Cold weather has taken its sweet time arriving this fall—I’m not complaining—but sooner or later Madame Winter with her cold, bony fingers will shove Lady Harvest aside and blast us with chill rains, long gloomy days, and boatloads—or so I hope—of snow.
‘Tis the season to open and read fat books.
‘Tis the season to open and read fat books.
By fat books I don’t mean diet books, though the season of festivities from Thanksgiving through New Year’s can certainly pack on the pounds.
No—I’m talking about those hefty books whose long stories bring solace, warmth, and entertainment on those frigid nights when the wind blasts the bare trees and the rain beats against the windowpanes. These are the books we read in an easy chair or sprawled out on a sofa, a cup of hot chocolate or tea at the elbow, some music playing in the background. (Sounds nice, though I know for many of you, especially parents of young ones, you’re either snatching minutes in the early morning or late at night for your reading).
Here are three books—all by Herman Wouk—whose bulk and storyline make them ideal for winter reading.
In Marjorie Morningstar, Wouk tells the story of a Jewish girl, Marjorie Morgenstern, who sets out to become an actress, and of her love affair with Noel Airman. I read MM thirty-five years ago and was entranced by the story and amazed that a man had written so well of this young lady. The copy I read ran to 565 pages. Highly recommended for all readers, but especially for young women. http://amzn.to/2fV6HkH
If you, like Ismael in Moby Dick, find a sea voyage an antidote to life’s complexities, turn to Wouk’s The Caine Mutiny, a novel set in the Pacific in World War II that won Wouk the Pulitzer. (It was later made into an excellent movie starring Humphrey Bogart as the paranoid Captain Queeg). Life aboard the Caine, a minesweeper, becomes unbearably strained as Queeg ratchets up the tension among his officers and crew through his strict discipline and seemingly insane accusations. Both the book and the movie offer a fascinating and morally complicated study of command and of human nature under extreme duress. http://amzn.to/2fV6ON9
Finally comes the largest of Wouk’s work, his two novels about World War II: The Winds of War and War And Remembrance. Here Wouk chronicles the history of two families and their involvement with scores of other characters, most of them fictional but including historical personages like Franklin Roosevelt, Adolph Hitler, and Benito Mussolini. The Winds of War (http://amzn.to/2f47gcM) covers events of the late 1930s; War And Remembrance (http://amzn.to/2eFA3G9) gives us the war itself. These two novels combined weigh in at about two thousand pages. I never read either one and have no idea why, having so enjoyed the other two books, I have neglected them. So if I can summon up the gumption and the stamina, then maybe you’ll find me this winter with that cup of cocoa—or a glass of wine—sitting with one of these stout boys in my lap.
Best wishes and happy reading!
If you enjoyed this piece, please like and share. If you decide to order one of the books, or find out more about them, copying or pasting the link at the end of each short review will take you to Amazon.
No—I’m talking about those hefty books whose long stories bring solace, warmth, and entertainment on those frigid nights when the wind blasts the bare trees and the rain beats against the windowpanes. These are the books we read in an easy chair or sprawled out on a sofa, a cup of hot chocolate or tea at the elbow, some music playing in the background. (Sounds nice, though I know for many of you, especially parents of young ones, you’re either snatching minutes in the early morning or late at night for your reading).
Here are three books—all by Herman Wouk—whose bulk and storyline make them ideal for winter reading.
In Marjorie Morningstar, Wouk tells the story of a Jewish girl, Marjorie Morgenstern, who sets out to become an actress, and of her love affair with Noel Airman. I read MM thirty-five years ago and was entranced by the story and amazed that a man had written so well of this young lady. The copy I read ran to 565 pages. Highly recommended for all readers, but especially for young women. http://amzn.to/2fV6HkH
If you, like Ismael in Moby Dick, find a sea voyage an antidote to life’s complexities, turn to Wouk’s The Caine Mutiny, a novel set in the Pacific in World War II that won Wouk the Pulitzer. (It was later made into an excellent movie starring Humphrey Bogart as the paranoid Captain Queeg). Life aboard the Caine, a minesweeper, becomes unbearably strained as Queeg ratchets up the tension among his officers and crew through his strict discipline and seemingly insane accusations. Both the book and the movie offer a fascinating and morally complicated study of command and of human nature under extreme duress. http://amzn.to/2fV6ON9
Finally comes the largest of Wouk’s work, his two novels about World War II: The Winds of War and War And Remembrance. Here Wouk chronicles the history of two families and their involvement with scores of other characters, most of them fictional but including historical personages like Franklin Roosevelt, Adolph Hitler, and Benito Mussolini. The Winds of War (http://amzn.to/2f47gcM) covers events of the late 1930s; War And Remembrance (http://amzn.to/2eFA3G9) gives us the war itself. These two novels combined weigh in at about two thousand pages. I never read either one and have no idea why, having so enjoyed the other two books, I have neglected them. So if I can summon up the gumption and the stamina, then maybe you’ll find me this winter with that cup of cocoa—or a glass of wine—sitting with one of these stout boys in my lap.
Best wishes and happy reading!
If you enjoyed this piece, please like and share. If you decide to order one of the books, or find out more about them, copying or pasting the link at the end of each short review will take you to Amazon.
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