Read Shadows and Joys of a Life in Bavaria Gerlinde Pyron 9781977203311 Books
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Shadows and Joys of a Life in Bavaria is a deeply personal account of a quarter of a century of life in the aftermath of war. Gerlinde Pyron wrote about what she and her loved ones coped with--loss, poverty, defeat, sorrow, trauma, and, somehow through it all, beauty--in rural Germany after World War II. Instead of generic, impersonal historic descriptions, Pyron's words paint intimate portraits of men, women, and children, refugees, soldiers, and families who struggled to rebuild their lives after the war. These stories reflect both the brutal reactions to the legacy of war and the simplicity that remained untouched in the forests of Bavaria.
Read Shadows and Joys of a Life in Bavaria Gerlinde Pyron 9781977203311 Books
"This enchanting memoir of a young girl from Bavaria was captivating from the first page to the last! It has everything, history, drama and mystery . The author tells her story with grit, honesty and fearlessness. Once I began reading it I couldn't put it down! I highly recommend this wonderful tale of Gerlinde Pyron's brave journey to America."
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Tags : Shadows and Joys of a Life in Bavaria [Gerlinde Pyron] on . <br /> <em>Shadows and Joys of a Life in Bavaria</em> is a deeply personal account of a quarter of a century of life in the aftermath of war. Gerlinde Pyron wrote about what she and her loved ones coped with--loss,Gerlinde Pyron,Shadows and Joys of a Life in Bavaria,Outskirts Press,1977203310,BIOGRAPHY AUTOBIOGRAPHY / General
Shadows and Joys of a Life in Bavaria Gerlinde Pyron 9781977203311 Books Reviews :
Shadows and Joys of a Life in Bavaria Gerlinde Pyron 9781977203311 Books Reviews
- I was happily reading a novel when I received my copy of Shadows and Joys of a Life in Bavaria. I opened Gerlinde Pyron’s memoir -- intending to just read a few pages. But I became so absorbed in her stories that I completely abandoned my other book! Pyron’s visceral vignettes paint a picture that is so incredibly honest and vivid and captivating. She is an exquisite storyteller and her ability to observe and appreciate beauty and joy-- in the face of profound loss and trauma is truly life-affirming. I highly recommend!
- Before opening the book I was intent on finishing it because I thought it covered such interesting subject matter, I was unprepared to be swept up in such a beautiful collection of stories. All us avid readers know the feeling of looking at the alarm clock at night knowing we need to put it down but then forging on, this is one of those books. Gerlinde's vivid memory, especially at a young age and her ability to describe them with such ease make this a joy to read. Looking forward to the next installment.
- This enchanting memoir of a young girl from Bavaria was captivating from the first page to the last! It has everything, history, drama and mystery . The author tells her story with grit, honesty and fearlessness. Once I began reading it I couldn't put it down! I highly recommend this wonderful tale of Gerlinde Pyron's brave journey to America.
- I loved this book and couldn't put it down. Gerlinde Pyron manages to create such evocative images of people and places and takes the reader back to her childhood in Bavaria. Her memory for details is amazing and her perspective wide, candid and poetic. I felt after reading it as she felt when she walked through the Bavarian Forest with her storyteller aunt "Tante Annerl's story-telling voice mingled with the whistle of the wind, the screech of an owl, and the creak of tree trunks swaying back and forth. It seemed as if we were in a dark-cloaked magic space, and it only ended when we walked into the soft light from the windows of our village."
After reading this beautiful memoir, I felt like I had been in a dark-cloaked magic space myself and didn't want to leave. The characters of her Bavarian village become so real that you feel you've met them personally. The tone of her homeland during the end of World War II is frightening. The secrets and questions a child must have had during that time, in that colorful place, provide the shadows of the title.
And yet, she had a joyful childhood, too--as a free-spirited, observant, playful child who didn't need movies or entertainment as children do today. She lived a life of a vivid imagination and captures it for all of her readers.
She came to America at 17, not speaking English. Her childhood observations are layered with her adult wisdom and understanding. In an age of much talk of immigration, this is an immigrant story that will compel you to turn the pages and engage with a time and place so different from our own. - The older I get, the less I know. I've read many books and seen many movies about World War II, and thought I had some understanding of what growing up in the area during the war or its' aftermath might have been like. I was wrong. I had never thought about what it might have been like to observe it as a truly innocent bystander, that of a child, whose perspective was both up close and personal, as well as at some distance due to youth and a rural upbringing. I feel like I've come away with both a better understanding of the author, but also of a culture, a war, and all the people impacted by it.
I'm grateful the author was able to recall such detail, right down to the smells and sounds, and bring them to life. This is a book for adults, such as myself in my 60's, but I can also imagine young adults liking it, as well as reading it to young children. The more all of us, young and old, understand other cultures, and what the immigrant experience is truly like, the better off our world will be. - excellent read! a life well toldâ¤ï¸
- I so enjoyed this book! It is truly a page-turner,and lingers in your thoughts. There has been much written about the tragedies of world war two, but this book is written from the perspective of a child who is trying to make sense of the events in her small corner of that world,and within her family. Her simple, straight forward style adds to this sense of both an innocence and poignancy of perspective. There is a Proustian quality to her descriptions of the sights,sounds and sensations of farm life,and the people she recalls. The shadows and joys are tightly woven together,and although they describe a very specific time and place, I had a strong sense of the universal within this deeply personal reflection.
