at bedtime, but by the time I hit chapter four, I could no longer put it down and finished it in the middle of the night. I wept long and hard. Sadness and overwhelming joy. Ms. Collins - no, Julia - thank you for having the courage to share your story with us and for telling it so even-handedly. I felt like my grandfather, a storyteller whose quiet voice used to gather amazingly large crowds, was telling a tale of that Great Generation, of the tribulations faced not just a war but at home. And I feel sorry for anyone who has not heard this tale of yours and had the chance to share its epiphanies. Thank you again.
Could not put it down.......2002-08-06
I read this book over a period of three days while nursing my baby; I could not put it down. it rings so true, I could even imagine Jerry's voice singing those old big band tunes and improvising those bedtime stories for "the girls" as he tried to keep his nocturnal memories at bay. He sounds like a true Irishman, that heartbreaking combination of humor and melancholy. For personal reasons too complex to describe, I am very grateful for this book and for its courageous author, who revealed as much of herself as of her haunted father. I will read it many times.
Shedding a different light on the Greatest Generation.......2002-06-30
Collins' moving memoir of her battle-scarred father offers readers a window into the lives of vets after the fighting is over, and the battles that emerged on the homefront. It's as much a story of the author's father, Jeremiah Collins--Yale student-turned soldier-turned salesman, as it is the writer's own. With painstaking honesty and powerful imagery, Collins paints a portrait of small town America in the grips of post-World War II boosterism. Some of the pictures aren't pretty, but Collins, a gifted writer, manages to move the reader through those passages and take them to a place of solace and closure.
Shedding a different light on the Greatest Generation.......2002-06-30
Collins' moving memoir of her battle-scarred father offers readers a window into the lives of vets after the fighting is over, and the battles that emerged on the homefront. It's as much a story of the author's father, Jeremiah Collins--Yale student-turned soldier-turned salesman, as it is the writer's own. With painstaking honesty and powerful imagery, Collins paints a portrait of small town America in the grips of post-World War II boosterism. Some of the pictures aren't pretty, but Collins, a gifted writer, manages to move the reader through those passages and take them to a place of solace and closure.
Average customer rating:
|
My Father's Son: A Memoir
Dimitri Drobatschewsky
Manufacturer: Bridgewood Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Jewish
| Ethnic & National
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Personal Narratives
| World War II
| Military
| History
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0927015277 |
Book Description
Souvenirs of a noted music critic, from life in Berlin before WW II to his experience in the French Foreign Legion. After settling in the U.S. he became - and was for 20 years - the music critic of The Arizona Republic.
Customer Reviews:
Sad, funny, poignant.......2003-11-18
A story of survival, of chance encounters, unbearable loss and suffering and yet of a spirit that survives and even flourishes, despite everything. Drobatschewsky writes about the loss of his father, but it is a loss of innocence, betrayal and the horrors of war brought on by the german people in WWII Germany. An interesting and riveting book that you won't be able to put down until it's finished. Dimitri's story is one that was shared by many in WWII Europe and he tells it in a way that will make you laugh and cry and wonder how he got through it.
Book Description
This first-person account, by the youngest of eight children of a pious Jewish family from Sosnowiec in Poland, is remarkable for the faith shown by a teenager faced with the horrifying realities of the Holocaust. Edward Gastfriend, known as Lolek as a boy, remembers in heart-wrenching detail the seven years he survived in German-occupied Poland.
The accelerating Nazi assault on the Jews abruptly shattered Lolek's life. Jews were randomly beaten and arrested, forced out of their homes, deported to slave labor camps, and shot on the streets. During this time, Lolek lost his family, friends, and neighbors, the whole while struggling to hold onto a promise he made to his father before his father was deported. Lolek pledged never to denounce God and to maintain his faith. This covenant proved to be the key to his remarkable survival in several slave labor camps including Auschwitz and several satellite camps of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
My Father's Testament is an intimate portrait of a teenage boy trying to stay alive without losing his humanity--in hiding, in the camps, and during the death marches at the end of the war.
Embedded in this unique memoir are two other stories of fathers and sons. One lies in the moving foreword by David R. Gastfriend, Ed's son, now a psychiatrist at Harvard Medical School. The other lies in Björn Krondorfer's afterword. Years after he met Edward Gastfriend, Krondorfer was startled to hear his father mention Blechhammer as one of the places where he was stationed as a young German soldier. Blechhammer was where Lolek was held in a slave labor camp. The coincidence led this German father and son to travel back to the site to confront the Holocaust.
My Father's Testament will engage readers interested in history, the Holocaust, and religion.
Customer Reviews:
Find Yourself A Teacher.......2000-03-26
Find yourself a teacher and go study...--Pirke Avot. It is obvious to me, that Edward Gastfriend was influenced by the teachings of his generation and the leadership of the youth resistance fighters. This is what helped him survive the concentration camps against all odds. I challenge each and every one of you to- " find yourself a teacher ( a leader) or become a leader yourself." This is what our generation seems to be lacking. I congratulate Edward Gastfriend on his book, and I give him 5 stars for his bravery and courage in writing this book.
Who Will Say Kaddish for Them?.......2000-03-11
With so many survivors aging and passing on while revisionists and hate-mongers grow in ranks, Edward Gastfriend has performed a personally courageous and vitally important public service by recounting his shattered youth to bear witness to a tragedy that still defies description. The author bravely strips away the superficially protective veneer of passing time to bare wounds that have never truly healed: the cruelly inexplicable and untimely loss of his parents, his sisters and brothers, his youth, and his own innocence. And for what reason did he have to suffer this undeserved and inordinate pain? Simply because human silence - not just Nazis' and Poles', but every human's - sanctioned or ignored the beastly hatred which consumed millions of lives during the darkest epoch known to man. I wish to personally thank Mr. Gastfriend for his courage in writing his memoir: who will speak for the dead, if not the living.
An authentic story of faith,survival and values.......2000-02-18
This book proves that all Holocaust stories are not the same. It is unusual in that it is written by an adult through the eyes of the young boy he once was. Because of that it is an emotionally wrenching account in straightforward simple terms. The truth is often like that. The book names places, people and occurrences in such detail that is totally convincing.
"My Father's Testament" is a must read to help understand the enormity of man's inhumanity to fellow man juxtaposed with man's ability to survive with faith in God, family and fundamental values of right and wrong.
This is a story for young and old and people of all races, religions and ethnic backgrounds who seek to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the human condition.
Average customer rating:
|
EARL HAIG: MY FATHER'S SON: The Memoir of Dawyck Haig
Earl Haig
Manufacturer: Pen and Sword
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Irish
| Ethnic & National
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Historical
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Military & Spies
| Professionals & Academics
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Military
| Leaders & Notable People
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Europe
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| England
| Europe
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Germany
| Europe
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Ireland
| Europe
| History
| Subjects
| Books
World War I
| Military
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| World War II
| Military
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Personal Narratives
| World War II
| Military
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Europe
| World War II
| Military
| History
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0850527082 |
Book Description
Dawyck Haig is the only son of Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, the British supreme commander in World War I. He was captured by the Germans in World War II and spent the rest of the war under heavy guard at Colditz Castle.
Book Description
One man's struggle with memory and prejudice on the way to recovering his past
Mark Kurzem was happily ensconced in his academic life at Oxford when his father, Alex, showed up on his doorstep with a terrible secret to tell. When a Nazi death squad raided his village at the outset of World War II, Jewish five-year-old Alex Kurzem escaped. After surviving the Russian winter by foraging for food and stealing clothes off dead soldiers, he was discovered by a Nazi-led Latvian police brigade that later became an SS unit. Not knowing he was Jewish, they made him their mascot, dressing the little “corporal” in uniform and toting him from massacre to massacre. Terrified, the resourceful Alex charmed the highest echelons of the Latvian Third Reich, eventually starring in a Nazi propaganda film. When the war ended he was sent to Australia with a family of Latvian refugees.
Fearful of being discovered—as either a Jew or a Nazi—Alex kept the secret of his childhood, even from his loving wife and children. But he grew increasingly tormented and became determined to uncover his Jewish roots and the story of his past. Shunned by a local Holocaust organization, he reached out to his son Mark for help in reclaiming his identity. A survival story, a grim fairy-tale, and a psychological drama, this remarkable memoir asks provocative questions about identity, complicity, and forgiveness.
Books:
- New Seeds of Contemplation
- Ninth Key (The Mediator, Book 2)
- Once Upon a Crime (The Sisters Grimm, Book 4)
- Our Iceberg Is Melting: Changing and Succeeding Under Any Conditions
- Over The Top
- Patton on Leadership
- PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives
- Prints Of Rufino Tamayo, The (Artes Visuales Turner)
- Rain Village
- Real Boys : Rescuing Our Sons from the Myths of Boyhood
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Second Acts: Creating the Life You Really Want, Building the Career You Truly Desire
- History: Fiction or Science
- Where Trouble Sleeps
- A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City--A Diary
- Bangalore Tiger
- Fundamentals of Fluid Mechanics
- Evolutionary Conservation Biology
- The Princess Trilogy: Boxed Set
- Your Illustrated Guide to Foreclosure Gold Mining
- Industrial Economics I: Harwood Fundamentals of Applied Economics
The Invisible Wall: A Love Story That Broke Barriers
Sala's Gift: My Mother's Holocaust Story
Family Romance: A Love Story
When a Crocodile Eats the Sun: A Memoir of Africa
Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil
