post wwii

> Tag: post wwii

What Happens After the War?

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

July 31, 2018 by Jen K Leave a Comment

I listened to this one on Audible – figured it’s the kind of story I’m usually interested in but also am more hesitant to pick up nowadays because the genre does sometimes blend together so it seemed like the perfect selection for, “damn, how did I end up with so many Audible credits, I have no idea what I want!” The novel begins in 1947 with nineteen-year-old Charlie on her way to Switzerland for a procedure to take care of “her little problem.” The last […]

In which I take another step toward beatific acceptance of my plebian taste

By Blood by Ellen Ullman

May 3, 2017 by alwaysanswerb Leave a Comment

This probably qualifies as another lit-fic fail for me, by which I don’t mean that the book was a failure; I mostly likely just failed to appreciate it. It’s one of those oniony books that has a lot of layers, and characters who relate to each other on levels both appropriate and otherwise. Set in the 1960’s, there’s a story of a young woman who finds out she is of European Jewish descent, and finds herself digging into her history by way of trying to […]

A double cannonball to contemplate

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

October 12, 2015 by alwaysanswerb 13 Comments

What a subtle, poignant, sad book. In post-WWII England, Stevens, a butler of a formerly great aristocratic house takes a road trip through the country and has the opportunity to reflect on his tenure of servitude. Through these memories — many with another employee, Miss Kenton — Stevens sketches a life left rather unlived through the endless pursuit of dignity, that intangible, elite quality embodied by the foremost butlers. What is dignity? No one can put it into words, not even Stevens, but based on […]

Lovely Jenny Lee.

Call the Midwife (The Midwife Trilogy, #1) by Jennifer Worth

May 28, 2015 by narfna Leave a Comment

I came to Call the Midwife, the first book in Jennifer Worth’s series of nursing memoirs set in post-WWII East End of London, in an ass-backwards way. I had seen the entire series as it aired on PBS, and then again as it was released on DVD, before I happened upon a copy of this first volume in a used bookstore. The show is remarkably faithful to the books, so all of the stories that are featured here I already knew. And I was still riveted by them. […]

This Brilliant Novel

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

May 22, 2015 by ElCicco Leave a Comment

Have you ever had a friend who seemed effortlessly brilliant, talented and successful in every endeavor, an attention magnet who intimidates just about everyone? I had a friend like this a number of years ago, and perhaps that’s why I loved this book so much and look forward to the next two volumes. Set in a small town outside Naples in the 1950s, My Brilliant Friend is narrated by Elena Greco, friend to the fearless Lila Cerullo. The story begins in current time, with Lila’s […]

Emmalita on A prayer for anyone who has to read this book…So this came out when I was in college. My boyfriend at the time really wanted me to read it. It was the best book...
Emmalita on While none of the work we do is very important, it is important that we do a great deal of itI read this in college. My professor had me read this, For Whom the Bell Tolls and then watch Dr. Strangelove. And then I wrote...
katie71483 on I dream of standing under an enormous tree with deep, gnarled rootsAdding to my list. Well, the whole series.
narfna on “Now everyone will think she can’t cope with the demands of her job, just because she fell off a balcony.”I loved this book!
Malin on A Brief History? Worth Every One of the 686 Pages.Barry Lyndon is my second favourite Kubrick film (after Dr. Strangelove, obviously).

Search This Site

What Happens After the War?

In which I take another step toward beatific acceptance of my plebian taste

A double cannonball to contemplate

Lovely Jenny Lee.

This Brilliant Novel

Help Our Mission