I’ve only recently joined the HUGE amounts of people following the posts of “Human’s of New York”.

I’m so glad I did.

The posts are usually very short, presenting an excellent photo of a person with a snippet of something that person said about himself/herself. At the moment the posts are from around the world, as the photographer, Brandon (no last name mentioned on site) is travelling with the UN.

I read about two such posts a day. It makes me pause for a moment, imagining that person’s life. It’s fun.

However, would it be just as fun as a photo-book? It seems that Brandon is coming out with his second book now. I find that one of the appealing things here is “being introduced” to just one or two people  a day. It doesn’t work that way with a photo-book.

In my experience, I read through most of a photo book in the first day or so, look at it again a bit with visiting friends the first few weeks, and then the book is banished to a life of solitude on the bookshelf. I’ve taken some photo books to the classroom and created “scavenger hunts” for them (you know, on which page can you find the following…) and thus given the photo books new lives.

BUT…..

When I was a child I had two photo books which I thought were called “The many faces of man”  and “The many faces of children”. I thought they were from the Time Life Series which we had a few volumes of. Obviously, my memory is faulty and the names are incorrect because Google can’t seem to recognize and locate the books I mean. I was an avid reader as a child too (and there was no Internet then either) and yet I recall looking at these books over and over again.

But that was then. I haven’t done that as an adult. I’m delighted with the medium, Internet, that disciplines me and lets me enjoy these words and photos a few minutes a day. Every day.

Would you buy a photo-book?

WOW!

I was a bit afraid of reading this novel, it sounded quite intimidating.

Once I began I had trouble putting it down. I became completely engrossed despite the serious topic and the fact that it was clear that there would not be a happy ending.

The point of view is so different from other books about the second world war. This book was written shortly after the war by a German author who had suffered the Nazi regime first hand.

Before I read the book I thought that “Alone in Berlin” referred to the isolation of those who dared to defy the regime, who refrained from becoming party members. However, by the time I finished the book my understanding of the title had changed. I now feel that the book emphasizes how the Nazi regime isolated everyone, encasing them in their bubble of fear. No one could trust anyone, it was best not to be in contact with others (nor to confide in them). It was an atmosphere straight out of 1984 – you never knew who would denounce you. Every word could be used against you. Even the party members and high-ranking officials were not exempt from these fears. At any minute they could fall from favor and get the same terrible treatment they had been administering.

I was a bit disappointed to discover just now that the original title in German was “Every Man Dies Alone”, which may not support my theory at all. Alone in Berlin made more sense to me.

What a book!

It reminds me a bit of “The Day Lasts More Than A Hundred Years” by Aitamtov, which I read three years ago. Also powerful, also very authentic, but “Alone in Berlin” is a much easier read, style wise.

I recommend them both!

Before watching the last movie adaptation of a book (The Book Thief), I debated a great deal and asked everyone I knew for their opinion of the film. I was afraid of spoiling the way I felt about the book. I was actually very impressed by the film.

With “The Giver” it was different. This book was something our boys and I had shared and enjoyed. The moment we heard that the movie was being released we  decided to watch it together. So I was committed! I did so eagerly despite the last time we went to a movie based on a book I had shared with them when they were younger – “Cheaper By The Dozen” is a great book and a terrible movie! But when you have sons in their 20’s and they want to go to a movie with you, you move quickly!

I’m incorrigible. I compared the book and movie mercilessly. I found the movie to be pretty good. The visuals are beautiful and the acting is good. I don’t expect a movie to be a replica of the book, that doesn’t work. So I was o.k with some of the changes they made. And I think they managed to show the community quite well in a short time.

But I missed more of what Jonas went through to be able to understand what the Giver was showing him. It’s against his entire life indoctrination. And most of all I was troubled by the change regarding the friends sticking together. I know they needed to make more of the love story for the movie to attract an audience and needed the action sequences with the friend, but in the book Jonas is very much alone, cut off from his peers. Which is one of the reasons its such a potent book for teens who feel different.

Still, I’m glad I saw it. And it was a great family outing!

The bottom line is that I read the book to the very end.

All  475 pages of it.

So I guess that’s what counts. But…

I received this as a gift. I DID know when I began it that the basic story line is (and believe me, not giving anything away here, it’s not a spoiler) : boy – girl meet, lose each other, meet again, separate and finally marry. The book is called the Shoemaker’s WIFE, so there can be no mistake.

I began the book and it is such an easy read that I treated it like comfort food. After such a stressful summer (in so many ways) I was ready for a predictable, comforting book. I cried in the right places too. In the first part it also seems as if it is an historical novel sharing the experience of immigrants from Italy to the USA in the period preceding WWI.

But the historical aspects are very superficial and fade away as the book progresses. World War 1 is supposed to have had a huge impact on the male character’s life yet his experiences there are summed up quickly, in a few pages. At some point the platitudes about women and men become annoying. People aren’t rounded enough, the good are so very good ALL the time. clichés abound. I read the last 150 pages “arguing” with the book and myself for continuing, not feeling comforted at all.

Yet I couldn’t stop. I needed closure.

A much better, rounded out and realistic picture of the immigrant scene in New York, complete with a love story, is the book “The museum of extraordinary things” by Hoffman which I read  a while ago. I compared the books several times as I read.

Oh well. Reading this made me eager to start “Alone in Berlin” which I was a bit apprehensive about. The first few pages caught me right away!