A review by margeryk101
Wojtek the Bear: Hero of World War Two by Aileen Orr
3.0
We were in the gift shop at Edinburgh zoo. I saw this paperback and bought it as a gift for my dad who loves reading about World War 2. We caught the bus back to our digs and I started reading it, (as it turns out, pretty much anything is better than 'The Finkler Question' that I was part of the way through and that was my 'read-de-jour'). It was very readable, and the story, especially if you know nothing about it, is very interesting.
I then took a break from it and read a novel and finally returned to it this week to finish it off before seeing my dear Pap-par and handing it over.
The book is split into three sections. Firstly there is the story of Wojtek, secondly, a section that details the author's efforts to erect a statue in the bear's honour (I skimmed much of this), and thirdly, a rather lengthy but informative epilogue written by an historian, (name escapes me), that concerns the history of Poland, and in particular the fates of the Polish population during the second world war and how that mirrors Wojtek's life story. The part written by Aileen Orr is good enough, but she does repeat turns of phrase and nuggets of information, but I forgive her as it is clear she is an amateur enthusiast. I found the epilogue really interesting, and am glad it's there.
So - I learned a lot. That's about the nub of it. And I like learning. And I like stories about silly bears who think they are Polish. And I like Wojtek. And I like Aileen Orr's attempts at fostering a wee bit of world peace and cultural understanding. Perhaps I should have given this book four stars afterall.
I then took a break from it and read a novel and finally returned to it this week to finish it off before seeing my dear Pap-par and handing it over.
The book is split into three sections. Firstly there is the story of Wojtek, secondly, a section that details the author's efforts to erect a statue in the bear's honour (I skimmed much of this), and thirdly, a rather lengthy but informative epilogue written by an historian, (name escapes me), that concerns the history of Poland, and in particular the fates of the Polish population during the second world war and how that mirrors Wojtek's life story. The part written by Aileen Orr is good enough, but she does repeat turns of phrase and nuggets of information, but I forgive her as it is clear she is an amateur enthusiast. I found the epilogue really interesting, and am glad it's there.
So - I learned a lot. That's about the nub of it. And I like learning. And I like stories about silly bears who think they are Polish. And I like Wojtek. And I like Aileen Orr's attempts at fostering a wee bit of world peace and cultural understanding. Perhaps I should have given this book four stars afterall.