Leon Uris?
So while not directly related to today’s question, lyrics are something I found a great source of vocabulary and of “things they don’t teach you in class”.
I first encoutered English’ literal treatment of dialectal variations and, uh, non-dictionary pronunciations in the lyrics of Queen’s The Works, of all places. That year’s teacher had encouraged us to try and understand the lyrics to the songs we liked, and to ask questions about it; the more-by-the-book ones would have totally freaked out at being asked “why does it say ‘cos’ here?” (IIRC, there were two different alternate spellings of “because” - yes, in the lyrics of the same record)
The Good War by Studs Terkel. A tremendous book I can’t say enough good things about.
It is quite long. OTOH it’s really composed of many brief memoirs (taken from spoken interviews) of civilian WWII experiences.
I read that book in my teens, and became facinated with the anachronism of a wooden sailing ship being used as a man of war in WW1. But I don’t know if that kind of thing would appeal to girls/young women.
Well, diff’rent strokes fer diff’rent folks…
Are we talking fiction or nonfiction? If we stray from literature per se into history, I’d recommend John Keegan’s inimitable The Face of Battle. Keegan talks about the pitfalls in understanding what we read in historical accounts of battles, examines the experiences of individual soldiers, and discusses myths and misunderstandings about warfare. There’s also a brilliant analogy between alpine mountain climbing, which started out as a social event but became increasingly technical, isolating, and physically arduous, and warfare’s steadily increasing technology and vast expansion, leaving individuals similarly isolated and exhausted.
Both for his advice on how to interpret “battle pieces” one will read elsewhere, and his open-eyed depiction of the horrors of battle, this is a useful book for young people to read in their formative years.
Another vote for The Book Thief. Classified as YA, but one of my favorite books of the last few years.
Was going to say The Red Badge of Courage, but it’s already been mentioned. It’s lovely - not too long, straightforward, but beautifully told. Powerful, even in its simplicity.
The Book Thief is excellent; easily one of the best books I’ve read. It’s got a great story, and really flows. However, I can see how the author’s use of language might cause a bit of difficulty. He’s very lyrical, and the imagery is outstanding. But if she’s very literal, it might confuse her. A few examples:
[QUOTE=Markus Zusak, The Book Thief]
“Trust me, though, the words were on their way, and when they arrived, Liesel would hold them in her hands like the clouds, and she would wring them out like rain.”
“Somewhere, far down, there was an itch in his heart, but he made it a point not to scratch it. He was afraid of what might come leaking out.”
"One of the Jews on his way to Dachau had stopped walking now. He stood absolutely still as the others swerved morosely around him, leaving him completely alone. His eyes staggered, and it was so simple. The words were given across from the girl to the Jew. They climbed on to him.
The next time she spoke, the questions stumbled from her mouth. Hot tears fought for room in her eyes as she would not let them out. Better to stand resolute and proud. Let the words do all of it."
[/QUOTE]
It’s still a beautiful, beautiful book, and more than worth the reading.
I totally missed the part where you mentioned that she loves poetry. In that case, I’d whole-heartedly recommend The Book Thief for her. The imagery, the way he uses words - amazing. It totally captivated me.
When I was 17 I read August 1914 by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.
As for an “easy” read, I’d reccomend Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War. Orginaly based on a series of newspaper articles, it’s quite accessable. The original articles are available free online as well.Black Hawk Down.
I also reccomend Jeff Sharra’s The Killer Angels.
This, but for The Red Badge of Courage.
Thank you! I’ve been trying to think of the name of that for years.
So, that one, and Johnny Got His Gun.
If any war fiction is acceptable how about Starship Troopers? It is definitely a war story even though it is sci-fi. For that matter add Ender’s Game into that mix.
For something a little nearer this century Florence Nightengale’s Letters from Crimea are graphic but give a good account of the horrors of war from the medical end. I greatly enjoyed Chickenhawk by Robert Mason and his account of Vietnam.
Hehe, yeah that does sound like something should would do well with, actually! Thanks very much for posting the excerpt.
The first time we looked at Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow she looked at “Life’s but a walking shadow” and commented that it reminded her of Plato’s shadows on the wall of the cave. She said: “Like that, only he’s saying it’s just the shadows without the actual people there to cast the shadows. Nothing but shadows on the wall of a cave.”
She’s a clever-clogs. Dunno why she comes to me for lessons really!
The Forever War was a good read at that age, too.
Starship Troopers had something which was true for me and even more for many girls of previous generations, but which nowadays seems unbelievable to the immense majority of people: the way the gender separation in the forces affects gender relations. That bit about wanting to get guard duty because you might hear a female voice is the part where I fell off the bed for the second time and decided it would be safer to stay down.
Holy crap! A 17-year-old said that?!? :eek:
I also read Starship Troopers and The Forever War back-to-back. A real study in contrasts!
Herman Wouk 's books. Winds of War and War and Remembrance. I read them in my teens.
I actually took a college course in which we read and contrasted these two.