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Alison Pink (7 KP) rated Five Quarters Of The Orange in Books
Jan 15, 2018
I am always fascinated with any novel, fiction or otherwise, that is set in the time of World War II. This book took me a bit longer to get in to than is typical of a book set in this time period. But the end made it well worth the wait.
At times it is hard to follow because it bounces back & forth between Boise's life currently & her childhood spent in a small village in France during WWII. The story itself didn't form fully for me until it ended...all the loose ends were tied up & the events up to that point finally made sense. The 1 thing that frustrated me was Mirabelle, the mother. I was left not being quite sure whether or not she was really crazy.
At times it is hard to follow because it bounces back & forth between Boise's life currently & her childhood spent in a small village in France during WWII. The story itself didn't form fully for me until it ended...all the loose ends were tied up & the events up to that point finally made sense. The 1 thing that frustrated me was Mirabelle, the mother. I was left not being quite sure whether or not she was really crazy.
David McK (3562 KP) rated Me Bandy, You Cissie (The Bandy Papers, #4) in Books
Jan 30, 2019
The fourth book in Donald Jack's Bandy series of novels, following a Canadian aviator through the early parts of the 20th century.
This is the first novel not set in (or related to) The First World War, as it is set in the 1920s, and follows the trials and tribulations of its titular character upon his escape from Russia and return to America: events that see him join (and then get fired from) the postal service, and eventually become an unwitting early Hollywood star.
While it's still fitfully amusing, I have to say I didn't find this as funny as the earlier books: maybe because it is set in America, and relates to events and characters that we (in the West) are not as familiar with as our American or Canadian counter-parts.
This is the first novel not set in (or related to) The First World War, as it is set in the 1920s, and follows the trials and tribulations of its titular character upon his escape from Russia and return to America: events that see him join (and then get fired from) the postal service, and eventually become an unwitting early Hollywood star.
While it's still fitfully amusing, I have to say I didn't find this as funny as the earlier books: maybe because it is set in America, and relates to events and characters that we (in the West) are not as familiar with as our American or Canadian counter-parts.
James Koppert (2698 KP) rated The Captain (AKA Der Hauptmann) (2017) in Movies
Nov 16, 2019
Shocking true story
At the end of the second world war Germany was on it's knees. People were looting jut to survive. Willi Herold was one such person. A deserter paratrooper, he was caught and chased by an officer and manages to escape where he finds an abandoned car and in the back a Captains uniform which he dons and takes the identity of. What follows is like an adults Lord of the Flies. This is a dark piece of history and hard to believe it is true. The director chooses ways of showing him surrounded by lunacy as they slip more and more into lunacy and darkness.
Brilliant film of a story I didn't even know about until I saw it.
Brilliant film of a story I didn't even know about until I saw it.
Hazel (1853 KP) rated The Moon Field in Books
Dec 17, 2018
<b>My rating: 3.5</b>
<i>I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.</i>
<i>The Moon Field</i> is an historical romance novel set during the First World War. It focuses mainly on two people: George and Violet, although there is a wide range of characters.
Split into three parts the novel begins with George, an 18 year old postman planning on telling Miss Violet of his feelings for her, only to find out that she is already engaged. He runs off feeling jealous and ends up enlisting for the army. At first I thought the description of George made him seem more like a child than a young adult and this annoyed me a little, however this helped to emphasise the changes he undergoes as a result of the war.
Part two is mostly set in Flanders where George is involved in the fighting resulting in deaths of certain other characters for which George blames himself despite it not really being his fault. This section ends with George being hurt himself and part three begins with him being returned to a hospital in England where he begins to recover although is now deformed. Throughout this final part George suffers with depression and thinks that he is now a freak. He has to deal with lots of rejection but, thankfully, the novel ends with a more positive outlook for his future.
Knowing in advance that romance was to be involved, it appeared at first that there might be some romantic attachment developed between George and Violet. From the very beginning I personally did not want this to happen. It did not feel right particularly as they were of different social classes, which at that time was quite important. Fortunately this did not happen and I was fairly pleased with the ending.
I think that Allnatt’s writing is extremely good and reflects the time period well. I quite often find when reading historical novels that authors use words or phrases that are too modern to have actually been said at that time. There was none of that problem with <i>The Moon Field</i>. Allnatt had also researched extremely well to get across the experiences of the soldiers on the Western Front. She mentions in her acknowledgements that she read many soldiers accounts of their experiences in the Great War. All her research defiantly paid off!
All in all it is a great historical novel.
<i>I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.</i>
<i>The Moon Field</i> is an historical romance novel set during the First World War. It focuses mainly on two people: George and Violet, although there is a wide range of characters.
Split into three parts the novel begins with George, an 18 year old postman planning on telling Miss Violet of his feelings for her, only to find out that she is already engaged. He runs off feeling jealous and ends up enlisting for the army. At first I thought the description of George made him seem more like a child than a young adult and this annoyed me a little, however this helped to emphasise the changes he undergoes as a result of the war.
Part two is mostly set in Flanders where George is involved in the fighting resulting in deaths of certain other characters for which George blames himself despite it not really being his fault. This section ends with George being hurt himself and part three begins with him being returned to a hospital in England where he begins to recover although is now deformed. Throughout this final part George suffers with depression and thinks that he is now a freak. He has to deal with lots of rejection but, thankfully, the novel ends with a more positive outlook for his future.
Knowing in advance that romance was to be involved, it appeared at first that there might be some romantic attachment developed between George and Violet. From the very beginning I personally did not want this to happen. It did not feel right particularly as they were of different social classes, which at that time was quite important. Fortunately this did not happen and I was fairly pleased with the ending.
I think that Allnatt’s writing is extremely good and reflects the time period well. I quite often find when reading historical novels that authors use words or phrases that are too modern to have actually been said at that time. There was none of that problem with <i>The Moon Field</i>. Allnatt had also researched extremely well to get across the experiences of the soldiers on the Western Front. She mentions in her acknowledgements that she read many soldiers accounts of their experiences in the Great War. All her research defiantly paid off!
All in all it is a great historical novel.
GP
Goodbye Piccadilly: From Home Front to Western Front
London Transport Museum and Sue Mullins
Book
The First World War changed London and Londoners forever. For the drivers who took their buses to...
Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992)
5.7
Rate It
Movie Watch
The revelation of his own former humanity in Hellraiser II has resulted in the Cenobite, Pinhead,...
Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated The Others (2001) in Movies
Sep 29, 2020
I Am Your Daughter
The Others- is a great haunted house film that has a great twist at the end. Its scary, haunted, horrorfying, thrilling and terrorfying.
The Plot: Grace (Nicole Kidman), the devoutly religious mother of Anne (Alakina Mann) and Nicholas (James Bentley), moves her family to the English coast during World War II. She awaits word on her missing husband while protecting her children from a rare photosensitivity disease that causes the sun to harm them. Anne claims she sees ghosts, Grace initially thinks the new servants are playing tricks but chilling events and visions make her believe something supernatural has occurred.
Its a excellent haunted house film.
The Plot: Grace (Nicole Kidman), the devoutly religious mother of Anne (Alakina Mann) and Nicholas (James Bentley), moves her family to the English coast during World War II. She awaits word on her missing husband while protecting her children from a rare photosensitivity disease that causes the sun to harm them. Anne claims she sees ghosts, Grace initially thinks the new servants are playing tricks but chilling events and visions make her believe something supernatural has occurred.
Its a excellent haunted house film.
Palace Walk
Book
A sweeping and evocative portrait of both a family and a country struggling to move toward...
Merissa (12963 KP) rated Selina Penaluna in Books
Dec 17, 2018
I found myself to be quite disappointed with this book. It is a tale set in Cornwall during the Second World War where twins, Jack and Ellen, are evacuated. There is a local girl, Selina, that Jack is drawn to but Ellen doesn't like.
The whole story is written by one of these viewpoints but some of the time I wasn't entirely sure who's viewpoint I was reading until I'd read a couple of pages. Then I would go back to make sure that I hadn't missed anything relevant to that character.
I found it hard to connect with any of these characters. Jack came across as a spoilt boy, Selina was probably the best character as I wasn't sure whether or not to like her or not. Whether she was an innocent or a schemer. Ellen came across as someone desperate for approval and like so many in that position, will never get it. The parts that are written as Ellen as an old lady have a faintly bitter and self-pitying flavour to them which I didn't like. Perhaps it is a generational thing but if you are not happy with your life, then change it.
There is a bit in the middle that I didn't understand at all. Paul Blanchard. Did he actually ever meet Selina or not? I didn't find this clear at all although I did understand how him and Jack connected later on in the story.
I'm glad I stuck with this book and finished it as I hate leaving books halfway through but I'm afraid that's about as good as it gets for me.
The whole story is written by one of these viewpoints but some of the time I wasn't entirely sure who's viewpoint I was reading until I'd read a couple of pages. Then I would go back to make sure that I hadn't missed anything relevant to that character.
I found it hard to connect with any of these characters. Jack came across as a spoilt boy, Selina was probably the best character as I wasn't sure whether or not to like her or not. Whether she was an innocent or a schemer. Ellen came across as someone desperate for approval and like so many in that position, will never get it. The parts that are written as Ellen as an old lady have a faintly bitter and self-pitying flavour to them which I didn't like. Perhaps it is a generational thing but if you are not happy with your life, then change it.
There is a bit in the middle that I didn't understand at all. Paul Blanchard. Did he actually ever meet Selina or not? I didn't find this clear at all although I did understand how him and Jack connected later on in the story.
I'm glad I stuck with this book and finished it as I hate leaving books halfway through but I'm afraid that's about as good as it gets for me.
Mothergamer (1571 KP) rated the PlayStation 4 version of Vampyr in Video Games
Nov 16, 2020
The game is not totally terrible. I found the concept interesting and being set in 1918 London during the influenza epidemic and World War I made for an interesting setting. I really wished that there was fast travel in the game because walking back and forth between neighborhoods for quests and gathering information could be really tedious. I also felt that the game was hindered by the lack of a manual save because sometimes conversations would go wrong if you picked the wrong choice with an NPC and you would lose the clue forever and there's no way to redo it unless you want to start the entire game over again. I truly don't understand why that decision was made by the game developers and it could be really frustrating to use a conversation hint and not be able to have a redo. The combat isn't bad, figuring out what vampire abilities worked best for each fight was intriguing, but it wasn't too challenging which I liked. The story is good, but not great because there were some unanswered questions and some plot holes leaving more questions. Overall, I did enjoy the story and I'm glad I played through it at least once. Full Mothergamer review is here: http://lorrie28-mothergamer.blogspot.com/2020/11/mothergamer-plays-vampyr.html