Average customer rating:
- ....and when does it get funny?
- Overrated
- Just my opinion, but--UGH!
- Very disturbing.
- appreciate differences
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Running with Scissors: A Memoir
Augusten Burroughs
Manufacturer: Picador
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ASIN: 031242227X |
Amazon.com
There is a passage early in Augusten Burroughs's harrowing and highly entertaining memoir, Running with Scissors, that speaks volumes about the author. While going to the garbage dump with his father, young Augusten spots a chipped, glass-top coffee table that he longs to bring home. "I knew I could hide the chip by fanning a display of magazines on the surface, like in a doctor's office," he writes, "And it certainly wouldn't be dirty after I polished it with Windex for three hours." There were certainly numerous chips in the childhood Burroughs describes: an alcoholic father, an unstable mother who gives him up for adoption to her therapist, and an adolescence spent as part of the therapist's eccentric extended family, gobbling prescription meds and fooling around with both an old electroshock machine and a pedophile who lives in a shed out back. But just as he dreamed of doing with that old table, Burroughs employs a vigorous program of decoration and fervent polishing to a life that many would have simply thrown in a landfill. Despite her abandonment, he never gives up on his increasingly unbalanced mother. And rather than despair about his lot, he glamorizes it: planning a "beauty empire" and performing an a capella version of "You Light Up My Life" at a local mental ward. Burroughs's perspective achieves a crucial balance for a memoir: emotional but not self-involved, observant but not clinical, funny but not deliberately comic. And it's ultimately a feel-good story: as he steers through a challenging childhood, there's always a sense that Burroughs's survivor mentality will guide him through and that the coffee table will be salvaged after all. --John Moe
Book Description
Running with Scissors is the true story of a boy whose mother (a poet with delusions of Anne Sexton) gave him away to be raised by her unorthodox psychiatrist who bore a striking resemblance to Santa Claus. So at the age of twelve, Burroughs found himself amidst Victorian squalor living with the doctor's bizarre family, and befriending a pedophile who resided in the backyard shed. The story of an outlaw childhood where rules were unheard of, and the Christmas tree stayed up all year round, where Valium was consumed like candy, and if things got dull an electroshock- therapy machine could provide entertainment. The funny, harrowing and bestselling account of an ordinary boy's survival under the most extraordinary circumstances.
Customer Reviews:
....and when does it get funny?.......2007-10-13
I hitched a ride on the "Running with Scissors" bandwagon; the movie preview looked humorous so, naturally, I decided to read the book instead. If you are looking for another collection of humorous and cynical essays on childhood you may find in a David Sedaris book, this is certainly not it! Mr. Burroughs' approach to writing is much less observational than Sedaris; Mr. Sedaris comes off as a more sympathetic creature where Mr. Burroughs gains little of my sympathy despite suffering a childhood far more destructive and horrifying. I cannot say that I chuckled more than two or three times throughout the whole book, most likely those chuckles were directed at obscure references not even meant to be humorous. Being shocking is not necessarily funny, and this book is certainly not funny. Perhaps what Dane Cook is to comedy Augusten Burroughs is to humorous memoirs.
Overrated.......2007-10-12
Another book hopping on the "my life is screwed up because of my childhood/adolescence" ficto-auto-biography wagon.
The book reads almost formulaically, in the vein of Sedaris. I didn't find the writing interesting or engaging or particularly humorous.
Just my opinion, but--UGH!.......2007-10-10
I bought this book based on rave reviews on my public radio station and on the book itself by big-time names. I guess I should start using the same system I use for movies--if they rave, it will suck. If they totally trash it, it's probably pretty good. I really tried to give this a chance--I gave it 100 pages to say something, ANYTHING funny, substantial, or go anywhere with the narrative. The writing was not gifted, prosaic, insightful or anything I expected. It was just one really warped incident after another, with no rhyme or reason. Nothing led anywhere, made me think, laugh, cry or go "Hmmm...". If a book can't give you anything in 100 pages, it badly needs a better editor, or the writer should pick another topic. This was just annoying and sad. I'm currently reading a book about fish that's more entertaining and insightful. I don't know what he was thinking. And don't EVEN compare him to Sedaris--that man is pee-your-pants funny. This guy made me think that maybe I wouldn't want him petting my dog.
Very disturbing........2007-10-10
I found this book very disturbing. The pedophilic relationship and the graphic description of the sex acts was especially nauseating. I am a mother of two young boys and this made me angry and sad. I read the whole book although I almost threw it in the trash after the sex chapter. I think the book was interesting, shocking, and amazing that the author is a functioning adult. However, I wouldn't recommend the book due to the graphic content (and I am no prude). I DID NOT find the book funny as the reviews stated. I found myself disgusted with the characters, especially the adults, who really allowed and encouraged this sick lifestyle.
appreciate differences.......2007-10-05
A sad, funny, wildly entertaining story of growing up sane in spite of some awful insane surroundings.
This was a Book Club Pick; it met mixed reviews.
Warning: Do Not See Movie.
Those who saw movie overwhelmly stated it was in bad taste--a waste of time. Movie focused on a few selacious events of the book--not good. Movie watchers refused to read book.
I admit I did not want to read this after a few in my book club reviewed the movie. But, I gave it a shot by getting the AUDIO BOOK at local library.
The Audio was fantastic--read by the author, himself. Burroughs added the inflections and humor/sadness/shock where they belonged. Every time the story started to get too graphic and yes, uncomfortable for me--thankfully, Burroughs closed the chapter and started on with another snapshot of his life.
Yes, this was a non-fiction account of one boy growing up in the midst of an extremely disfunctional group of adults/families/wanderers/outcasts, and how they functioned in a liberal college area in a tumultous time (60s-70s). (names changed to protect those still alive. I think Burroughs had to pay the real "Dr. Finch's family" some $$$ for getting too close for comfort.)
I say LISTEN to the book--it may make more sense. I truly LIKED it. Well written--excellent.
Product Description
2 AUGUSTEN BURROUGHS Memoir Books - 1) - Running with Scissors / 2) - Dry - (Unboxed Set), in either Hard or Softcover, (See Seller Condition Comments), Shipped in one package to save on shipping costs.
Amazon.com
Fans of Augusten Burroughs's darkly funny memoir Running with Scissors were left wondering at the end of that book what would become of young Augusten after his squalid and fascinating childhood ended. In Dry, we find that although adult Augusten is doing well professionally, earning a handsome living as an ad writer for a top New York agency, Burroughs's personal life is a disaster. His apartment is a sea of empty Dewar's bottles, he stays out all night boozing, and he dabs cologne on his tongue in an unsuccessful attempt to mask the stench of alcohol on his breath at work. When his employer insists he seek help, Burroughs ships out to Minnesota for detoxification, counseling, and amusingly told anecdotes about the use of stuffed animals in group therapy. But after a month of such treatment, he's back in Manhattan and tenuously sober. And while its one thing to lay off the sauce in rehab, Burroughs learns that it's quite another to resume your former life while avoiding the alcohol that your former life was based around. This quest to remain sober is made dramatically more difficult, and the tale more harrowing, when Burroughs begins an ill-advised romance with a crack addict. Certainly the "recovered alcoholic fighting to stay sober" tale is not new territory for a memoirist. But Burroughs's account transcends clichés: it doesn't adhere to the traditional "temptation narrowly resisted" storyline and it features, in Burroughs himself, a central character that is sympathetic even when he's neither likable nor admirable. But what ultimately makes this memoir such a terrific read is a brilliant and candid sense of humor that manages to stay dry even when recalling events where the author was anything but. --John Moe
Book Description
With unconventional wit and a wonderfully weird way of looking at things, Augusten Burroughs chronicles his life on the edge after leaving his deeply eccentric foster family. Dry opens in Manhattan, where Augusten has established a life for himself as a high-paid advertising hotshot. But his past haunts him still as he tries to create a grown-up life. Dry is at times howlingly funny, devastatingly moving and, in the end, uplifting. It further establishes Burroughs as one of the most original authors writing today.
Customer Reviews:
Non-stop Craziness and Humor--Incredible!.......2007-09-20
Wow. How to write a review of this book...Augusten Burroughs' sense of humor and ability to take his life experiences and weave them into stories that are engaging, entertaining and at times a bit disturbing is absolutely incredible.
His style of writing and revealing of clips of his life endear the reader to him. I could not put down the book and I was truly sad when I read the very last word on the very last page. I wanted more of Augusten, I was hooked. I went out the next day and bought another one of his engaging pseudo-biographical book and devoured that in a day or two as well.
Augusten Burroughs has a gift and I am so very glad he chose the medium in which he did to share it with the world.
Augusten, if you are out there, I just want to say thank you for finding the motivation and determination to publish your stories. You are truly and inspiration and your words have touched me. Thank you.
Hilarious, horrifying, can't-put-it-down reading.......2007-09-16
This is a fantastic book, marvelously written, at once funny, bittersweet, terrifying and can't-put-it-down suspenseful. A memoir with the drama and emotional clutch of a novel. And written in a clean, clear, highly readable style that simply pulls you through the pages.
If you've read his earlier acclaimed memoir RUNNING WITH SCISSORS, then you know you have to find out what happened to that brilliant, warped boy after he survived his hellish loony-bin childhood and stumbled into adulthood. If you haven't read RUNNING WITH SCISSORS, feel free to start with this one -- it stands on its own. If you read DRY first, you'll run to grab RUNNING WITH SCISSORS. I greatly prefer DRY to SCISSORS, myself, and I thought that was a fine book.
DRY is that rare book that will save lives and bring great joy and insight into the lives of many people who read it. I came away loving Burroughs, and looking into my own life and wondering what I'm failing to do right and who I'm failing to love and appreciate. And being grateful to be alive.
But, hey, don't let that stop you. This is no tract. Trust me, it's huge fun and a great read.
Dry review.......2007-08-31
After having read Running with Scissors, which was recommended to me by a close friend, I became fairly obsessed with the work of Augusten Burroughs. The moment I had finished, I ran to the nearest bookstore to scour over all the other memoirs, novels, and collections of short stories that he had written. After reviewing a somewhat extensive selection of his books, I ended up selecting Dry, the sequel to Running with Scissors, to be my next endeavor. I felt a powerful need to pick up where his previous book had left off.
This book was morbidly humorous to the point where I had to stop reading it in public because I could not contain my spontaneous bursts of laughter. Augusten Burroughs' life has been so astounding that it almost makes the reader question his validity. He begins living on his own at the age of nineteen, having had no education past the seventh grade. However with the somewhat unnatural charm he possesses, he is able to walk into an advertising agency from off the street and talk his way into being hired on the spot. He soon becomes one of the agency's most valued advertising representatives with the worst substance abuse problem.
Augusten uses alcohol, cocaine, and crack to numb himself from the pain of his past and present. After falling into a state of squalor, which involved drinking two bottles of scotch a night and urinating repetitively in his bed, his friends decide to step in. Augusten is sent to a gay-friendly rehabilitation center where he is forced to deal with the unconventional upbringing that left him so unstable as well as the fight of a loved one against aids. After rehab Augusten must struggle to redefine his life in terms of sobriety and adapt to this drastic change. He gives a great effort to find a balance between work and leisure which excludes the stresses that caused him to turn to substances, while still dealing with certain issues that he cannot escape.
This book is utterly incredible. My only disappointment was that it had to end. Augusten Burroughs wrote this memoir to expose to his readers how bad life can get. He also intended to send the hopeful message that no matter how difficult things become, life can always get better. Dry shows the reader that no matter what their current situation may be, if they have the intrinsic motivation, they can always improve upon it. This memoir leaves the reader both motivated and comfortably optimistic. It is a tragic yet satisfying tale of a young mans life.
Burroughs has a natural gift for captivating the reader entirely by completely exposing himself. He is ashamed of nothing and embraces his flaws. He spares no details of when he hit rock bottom for it shows how far he had to come and how much of an accomplishment it was. Anyone who reads this is sure to fall instantaneously in love with the author for his wit, determination, and imperfections.
Book was fairly interesting.......2007-08-30
I read this book fairly fast..it must be pretty good book to read it as fast as I did..
Fantastic .......2007-08-25
Dry is a brutally honest account of a man's personal struggle to overcome demons imposed on him by life. Burroughs is a terrific writer and keeps you hooked until the end. It took me only two days to read the book because I couldn't put it down. Personal and powerful I would recommend it to anyone.
Book Description
A gripping chronicle of the greatest and most terrible confrontation between Allied forces and the Nazi army, based on groundbreaking archival research and the compelling first-person accounts of four hundred survivors on both sides of the conflict.
Before D-Day there was Monte Cassino, the desperate six-month struggle in the mountains of central Italy that left more than 350,000 men dead or wounded. Hitler had declared that the Allied drive toward Rome must be stopped at all costs, and in the winter of 1943–44 the German commander Kesselring chose the fortress-like monastery of Monte Cassino as the centerpiece of the Gustav Line, one of the most impressive feats of defensive engineering ever conceived. With months to prepare his position, Kesselring took advantage of the treacherous terrain to establish a virtually impregnable position. As the Allied forces?which included Americans, British, Canadians, Indians, South Africans, Tunisians, Algerians, Moroccans, Senegalese, Brazilians, and royalist Italians?pushed their way forward, the coldest, rainiest winter in Italian history rendered air and armor power useless, and turned the landscape into a hellish killing ground.
The Battle of Monte Cassino is a story of the horrors of war seen from the perspective of the soldiers on the battlefield. Through interviews with hundreds of survivors, as well as wartime letters and diaries, Matthew Parker vividly captures the savagery of conflicts fought with grenades, bayonets, and bare hands. His extensive research in the military archives of the participating nations brings to light how incessant disagreements and backbiting at the Allied command level contributed to the carnage and confusion. The destruction of the fourteenth-century monastery itself becomes a powerful symbol of the toll war takes on history and culture. Monte Cassino was one of the most sacred sites in Christendom and the home to valuable religious artifacts, artworks, and manuscripts. In massive Allied bombings, the building and many of its irreplaceable treasures were reduced to rubble.
The first book in twenty years about Monte Cassino, this monumental work of history conveys the human face of war with authoritative power and unforgettable emotional resonance.
Customer Reviews:
The Real Deal.......2007-05-05
Authors of books on military campaigns face a difficult task. They need to describe actions taken by two opponents on multiple fronts at the same time at strategic and tactical levels. Matthew Parker manages to do this well AND add often heartwrenching personal views of both sides of the battle gleaned from diaries, letters and interviews. And it is the personal accounts that raise this book above the average. This is not a description of the heroic Allies vanquishing the evil Nazis. Parker presents the grotesque realities and complexities of war. Not a book for the first time 'military' reader, better referencing of the otherwise clear maps and a better glimpse of the campaign from General Clark's and Alexander's perspectives (who are both criticized) would be improvements. But these are minor items against an otherwise fine work.
The Heroism at Monte Cassino.......2006-08-30
For some odd reason, Allied strategists considered Italy the "soft underbelly" of German-ruled Europe. It proved virtually the opposite. Parker points out that the very geography of Italy nullified the advantages that the Allies had acquired over the Germans by 1944. Furthermore, German forces dug in and stiffened their resistance in Italy. Every Allied attack on Monte Cassino was beaten back with heavy losses. Allied bombing and shelling of this German fortification seemed to have little effect--at least at first.
Matthew Parker presents a great deal of detail on the Polish Corps, much more than usually seen in non-Polish publications. As a Polish-American whose biological father fought at Monte Cassino, I have a special interest in this battle. There were about 50,000 soldiers in the Polish Corps, and 80% of them had recently been imprisoned in the Soviet Union. They were led by General Wladyslaw Anders, who himself had recently spent time in Soviet prisons.
Having analyzed the failure of previous attempts to take this objective, General Wladyslaw Anders decided on a strategy of attacking all German positions simultaneously. This would keep the Germans from temporarily retreating from one hideout to another and then freely coming back to counterattack the advancing Allies. The Poles intercepted a German order to retreat from Monte Cassino. This gave the Polish Corps a chance to trap the Germans before and during their retreat. Anders' strategy worked. The fighting was exceptionally fierce, and the Poles took Monte Cassino. The stench of the dead was everywhere.
Matthew Parker describes the red poppy flowers growing on the hillsides that surround Monte Cassino. Unfortunately, he fails to mention the fact that these very flowers inspired a military song: "Red Poppies at Monte Cassino" by Ref Ren. The song describes Polish soldiers treading and dying on these poppies "because anger was greater than fear of death". The poppies imbibed Polish blood instead of dew. In time, the flowers of these poppies would be redder than ever because of their diet of Polish blood.
When the Poles took Monte Cassino, the captured Germans became white with fear once they saw the Polish eagle insignia on the uniforms. In March 1983, a West German source published an article that accused the Poles of killing wounded Germans following the capture of Monte Cassino. Robert Frettlohr, one of the wounded German veterans captured by the Poles, spoke up. He forcefully repudiated the scurrilous accusation of Polish soldiers killing wounded Germans. He then got acquainted with Kazimierz Gurbiel, one of the Polish soldiers who had captured Frettlohr decades earlier. A friendship developed. Both former enemies were reunited at Monte Cassino in 1989, 45 years after their first meeting. Frettlohr regretted the war, pointing to its senselessness. He urged that Germans and Poles never again shoot at each other. For his part, Kazimierz Gurbiel, who had been severely wounded in a later battle, stated that he could not hate Germans.
General Leese realized that the Poles' capture of Monte Cassino soundly refuted the Soviet propaganda accusation of non-Communist Poles being unwilling to fight the Germans. Unfortunately, in this respect, it made no difference. Poland had already been sold out, by the British and Americans, in the events leading up to and including Teheran and, later, Yalta. In fact, Parker refers to the giveaway of eastern Poland to the Soviet Union at Teheran. General Wladyslaw Anders not only dared not return to his native Poland, but was constantly and profusely vilified by the Soviet stooges installed over "liberated" Poland. He died in 1970, in exile, and was buried at the Polish military cemetery at Monte Cassino, the final resting place of the Poles who fell in combat against the Germans in that dramatic battle.
Incredibly Informative .......2006-01-12
Having visited Salerno this past summer, I was disappointed to discover very little local information on the war and the Allied invasion there. Since I was staying with my wife's family, I asked them to recount their memories, which included climbing high on the coastal mountains as children and watching the troops come ashore. In their recollections they believed the invasion was virtually casualty-free for all. This surprised me, and I began searching for more information back here in the States.
Not only does Matthew Parker's book recount the battles of Monte Cassino, but it also provides significant background information on the events and decisions leading up to the Mediterranean invasions, including the one at Salerno, which was not casualty-free.
I read Parker's book while on Christmas holiday in Genova, Italy (2005), but unfortunately did not make it to Monte Cassino itself for a visit. Next time. Parker's book was difficult to put down and I've already recommended it to others.
I look forward to reading more from this well-researched historian. His work has brought much "readable" attention to aspects of WWII that are often overlooked. This is not a typical history book. It is accessible, well-written, and a good read. His reliance on eye-witness accounts and testimony is excellent. I hope he plans to write others books about WWII topics often overlooked, like the involvement of Polish troops throughout various theatres, like the Battle for Monte Ormel in the Falaise Pocket for instance, a valley of brutal fighting reminiscent of the horrors depicted at Monte Cassino.
An exceptional history of WWIIs forgotten campaign.......2005-12-05
Monte Cassino is one of those rare stories of war that reaches into your heart and mind, and somehow is able to stir both beyond the actual weight of the words printed between the covers. There is something intangeable about the way this story siezes the reader. Mathew Parker captures the events in a very graphic, no-nonsense manner and yet somehow manages to eloquently convey the experiences of soldier in the field during the Cassino battles. The feelings of terror, anger, bitterness, loneliness, acceptance of ones fate as well as the hope of somehow making it back home in one piece are masterfully described to the reader.
The book is divided into sections which describe both the preliminary battles in the Mediterranean theater which led to it and the horrific battle of attrition in central Italy itelf. Each battle is clearly laid out by the planning involved and how it evolved as well as it's results. Thus the struggle for Monte Cassino is not described as a single long assault but instead as a series of attacks, counterattacks and pauses to refit and rest. Mr. Parker also spends a good deal of space explaining the moral and economic cost of the war on civilians around Monte Cassino and in Italy, as well as the interactions between the various hostile nationalities and the civilians. Throughout the book Mr. Parker has done a credit to historians of this little studied theater of operations. He has written a book which possesses a balance of both the operational goals and strategy in Italy and the human cost of this strategy. He does this through a large number of personal accounts of the war by the average soldeir and civilian in the Italian theater.
As a matter of fact, the author skillfully uses the larger operational plans to directly feed into the personal accounts of the fight for Monte Cassino. Several examples of this are the patched together and rushed nature of the battles to either take or outflank the town of Cassino and the monastery above it. He puts the reader into the field with the infantryman who is faced with the consequences of one ill-planned and little-prepared-for battle after another. The reader is placed in the middle of infantry assaults devastated becuase of a lack of, or even misdirrected artillery, tank attacks not supported by infantry due to a lack of coordination, as well as amongst civillians caught in the cross-fire of these engagements. Mr. Parker clearly details the lack of understanding of the terrain by the commanding generals and how this led to the hopelessness of the early allied assaults. Decision after decision is poorly carried out or, even worse, ineptly conceived. The author even argues quite effectively that the architect of the campaign, General Mark Clark, needlessly sacrificed many soldeirs lives in his quest for respect and glory.
In the long run, the distinguishing characteristic of this history of one of the most bloody and, oddly enough, least known battles of the second world war, is it's emphasis on the cost in human terms. It is clear that to the author, when weighed against the terrible loss of life by both sides in fight to control this piece of ground, the operational and strategic goals of Churchill and the generals involved made little or no sense. Time and again the personal accounts collected here support this. With this book Mr. Parker has made an invaluable contribution to the understanding of what the soldiers of every nationality went through in that terrible battlefield in Italy.
The Rest of The Story.......2005-09-13
An interesting, informative account of that controversial battle. Mr. Parker gives an unbiased and very detailed description of the battle based upon the accounts of those "front line" troops that were there..Allies, German and Italian. It's a book that once begun you won't be able to put down.
Book Description
It's clear why Sven Hassell's books have sold millions. From a no-holds barred description of frontline combat to accounts of partisan attacks and adventures in Rome on leave, his World War II story is a classic. Here, Sven and his comrades who have survived the deadly fighting on the Russian front are posted to Italy, where the armies are locked in battle around the ancient hilltop of Monte Cassino. In the face of overwhelming Allied firepower, Sven and his fellow soldiers cling to the mountainside, knowing they cannot defy the odds forever.
Customer Reviews:
just one of a fantastic series of books.......2005-09-08
ive enjoyed sven hassels books for over 20 years a fantastic author who knows how to tell a story so well you just cant stop reading
Typicaly great hassel........2004-03-02
Doesn't stray from his template, but very interesting and well writen.
is night vision binocular is available during WW2?.......2003-10-16
I have read 4 of sven's books, well, basically they are good, but something bothers me tho. In monte casino, I think, major braun was stated as using his 'night vision binoculars', I thought these gadgets only available only recently, well, at least after WW2.
real life & griping.......1999-07-31
I need to find SG's book Gestapo. Can anyone help me? If you have read one Sven Hassel book,you will be compelled to read them all
IS THIS THE SAME AS BEAST REGIMENT.......1999-03-17
CAN ANYBODY OUT THERE TELL ME IF THIS IS THE SAME BOOK AS SVEN HASSEL'S "BEAST REGIMENT" I HAVE READ IT AND ITS ALSO ABOUT HIS EXPERIENCE IN ITALY AND AT MONTE CASSINO
Book Description
Monte Cassino opens in the cold Italian winter of 1943-44. Germany would lose the war, but they still held much of Italy, leaving the Allies to fight their way north to capture Rome-a route no army had taken since Hannibal traversed the Alps to avoid it. And overlooking the only possible passage stood the ancient Abbey of Monte Cassino. The ultimate decision to bomb Monte Cassino was one of the most controversial-and tragic-events of World War II. The combat that followed was just as tragic: Soldiers from more than a dozen nations fought through that savage winter in a ferocious battle that allowed no advance or retreat. Here Hapgood and Richardson examine the military operations and political machinations that led inexorably to the bombing, explore the personalities of all involved, and in a new afterword reflect on its lingering consequences. This is an epic tale of men-and monks-at war.
Customer Reviews:
Parker book on Monte Cassino Superior-This is a perfect book for a WWII assignment- if you do not care for military history.......2006-08-07
If you are interested in the Battle of Monte Cassino "Monte Cassino: The Hardest Fought Battle of World War II" by Matthew Parker is the superior read.
Hapgood's book does not delve deeply into the combat and is hardly a military history at all. Instead it focuses on some German Officer who saved the art in the Cassino from Goring and the Allies.
Hapgood's focus was on "human interest" stories, which proved none to interesting for a reader who was seeking detailed analysis on the actual battle.
This book would be perfect for someone interested in the daily minutes of some guy sifting through ruins, stonewalling his superiors, organizing convoys and yammering away with Papal representatives.
Do not pick up this book and expect an in-depth treatment on the most "The Most Controversial Battle". For Hapgood's controversey lay within the realms of renaissance art and not the failure to support the brilliant French Offensive.
The composition of the colorful, courageous and multinational Allied Army, the formidable nature of the Cassino bastion, the fate of those caught in the villages, the miserable conditions and sheer brutality of the fighting are the subjects that require the most detail and research for a book on Monte Cassino that has any aspirations.
But the author instead cherry picked a couple topics and stretched them to the breaking point. And these topics were not particularly germaine to the conflict that claimed the lives of so many. He could have covered these issues of secondary and tertiary importance to the battle itself in a chapter or so. But it is the battle itself, the equipment, the geography,and the men under arms who get the abridged coverage.
I will concede if someone was really interested in Art History, and Nazi looting this book would be a compelling read. The prose is fine. It is the subject matter, emphasis and organization that are lacking. It would be a perfect book to read for a book review- provided student not interested in military history and has to somehow fulfill this requirement. Many do not share my zeal for military history and would probably find this book sufficient.
Hapgood's attention was riveted on matters he considered interesting and "controversial". If it was not so drawn out it would have been informative. But this myopic approach gave the short shrift to the fundamental components of the Battle of Monte Cassino. Human interest stories, no matter how compelling, can never outshine grueling and pivotal events in history.
Good history with personal points of view.......2004-11-09
This book is a good overview of the battle but also takes the reader to the personal level with the Germans, Allies as well as the monks who were caught in the battle.
Average customer rating:
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Domenic's War: A Story of the Battle of Monte Cassino
Curtis Parkinson
Manufacturer: Tundra Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0887767516
Release Date: 2006-04-04 |
Book Description
On a rugged mountain in the center of Italy stands an ancient Benedictine monastery. It is January 1944, and Monte Cassino, the mountain on which the monastery stands, becomes the staging ground for one of the most fiercely fought battles of World War II.
Young Domenic and his family, who live on a farm north of Monte Cassino, are helplessly caught in the war. With battle lines approaching, they struggle against all odds. Will they be caught hiding two escaped prisoners-of-war? Will the innocent people sheltering in the monastery survive? This fascinating novel is based on the true story of the fateful events at Monte Cassino during that long cold winter.
In the fast-paced style of Storm-Blast and Sea Chase, Domenic’s War is
Curtis Parkinson at the top of his form.
Book Description
'A Battle of the First World War fought with the weapons of the Second'. Military experts have long agreed that it would hardly be possible to find a better example of an impregnable natural defensive barrier on the road to Rome than that provided by Monte Cassino. When this naturally defensive barrier was defended by resolute and battle-hardened troops it is easy to see how and why the Germans held out repeatedly against the massive Allied assault despite lavish air and artillery support. There were four separate and distinct 'battles' of Cassino during late 1943 and early 1944, each one being immensely costly in Allied lives. In their turn, Americans, Indians, British, Gurkhas and Poles reached the summit of Monte Casino but found it impossible to retain a hold for long. The destruction wrought of the world-famous monastery on the summit of the mountain was but part of the damage that occurred during this period. The campaign to take Monte Cassino was one of the most dramatic of the Italian campaign. In his latest book for Ian Allan Publishing, noted military historian George Forty examines in detail the campaign to take Monte Cassino and clear the road to Rome. Drawing upon superb archive photographs and first-hand reminiscences, he sets the scene for the battle, examines the forces ranged against each other and describes each of the phases of the battle. Allied to the photographs and text are clear line drawings which allow the reader to comprehend fully the complex nature of the battle. Ian Allan Publishing's series of detailed military histories have proved to be highly successful, garnering excellent reviews and an enthusiastic readership. This new addition to the series, featuring one of the seminal engagements of the war, is certain to build upon the success of the earlier volumes in the series and become a classic account of the battle.
Customer Reviews:
Great Pictures - Little Original Information.......2006-01-09
I purchased this and other books on the subject after recently visiting Monte Cassino and deciding to learn more about the battle. This book contains great pictures, both Allied and German, from many different episodes of the various battles that I have not seen in other publications. If that is what you are looking for, then this is the book for you as many of the other books contain little if any photos. However, this book also spends almost one-third of its pages on preliminaries, discussing the Allied war strategy in Italy as well as an exhausting in depth look at the commanders of each army from its head down to individual divisions on both sides of the campaign. The virtues of each of the nationalities of the various military units are further discussed along with a description of the weapons carried and usual tactics employed. It is not until chapter four out of eight that we actually begin reading of the first of the four individual battles which make up the campaign around Monte Cassino. The information given on each of the battles is interesting and well presented, but a large portion of it is simply excerpts from the war diaries of the various units or individuals involved rather than original text organized into a cohesive whole. Unfortunately, the maps provided are too small to easily be read and seem to not be specifically related to the discussion of the battle at hand. This leaves the reader with information on units moving or attacking from one location to another without being able to find many of the locations on any map within that chapter or sometimes even anywhere in the book. The result may be interesting reading but difficulty in placing the specific attack within the context of the whole. My recommendation is if you want great pictures and a listing of the units involved read this book. If you want a great understanding of the intricacies of the battle from Allied and German points of view and excellent map references, read "Monte Cassino The Hardest Fought Battle Of World War II" by Matthew Parker. If you want a great story of the German "saving" of the treasures from the monastery and insight into the monks and events immediately surrounding the monastery itself during the battles read "Monte Cassino" by David Hapgood.
Average customer rating:
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Monte Cassino
Matthew Parker
Manufacturer: Headline Book Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
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General
| World War II
| Military
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| Italy
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ASIN: 0755311752 |
Download Description
MATTHEW PARKER is the author of The Battle of Britain. He is a writer and editor specializing in modern history, and lives in London, England.
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