No comments about Biography Madame Curie Japanese Language Book.

5 comments about The Naked Island.

1. it is amazing that with all the hardship that these guys went thru, human nature can still make the best of an awful situation.



2. This is an unforgettable book: informative, educational, poignant and often delightfully humorous. It is a tribute to the British and Australian Forces used as slave labour in the construction of the Burma/Siamese Railway and their ability to live with dignity, compassion and decency under the most deplorable conditions imaginable. This book leaves an indelible impression on the reader and should be required reading for each successive generation.



3. One of my first introductions to Australian and Far East reading of WW11, thoroughly enjoyable, could not put it down until it was finished. Would recommend this book to all generations. Has given me the taste to find out more about the Far East and familiarise myself with further Australian literature. Thought only John Pilger could write riveting literature, I was wrong!



4. The Naked Island

   The autobiography of a young australian soldier who spent long years in captivity as prisoner of war of the Japanese.
   The first part is the description of the military life in Malaya before the attack of the Japanese with many ironical notes on that tedious life from the point of view of a soldier.
   The second part is the description of the useless fight of the Australian and British troops against the overwhelming enemy and then the attempt to escape the capture.
   Then the third, and most interesting part, is the description of the life during three long years of captivity in the different prisons where the writer was imprisoned and in the jungle camps where all prisoners were forced to work without food, facing malaria, beri beri and death for starvation.
   A book I would really recommend.
   Are you looking for another absolutely interesting book about a similar experience?
   Read the famous "Behind bamboo" by Rohan Rivett




5. The author went through some really horrific situations but at the same time can describe the strength of the human spirit. The author also has a great sense of humor. I think books like this are rare these days in our politically correct world. Well worth the read.

1 comments about Gaman a Generation in Hawaii.

1. Honest and very moving story about a Japanese family in Hawaii. Don't be fooled by it's tiny size and readability-- good things come in small packages. Touching and heart-felt, highly recommended.

1 comments about Murasaki Shikibu, Her Diary and Poetic Memoirs: A Translation and Study (Princeton Library of Asian Translations).

1. Murasaki Shikibu was one of the most active and brilliant ladies at the Heian court. Her best-known work, "Genji monogatari", is a masterpiece of japanese litarature. But, apart from "The tale of Genji", she has left us her diary and poetic memoirs. In this "translation and study" (a text full of notes and commentary) professor Bowring, through shrewd remarks and penetrating analysis, shows us a world made of ceremonies, depicted screens, scented essences, poetry, love affairs, colours, silks and brocades, evoking a series of vivid and moving impressions. I like this book because it's a great mirror of a wonderful microcosm from a time now past.

No comments about Song in an Age of Discord: The Journal of Socho and Poetic Life in Late Medieval Japan.

5 comments about Through the valley of the Kwai.

1. I was privileged to know the author of "Through the Valley of the Kwai", Rev. Ernest Gordon, for many years. Ernest Gordon died January 16, 2002. He has always been and will forever remain my hero. His story, first published in 1962, was republished in the 1980's as "Miracle on the River Kwai" and will enter its third printing February 2002 under yet another title, "To End All Wars". It is a powerful and moving first-hand account of how faith, love, fellowship, and the enduring human spirit transcended the unthinkable horrors and hatred of war and transformed the hearts and lives of men on both sides of the battle line. After recently attending Rev. Gordon's memorial service, we were presented with an unbelievable and sobering gift: a preview screening of a new movie, "To End All Wars", based on Ernest Gordon's book and scheduled for release around August 15, 2002. I would encourage every adult reader to see this powerful, disturbing, and ultimately victorious film. Just weeks before his death Rev. Gordon attended a private screening of the long-anticipated movie along with the movie's producer, Jack Hafer. After the screening, Rev. Gordon slowly approached the anxious producer and with strong emotion in his Scottish brogue proclaimed, "Jack, you caught the heart of it." Like his book, this movie has the power to change you! May the heart of it "catch" you, too.



2. I really liked the first half of this book. In fact I was saying to myself, "Boy, this is a GREAT book!" The second half I found boring.
   I bought this out-of-print book because I had read the obit of Ernest Gordon and thus introduced to a bit of what occurred in the prison of war camp. It seems like if you get within an inch of death and manage to survive, then you get true religion. This phenomenon interests me and for some reason I like to read about a person's real experiences. I guess it lessens my fear of death. When Peter Sellers died and was revived, I recall that he said he would never fear death again. But when someone tries to extrapolate these experiences into some sort of philosophy it always -in my mind- seems to fall flat. The purpose of life is to get on with it, no matter how purposeless it seems, but near death experiences seem to help me deal with the getting on with it.



3. The book traces the transformation of the author's life and the life of the Japanese POW camp in which he was incarcerated. It is a beautiful book. The Japanese created an environment in which each prisoner lived for himself in a desperate struggle to survive. As a result, life was cheapened, prisoner stole from prisoner and many lost the will to struggle to live. Then, as if from no where, isolated acts of great courage and sacrifice arrested the camp's slide into hell. Men began to ask the question if there was some purpose to life beyond self. Groups formed to discuss the question. From that emerged groups who began serving others. The answer they discovered was that Jesus Christ had suffered much like they were suffering and yet was able to serve others and ultimately die for their sin. The camp was transformed. Men used their talents to serve their fellow prisoners. It is an incredible read.

   Buy it!




4. The book--a true story--has incredible principles even though it is not well written. It was hard to put it down. The author showed how creativity could spring forth amidst horrendous cruelty, starvation, and isolation when military prisoners of war forsook their own selfishness and began help others. It not only saved their own lives, but because it gave purpose to their otherwise hopeless situations, an environment was fostered that gave true hope and purpose in their existing situations. TO BE RELEASED AS A MAJOR MOVIE DECEMBER 6TH 2002 IN LA.



5. An awesome book. Far more than just history. Read this book, it will change your life.

No comments about Tomoshibi: Lucille M. Nixon's Japanese poem, tanka collection and biography with her study of Japanese tanka poetry.

5 comments about Baa Baa Black Sheep (Military Classics Series).

1. I came to this book believing that "Pappy" Boyington was a pugnacious drunken spendthrift that the Marine Corps was anxious to be rid of, and that he may not have been the leading Marine Corps ace of World War II as he was thought to be. From what I had read, Boyington spent most of his time on the ground as a member of the American Volunteer Group (AVG), better known as "The Flying Tigers," and was only credited with shooting down 3 ½ Japanese planes (although he claimed six). I also understood that Boyington left the AVG early and was the only man ever dishonorably discharged from that organization. In addition, I questioned his account of the final action in which he was shot down, another unseen action in which he claimed two more enemy planes.
   
   After reading this book, however, I'm not quite so sure. In it, Boyington readily admits that he was a "drunk" and a "bum," and he allows as how he liked to wrestle a bit. As to his claim of six enemy planes while with the AVG, his explanation is easily believable. As he explains it: In order to get credit for a kill with the AVG you almost had to bring your victim back to the landing field in your teeth and drop it where everyone could see it, whereas the majority of his kills had been 75 to 100 miles away, most times behind enemy lines. In addition, and most likely with some merit, he states that the records of his actions at Rangoon were lost when that city fell to the Japanese. With regard to his being "dishonorably discharged" from the AVG, Boyington acknowledges that he left shortly before the remaining volunteers were forced/coerced into the Army Air Corps as 2nd lieutenants. But once again his explanation rings true. Boyington correctly states that he wasn't the only member of the AVG to leave the group, that the reason he left was because he wanted to return to the Marine Corps rather than be conscripted into the Army, and that it was ridiculous to claim that you could "dishonorably discharge" someone from a civilian volunteer organization. As to his account of his final, once again unseen action, Boyington's account is so vivid as to be easily believable.
   
   Having read a number of books which touched upon the life and times of Gregory "Pappy" Boyington before reading this one, I had already formed a somewhat negative impression of the man. After reading this book, however, I have concluded that it is one thing to view a man from the outside, especially from a distance in time, recounting his every fault and failure, but it is quite another thing to view that same man from the inside looking out.
   
   So, although much about Boyington is and will always remain a mystery, he certainly was an American hero and he certainly could tell an interesting, believable, and highly entertaining tale. And this is one of them. But don't stop reading too early. You certainly won't want to miss the chapters in which he recounts his nineteen months as a "captive" of the Japanese. To me, that's the best part of the book. Six stars anyone?



2. PIPPY PAPPY SLIPPY SLAPPY DIS WAS A GOODY WOODY BOOKY WOOKY. PAPPY WAPYPY SLIPPY SLAPPY
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3. The autobiography of one of America's top five aerial combat aces of World War II, Greg Boyington, is not only a great read about a very gifted and very human pilot, but also provides some enlightening historical insight that applies even today.



4. I was deeply touched by Pappy Boyington's thoughtful and apparently honest insights about himself in this book. Especially interesting was his descriptive telling of the 20 months he spent as a secret prisoner of the Japanese. His appreciation of cultural difference seems ahead of his time. His very human flaws made the book even more interesting to me. From the difficult upbringing he had, I can appreciate what he was to accomplish in his life (flaws and all).



5. My family and I enjoyed this show so much that my wife actually started clapping at the end of one episode! She didn't even realize it! I watched this show as a young boy and loved it. We really hope that the second season is put out on DVD!!!

No comments about The Will to Survive: A Private's View As a P.O.W..

No comments about Daniel and Lorena Gardner, History and Genealogy, 1773-1997.