War and Remembrance

Rating:
Summary: insight into war, politics, and human nature-outstanding!
Review: This was a truly outstanding book that gave rich insight into the war, politics, and human nature involved in World War II. A Navy veteran, Wouk has really done his research. Though this is a work of fiction, scattered throughout is a fictional "dialog" offering the American and German views of the war. This was studied when I took Naval War College courses and Wouk has lectured at the Naval War College. I liked this one even better than his earlier Winds of War.

Rating:
Summary: Subtleties . . .
Review: To those of you who have read this book and loved it: read it again. You will uncover subtleties that almost surely escaped you the first time. I know I did. We think of the great loves of this book being Victor/Pam, Byron/Natalie, and perhaps Warren/Janice. There are others buried deeper: Victor/His sons, Warren/Byron.

We all know fathers love their sons, and brothers love each other, but this book touches ever so lightly, but effectively on these familial loves. At first reading, the relationship between Pug and Byron seems distant, conflicted, and filled with disappointment, with occasional warmth. On second reading, that is still there, but there is bedrock of love that is so deftly written than it is amazing to uncover it. Think of Pug and Byron visiting the old house in Manila, where Pug apologizes for being rough on Byron when tutoring him as a young boy. Byron's response? "I didn't mind, Dad. I understood you. Best grades I ever got." Or Pug watching his sons at Warren's house prior to Midway. It's Byron who leaps up first to get his Dad a beer. Or the line in which Pug realizes he couldn't survive as a functioning man if Byron were lost. SPOILERS: And that's not just because Warren has already been lost. Also, reread Pug's letter to his wife about Warren's death. As a father myself, it is heart rending. How do you put into words the feelings of losing a son. Wouk does it well. "There was nothing better than just resting my eyes on him." or "We have Byron. We have Madeline. But Warren is gone, and there will never be another Warren."

As for Byron and Warren, think of the party prior to Midway with the hula dancer and Warren dancing. The women are looking at Warren, the men salivating at the hula girl, and there is Byron, tears streaming, watching his brother. Do you have an older brother? At some point, he was your hero. For Byron, he still feels that way about Warren, and Warren is deserving of that. In the other direction, there are several light sentences in which Warren acknowledges the superiority of his younger brother, e.g., his recognition that while Janice is a catch, Natalie is even more of one.

The relationship between Pug and Pam is very well done. It is not rushed, and you don't get a sense of being a prurient onlooker when they are together. Pam has her faults, to be sure, but you can see her making the older man happy, and not just in the bedroom as might be presented in more current fictions. It's wonderful to follow the starts and stops of this relationship, especially after the initial "I love you" uttered (at long last) by Pug.

Finally, I really enjoyed the writing about each Henry's feelings after a brush with death. Pug's feelings seeing the U.S. flag on embassy row in London (was that in WoW or this one?), Warren's bonhommie with the gun tub crew ("You bet your ass . . . sir") after his first Midway sortie, or Byron's sense of camaraderie after a depth charging.

Is this book perfect? It's pretty close: the history is good, the romance is well done, and there are subtleties that emerge only upon a second (or third!) reading. There have been few other books where I have regretted their ending -- that's saying something when talking about a thousand page book.

Reread it, maybe even with a pen to underscore the best parts. I only wish Wouk were alive to write a follow-on to this one. But maybe it is indeed best to leave us wanting more. I cannot see Pug as a bureaucrat in peacetime navy, Byron as an insurance salesman, Rhoda as a twice-divorced alcoholic.

Rating:
Summary: Subtleties . . .
Review: To those of you who have read this book and loved it: read it again. You will uncover subtleties that almost surely escaped you the first time. I know I did. We think of the great loves of this book being Victor/Pam, Byron/Natalie, and perhaps Warren/Janice. There are others buried deeper: Victor/His sons, Warren/Byron.

We all know fathers love their sons, and brothers love each other, but this book touches ever so lightly, but effectively on these familial loves. At first reading, the relationship between Pug and Byron seems distant, conflicted, and filled with disappointment, with occasional warmth. On second reading, that is still there, but there is bedrock of love that is so deftly written than it is amazing to uncover it. Think of Pug and Byron visiting the old house in Manila, where Pug apologizes for being rough on Byron when tutoring him as a young boy. Byron's response? "I didn't mind, Dad. I understood you. Best grades I ever got." Or Pug watching his sons at Warren's house prior to Midway. It's Byron who leaps up first to get his Dad a beer. Or the line in which Pug realizes he couldn't survive as a functioning man if Byron were lost. SPOILERS: And that's not just because Warren has already been lost. Also, reread Pug's letter to his wife about Warren's death. As a father myself, it is heart rending. How do you put into words the feelings of losing a son. Wouk does it well. "There was nothing better than just resting my eyes on him." or "We have Byron. We have Madeline. But Warren is gone, and there will never be another Warren."

As for Byron and Warren, think of the party prior to Midway with the hula dancer and Warren dancing. The women are looking at Warren, the men salivating at the hula girl, and there is Byron, tears streaming, watching his brother. Do you have an older brother? At some point, he was your hero. For Byron, he still feels that way about Warren, and Warren is deserving of that. In the other direction, there are several light sentences in which Warren acknowledges the superiority of his younger brother, e.g., his recognition that while Janice is a catch, Natalie is even more of one.

The relationship between Pug and Pam is very well done. It is not rushed, and you don't get a sense of being a prurient onlooker when they are together. Pam has her faults, to be sure, but you can see her making the older man happy, and not just in the bedroom as might be presented in more current fictions. It's wonderful to follow the starts and stops of this relationship, especially after the initial "I love you" uttered (at long last) by Pug.

Finally, I really enjoyed the writing about each Henry's feelings after a brush with death. Pug's feelings seeing the U.S. flag on embassy row in London (was that in WoW or this one?), Warren's bonhommie with the gun tub crew ("You bet your ass . . . sir") after his first Midway sortie, or Byron's sense of camaraderie after a depth charging.

Is this book perfect? It's pretty close: the history is good, the romance is well done, and there are subtleties that emerge only upon a second (or third!) reading. There have been few other books where I have regretted their ending -- that's saying something when talking about a thousand page book.

Reread it, maybe even with a pen to underscore the best parts. I only wish Wouk were alive to write a follow-on to this one. But maybe it is indeed best to leave us wanting more. I cannot see Pug as a bureaucrat in peacetime navy, Byron as an insurance salesman, Rhoda as a twice-divorced alcoholic.

Rating:
Summary: War and Remembrance
Review: War and Remembrance by Herman Wouk is an astounding journey through World War II, through the experiences of the Henry family. With various members of the Henry family we travel through nearly all fronts of the war. From Nazi concentration camps, to the pacific battlefield, to stateside Washington D.C., this book encompasses it all.
The book opens as we meet Captain Victor (Pug) Henry as he copes with the loss of his Naval battle ship in Pearl Harbor, and the impending doom of his marriage to wife Rhoda. Throughout the novel we follow Pug through the trials of the Pacific theatre during the Second World War.
Natalie Henry is Pug's daughter-in-law, married to his youngest son Byron. We join Natalie while she is trying to escape Nazi Europe on a cruiser heading toward Palestine. Her young son Louis who is just a baby and her uncle the famous author Aaron Jastrow are traveling with her. She is separated from her husband Byron and hopes to make it back to him.
Also in the Pacific Fleet are Victor Henry's two sons Warren and Byron. Warren is an aviator and Byron a submariner. Warren's wife Janice and young son Vic are both living in Hawaii, close to the action.
This is one of the best novels I have ever read. While it is intimidating in size (a whopping 1378 pages) it is well worth your time. With myriads of subplots and twists and turns this book takes you through WW II with enough background information to make you an expert. At times it will make you cry, laugh, cringe, and really genuinely care about the characters. I am not a big fan of historical fiction; this is probably the only one that I have really liked a lot. This book is a definite must-read.

Rating:
Summary: Great but Read Winds of War First
Review: War and Remembrance continues the historical fiction story of an American family caught in the maelstrom of World War II begun in the Winds of War. The United States has now entered World War II. Victor Henry is captaining a cruiser (and still taking part in world politics at a low but crucial level). Warren is now fighting in the Battle of Midway as a fighter pilot. Byron is a submarine officer. Natalie and Aaron are now trapped in Nazi Europe with Natalie and Byron's infant and then young son.

The focus of this book shifts from Victor (who still remains the glue that holds the family and the book together) to Natalie, Aaron and Byron. Natalie and Aaron must deal with the horror of being American Jews caught in the Nazi web. Their story is both harrowing and heartbreaking.

Over all, of course, the book continues to give a great feel for life during World War II, both for those who love history and for those who know nothing about the war.

One word of caution though: As the title to this review suggests, you really must read The Winds of War before this book. You won't be lost if you don't, but you won't understand the characters as much and may not become as attached to them. For instance, it won't be as tragic to see Natalie indecisive with her baby in the face of the Nazis if you did not first see how strong and independent she was in the first book.

But go out and buy the Winds of War and read it (if you have not yet). When you are finished, I can guarantee that you'll rush out and buy War and Remembrance and then be sorry that the story is over once you read the last page.

Rating:
Summary: The Long Haul
Review: War and Remembrance is a novel written about a very difficult time to understand. It is well written and interesting at the same time. Every time you think everything is going perfectly, the author, Herman Wouk, throws a curveball and the face of the story changes dramatically. At the beginning you become very attached to Warren Henry. But then suddenly his plane is shot down at the battle of Midway, and you lose him. Wouk also did a great job of integrating the war from the viewpoint of Nazi "Armin von Roon". Although Roon never existed the addition of this side of the war is interesting. The fact that almost all the characters were fictional but the movements of ships in their respective battles shows the author's time and research that he put into the story. Another interesting aspect of the piece is the story of Natalie Henry and her uncle Aaron Jastrow's journey from Italy, to France, to Terezin, and ultimately to Auschwitz. It shows the view of two Jews, trying to escape the Gestapo and their American in-laws doing the best they can to get them out of Europe and home safely. All in all, the book is very good. At times it seemed to drone on and on, but I got through it. I would advise this book for people with a good vocabulary and good reading ability. I enjoyed this book

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Summary: War and Remembrance IS the second half of World War II.
Review: War and Remembrance, by Herman Wouk. 1942-1945: the second half of World War II. The courageous battles of Midway, Guadalcanal, El Alamein, and Leyte Gulf; Franklin Roosevelt, Josef Stalin, and Winston Churchill; Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Emperor Hirohito; the millions of sailors, soldiers, and pilots who died for their countries; Auschwitz and other dreadful concentration camps; these eminent events and honorable figures are just segment of the history in War and Remembrance. Herman Wouk, the author, brings us to where every bullet was shot, bomb dropped, and torpedo launched in this amazing book of the second half of World War II. Wouk tells us the story of a war that would change the world forever. Victor Henry, a fifty year old United States Naval Admiral, has not only served but also commanded both cruisers and battleships such as the Northampton and Iowa , is not a well-known man, but has encountered many dangerous situations. Byron Henry, one of the sons of Victor Henry, is a Lieutenant Commander who serves on many different submarines such as the Moray and Devilfish in the Navy, and is also a very courageous man. Natalie Henry, the wife of Byron Henry, is a beautiful, intelligent woman and who gets wrapped up in escaping from Europe, since she is Jewish. Pamela Tudsbury is a British girl who fell in love with Victor Henry during the course of the story. Warren Henry, also a son of Victor Henry, was a Navy Air Corps Lieutenant (jg) pilot on a carrier called USS Enterprise who gets killed. Herman Wouk made me realize what World War 2 actually was. It was not just dates written and pictures taken, but a war to remember. He makes you develop a perfect view of the bloody battlefields in Europe and East Asia during the war. The glorious victories, the painful defeats, the millions of casualties lost; these are the "pictures" you will see not in a textbook, newspaper, or magazine, but in your mind. In school, we are taught America's viewpoint of this great war. However, there is more than one side. During War and Remembrance, Herman Wouk sometimes takes breaks in the storyline and talks about the facts and opinions of this war. To accomplish this, Wouk uses a fictional German Wehrmacht General, Armin von Roon, who wrote a few books named "World Empire Lost", "World Holocaust", and "Hitler As Military Leader", as I mentioned in my previous book report. Roon tells us the story of World War II, that is, from Germany's point of view. In The Winds of War, which War and Remembrance is the sequel to, Roon says, "There is no morality in world history. There are only tides of change borne on violence and death. The victors write the history, pass the judgments, and hang or shoot the losers." I am including this cite because it is true. Who knows what the world would be like if the Axis Powers had won? Would there be a world empire or freedom? Would everyone be Christian? This is what we are deprived of when we learn about wars in school. Some people will never learn this "other" side, and are ignorant of what war can do to us and our world. Many people see war as a sport, like in movies when none of the main characters die. These movies do not show the "death" part of war. In War and Remembrance, Warren Henry, who was a main character, dies in the Battle of Midway. To see a main character die is very depressing, because authors like Wouk force you to feel as if they are close to you. I almost cried at this point. Wouk writes about Warren as his flaming plane was diving into the deep Pacific Ocean, "He had never thought he would be shot down, though he had known the risks. With his death sentence before his eyes he could not believe it. His future stretched before him for so many years- so well planned, so real, so important!" Warren was a little ignorant himself. He knew the risks, but he still did not think that he would die. And yet people still want to be "snipers that go in and shoot the bad guys." They don't realize that they might die, like Warren did. Aaron Jastrow, the Uncle of Natalie, is also a Jew who tries to escape Europe, along with Natalie and her baby, Louis. He is a well-known Jewish author who has written many books. While trying to escape Europe, he kept a journal, recording all of the events that he goes through on his journey. It is not only a journal, but also a book, which is called, "A Jew's Journey". It is amazing what he, Natalie, and Louis went through. They went from living in a house in the hills of Siena, Italy, all the way to Marseilles, France (40 miles away from the Spanish border), then back to a German ghetto called Theresienstadt in Germany. Herman Wouk once in a while refers back to previous things that occurred as early as the beginning of The Winds of War. On pages 1125 to 1126 of War and Remembrance, it says, "Pug was experiencing the sensation of a slipped clog in time, of reliving an old scene. Rhoda's 'Bye the bye, there's a letter from Byron' had triggered it, he realized. So they had sat drinking Armagnac in twilight before the war, the day Admiral Preble had offered him the attaché post in Berlin. 'Bye the bye, there's a letter from Byron', Rhoda had said, and he had felt the same sort of relief, because they had not heard from him in months. It had been the first letter about Natalie. That day, Warren had announced he was putting in for flight training." I went to the beginning of The Winds of War and found out if all this that was said was true. On page 15, Warren says, "Say, incidentally, Dad, did I mention that a couple of months ago my exec put in for flight training. I sent in one of the forms too, just for the heck of it. It seems we both have a chance." And on page 16, Rhoda says, "By the bye, there's a letter from Byron." As I sit here typing, I think about how much Herman Wouk has improved since he wrote The Caine Mutiny, which was published more than twenty years even before The Winds of War was. In The Caine Mutiny, Wouk just tells the story of life on board a destroyer-minesweeper during World War II. Don't get me wrong, The Caine Mutiny was an excellent book, but The Winds of War and War and Remembrance are far more well written. In The Caine Mutiny, there are only a few important characters, who are all in the same place during the book, which was on the Caine . In The Winds of War and War and Remembrance, there are many important characters, which are spread all over the world at different times, then meet at such anonymous places as Tehran, Iran. Also how Wouk has General von Roon tell Germany's side to the war through his books "World Empire Lost", "World Holocaust", and "Hitler As Military Leader", and Aaron Jastrow tell the story of the Holocaust through a Jew's eyes in his book, "A Jew's Journey." The one thing that truly amazes me is the way Wouk makes you want something to happen later in the story, but the opposite of what you wanted to happen happens, and you are pleased with it. I know that sounds complicated, so here is an example. After Rhoda wanted a divorce from Victor Henry and Pamela Tudsbury rejected his proposal, they both wanted him back. But since he lost his love for them because they both did terrible things to him, he rejected them. I wanted Victor to end up with either Rhoda or Pamela before, but when he rejected them, I was happy. I know this is still very complicated. War and Remembrance is one of two best books I have ever read in my life. The other is The Winds of War. The soldiers, sailors, and pilots who fought heroically; the marvelous victories and horrible losses; the good days and the bad ; and the struggle for world peace and world empire; these are all things that are told within the covers of War and Remembrance. Victor Henry's quote after the Battle of Leyte Gulf sums up the future of our world, "Either war is finished, or we are.

Rating:
Summary: A perfect history and moral values lesson
Review: Well, I did read both of the serie in only 1 month, and I can honestly say that the Henry clan, with a stone-like father Victor Henry, has settled in my heart, as if they have really taken part on that great world war. I sometimes, think, I'll try to be a man like Victor Henry. By the way, I must congratulate the writer, Mr. Wouk, for creating a fictious character like the Wehrmacht General, Armin von Roon, an aristocrat, who makes you think he really existed and could have sounded great if his views had been well understood bye the German Supreme command.

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Summary: A TOUR DE FORCE
Review: When I read "The Winds of War", it was only after I had read the reviews of the book on Amazon.com that I realised that life would never be complete until I had read the sequel.

Trolling Nairobi's thrift shops at long last gave me access to one of the greatest books I have ever read. It is an epic novel, a great romance (and heaven knows how I hate those, but this one was a gem), and perhaps the best history lesson on the Second World War I have come across.

Without going into specifics about the book - which the other reviewers on the site have done so well, the things that stand out in the book are several:

One; it brings to life the Holocaust in a way that history books can never hope to compare. Auschwitz is no longer a footnote to horror - it is now a flesh and blood camp with horrifyingly banal commandants. The SS are not nameless, faceless sadists - they are normal people with an abnormal hatred.

Secondly, the philosophical-historical insights into European and German history, as seen through the mind of Aaron Jastrow, are superb.

I need not dwell on the sweeping historical views of the war of "Armin von Roon", that bring the bigger picture of the war into play.

Natalie Jastrow, in my opinion the most developed character in the book, is prepared to prostitute herself in order to save her life in Auschwitz that she may see her son again. That, to me, makes her all the more remarkable a person than if she had remained unbelievably pious. Natalie is a real human being. The only injustice Wouk does to her is not to develop her character after Auschwitz.

Finally, the most touching part of the book was the night that Udam, the theater man in Theresienstadt, decides to sing the haunting songs of the Jews under the threat of death. Of all the moments in the book, this one was the one that brought me closest to tears.

The longest book I have ever read (at 1389 pages in my version), and certainly a book I will read again. This is a rare gem.

Rating:
Summary: A stunning sequel to Winds of War.....
Review: Winds of War was magnificent and War and Remembrance is equally so. These two books represent the absolute epitome of what hefty, epic, and sweeping historical fiction can be. Global in scope, flawless in chronology, Wouk has woven the events of a fictional naval family within the triumphs and tragedies of world war in a manner engrossing and suspenseful - indeed, unforgettably so.

It's all here. Hitler, Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin, Yamamoto, Mussolini, Moscow, Stalingrad, London, Berlin, Warsaw, Auschwitz, Teheran, Singapore, Pearl Harbor, and more. Winds of War and War and Remembrance are towering literary achievements and two of the best historically-based novels I have ever read. I loved them. 5+ stars.