Ben Yaramaz Değilim - Savaş Ünlü itibaren Bu Yayınevi içinde LIT biçim

Filippo Casiraghi filca — Sigh...why isn't The Pale King here yet?

Hl H unique01 — Book: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Authors: Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows Publisher: The Dial Press Juliet Ashton is spunky, delightful, humorous, and kind-hearted. She's also approximately 17 million other things, but those are the words that stand out when I think of her. In a series of correspondence with her best friend, Sophie, her publisher and long time friend (and Sophie's brother) Sidney, and a colorful cast of characters from one of the Channel Islands between England and France, the story of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society comes to fruition. Juliet's exchanges with the people of Guernsey Island begins when she receives a letter from Dawsey Adams. He has recently begun reading a book by Charles Lamb that once belonged to Juliet, and wants to know if Charles Lamb has written anything more. A correspondence begins between Juliet and Dawsey, where Juliet begins to learn more about the people of Guernsey and particularly, a young woman named Elizabeth McKenna who is responsible for the spark of energy and humor that generates the Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Used as a device to escape the oppression of the Occupation, the Society met at least once a month to discuss books. Because the news was forbidden from coming in and radio had been banned in Guernsey, the members of the Society only had their resources - namely, the books they had laying around. As the story develops in letters and telegrams, the members of Guernsey (namely Isola, Amelia, Eben, and Dawsey) are encouraged to get in touch with Juliet and tell her their stories about being under German rule during the second World War. Through their letters, the reader begins to understand more about what the Occupation did to them, and ultimately, about Elizabeth, who leaves behind a daughter named Kit. Juliet (and the reader!) becomes more and more engrossed in learning about how they made the best of the Occupation, and sets to work on writing a new book about the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Inevitably, Juliet makes the move to Guernsey and the story, which started at a slow burn begins to simmer and boil as it picks up intensity and depth. Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows let the characters reveal the details of life on Guernsey without ever telling the reader what to think or believe. Similarly, because of the strength of their writing, the reader is able to pick up on the underlying romantic tensions between Dawsey and Juliet without the two characters ever realizing it themselves until later in the book. It's hard not to fall in love with these characters; it's even less so to not fall in love with the writing. Shaffer and Barrows do a phenomenal job of making a reader feel as though they are in these moments, transcending every anecdote to real life. I never once felt as though there was a sense of inauthenticity about the characters, as quirky as they might be, and the stories they share with Juliet, first in letters, later in person revealed through letters to Sidney. Similarly, Juliet as the primary narrator has a way of coming across as earnest and humorous - at one point, she tells of a story playing "Dead Bride" with Kit, and while questioning if it's healthy to play such a game with a four year old girl, she bemoans that she never wants to stop. I can't even begin to guess how many times I laughed out loud while reading at a bus stop while strangers looked at me strangely. One thing I absolutely loved about this book though is how it manages to talk about the effects of the War without really ever delving into it. Guernsey's isolation from the world meant that they only knew what was happening on Guernsey. It's not until Juliet brings up her own memories of the bombings in London (one of which crushed her flat) and the last person to see Elizabeth alive becomes a part of the Guernsey community that the War becomes an actual character in the book. It brings a new sort of perspective to what happened during World War II and how people lived on a day to day basis, without knowing what was happening. In some ways, the atmosphere of Guernsey can be compared to one of a concentration camp, held alone in its isolation and without word from the outside world. Yet, with the bright spark of Elizabeth's invention of the Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, the society members are given the opportunity to recapture their former lives and a chance to make the most of their occupation. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society has this way of making a reader feel tangled up in its magic, like one never wants to leave this world where the ocean crashes against the cliff and neighbors are full of goodwill and kindness (for the most part). The story of Elizabeth lays the groundwork for Juliet to begin her next book, while bits and bobs of English culture are infused into the present day story. It's the kind of book that when you put it down, you want to pick it right back up and start reading it all over again, to see what you missed the first time around. This isn't a book to read. This is a book to buy and read and cherish until it's been read so many times, its cover is dog eared and the pages are yellow. And then you go out and buy another copy, just so you can read it again at any time you like.