No comments about Betrayed.

5 comments about The Inextinguishable Symphony: A True Story of Music and Love in Nazi Germany.

1. My bookclub is entering into its Holocaust Month. Someone recommended this book to me last year and I thought, it sounded interesting enough to read. Interesting just barely describes this book. Haunting is more the word that I think of when I finished this book. Incredibly lucky are two more words.
   
   There are so many books out there about the Holocaust that it can be confusing sometimes to read what. This book definitely should be read simply because it's beautifully moving, tragically sad and not only that, it provides a different viewpoint of what happened during the early years of Nazihood in Germany and before the "Final Solution" was proposed to exterminate the Jews. This happened and I don't recall hearing much about any of this till I read this book. Before Hitler and Goring proposed the death camps and just while trying to get rid of Germany of the non-Aryan blood, they came up with a solution that provides entertainment and music/art/theater productions just for the Jews. This is a place for the Jews to retreat to. They were only allowed to play Jewish pieces written by Jewish artists/musicans. And they were left alone in the 30s and early 40s. Well, not quite completely left alone as they still had to follow the Nazi rules. But it was a place of refuge for the Jews, especially in Berlin.
   
   This book, while devoting a huge portion to the Kulturbund and its orgins, the author writes of his personal family history. His mother and father were musicans in the Kulturbund. And they suffered horrible tragedies as the war progressed over the years. However, they were young, in love and naive like a lot of people were. They did manage to escape Germany but they also managed to leave behind family members which have haunted them and their children even to this day. It is very intense reading at times and with hindsight on the reader's part, it is very hard to fathom their optimism that things will work out ok in the end. Not only that, this book brings up the question of whether or not the Kulturbund was good for the Jews or kept them compliant enough to keep them in Germany instead of escaping to other countries, so the Nazis could gas them too. This book is haunting and disturbing. The questions that the author may have unknowingly stirred are now raised in my mind ... and the answers are not easy to figure out.
   
   This is not your typical Holocaust book nor is it like the other books about the camps ~~ this book simply tells a tale of two musicans who were unfortunate to be caught up in the times that stirred Germany (and the world) ~~ but yet, their love of music has sustained them through the years before they left Germany. Are they heros? Not in the sense that we associate it with. They are more like survivors and like all survivors, they carry a burden of guilt that resounded through the years. But it is a book that honors the memory of those who were left behind in a time of turmoil that even today, still vibrates through the years.
   
   9-28-07



2. MG's story of his family during the early Nazi era is an unusual glimpse into the lives of German Jews during the period from 1933-1941. He writes about the Kulturbund, an organization created by the Nazis to (1) rid Germany of Jewish influence in the arts and (2) provide propaganda coverage of the maltreatment of Jews by the Third Reich.
   
   In my opinion the book is generally well written and seems to be the result of careful research. My one complaint is that MG frequently quotes conversations which I doubt have been recorded in any way. I don't like that in historical writing, but in this case I was willing to overlook it, because of my interest in the story.



3. What do we really know about our parents' life before we were born? That depends largely, I guess, on how much of an interest we show - and on how much they are willing to reveal. Because in the life of every person there are instances and times they rather wish to forget, and not revive time and again by discussion, even if only among their nearest and dearest.

   Such, in the lives of author Martin Goldsmith's parents, were the years from 1933 through 1941; so much so, in fact, that Goldsmith likens that time to the massive ash tree in the house of Germanic warlord Hunding, the setting of the first scene of Richard Wagner's opera "Die Walkuere:" Something looming large, yet never openly acknowledged. Because before George Gunther Goldsmith, furniture and home decorating salesman of Cleveland, Ohio, and his wife Rosemary, a violinist with the St. Louis Symphony and the Cleveland Orchestra, became American citizens in 1947, they had lived a whole other life - the hunted life of Jews in Adolf Hitler's Germany. And only years after his mother's death, on a trip to his father's home town of Oldenburg, did Goldsmith catch the first glimpses of what was hidden behind that massive ash tree, and George Goldsmith began to talk about the events which his, the Goldschmidt family had witnessed there; as well as the early life of Rosemarie nee Gumpert in Duesseldorf, the couple's first meeting in Frankfurt, and their later life in Berlin until their lucky escape to the United States. Beginning with this visit, Martin Goldsmith retraced his family's path to the early years of the 20th century, when his paternal grandfather Alex Goldschmidt took residence in Oldenburg, and his maternal grandfather Julian Gumpert settled in Duesseldorf.

   How intensely personal this voyage into the past must have been becomes clear in the account of Goldsmith's visit to Oldenburg prison, as a participant in a march retracing the path taken by the Jews - among them the author's grandfather - driven through the streets of Oldenburg in 1938 by Nazi thugs, to later be shipped off (at least temporarily) to Sachsenhausen concentration camp. But although he writes about his very own family, and now in full knowledge of their fate, Goldsmith's narrative is in no way sentimental. With a journalist's detachment he talks about Guenther and Rosemarie, Alex, Julian and their wives and other children; turning a nonfiction account whose outcome is clear from the very start into a heartstopping tale few would be able to believe if presented with it under colors other than that of the plain historic truth.

   Prominently featured in Goldsmith's account is the Jewish Culture Association, or Juedischer Kulturbund; as of 1933 the German Jews' only permitted artistic organization, in whose orchestra Guenther and Rosemarie had met and which had formed the center of their life until they finally left the country. One of the most controversial institutions of Nazi Germany, it reunited what was left of the country's Jewish musicians, artists, writers and composers - providing a modicum of shelter in an increasingly hostile environment, but also a convenient tool in the Nazi propaganda machine. Were the members of the Kulturbund instrumentalized to deceive public opinion, at home and abroad, about the true intentions of Hitler's government? By giving their Jewish audience a sense of comfort and "belonging," did they also prevent some of them from rescuing themselves when there still would have been time? The surviving members of the "Kubu" and their families, interviewed by Goldsmith, come down on both sides of the issue; and the fate of the survivors is probably as symptomatic as that of the many who ultimately did perish in Nazi concentration camps - chiefly among those the Kulturbund's charismatic founder Dr. Singer, who not only let himself deceive into returning to Germany after already having reached the safe shores of the U.S. but saw a mark of distinction even in his deportation to the "model" concentration camp of Theresienstadt.

   Yet, for Guenther and Rosemarie the years with the Kulturbund were dominated, above all, by the musical companionship they experienced. What does seem to have haunted them most for the rest of their lives, however, was their very escape to America, while their remaining family members were stuck in Europe and, one way or another, died in Hitler's concentration camps - and the feeling that with a little effort they just *might* have saved at least some of them. The letters of Alex Goldschmidt and his younger son Helmut, written to Guenther from captivity in France after their own unsuccessful attempt to flee to Cuba, are among the most chilling testimonials contained in this book; and the decision to translate and include them conceivably cannot have been an easy one for Goldsmith. Indeed, it apparently was the knowledge of his family's fate that, all talent and love of music aside, eventually compelled George Goldsmith to forever retire the flute which, in his life as Guenther Goldschmidt, had been the only item of true importance besides his beloved wife Rosemarie; thus punishing himself in a way no outsider could have done. Yet, the couple's gift for music lives on in their son, who in his own way has brought many hours of joy to radio listeners all over the U.S.

   Martin Goldsmith's "Inextinguishable Symphony" - named for Danish composer Carl Nielsen's Fourth Symphony, which sets music, as a parable for life itself, against war, terror and destruction - is as much a personal journey of discovery as a journalist's account of historic facts; seeking to understand rather than to judge. It deals with a time in which morality was thoroughly upset by a profoundly immoral regime, which cannot possibly have remained without effect on anybody who witnessed those events. In applying our own values to those facts, I think we would all do well in being careful to, likewise, make a thorough effort to understand before we judge. Goldsmith's insightful account is a great place to begin such a process.




4. This story was impossible to put down and when you finish, it stays with you for a very long time. Its hard to believe that Gunther and Rosemary didn't make every effort to help their parents emigrate to U. S. What really bothers me most is, not being Jewish, what would I have done in Germany in the late thirties and early forties when I saw these atrocities happening?



5. I listened to Martin Goldsmith on "Performance Today" (and still listen to his successor, Fred Child) for many years. This man who for years described classical music on the radio -- composers and their life story, pieces and their histories, in accessible, engaging, and lightly humorous ways, and even sometimes tied it in to his love of baseball -- he also has an extraordinary family story. It's moving and well-written, and makes me think about the extraordinary stories that must dwell in the depths of my own geneological past.

No comments about St. Patrick: Library Edition.

4 comments about Bill Clinton: Mastering the Presidency.

1. In the dozen or so books that I have read about Bill Clinton including his autobiography Nigel Hamilton's books always stand our. These are among the most balanced and well thought out books written on the presidency of Clinton. Hamilton takes time for painstaking research of not only presidential archives but newspapers and voluminous secondary sources. This book which follows Clinton's rise to the presidency and his time as governor focuses on the first term in office. It accurately and effectively assess the first years where Clinton learned how to be president. The book encompasses several areas from the scandals, the role of Hillary in the White House and of course domestic and foreign affairs.
   
   The start of his first term can only be described in one word: disaster. Clinton was unable to effectively set up a transition team which would plague him through his early years in office when many of his candidates particularly in the justice department would have to resign over various scandals. Clinton himself was plagued by the scandals of Troopergate and Paula Jones while fending off his wife's scandals in Whitewater and Travelgate. These early years and political naiveté of the president were mastered by the end. As Hamilton points out and Clinton admits in his autobiography the stonewalling tactics that were used in these early scandals only fanned the flames quicker and in many cases particularly with Whitewater dragged the case along further than necessary. These scandals followed several legislative failures and executive failures from universal healthcare reform to gays in the military. Despite this those first two years were not entirely dark. The passage of NAFTA and the Oslo Peace accords were triumphs that came out of these dark days of his early presidency and a tax cut package that saved the American economy proved viable.
   
   Hamilton argues that Bill Clinton finally began to master the presidency and appear presidential after two events. In his previous book Hamilton shows that Bill Clinton is at his finest when he is running for office. When Clinton decides to fight the contract of America and use Dick Morris triangulation arguments to reposition himself as a candidate he is given for the first time a solid position to run from since 1992. The bombing of the Oklahoma building was the second event that helped redefine his presidency. Here Clinton was able to be at his finest when empathizing with people and demonstrates leadership. He ends his co-presidentship with his wife and takes responsibility to lead the nation doing an impressive job for most people and his approval ratings soar. The Bosnian crisis gave President Clinton the best chance to showcase leadership and coupled with the republican shutdown of government he emerged on top of his republican opponents.
   
   In the final analysis of President ClintonÂs first term he is seen as a brilliant politician but a flawed man. The scandals and poor organization of the White House plagued Clinton and forced him to spend his first two years at a public relations disadvantage. HamiltonÂs work is one of the best accounts on Bill Clinton and one of the fairest. It is encompassing of a wide range of sources and fairly asses them to come to logical conclusions.



2. Nigel Hamilton chronicles the first Clinton term, covering all the (mostly) bad and good, including his reinvention after the 1994 mid-term elections. Its amazing that despite Bill and Hillary making so many major mistakes, Bill came back to win a second term (and make his biggest mistake of all - Monica).
   
   Hamilton has no reservation in identifying Clinton's transition into the Presidency as the worst ever - beginning with his failure to appoint an effective chief of staff. (This is a topic Hamilton repeatedly returns to, contributing to Clinton's early lack of focus and being victimized by weak members of his administration. It does not get resolved until almost two years later.) It is also interesting (and scary) to read of Hillary's temper tantrums, beginning even prior to the Inauguration - concerning her wanting to take over the traditional V.P. office in the West Wing. Her decision-making also was a problem - eg. her choice for Attorney General (Zoe Baird) and for Attorney General in charge of civil rights (Lani Guinier) - despite warnings to the contrary, both nominations went forward and both went down in flames.
   
   Then there was Clinton's early move to permit gays in the military (backed down, looking indecisive), Hillary's locking correspondents out of access to the White House press office, Hillary being appointed to reform health care in 131 days (she acerbated the problem with secrecy and refusing to even talk to industry insiders), the Waco fiasco, LAX "Hairgate,), Hillary's "Travelgate," the Vince Foster suicide (followed by Hillary's orders to remove her personal papers prior to any investigation), Black Hawk down in Somalia (Clinton expanded the mission while troops were cut 90% and Defense Sec. Aspin refused to send the requested armor), the troop-ship Harlan County carrying President Aristide being turned away by Haitians chanting "Somalia," "Troopergate" - allegedly procured and lied for Bill Clinton, Paula Jones, Watergate (no illegal Clinton action, by Hillary inflamed the issue by refusing to turn over documents), and Gennifer Flowers and Dolly Browning.
   
   Then came New Gingrich and his "Contract with America," vs. a public perception that Clinton had no agenda. After losing both the House and Senate to Republicans, Clinton then re-invented himself as he moved to the center, and became a successful President.



3. Obviously well-researched with fascinating, real-life detail, the book presents a considered, coherent and integrated contour of events and the personalities which shaped them. Penetrating where journalism so often founders. History will thank Nigel Hamilton for telling the truth. Though his timing may be inconvenient, the telling preserves the standards of Diogenes. Illuminating. A must read.



4. If you want to read a book by someone who worships Bill Clinton, who throws rose petals in his path, who feels he is the second coming of Christ and can do no wrong, then this is your book. If not, then wait for another.

5 comments about Twopence to Cross the Mersey.

1. This book chronicles the fall of the Forrester family from riches to rags, as a result of the 1929 stock market crash. Unfortunately, it was not only the vicissitudes of the great depression that Helen had to contend with. Her parents were simply too selfish to handle the changes in life style, their situation necessitated. To her credit, Helen was able to look back on this time with little bitterness or self-pity, and relate how she struggled through this period of her life. I recommend this book to everyone.



2. I have read and reread these books since I was a child in Ireland. The beauty of these books is the simplicity with which she pulls you in to the story. She writes and weaves a story that if you have any type of imagination you will feel like you are in that bare room covered by a coat and having scruff in your hair and shoes with patches. A teenager could easily read and understand her work and someday I will give them to my kids to read.



3. What a beautiful sad story. I really felt like I was there the whole time. It really makes me think about how lucky I am compared to her.



4. Twopence To cross The mersey is an outatanding book in which a great struggle is displayed, it made me feel like I was a part of Helen's life.



5. Haunting story of the great Depression in northern England from the viewpoint of a young girl. You share the hunger and bewilderment and struggle to survive. Told beautifully.

5 comments about Rothstein: Library Edition.

1. Although the 1919 Series is in the title, the book goes beyond that, so if you're a curious baseball fan this book might have more than you are game for. Pietrusza seems to know his New York criminal element of the era, and the books travels down spokes out from the Rothstein hub into these areas, which certainly helps to put Rothstein into perspective, at least from a "buisness" standpoint.
   
   I have uncovered additional info about Rothstein's personality with simple google searches, and in other books; the sources seeming to be reliable. Presuming these are accurate, they do help to supplement what we learn about Rothstein here. That's no big criticism, but the book left me with some unanswered questions about Rothstein's personality -- answers that might or might not be difficult to answer.
   
   Rothstein was not a well-kept secret, even in his era, and there seems to have been enough written about him that I would think it might not be difficult for an author to give us more about his personality. This author choose to focus on dozens of peripheral characters, and if you're a history fan that proves to be illiuminating, but does not always illuminate Rothstein, just places him in a context. Still, readers can argue the "business" of Rothstein and his fellow criminals is the compelling part of his personality, and speaks volumes itself.



2. A glimpse into history and a ruthless time in America. Not only a good baseball story but a great read for anyone wanting to learn more about the time period.



3. Without trying to repeat what has already been said, A.R. comes alive in reading this book. He really didn't have many friends, just business associates. His life was all business and that business was making money! He was the ultimate gambler seeing an opening and taking it (no matter who you were - family, friend or foe). A.R. was involved in all types of scams, legitimate and illegal, for the sole purpose of turning a profit. After reading this book - you also find out a few undesirable traits about A.R. such as him being a welsher, and not paying debts on time. He wasn't the most honorable among thieves. This was an interesting characteristic of the book for it isn't one-sided. It gives you the facts about A.R. whether good or bad. This book paints a true portrait of the extent of vice which involved politicians, mobsters, athletes, policemen and of course actors and actresses. There is extensive research with regard to who killed A. R. I found this part of the book to be very interesting to see all the facts and the "behind the scenes" work unravel. It reveals the motives: the who, what, when, where, why and how. The last chapter keeps you very motivated and wanting for more. There were some great quotes from some old timers and I think one can learn a few things from reading this book. The book is recommended to other readers.



4. 
   Tackling the biography is Arnold Rothstein is not like undertaking to deal with the life of most equally known men of even the same time. Rothstein was covered, as can be seen in the bibliography, in hundreds if not thousands of articles of the time in newspapers, magazines, books, and legends. The problem is not lack of words written, but lack of actual knowledge of the subject. Simply put, much of what has been written is legendary, apocryphal, repetitive, speculative or downright false, and it must have been an overwhelming task to wade through the junk to find the goods. Pietruszka has done as good a job of it as likely can be done at this remove.
   
   Further complicating the task is the personality of the subject, in this case a man who was clearly highly intelligent, charismatic, and industrious, but was missing some kind of chip to his personal makeup that would have made him fully human. Judging from the book, AR loved the multiplication of money in any way possible, judging everything and everyone useful or not useful based strictly upon the expected financial return. Associates passed in and out of his life and he had no compunction about lying to them or ripping them off or leaving them hanging out to dry, to take whatever heat might come down in his wake, and he'd pick them back up again if there was money to be made with no personal feelings entering into it. It must have been hard to resist his charismatic pull, but harder to actually like the man.
   
   Before reading this book I had known a little about Rothstein, mostly from the gambling/World Series angle. I had been unaware of his deep involvement in drugs and similar financial adventures. I wonder to what degree some of the crimes ascribed to Rothstein are simply a case of saying that because he was involved in this, with so-and-so, he MUST have been involved in that, with so-and-so. Notably, Rothstein's own little black book of records may well have been `edited' by the cops after it was found, and of course the missing sheets are missing. There seems to have been little actual written proof of much of anything Rothstein did, and there are so many conflicting stories and points of view it is hard to know the man's actual deeds with any certainty.
   
   Rothstein's relationship with his wife stands in complete contrast: the one person from whom he did not intend to make money he put on such a pedestal that he found himself unable to approach her as a wife, as a woman, and of course this created further suffering.
   
   I think that this man was a very one-sided genius, essentially an amoral machine. Pietruszka has done an excellent job of trying to separate fact from fiction of his fascinating subject.



5. Author David Peitrusza deserves plenty of kudos for his sweeping biography of Arnold Rothstein, the mad credited for fixing the 1919 World Series. In "Rothstein" we have an overview of the man and his times with perhaps too much of an emphasis on peripheral people and events. The reader will be regaled by stories of turn-of-the-century through prohibition era gamblers and big time criminals. Readers will acquire a greater knowledge of the East Coast underworld and some of the prominent figures who walked the line between criminal and legitimate. From casinos, race fixing and high society's degenerate gamblers to crooks both small time and big, "Rothstein" is an excellent account of the times of the famed gambler. Rothstein surely ranks as one of this country's most notorious criminal master minds.
   As much as I enjoyed the book I would have liked getting to know the man himself a little better. While readers will enjoy an opportunity to learn what AR, (as Rothstein was sometimes called) did, where and with whom he did it you cannot be sure to understand what made him tick. His childhood and early years are skimmed over while great detail is given his murder and its subsequent investigation. Hopefully someone can come along who will provide a fuller view of Rothstein. For that biographer and anyone interested in a man immortalized by F. Scott Fitzgerald in "The Great Gatsby" Petrusza's book is a must-read. Whatever "Rothstein's faults as a biography, it is still a good read and highly recommended.

No comments about May Sarton: Excerpts from a Life : Journals and Memoirs.

No comments about Rogers Hornsby.

No comments about Leonardo DiCaprio (Penguin Joint Venture Readers).

5 comments about The Privilege of Youth : A Teenager's Story of Longing for Acceptance and Friendship.

1. It took a while for me to get my order but the seller was extreamly helpful and answered all my questions very fast. Product is in great shape!! Better then described!!



2. This book covers a time that was already written about in The Lost Boy. Despite my love for Dave's other books I think this was an attempt to milk out more money from his already established fans. This book does not give much more information about his life and only a few forgettable fun stories about his teenage years. Don't waste your time on this one, just read the first three.



3. I have read A Child Called "It", The Lost Boy, A Man Named Dave and Help Yourself and I must say that this book was not Dave's best work. The writing did not keep me interested as his other books have. While reading this I felt like the passion just wasn't there.



4. Read every Dave Pelzer book he writes. He is an exceptional human being. There should be more people like him without having to go through the abuse he endured.



5. this is a good book! i love it when dave sees that boy from the lost boy, and the boy says what you call my sister? then david says a horror? then the boy punches dave, makes his nose bleed, and says, don't you ever, ever, call my sister a whore again! read it if you like dave pelzer as much as me!