The Blackbirder by Dorothy B. Hughes

 

Goodreads synopsis: A classic World War II-era noir with a page-turning plot, a cast of colorfully sinister characters and a protagonist who is thrust into the heart of political intrigue, this captivating 1943 novel parallels the spy novels of Grahame Greene, Eric Ambler, and the films of Hitchcock and Lang. But in -signature Hughes fashion, The Blackbirder has a genre-bending twist: its hardboiled protagonist is a woman.

Born of American expatriate parents, Julie Guilles was a pretty, sheltered rich girl growing up in Paris, a favorite of the “Ritz Bar” set. But everything changed when the Nazis rolled into the City of Lights. After three years of life underground, Julie is hiding out in New York; but she knows trouble is coming when the corpse of an acquaintance appears on her doorstep. With a host of possible dangers on her tail—the Gestapo, the FBI and the New York cops—she embarks on a desperate journey to Santa Fe in search of her last, best hope. The Blackbirder is a legend among refugees, a trafficker in human souls who flies under the radar to bring people to safety across the Mexican border—for a price.

With no resources at her disposal but a smuggled diamond necklace and her own razor-sharp wits, Julie must navigate a tangle of dangers—and take a stand in the worldwide struggle that has shattered the lives of millions. In contrast to the typical representations of wartime women as “Mrs. Minivers” guarding home and hearth, Dorothy B. Hughes gives her intrepid heroine a place at the heart of the action.

My rating: 3 stars.

Content warnings: PG-13. Some descriptions of a murder and the blood.

Thoughts: The story was a little hard to follow at times, but it was a fun historical spy novel set in America, which isn't something I normally see in WWII novels. I'd like to read it again sometime to try and catch a lot of the things I missed, and it's definitely worth a reread.

The Hessian by Howard Fast

 

Goodreads synopsis: The Hessian tells the story of the capture, trial, and execution of a Hessian drummer boy by Americans during the Revolution. At the heart of the story is a Quaker family, who hide the boy after his landing party has been killed in an ambush. Because the captain of the Hessians had ordered the hanging of a local whom he thought might be a spy, the town militia lay in wait, massacred the Hessians, and hunted down the only survivor, Hans Pohl.

His capture and trial provide an opportunity to explore the difficult moral position that war presents, complicated by the presence of the Quaker family. The story is told from the point of view of Evan Feversham, a doctor who has seen enough of death, and an outsider in the narrow world of Puritan New England. Based on a true event.

My rating: 4 stars.

Content warnings: PG-13. Descriptions of a hanging, and graphic descriptions of wounds and treating those wounds.

Thoughts: Stories of those on the fringes of war aren't told as often, but they hold an important place in society, and should be considered in any conversation about war. And this one was told well, from a sort of perspective that might not often be thought about when considering the Revolutionary War, and it can provide another open door for conversations and self reflection. Which is what I've been saying about a lot of these books, but I still feel it is an important thing.

And There Was Light by Jacques Lusseyran

Goodreads synopsis: Critically acclaimed and the winner of numerous awards — including USA Today’s 100 Best Spiritual Books of the Century — And There Was Light is a vivid, inspiring account of an extraordinary man’s life without sight. Blinded at the age of eight by a freak accident, Jacques Lusseyran becomes a youth leader in the French Resistance during World War II. While still in his teens, he is arrested and sent to Buchenwald, where he serves his fellow prisoners as translator and disseminator of information, never giving in to despair. His refusal to let blindness cripple him shines through his writing as he describes the inner light that guides him. Soon to be a major motion picture produced by Martin Scorsese, And There Was Light appears here in a compelling audio version. Andre Gregory's thoughtful, unsentimental reading movingly conveys the author's indomitable strength in the face of impossible conditions.

My rating: 4 stars.

Content warnings: PG. Some mention of a traumatic injury, and mild talk about the occupation of France in WWII.

My thoughts: This book is really beautiful, and it's definitely worth the read. Even when talking about terrible things that happened, or that someone else would write about as a horrible thing, Lusseyran's faith shines through everything he speaks about, and forces the reader to reconsider how they think about their own lives. I would highly suggest it.

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King

Goodreads synopsis: During a six-mile hike on the Maine-New Hampshire branch of the Appalachian Trail, nine-year-old Trisha McFarland quickly tires of the constant bickering between her older brother and her recently divorced mother. But when she wanders off by herself, she becomes lost in a wilderness maze full of peril and terror. As night falls, Trisha has only her ingenuity as a defense against the elements, and only her courage and faith to withstand her mounting fears. For solace she tunes her headphones to broadcasts of Boston Red Sox baseball games and follows the gritty performances of her hero, relief pitcher Tom Gordon. And when the reception begins to fade, Trisha imagines that Tom Gordon is with her—the protector from an enemy who may or may not be imagined…one who is watching her, waiting for her in the dense, dark woods…

My rating: 2 stars.

Content warnings: R. Lots of cursing, and some violence toward an animal.

Thoughts: I really should have put this one down when I realized King is terrible at writing child narrators. But I felt obligated because of book club, so I kept reading. And mistakes were made...

There are some authors who should stay away from writing child narrators at all costs, and King is one of them. It becomes very creepy and uncomfortable, to the point that I genuinely hope that's not how these authors think that kids really are, because if they do... maybe I see a pedophile around every corner, but it still makes me nervous.

Beyond that, the book was pretty boring. I was expecting something frightful and fascinating, and instead only got 250 pages of a pre-teen girl tromping around the forest and fantasizing about an adult baseball player. There was sort of a monster at the end, but by that point I was so zoned out I didn't really notice or care about what was going on, because I knew how it would end anyway. So it was yawn inducingly predictable too.

Occasionally it seemed to switch POVs to someone else, and show how they were reacting to Trisha's disappearance. And that could have been interesting, if it had actually been done well rather than just making the book more confusion. The POV breaks were not clear, and only lasted a couple paragraphs, so by the time I realized this wasn't Trisha's POV, it was over again and I was forced back into Trisha's head.

All in all it was another disappointing let down from Stephen King, and I'm not sure how many more chances to give him before giving up on his fiction altogether. 

The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara

Goodreads synopsis: In the four most bloody and courageous days of our nation’s history, two armies fought for two conflicting dreams. One dreamed of freedom, the other of a way of life. Far more than rifles and bullets were carried into battle. There were memories. There were promises. There was love. And far more than men fell on those Pennsylvania fields. Bright futures, untested innocence, and pristine beauty were also the casualties of war.

Michael Shaara’s Pulitzer Prize–winning masterpiece is unique, sweeping, unforgettable - the dramatic story of the battleground for America’s destiny.

My rating: 4 stars.

Content warnings: R. Brief scenes of wartime violence.

Thoughts: Being forced to overanalyze this book for school, there are a few things in it that tend to fall flat, or don't quite accomplish the stated objective of the book as well as perhaps they could. But it is still a very good book, definitely worth reading and taking some time to digest.

Shaara doesn't tell the story from just one perspective, and he really doesn't seem to try and say who was right or wrong, but lets the reader draw those conclusions for themselves. There obviously are moral areas where lines are drawn, but the implication that not every person was fighting for the same thing is a very interesting thing to consider, especially in the context of more modern wars.

A solid read, and a war story that's written in a way that makes it highly readable, even if it gets confusing to differentiate characters sometimes. This was a reread, but it was worth it.

War Trash by Ha Jin

 

Goodreads synopsis: Ha Jin’s masterful new novel casts a searchlight into a forgotten corner of modern history, the experience of Chinese soldiers held in U.S. POW camps during the Korean War. In 1951 Yu Yuan, a scholarly and self-effacing clerical officer in Mao’s “volunteer” army, is taken prisoner south of the 38th Parallel. Because he speaks English, he soon becomes an intermediary between his compatriots and their American captors. With Yuan as guide, we are ushered into the secret world behind the barbed wire, a world where kindness alternates with blinding cruelty and one has infinitely more to fear from one’s fellow prisoners than from the guards. Vivid in its historical detail, profound in its imaginative empathy, War Trash is Ha Jin’s most ambitious book to date.

My rating: 4 stars.

Content warnings: R. Scenes of wartime violence and disturbing images.

Thoughts: The Korean War isn't one that I've read very much about, so it was really interesting to get a piece of literature written from the perspective of the "other side." And seeing perspectives like that I think are very important, even if fundamentally people don't agree. It's still important to see the man behind the enemy.

The story is at times, very rough and hard to get through. But it's an important issue to face, not only that "the enemy" are men too, but also what presumed good men are capable of stooping to in altered situations. If Ha Jin's novel is the beginning of a conversation about this, it is very much worth the read.

Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein

 

Goodreads synopsis: In one of Robert Heinlein's most controversial bestsellers, a recruit of the future goes through the toughest boot camp in the Universe--and into battle with the Terran Mobile Infantry against mankind's most frightening enemy.

My rating: 3 stars.

Content warnings: PG-13. Many characters die in battle, but not many in detailed or even very bloody ways. 

Thoughts: Maybe it was because I was reading this combined with several other really fantastic stories for a class, or that I had expected more out of the name "Heinlein," or both, but while interesting and a decently fun sci-fi romp, it wasn't generally super interesting to me. I found some of the action, or what little there was of that, hard to follow and understand. I didn't even realize part of the crucial plot's setting until hearing someone else discuss the book. The parts of the book not dedicated to philosophical discussion was actually more boring. Which I find interesting, because it's usually the opposite. But I will say that Heinlein did that part of this book very well, and I would probably reread this book in several years just for those parts. But the rest of it was solidly just okay.