Saturday, May 12, 2012
Book Review: Killing Rommel
Having a fascination with military history, I have always enjoyed WWII books and movies. Recently, I watched Patton and am currently listening to the audiobook, The Rising Tide by Jeff Shaara. What got me started on my current WWII kick was listening to the audiobook version of Steven Pressfield's Killing Rommel.
Mr. Pressfield has us follow a british soldier who is a member of the Long Range Desert Group. This was a group who helped scout out the enemy formations in Africa and conduct raids behind enemy lines. This soldiers patrol's particular mission is, as the book's title suggest, to kill Rommel. As Mr. Pressfield has done in so many of his books, he is able to convey the daily hardship the lowly infantry man or shield carrier or Macedonian foot soldier must endure. In this case, surviving in the deserts of Africa. The images Pressfield created in my mind of the desert and what the men had to go through to reach their objectives I still remember a month after reading the book.
The letters to his wife were the only parts that caused the book to drag in parts. Not necessarily the first one, but the multiple stops. It's interesting because in The Rising Tide, there are stops when other individuals talk about home and letters, but I didn't feel the same level of disruption. There was also one part in Killing Rommel that seemed quite unbelievable.
Killing Rommel is a good book that I recommend to anyone interested in the North African campaigns of WWII.
Friday, March 30, 2012
Movie Review: The Hunger Games
At what age should children be allowed to see the movie, The Hungers Games?
Short answer:
It makes a huge world of difference if your child has read the book. If they have, it probably means your child is at least in third grade (almost 4th now). I would say that child should be fine. If they haven’t read the book, I would have reservations for anyone under 10 watching the movie because so much is explained in the book that would help guide a child’s understanding of the movie. When I asked my son if he thought it would be alright for his friends to watch, he said, “Sure. They play Call of Duty and Resident Evil.” (My son does not play Resident Evil.) I asked about the girls in his 5th grade class. He said maybe, it depends on who read the book.
In the end, you know your child best. For my children:
I would not let my 8 year-old second grader who has not read the book watch The Hunger Games. My 10-year old, yes. Mind you, I am not a parent who lets my sons watch every PG-13 movie. I still won’t let them watch The Dark Night, which I found infinitely darker and more disturbing than The Hunger Games. But at the same time, I took my older son to see the first Transformer’s movie when he was 6. I did not let him my younger son see a Transformer’s movie in the theater until he was 8 due to his mindset.
For a more in depth review of The Hunger Games and why I said what I said above read on:
(The long answer.)
There are three things to think about to determine if it’s appropriate for your child.
First, I think it is imperative that anyone who goes to watch the movie reads the book first. When trying to compress the book into a two-hour-and-twenty-minute movie, a lot needs to be cut. And with the book as detailed and layered as it is, many of the nuances will be lost on the audience who hasn’t read the book. For example, when Katniss tells Prim to mind her goat at a particularly moving scene so she can sell its milk for money, you will have no idea what she is talking about since this is the only mention of the goat in the entire movie. Or why is Haymitch a drunk? Or why doesn’t Katniss turn a cold shoulder to Peeta in the beginning? In the book, this is all explained very well.
Second, even having read the book there are subtleties only older children will understand. I was surprised that my 10 ½ year old completely misinterpreted two key scenes at the end of the movie. I give an example of one these at the end of this post, with warnings that it’s a spoiler alert.
Finally, the violence. Yes, it is kids killing kids. You can’t get around that. However, the director did a good job of making most of it brief, while still impressing on you the cruelness of it all. There were three fight images that are a little tough to watch knowing your child is sitting next to you, but my son didn’t seem distraught. And there is one scary “boo” moment, that did make my son jump, but you know exactly when that is going to happen.
***Spoiler alert***
When she shots Kato at the end to end his torment, he didn’t understand that it was an act of mercy. He thought Katniss killed him only because she could. Obvious too an adult, but not so obvious to a child.
In conclusion, I really enjoyed the movie and thought it was an excellent adaption of the book.
Short answer:
It makes a huge world of difference if your child has read the book. If they have, it probably means your child is at least in third grade (almost 4th now). I would say that child should be fine. If they haven’t read the book, I would have reservations for anyone under 10 watching the movie because so much is explained in the book that would help guide a child’s understanding of the movie. When I asked my son if he thought it would be alright for his friends to watch, he said, “Sure. They play Call of Duty and Resident Evil.” (My son does not play Resident Evil.) I asked about the girls in his 5th grade class. He said maybe, it depends on who read the book.
In the end, you know your child best. For my children:
I would not let my 8 year-old second grader who has not read the book watch The Hunger Games. My 10-year old, yes. Mind you, I am not a parent who lets my sons watch every PG-13 movie. I still won’t let them watch The Dark Night, which I found infinitely darker and more disturbing than The Hunger Games. But at the same time, I took my older son to see the first Transformer’s movie when he was 6. I did not let him my younger son see a Transformer’s movie in the theater until he was 8 due to his mindset.
For a more in depth review of The Hunger Games and why I said what I said above read on:
(The long answer.)
There are three things to think about to determine if it’s appropriate for your child.
First, I think it is imperative that anyone who goes to watch the movie reads the book first. When trying to compress the book into a two-hour-and-twenty-minute movie, a lot needs to be cut. And with the book as detailed and layered as it is, many of the nuances will be lost on the audience who hasn’t read the book. For example, when Katniss tells Prim to mind her goat at a particularly moving scene so she can sell its milk for money, you will have no idea what she is talking about since this is the only mention of the goat in the entire movie. Or why is Haymitch a drunk? Or why doesn’t Katniss turn a cold shoulder to Peeta in the beginning? In the book, this is all explained very well.
Second, even having read the book there are subtleties only older children will understand. I was surprised that my 10 ½ year old completely misinterpreted two key scenes at the end of the movie. I give an example of one these at the end of this post, with warnings that it’s a spoiler alert.
Finally, the violence. Yes, it is kids killing kids. You can’t get around that. However, the director did a good job of making most of it brief, while still impressing on you the cruelness of it all. There were three fight images that are a little tough to watch knowing your child is sitting next to you, but my son didn’t seem distraught. And there is one scary “boo” moment, that did make my son jump, but you know exactly when that is going to happen.
***Spoiler alert***
When she shots Kato at the end to end his torment, he didn’t understand that it was an act of mercy. He thought Katniss killed him only because she could. Obvious too an adult, but not so obvious to a child.
In conclusion, I really enjoyed the movie and thought it was an excellent adaption of the book.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Book Review: The Big Burn
I found the The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America by Timothy Egan to be a fascinating book about a defining moment in America.
It discussed the founding of the U.S. Forest Service, and how it became the institution it is today and how the fire changed it's original mission.
We follow Teddy Roosevelt and the first Chief of the United States Forest Service, Gifford Pinchot, and their fight to protect what was left of America's forest for future generations to enjoy against the railroad and timber barons and the hordes of settlers flowing into former Indian lands for scrupulous and unscrupulous purposes.
Egan's profiles not only of national figures, but also of settlers, timber barons, gold miners, black soldiers, and rangers really brought about a well-rounded story showing just how diverse a people were living in the American West at the turn of the century.
The first half of the book deals primarily with Roosevelt and Pinchot's relationship and the setting up of the U.S. Forest Service, but the second half really kept the pages turning with the first sparks of the big fire and the stories of heroism, bravery, and death. Egan's descriptions put me right on the hills with the men protecting the towns and each other.
I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in American history.
It discussed the founding of the U.S. Forest Service, and how it became the institution it is today and how the fire changed it's original mission.
We follow Teddy Roosevelt and the first Chief of the United States Forest Service, Gifford Pinchot, and their fight to protect what was left of America's forest for future generations to enjoy against the railroad and timber barons and the hordes of settlers flowing into former Indian lands for scrupulous and unscrupulous purposes.
Egan's profiles not only of national figures, but also of settlers, timber barons, gold miners, black soldiers, and rangers really brought about a well-rounded story showing just how diverse a people were living in the American West at the turn of the century.
The first half of the book deals primarily with Roosevelt and Pinchot's relationship and the setting up of the U.S. Forest Service, but the second half really kept the pages turning with the first sparks of the big fire and the stories of heroism, bravery, and death. Egan's descriptions put me right on the hills with the men protecting the towns and each other.
I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in American history.
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