While We’re Far Apart

by Lynn Austin

2010

I have to say, after reading this book, Lynn Austin continues to be my current favourite Christian fiction writer.

 

While We’re Far Apart takes place in the USA during World War II where men are absent, anti-Semitism is present and women are trying their best to carry life along.

Penny Goodrich has loved Eddie Shaffer for as long as she could remember so, when the opportunity to care for his children comes up, she jumps at the chance. After all, taking care of his children is a step closer to marrying him, right?

Little does Penny know how this one decision will impact her life.

And her heart. 

I loved reading this book though I have but one complaint: it wrapped up too quickly. After spending pages and pages on detail and depth, I felt that the story concluded without the same attention. The story deserved more.

All that to say, I'd recommend this book to anyone wanting an interesting and enjoyable read.

Reading on…

Ben-Hur

by Lew Wallace

I believe Ben-Hur is best known as a 1959 Hollywood drama starring Charlton Heston.
Who can forget the chariot race?

But have you ever picked up the novel and read it cover to cover?

If you have, have a coffee on me.
If you haven't, let me warn you - don't expect a story like the movie.


Having watched the movie, Ben-Hur seemed like the right read for a trip to Israel, but honestly, I didn't get very far.

In fact, I didn't get very far the whole vacation and only finished two months later.
At home.


Truth be told - Ben-Hur didn't grab me.

Beautifully written.
Deep and provoking.
Amazing plot.


What more could I ask for?
Still, I felt wanting.



Despite my lack of interest, however, there are a few things that have stayed with me.

The dedication.
"To the wife of my youth who still abides with me"


The detail.
Lew Wallace describes to perfection.


The depth.
Judah discovers we are physical beings with bodies of flesh and blood, yet also spiritual beings created with eternal souls.



Would I recommend Ben-Hur?
Despite my humble opinions, definitely.




Reading on...

Lest We Forget

April 7 was Holocaust Remembrance Day, so I decided to focus my reading around the topic.

The words were often hard to read.

The Diary of a Young Girl

by Anne Frank

1947

I am sure you have at least heard the name, Anne Frank, but have you read her diary?

I read it years ago, but this time round gave me a new perspective.

Anne Frank was a Jewish teenager in Nazi-occupied Holland. Her family, along with the Van Daan [Van Pels] family and Mr. Dussel [Mr. Pfeffer], went into hiding in order to escape deportation and certain death. (Names had been changed for the book, at least according to the Anne Frank Museum website.)

This diverse group hid for 25 months in the upper floors of a warehouse before they were betrayed and sent to various concentration camps.

Anne’s father, Otto Frank, was the only one to survive.

The Diary of a Young Girl is Anne’s journal.

Full of teenage angst, Anne's entries document this time of secrecy.

This time of eight people in close-quarters with little to do, limited food, and the constant fear of discovery.

On Tuesday, April 4, 1944 Anne wrote,

“I want to go on living even after my death! And therefore I am grateful to God for giving me this gift, this possibility of developing myself and of writing, of expressing all that is in me.”

Anne got her wish.

Making Bombs for Hitler

by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch

2012

This middle grade novel is about a young girl, Lida, who is forced into slave labor at a munitions factory in Nazi Germany.

The one piece of advice Lida was given, as she was transported to the labour camp was, “make yourself useful”.

So she did.

When other children her age were deemed useless and expendable, Lida lied to make herself older and was permitted to put her skills, and her small steady hands, to work.

Some of this work included making bombs.

Some of this work included sabotaging bombs.

Making Bombs for Hitler captivated my interest as it explored the slave labour side of Nazi Germany.

Osterbeiter was the name.

A few facts:

Non-Jews were picked up off the street and sent to labour camps to work.Most Osterbeiter’s were Ukranian and had to wear “OST” on their sleeves.

They were regarded as subhuman and were killed if they tried to escape.
Others died from over-work or when the factories they were working in were bombed by the Allies.

Making Bombs for Hitler is actually a sequel to the novel, Stolen Child, which tells the story of Lida’s sister, Larissa, a victim of the Nazi Lebensborn program.

I have yet to read it. 

The Hiding Place

by Corrie Ten Boom

1971

A classic in Christian literature, this book was amazing.

What a story of faith.

Corrie Ten Boom was a non-Jew living in Nazi-occupied Holland when she allowed herself to be used by God to save many of His people – the Dutch Jews.

Corrie became very involved in “The Underground”, which involved stolen ration cards, hiding Jews and various other clandestine activities.

Eventually the Ten Booms were discovered and Corrie, along with her older sister, Betsie, and their elderly father, were imprisoned.

Corrie was the only one to survive.

There are two distinct stories that stand out to me in The Hiding Place.

The first:

Betsie was an example of true thankfulness to all those around her.

She genuinely lived out 1 Thessalonians 5:18,

“Give thanks in all circumstances…”

She even gave thanks for the fleas in their barracks at concentration camp, Ravensbruck.

In the end, it was these fleas that kept the guards away so Betsie and Corrie could freely lead Bible studies.

The second:
Betsie prayed for the Nazi soldiers and guards – the enemy. 

Matthew 5:44, “But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who
persecute you.”

It’s easy to pray for our friends and loved ones, but how easy is it to pray for the

enemy?

Corrie Ten Boom was released from Ravensbruck on, what she later discovered, a technical error. All women of her age were actually assigned to be killed.

Corrie's story didn't end the day she walked out of Ravensbruck.
Until she was quite elderly, Corrie travelled the world sharing the Gospel and the free gift of God’s grace.

Beyond Courage: The Untold Story of Jewish Resistance During the Holocaust

by Doreen Rappaport
2012

Full of amazing pictures and stories of bravery, this book was a privilege to read.
I had no idea.

Reading on…

The Cello Suites

The Cello Suites
by Eric Siblin

House of Anansi Press Inc., 2009

First of all, let me say, I LOVE THE CELLO.

I first heard an unaccompanied cello, in all its glory, when we lived in a small farming/ university city and two music majors happened to play a cello duet at our church.

I fell in love.

I love how the cello looks. I love how the cello sounds. I how the cello is is played...

Now ask,

Do I play the cello?

No.

Do I play any string instrument?

No.

Do I play any instrument at all?

Well, yes.

I grew up playing the piano, but not what I would consider successfully.

I also happen to play the flute. Or did.

But it comes down to this,

Music was never“my thing”. Refer to  The Hidden Art of Homemaking for more on this.

Despite this sad but true fact however, I think I might like to give it a try once again.

On my terms.

(Not so) secretly, I hope one of my children will be “my cello player”. But I have also considered the possibility of taking lessons myself once all the kids are in school.

Why can’t I be “my cello player”?

So, that brings me to The Cello Suites.

My eyes gravitated to the title listed in the “must read” section of one of our community newsletters. I’m not sure how many people actually took that recommendation seriously as I quickly got a hold of a copy at the library, not generally what happens with popular books in our library system.

In short, I absolutely loved this book. In fact, I picked up a copy for my brother-in-law for Christmas.

The Cello Suites basically follows three true stories.

1) The life and times of famous music composer, Johann Sebastian Bach, who wrote the actual “Cello Suites”. The book explores the circumstances surrounding the Suites' composition and the ensuing mystery of their disappearance from the eighteenth century.

2) The life of world-renowned cellist, Pablo Casals, who re-discovered the Cello Suites in the late nineteenth century and made them famous. Apparently he found the music in a small second-hand music shop in Spain then practiced them for 12 years before actually playing them in public.

3) The quest of author and journalist, Eric Siblin, to uncover the mystery of the Cello Suites. Siblin heard the Cello Suites at a recital in Toronto, Ontario and was completely taken in by the music and the explanation given in the program,

           
 ...the Cello Suites were seen as only a collection of exercises. But since Casals had started playing the suites at the dawn of the twentieth century, “we now know how lucky we are to possess these extraordinary masterworks. What most music-lovers don’t know, however, is that no known composer’s manuscript of these works exists...There exists no truly reliable source for the suites.” (page 4)

Whatever happened to Bach’s original manuscript? Spoiler alert: Siblin did extensive research in order to answer this question, but in the end, it remains a mystery.

The Cello Suites (as in the book) is certainly not a boring book by any means!

Interestingly enough, I had no idea what the (now speaking of the music) Cello Suites were when I picked up the book, but once I started reading, an idea popped into my head.  On the soundtrack for the Hollywood movie, Master and Commander starring Russell Crowe, there is a cello piece and I wondered....

On the soundtrack is: 

Prelude (From the Unaccompanied Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, BMV 1007)

Composed by, you know who, Johann Sebastian Bach
Performed by Yo-Yo Ma, cello

Absolutely beautiful.

What is actually quite fascinating about the Suites is this: In classical music, at least in my own experience, the performer must follow all the notes, rests, time and other musical indications to a tee.

No poetic license is allowed.

However, since no original manuscript exists for this music, no one really knows what Bach intended. Therefore, the cellist can be as poetic as they like!


As Siblin describes it on page 117,

The Cello Suites are a blank slate, a Rorschach test that allows cellists to put their own stamp on Bach and interpret the music as they see fit - or as they think Bach would have wanted his music played.


This really is so.

As it turns out, I actually have two different CD's with the Prelude of Suite No. 1 ,played by two different cellists. The versions are very different, indeed.

Speaking about the cello and speaking about books related to the cello, another terrific read is author Steven Galloway’s, The Cellist of Sarajevo.

This book is inspired by actual events,

At four o’clock in the afternoon on 27 May 1992, during the siege of Sarajevo, several mortar shells struck a group of people waiting to buy bread behind the market on Vase Miskina. Twenty-two people were killed and at least seventy were wounded. For the next twenty-two days Vedran Smailović, a renowned local cellist, played Albinoni’s Adagio in G Minor at the site in honour of the dead (page 259).

I read this book as part of a book club several years ago, and, if I remember correctly, I was the only one who liked it!  Basically, everyone’s complaint was that there was not enough action, but my perspective was completely different. There was action, but it was subtle and the climax of the story, internal.

I thought it was a really touching book in a non-traditional sort of way.

Any other cello reads?

Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes

By Eleanor Coerr

Puffin Books, 1977

I first read about Sadako years ago in elementary school. It could have been in grade three or four, who knows.

For whatever reason, Sadako`s story struck something with me because, thirty years later, it`s still there. 

When my eight year old son first started folding paper airplanes, my brain quickly moved to origami paper planes, to origami paper cranes, to the story of Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes.

I`m amazed at the way my brain works sometimes!

Published in 1977, Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes tells the true story of a Japanese girl, Sadako, who lived in Hiroshima when the United States Air Force dropped an atomic bomb on the city to force an end to World War II.

Like many others who were exposed to the bomb’s radiation, Sadako developed leukemia. While hospitalized, a friend told Sadako about a Japanese legend that says if a sick person folds one thousand paper cranes they would regain their health.

Sadako started folding, but sadly, she never finished. 

She died on October 25, 1955.

Her classmates took up the quest and folded the remaining three hundred and fifty-six cranes to make one thousand.

In doing a bit of research, I discovered that  in 1958 a statue of Sadako was erected in the Hiroshima Peace Park. Apparently people still fold paper cranes and place them at the base of the statue every year on August 6, also known as, Peace Day.

This book is a quick, but touching, read for an adult and an easy read for a grade four or five student. Mind you, I am not up on reading levels so I could be way off. However, it does look like a book my own grade four student could easily manage.

He didn`t read it, though. One glance at the girl wearing a kimono on the cover and he said, “forget it”.      

That does bring me to the many benefits of origami. As an occupational therapist (OT) in my life before children, I am always on the lookout for great activities for kids.

Origami is a great activity for kids.

Older kids. Younger kids.

What benefits does origami have from an OT’s perspective? (Technically I can’t call myself an OT anymore as I no longer hold a license to practice.)

Glad you asked...

Fine motor skills

Following instructions

Attention to detail

Problem solving

Attention span

Visual perception

To name a few....

Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes includes complete instructions on how to make paper cranes. Which is a great tie in for readers.

You can fold a paper crane too! It's not hard.

While origami is usually done with special origami paper, practice a few cranes on plain old paper cut into a perfect square.

Then, go buy the fancy paper.