A Forgotten Piece of History (to many general readers)December 27, 2008 My sister gave me this book for Christmas, saying it was one of the best books she had read in some time. I was fascinated by her description, and started the book the next day. I finished it the next morning. I found it eminently readable and fascinating. I was a history major in college, and had no problem with what one reviewer, at least, thought of as "precious turns of phrase." In fact, I hadn't even noticed them. I would have, as I have a tendency to start rereading a paragraph when I am confused. I find (and this is the first Diane Ackerman book I have read) her prose to be very readable, perhaps not sparse or bare, but totally understandable, and it contributes to the flow (a very good flow) of the story. Time periods do, occasionally, go back and forth, but she brings a theme or a particular history of person or event, to a conclusion and goes back (in time) to the general. I did not find it confusing.
Aside from the beautiful story and general history presented, I liked a popular work about Poland during WWII. I am 52, with no Polish ancestry or oral history. An unfortunate American tradition equates "Polish" with stooges and foolish jokes. I find this despicable. It ingrains into people with little or no (or unknown) contact with Polish-Americans a sneering attitude, and an ethnic identity to perpetrate stupid jokes on. Most people are not going to know that the Polish Cavalry saved Vienna from Turkish conquest, or that "Good King Wenceslas" of the Christmas Carol was King of Poland. This is a book which:
a. Outlines and gives humanity to a critical point in world history.
b. Tells a great deal about the Polish People (scoundrels, as well as normal and heroic individuals) and the Jews of Warsaw (a similar combination, as are we all).
c. Tells of Russians (albeit Nazi collaberators) and Germans who were and were not totally depraved psychopaths.
The book tells us about the human condition: heroic, day to day, despicable, how they cope with unbelievable adversity, how different people deal with each other. I recommend it to anyone who loves animals and other humans, and who has a grain of moral fiber to be nurtured or vindicated. It is a story of normal people who rose to be heroes and saved many, many lives and,often, the sanity that seemed so far off during a time we cannot possibly understand the sheer brutality of.
I am enjoying this book more than any others in recent years.December 25, 2008 0 out of 1 found this review helpful
It is written well, has knowlege and insight based on true events. I highly recommend this to others.
bad writingDecember 21, 2008 1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Gosh I was so excited to get started reading this book. It is a compelling, heartbreaking story but I found it poorly written. She seemed to be just writing about whatever she felt like. Was it fiction? Was it nonfiction? What parts were taken from a diary? Ahhh! I agree that another writer could have made this story so much more alive and cohesive. It is sad that this story was mangled.
Great readDecember 21, 2008 0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I loved this book. I have always enjoyed stories about the war and how people survived and help each other. I'm also a big animal lover so I could understand caring deeping about the animals.
Worthy subject, unworthy bookDecember 18, 2008 1 out of 2 found this review helpful
It is sad to find this story of wartime heroism in Warsaw such a failure. Ms. Ackerman, whose work rarely disappoints, has created an ungainly cross between her usual wide-ranging analysis and a form of biography which serves neither function well. Zookeepers Jan and Antonina Zabinski, who surely merit a better testimony to their struggle to preserve human and animal life under Nazi occupation, seem remote--Ms. Ackerman gets in her own way trying to tell their story by interrupting it at critical moments with lengthy asides on the contributions of Poland to civilization, the etymology of the word "paradise," and the biology of extinct animals.
An extremely frustrating book--a pity, as has been mentioned, that publishers no longer deem good editorial work to be worth supporting.
