Ye Olde Partners
Page
*A Collection of
Antiquarian Curios & Relics*
"In
derelict sidings the poppies entwine,
With cattle
trucks lying in wait for the next time . . ."
--Roger
Waters, Your Possible Pasts
1) THE TIN DRUM . .
. Nobel
Prize winner Gunter Grass died of a lung infection on April 13 in the city of
Lubeck. I have mixed feelings. In my estimation, The Tin Drum (9780547339108)
15.95 is one of the most powerful books of the 20th century. Little Oskar
is a character that will remain with me the rest of my life, and he helped me
to understand the relationship between Germany and Poland, especially in the
post-war years. On the other hand, for most of his life, Mr. Grass hid
his service as a volunteer with the Waffen-SS near the end of WWII. A
youthful indiscretion? Perhaps. Its easy to make moral judgements
from 50 years later, but I wonder what I myself would have done in the same
situation, which brings us to Edith Hahn Beer's The Nazi Officer's Wife:
How One Jewish Woman Survived the Holocaust (9780062378088) 16.99.
With falsified papers, Edith Hahn married and survived the war as the wife
of a Nazi official. It reminded me of the true story of Solomon Perel, a
Jewish survivor of the war, who was inducted into the Hitler Youth. His
story is recounted in his autobiography and the outstanding foreign language
film Europa Europa. However, these successful attempts at hiding
in plain sight were the exceptions. Instead, more than 6 million people
of Jewish lineage paid the ultimate price with their lives. Their stories
are now told in Nikolaus Wachsmann's KL (9780374118259) 40.00, the most
comprehensive overview of the German concentration camp system, and Ravensbruck
(9780385520591) 35.00 by Sarah Helm, which was one of the few all-woman
extermination centers. There are few words in any language more evil than
Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen, and Treblinka . . .
2) CAT AND MOUSE . . .
And now, mercifully, some lighter fare. Gordon Korman's older title
Zoobreak (9780545125000) 6.99 has taken off again. Our stock was
recently replenished, and it reminded me of this little ditty from Thin Lizzy:
"Tonight
there's gonna be a zoobreak
Somewhere in
this town
See me and
Griffin Bing don't like it
So we're
breaking in and takin' them down
Tonight there's
gonna be a zoobreak
Somewhere near
the pound
Tonight there's
gonna be a zoobreak
So don't you be
around
Zoobreak!"
Odds
& Sods
Six of Detroit's
premier chefs (Now there's a phrase I never thought I'd say) and Hour Detroit
have created a beautiful tradepaper cookbook called Savor Detroit V1 (9781938018084)
19.95. The cover looks so delicious that I could just eat it . . .
Much like apple
and jacks go together, author Kathy-jo Wargin and illustrator 'Nick'
Frankenhuyzen are a perfect pairing for any children's book. This year
they are responsible for a book that is destined to be a regional classic, S
is for Sleeping Bear Dunes (9781585369171) 16.99. Say Yes to
Michigan!
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