kdh9510's review against another edition
2.0
The Great War stories in this book are based on real artifacts that have been recovered and preserved over the years. The different authors of this work had written these stories previous to them being complied together into this one novel. All of the stories are unique to each other and facts about the featured pieces are located at the back of the book.
I personally did not like this book and the way the stories flowed together. Yes, they are all separate from one another, but there was no flow in the way they were presented. As a whole book, I don't think I would recommend this to anyone that wasn't already incredibly interested in WWI history. Individual stories I would be more likely to recommend.
Content Warnings:
Death
Suicide
Violence
I personally did not like this book and the way the stories flowed together. Yes, they are all separate from one another, but there was no flow in the way they were presented. As a whole book, I don't think I would recommend this to anyone that wasn't already incredibly interested in WWI history. Individual stories I would be more likely to recommend.
Content Warnings:
Death
Suicide
Violence
krissyronan's review against another edition
3.0
Short stories, each inspired by a real artifact from WWI. Interesting to explore the impacts of war from so many different perspectives.
alissabar's review against another edition
4.0
This is a book of short stories I listened to as an audio book. I really liked hearing the different narrators for the different stories. After each story the listener is told about the item that inspired the story. I felt a little cheated that I couldn't see the item, so I tracked down a copy at the library just to see the pictures. There are actual pictures of the items, but the book is beautifully illustrated by Jim Kay as well. I have found with collections of short stories some stand out from the rest, and this book was no different. "When They Were Needed Most" and "Each Slow Dusk" were probably two of my favorite.
2018 Popsugar Reading Challenge: #44 A book tied to your ancestry (I have a grandfather that served in the army during World War I)
2018 Popsugar Reading Challenge: #44 A book tied to your ancestry (I have a grandfather that served in the army during World War I)
mythriser14's review against another edition
3.0
This is a collection of short stories that are from the perspective of different characters that are affected in some way by WWI. They reflect on what the war is and what it means based on their contact with different objects related to the war. For some it is a family heirloom, others propaganda, and others it is what remains when the war is gone.
This is a great book to get insight from different and diverse viewpoints about the war. The objects are fascinating and give the reader insight as well. The pictures are also very informative even in their simplicity.
Content Warning:
War
This is a great book to get insight from different and diverse viewpoints about the war. The objects are fascinating and give the reader insight as well. The pictures are also very informative even in their simplicity.
Content Warning:
War
panda_incognito's review against another edition
3.0
The graphic design is splendid, the layout is appealing, and the concept of writing stories inspired by WWI artifacts is fascinating, but like with any short story collection, the stories themselves are hit-or-miss. Some are moving and well-written, but others seem like self-indulgent tripe from an author in love with their own writing voice. The writing style is sometimes rambling and incoherent, and I best liked the stories where I could get absorbed in the tale instead of thinking, "this vague, fragmented sentence is supposed to inspire thoughts of how futile the war was." Style works best when it is subtle, and it bothered me that so much of the writing seemed contrived and over-the-top.
Some of these were great human interest stories that made the war seem real and created compassion for the real people it harmed, but others came off as agenda-driven. Two of them troubled me on an ideological level, since their ideas about peace allowed no room for nuance or complexity. The vast majority of people want a peaceful world, but these stories elevated the POV character as a rare and tormented peace-lover in a world of warmongers. There was rarely any sensible explanation that war is sometimes necessary and sometimes futile and meaningless; instead, we had two extremes: knuckleheads who thought struggle was inherently glorious and main characters who thought they were better than everyone else and Deeply Misunderstood because they wanted peace.
I find it odd that this anthology is catalogued as juvenile, since the stories are adult in their themes and tone. This is not to say that children cannot handle depressing material or should be sheltered from the realities of our world history, but the fact is that this anthology of WWI short stories is written in an adult style. Of all the stories with children as the POV characters, I only liked two or three. The authors tended to overdo the child's innocence and tried to be artful; they really just sounded self-indulgent and grasped little of what it is like to be, think, and act like a child. The stories seemed gratingly unreal, more like the author's efforts at sounding eloquent and creative than a possible story of a small child's human experience during the war. Few of them seemed true at all, and I had trouble suspending my disbelief as I read the unrealistic thought processes and overdone Childishness the adult authors imposed on their young characters. The stories featuring teenagers were the best, because they were the most story-driven and seemed authentic.
I am glad that I read this book, because I enjoyed some of the stories and benefited by thinking through the failings of the ones I did not like. It was worthwhile to me, but I would not recommend this anthology to any child. This book may be written for all ages, but only adults who like children's books will actually enjoy it.
Some of these were great human interest stories that made the war seem real and created compassion for the real people it harmed, but others came off as agenda-driven. Two of them troubled me on an ideological level, since their ideas about peace allowed no room for nuance or complexity. The vast majority of people want a peaceful world, but these stories elevated the POV character as a rare and tormented peace-lover in a world of warmongers. There was rarely any sensible explanation that war is sometimes necessary and sometimes futile and meaningless; instead, we had two extremes: knuckleheads who thought struggle was inherently glorious and main characters who thought they were better than everyone else and Deeply Misunderstood because they wanted peace.
I find it odd that this anthology is catalogued as juvenile, since the stories are adult in their themes and tone. This is not to say that children cannot handle depressing material or should be sheltered from the realities of our world history, but the fact is that this anthology of WWI short stories is written in an adult style. Of all the stories with children as the POV characters, I only liked two or three. The authors tended to overdo the child's innocence and tried to be artful; they really just sounded self-indulgent and grasped little of what it is like to be, think, and act like a child. The stories seemed gratingly unreal, more like the author's efforts at sounding eloquent and creative than a possible story of a small child's human experience during the war. Few of them seemed true at all, and I had trouble suspending my disbelief as I read the unrealistic thought processes and overdone Childishness the adult authors imposed on their young characters. The stories featuring teenagers were the best, because they were the most story-driven and seemed authentic.
I am glad that I read this book, because I enjoyed some of the stories and benefited by thinking through the failings of the ones I did not like. It was worthwhile to me, but I would not recommend this anthology to any child. This book may be written for all ages, but only adults who like children's books will actually enjoy it.
sean67's review against another edition
4.0
Interesting group offshore stories, from a variety of authors featuring objects from World War One as a hook to the story. Uneven like most short story collections, but overall a very good read, and certainly not one that glorifies war.
camsand's review against another edition
3.0
2.5 stars
A collection of short stories tangentially connected to WWI through objects. The stories varied in quality but none really grabbed me.
A collection of short stories tangentially connected to WWI through objects. The stories varied in quality but none really grabbed me.
libscote's review against another edition
2.0
Some stories were great, some were eh. I had a patron in mind who I thought might like this book, but I did not give it to him because too many of the stories were outside WWI. I do think some kids will really go for it.
haramis's review against another edition
3.0
It was just so earnest that plus the juvenile focus let me a tad cold. I don't think that any of the stories really stuck. Cool idea for a book, middling execution. I would have probably preferred history to fiction in this case.
libraryjen's review against another edition
5.0
I'd forgotten how powerful short stories can be! This was especially good because I listened to it on audiobook and the narrators did such impressive work, they really drew me in to the story. I thoroughly enjoyed this book!