Trinity by Leon Uris

I found Trinity by Leon Uris a huge disappointment. While there are historical events woven into the story, this is so soap opera. I have read my share of "airport books" and have found many of them satisfying and enjoyable. This, unfortunately, is not one of them. I gave it my requisite 50 pages and because of it's girth, 50 more, which I thought it a waste of time.

One reviewer says it better than I can:

"Rather than Irishmen in the book I found 1970s Americans and American sentiments and prejudices: sexually liberated women, crooked priests, female revolutionaries, protestant ministers who should have worn brown shirts rather than vestments and plenty of evil industrialists. The one big question I am left with is why Irish women were portrayed so poorly? Surely there were enough pages for the development of one woman like my grandmothers: strong, faithful, loving, intelligent and honest. As a novel it was a fine read, but as an historical fiction it was far more fiction than history. Considering Uris' biased and inaccurate portrayal of the Irish Roman Catholic Clergy and the the Church, one should be more than a little suspicious of the foundation of the whole novel. The tragedy of Ireland is real and still alive; unfortunately Trinity by Leon Uris doesn't take us very far towards any real understanding of the issue."
Amazon. com Reviewer: Joseph Rooney

Two Books by Cambodia author: Loung Ung. First They Killed My Father; Lucky Child

Now here was a gripping personal narrative account of Cambodia in the late 1970s. First They Killed My Father: a daughter of Cambodia Remembers is about the Khmer Rouge and the story of a young girl who was orphaned at a young age 8. (I think.) because of the war.
Ung tells the story of how she and her siblings survived war-torn Cambodia. Sadly, some family members did not survive and faced brutal death. Her later book, Lucky Child describes her journey to Vermont as a refugee along with an older brother and his wife.

Why am I discouraged? Why so sad? I will put my hope in God. I will praise him again, my Savior and my God. Psalm 42:11

History of Britain DVD Series

Now here's a DVD series that will fill your whole weekend if you have a whole weekend with nothing going on. I've been watching the series bit by bit over the past few weeks. It's engaging and covers interesting aspects of British history and culture that I hadn't picked up in previous reading or other sources. Truthfully, it got a little old hearing the one voice of Simon Schama in every video. (He seemed like a bobblehead doll at times. If you've seen this you know what I'm talking about.) He had a bit too much face time for my tastes. While I found the topics greatly interesting, there were often not enough variety in speaking voices. So I tended to find myself nodding off. I give it 4 stars.

Fade To Black by Robert Goldsborough

Ho Hum. I couldn't get inspired or excited about this mystery. It's about two vying advertising agencies, and Nero Wolfe steps in to save the day with his trusty assistant Archie Goodwin. Rex Stout was the original creator of Nero Wolfe mysteries, and Goldsborough has recreated the character with several other books. Amazon.com (Publishers Weekly) also reviews this book as "flat." I'd say so too. Two stars are generous.

The Civil War DVD by Ken Burns

If you want to know the truth, I don't like war stories. But I watched all parts of The Civil War (1990). It is very well done, but there were times I found myself falling asleep during the parts when they talked about the battles. I forced myself to go back and listen what I missed in order to get the full impact and enormity of the Civil War and its costs. I'd recommend it for an impressionistic view of the War, the gravity and importance of the War to Americans today. It is easy to forget history and what has happened in the past (and why), yet we are who we are as a country, a culture, and individuals because of the sacrifices of those in the past who participated in democracy and for freedom as they understood it. The Civil War frames us even today. I would rate this series a 4 1/2 stars. It probably deserves 5 stars, and know I am showing my bias against war stories by my rating.