Sign up
Search
Advanced search settings

Search only in certain items:

Search results
All (1027)
Content
People
Apps
Books
Orbs
Movies
Music
Podcasts
Shows
Tabletop Games
Tech
TV
Video Games
YouTube Channels
Videos
40x40

ClareR (5726 KP) rated Lessons in Books

Nov 21, 2022  
Lessons
Lessons
Ian McEwan | 2022 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry, History & Politics
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I was really looking forward to reading a new Ian McEwan novel, and I’m very pleased to say that I haven’t been disappointed.

Lessons is the story of Roland Baines’ life. His successes, loves, losses - all set against an historical background of the 20th and 21st centuries: World War 2, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Chernobyl and Covid 19 (and others besides, but there are too many to mention them all!).

I was completely engrossed, and it’s a book that you don’t want to race through. I love McEwans writing - so much is said in each sentence.

I’ll admit it now, a lot of what really kept my attention were the details about Germany: WW2 and it’s aftermath, Roland’s trips beyond the Berlin Wall and it’s fall.

The future is set for Alissa (Roland’s wife) when her English mother presents her with her journals, written when she travelled to Germany after the war. She had wanted to write articles about German Resistance during the war, and specifically the Scholls White Rose movement. These journals remained unpublished and unread 40 years later. And so when Alissa walks away from Roland and their baby to ensure her own dreams of literary success, it’s unsurprising even if it’ll ears callous.

The book is told from Roland’s point of view, first person, so we hear his inner voice throughout. What stood out most for me, was that his voice doesn’t change through the years. Yes, I know this is obvious - it’s the same book. What I mean is that what younger people often forget, is that the 72 year old man at the end of the book is the same as the 11 year old boy - just with 61 years experience. His experiences as an 11-14 year old with his piano teacher have a lasting and life-changing impact.

I loved this book and would highly recommend it. It’s a book to be savoured.
  
40x40

Suswatibasu (1701 KP) rated The Zookeeper's Wife (2017) in Movies

Nov 24, 2017 (Updated Nov 24, 2017)  
The Zookeeper's Wife (2017)
The Zookeeper's Wife (2017)
2017 | Drama
7
7.4 (8 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
Story is harrowing and essential but film could have been made better
As a massive fan of biopics, The Zookeeper's Wife is an incredibly important tale of a the real life Polish couple who sheltered Jews in their zoo during the Second World War, helping 300 people to escape from Warsaw.

Dr. Jan Zabinski was the director of the Warsaw Zoo in the 1930's, and along with his wife Antonina and young son, they ensured the safety and care of animals in the area. Their life came to an abrupt halt with the German invasion of Poland in 1939, when most of their animals and structures were destroyed in the bombings and siege of the city. The zoo was closed under German occupation, but the Zabinskis continued to occupy the villa, and the zoo itself was used first as a pig farm and subsequently as a fur farm. All the while, Dr Zabinski smuggled Jewish people out of the Warsaw Ghetto and aided their way out of city, not before allowing them to stay in their own house. He was injured while fighting in the Polish resistance, but the couple were given an honorary title by Yad Vashem (Israel's official memorial for Jewish victims of the Holocaust) for their brave efforts.

Similar in the vein of films such as @Schindler's List (1993), there is an element of a saviour complex in these films, but unlike Steven Spielberg's Oscar-winner, it is less extravagant and less well-made, as there was very little engagement with the Jewish characters - focusing more on Antonina, played by Jessica Chastain. It is definitely heart-wrenching watching films based on the holocaust, and there were scenes I had to turn away from, such as when an elderly woman and her mother were shot dead in the streets by soldiers. The script and cinematography weren't at a high standard, however, and as a result the film definitely fell short. I would suggest reading the book @The Zookeeper's Wife - it has far more detail than the film, in which there were glaringly obvious plot holes.