The Iron Butterfly

Rating:
Summary: Triumphs, sufferings, and hard-earned lessons
Review: A Jewish woman's journey through life in the twentieth century is revealed in The Iron Butterfly: A Trip Through The Twentieth Century, the moving and candid memoir of Doris Colmes. This compelling autobiography includes an escape from the Holocaust, a sexual assault, a stint of homelessness, a cycle of jobs, marriage, and more. An instructive and personal story of her triumphs, sufferings, and hard-earned lessons, Doril Colmes' The Iron Butterfly is thoughtful, thought-provoking, and highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: There is light at the end of a long dark tunnel!
Review: I found myself drawn into this amazing life story that is well written and fast paced. Doris is able to clearly communicate the lessons she learned on her journey. Her message to take care of yourself and others and do no harm is a timely message that has much to offer. To read about her journey of personal growth and change that allowed her to see the needs of those around her is inspiring.

It was easy to get lost in her descriptions of places...a master wordsmith or mistress wordsmith as the case may be. Mesmerizing is a word that comes to my mind.

Amazing, inspiring, thought-provoking, adventurous, timely, hopeful - these are all words that flow through my mind when I think about The Iron Butterfly, Doris.

For those times when we think that our lives are too hard, that there is no way to have a better life, that we will never experience joy again, The Iron Butterfly has a message and has a heroine who has overcome many of life's adversities. Doris has shown that it is possible to grow, change, and become.

A great book and a great read!

Rating:
Summary: Laying It On the Firing Line
Review: In this narrative of life, Doris Colmes puts her dignity on the firing line as she relates a tale of culture changes from Hitler and FDR to the Bush and Clinton administrations.
In this work, she has captured not only the flow, but the cultural differences of the pre-war years, through WWII and on to the present.
She begins her remembrances as a child in the Weimar Republic of Germany, past Hitler's election, through the terrified view of a ten-year-old Jewish child watching as the Border Guards temporarily detained her father at the German/Belgian Border during their 1938 escape.
And she takes us on from there.....

Rating:
Summary: Dancing with Danger, Dreams, and Life
Review: It's been a long time since a book followed me from the bedroom to the bathroom, to the kitchen to the car, to the waiting room, grocery line, traffic jam. The Iron Butterfly has been my dear companion this past week and now exhibits all signs of well-worn love - folded page corners, underlined passages, crinkled cover. Thank you Doris Colmes for this gift of delectable literature, so finely crafted I felt the ocean caressing my toes and the pointed schoolgirl stares stabbing my soul. I ached for your grief, rejoiced in your cunning strength, shook my head at your gutsy, live-life-to-the-fullest tango. I found myself exhausted, impressed, amazed, cheering, closing my eyes, afraid of your next move, but peeking at the next chapter. Thank you for dancing with words. Thank you for a brilliant performance.

Rating:
Summary: Dancing with Danger, Dreams, and Life
Review: It's been a long time since a book followed me from the bedroom to the bathroom, to the kitchen to the car, to the waiting room, grocery line, traffic jam. The Iron Butterfly has been my dear companion this past week and now exhibits all signs of well-worn love - folded page corners, underlined passages, crinkled cover. Thank you Doris Colmes for this gift of delectable literature, so finely crafted I felt the ocean caressing my toes and the pointed schoolgirl stares stabbing my soul. I ached for your grief, rejoiced in your cunning strength, shook my head at your gutsy, live-life-to-the-fullest tango. I found myself exhausted, impressed, amazed, cheering, closing my eyes, afraid of your next move, but peeking at the next chapter. Thank you for dancing with words. Thank you for a brilliant performance.

Rating:
Summary: So, what's this all about anyway?
Review: The passage is dark but opens into brightness. A butterfly emerges, reflecting an array of impulses and emotions, increasingly shocking.
An innate writing talent - after lingering for decades - virtually exploded and became a book Empress Catherine the Great and prolific writer Anais Nin would have been proud of.
But it is not just a book that incites lust. Colmes narration skills are captivating throughout. Featured are highlights and the dramatic events of her life.
Again and again I kept wondering what did happen inbetween.
Not once did I skip a page.
Not once felt I bored.
Her individuality - she is feisty, spicy and courageously independent - elevate The Iron Butterfly into a spere of fascinating reflections.
Also, her superior language skills stand out, most of all her soul-talks.
Doris Colmes tested freedom far ahead of the sexual revelution.
Her story is illuminating and deserves a place in every library
- in yours, too - if you count yourself among those with a truly free spirit!
So, that's what this is all about? - you ask the author. And, at the end of the book, she will give you her answer: "All this is about all of us, together, taking personal responsibility for ourselves and our planet. Collectively and individually, we create not only who we are, but how we affect one another" ... "And yes, our greatest crime IS indifference!"

Rating:
Summary: A Must-Read Bestseller
Review: This book has fascinated me from line one to the last. It is beautifully written; in a style one rarely finds these days. The reader gets a pretty good idea of who the author is and can picture all events quite vividly.

I loved the many details regarding music and political events, but apart from all that, the story of Doris Colmes' life is so unusual, so fascinatingly told that it leaves the reader with great insight into a wonderful personality.

Recounting her past in a very candid way - not even shying away from very personal issues -, Mrs. Colmes gives the reader an account of world events spanning several decades.

This book is a must-read and I hope it will be translated into many other languages, so that a worldwide readership can enjoy it.

Doris Colmes is a great writer and she should write another book soon. This lady still has a lot to say and she says it so well. When do I get to read the next "Doris Colmes"?