jeanne
Cosmopolitan
Posts: 544
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Post by jeanne on Nov 8, 2006 19:11:17 GMT -7
Prompted by the discussions in this forum, I have read Push Not the River, Against a Crimson Sky, and Jadwiga's Crossing. I loved all three and desperately want something else of this quality to read (either with Polish settings, or about Poles!) Any suggestions out there for me??
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nancy
European
Posts: 2,144
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Post by nancy on Nov 8, 2006 20:05:21 GMT -7
Hi Jeanne,
A lot of good books out there, most with a more modern setting.
the very best (IMO): In the Memory of the Forest by Charles T. Powers (out of print but you will find it used) - set in post WW2 Poland.
Also: The River Midnight by Lillian Nattel - shetl life, a bit surreal, late 1890s
Pears on a Willow Tree by Leslie Pietrzyk (several generations of Polish American women)
Selling the Lite of Heaven by Suzanne Strempek Shea (Polish AMerican, 1950-ish)
Other fiction with Polish characters or themes (authors names escape me, but Amazon should list these by title):
Breaker Boys (PA coal mines, Polish guy is the villan)
Clarinet Polka (Polish-American alcoholic story)
non-fiction, a good read: A Polish Son Returns to the Motherland (American lives in Poland for a year while looking for family - lots of Polish-ness here! I loved it.)
The Last Fine Time (by Verne Klickenborg, partly social history, of Buffalo, excellent book!)
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jeanne
Cosmopolitan
Posts: 544
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Post by jeanne on Nov 9, 2006 4:12:31 GMT -7
Nancy,
Thanks so much! I will be heading to the library soon, armed with your list!! (these numerous titles should keep me occupied for quite awhile!)
Jeanne
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Post by Jaga on Nov 9, 2006 10:59:57 GMT -7
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nancy
European
Posts: 2,144
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Post by nancy on Nov 9, 2006 20:46:08 GMT -7
Jeanne,
I almost forgot (slap upside the head!)
The Thousand Hour Day by WS Kuniczak ---- definitely a must read. (WW2)
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jeanne
Cosmopolitan
Posts: 544
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Post by jeanne on Nov 10, 2006 4:23:10 GMT -7
Jaga and Nancy, Thanks to you both for all these titles! I can't wait to start my search.
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Post by gardenmoma on Nov 10, 2006 6:49:05 GMT -7
PS!
Jeanne...
Check out what I had to say yesterday (11/09),about the young people's book Rodzina by Karen Cushman. It's a fairly short "read" and you might enjoy it.
I also have a review of The River Midnight at Amazon.
GM
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jeanne
Cosmopolitan
Posts: 544
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Post by jeanne on Nov 10, 2006 20:24:18 GMT -7
GM,
Check my comment on your comment on Rodzina! Also, I'll definitely check out your review of The River Midnight. Thanks for your input!
Jeanne
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Post by leslie on Nov 11, 2006 2:40:18 GMT -7
Jeanne You might like to read 'A Square of Sky' by Janina David, originally published as two books 'A Square of Sky' and 'A Touch of Earth'. The story starts before WWII with a young girl living with her family in the west of Poland. With the invasion they struggle to Warszawa and struggle to live - the privations are terrible, but more are to come. They wish to return to their village and do so, in the act losing their house, furniture, jewelry, books etc to the Nazis. Back in the village privation is heaped on privation until they are forced to return to live in the Ghetto in Warszawa. All the time you are reading you are wondering how it could get any worse - but it does. Life is Hell on Earth for them. Eventually the little girl is smuggled out of the Ghetto to be with some old friends and eventually, with a false identity enters a Catholic convent (The subtitle of the book is 'A Wartime Childhood: from Ghetto to Convent).
I have read several books of a similar genre including Anna Frank, but none of them are as readable, frightening, or bringing the past of Poland to life as this one.Once you pick it up it is difficult to stop reading and put it down, even if you know you must. I recommend it.
Leslie
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Post by gardenmoma on Nov 11, 2006 8:17:54 GMT -7
Leslie,
Thanks for the input!
I'd never heard of these books before.
GM
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jeanne
Cosmopolitan
Posts: 544
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Post by jeanne on Nov 11, 2006 18:44:04 GMT -7
Leslie,
Thank you for adding to my list of books I need to read! I also have read many books of Holocaust literature. I try not to read too many of them in succession as I tend to get burned out by them. Usually though, all it takes is a few good, light fiction books to get me back up and ready to read another! I remember one in particular that was very interesting. I can't remember who the author was, but the title was 'And the Violins Stopped Playing.' It was about a family of Gypsies who lived in Warsaw playing music in the nightclubs. With the coming of the Nazis, they had to return to the country to the caravan where their relatives all were. The book goes on to describe the travels of the caravan as they sought to evade the Nazis. The whole clan, or tribe, eventually was sent to the camps. The author's father literally dropped the author's little sister off the train as they passed an old Polish woman working in the fields. Later, just before the camps were liberated, the author and one other young Gypsy man escaped and made their way back to where the little sister had been dropped. The old woman had taken the child in as her own, and ended up hiding the two young Gypsy men until the end of the war! This was a true story written after the author came to the U.S. He felt compelled to tell the story of the Gypsies as he felt their sufferings during the war had been overlooked by popular sentiment. He, his sister and the other young man were the only ones to survive from their tribe.
Jeanne
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nancy
European
Posts: 2,144
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Post by nancy on Nov 11, 2006 20:55:38 GMT -7
Alexander Ramati is the author of "And the Violins Stopped Playing." This must be a rare book - Amazon.com had only 3 copies listed, between $50 and $200. Definitely one to search out and read. Thanks, Jeanne.
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scatts
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Post by scatts on Nov 12, 2006 0:31:01 GMT -7
amazon.co.uk has plenty available and for less than 10 bucks.
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jeanne
Cosmopolitan
Posts: 544
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Post by jeanne on Nov 12, 2006 5:02:14 GMT -7
I had picked up the book in a nearby library, so there are probably more around in other libraries!
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scatts
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Post by scatts on Nov 12, 2006 13:50:59 GMT -7
Anyway. You can only read so much Polish oriented stuff so my suggestion is that it is time to stop! Go read some Graeme Green instead - anything at all, it's all great. If you like detectives I'd suggest the Aurelio Zen series by Michael Dibdin. Or perhaps Inspector Rebus stuff - Ian Rankin. If you want something that seems slow but seeps into you and you can't get it out, try E M Forster - 'room with a view' or 'passage to India' are a good start. For light relief I love Bill Bryson or Spike Milligan. Slightly deeper comedy you can't do much better than Garrison Keillor - try WLT A Radio Romance. A hell of a good read recently was "The amazing adventures of Kavalier and Clay" by Michael Chabon. For science fiction try Iain M Banks - start with "Consider Phlebas". For great but weird try him under his other name Iain Banks - try "The Wasp Factory".
I try reading history but get bored. I try reading biogs but get just as bored. I don't read romance. I'm past my Sven Hassel, Forsyth, Ludlum, Le Carre, PD James, Agatha C....etc days. Iwas doing okay with Terry Pratchet's disc world, but then I got bored.
Kingsley Amis is very good. Updike is overrated (IMO).
What did I miss?
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