School May Have Started but There's Still Time for Summer Reading

Three books I have recently read deserve recommendation. The first is Tears in the Darkness: The Story of the Bataan Death March and Its Aftermath by Michael and Elizabeth Norman. Some critics have called this book the definitive treatment on the war in the Philippines and the end-all work on the Bataan Death March. Indeed it is difficult to imagine any additional publications measuring up. It took Michael and Elizabeth Norman, a husband and wife team, ten full years to research and write the book; the result being a riveting historical account including first person testimony from American, Filipino and Japanese soldiers. This subject however, is not for the weak of heart. The multiple atrocities committed and the accounts of suffering are described in such horrific detail that I often found myself too weak to rise from my chair after reading.

So why, you might ask, am I recommending this book with all of its unfathomable horror? It’s because I personally, never want to forget the price that was paid for my freedom and I don’t anyone else in this country to forget either. The problem is, too few nowadays even know the price in the first place. I’m only one generation removed from World War II and if not for my own initiative, would know little more than the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and that Hitler was not a very good guy. Does the next generation even know enough about WWII to have anything to forget?

There’s another reason everyone should read this book (or similar historical accounts). I was reminded one afternoon while sitting onboard an airplane waiting out a flight delay. It was late afternoon and the cabin was hot. The guy sitting next to me was oversized and intruding upon my space. I was near the back of the plane and could smell the lavatory. The longer we waited, the more miserable I became; almost to the point of anger. Then I remembered the story of Ben Steele from Tears in the Darkness and was immediately subdued—and ashamed of my attitude. Let us learn and remember.

Book number two: The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi. I’m a big fan of Douglas Preston and his oft co-novelist, Lincoln Child. I’ve read nearly all of their books. When The Monster of Florence was released in 2008, I astutely observed it unusual for Douglas Preston to be dabbling in non-fiction. It just didn’t seem right so I soon forgot about the book. Earlier this month, our family spent a week traveling to Lake Tahoe and San Francisco and needed a few books on CD to make the long hours in the car bearable. Because The Monster of Florence was available at our local library, I added it to our vacation queue. I probably shouldn’t admit this, but there were several times on our trip that I wanted to get back into the car and drive just so I could continue the book!

Listening was especially enjoyable because the narrator, Dennis Boutsikaris, pronounced the Italian words perfectly. (Laurie was with us so she can vouch for the accuracy). In providing background for the story, Preston and Spezi supply a wealth of historical information about Italy, Florence, the House of Medici, the Renaissance, and all kinds of other good stuff. However, the information they present about the monster is almost as graphic and repugnant as the war crimes detailed in Tears of Darkness but with considerably less redeeming value. We had to be careful not to listen to the book right before lunch.

That said The Monster of Florence is a gripping account of a serial killer that preyed on young couples in parked cars on the outskirts of Florence from 1964 to 1985 and has never been caught—although the Italian authorities have falsely accused and imprisoned several people over the years, including the authors of this book! Spezi is fortunate to be a free man today and Preston is not likely to visit Italy again anytime soon.

After reading The Innocent Man by John Grisham, I decided it might be best to avoid Oklahoma if possible. Now, Florence, Italy, has lost a bit of its appeal to me. Not because the monster might still be on the loose but because the authorities there all appear to be nut cases! I realize it’s clichéd to repeat that truth is stranger than fiction, but in the case of The Monster of Florence, it really is.

Finally, The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane is worth a look. This fictional first novel by author Katherine Howe is an absorbing recreational read and for me was a nice change of pace from the heaviness of the other two books mentioned above. The story evolves when a Harvard graduate student, Connie Goodwin, is compelled by her odd-ball mother Grace, to move into the derelict house of Connie’s grandmother; ostensibly to prepare it to sell. The house, built early in the 17th century, is in Salem, Massachusetts. After moving in, Connie finds an ancient key, tucked between the pages of an old and worn family bible. Inside the hollow shaft of the key is a small parchment scroll containing a mysterious message … and so the plot thickens.

As noted in the author blurb on the book’s dust jacket, Katherine Howe is a literal descendant of two women accused of being witches in Salem, MA; one of whom was convicted and hanged, and one who was not. Whether this lineage accounts for the seeming historical accuracy of the book or whether Ms. Howe is just a careful researcher, I do not know. Nor does it matter. I found The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane to be not only a fun story but a thought provoking examination of how people may have thought in those early American Puritan societies and why. Because this period of time predated wide-spread knowledge and incorporation of the scientific method, it’s easier to understand how unusual behavior could lead to widespread superstition and condemnation. Then again, perhaps there really were witches in Salem and their decendants are still among us today!