Echoes of War - Hardcover

Westall, Robert

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0374319642 ISBN 13: 9780374319649

Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux, 1991

Synopsis

A collection of five short stories examines the lingering repercussions of war on the lives of young people

About this title

Reviews

Grade 7-10-- Here are five stories that, as the title implies, explore the devastating effects of war. In one of the strongest entries, "The Making of Me," a boy at first fears, and then comes to understand, his strange, violent grandfather, a veteran of World War I. The old man, shell-shocked from his wartime experiences, has a profound effect on the person his grandson becomes. The other four stories all deal with World War II in England. All of the selections make heavy use of British slang, and this may be a deterrent for many Americans. Westall also assumes that students will have fairly good grasp of World War II history as it relates to England. References to the Home Guard, British fears about a German amphibious invasion, the RAF, and "the Last Lot" may be puzzling to some readers. Still, the stories should hold the attention of those who have an avid interest in warfare, and World War II in particular. --Bruce Anne Shook, Mendenhall Middle School, Greensboro, NC
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The reality of war is the chill current that runs through the five stories in Westall's latest collection. In "After the Funeral , " the ghost of a fighter pilot returns to haunt his son in the most tangible, nerve-racking way imaginable. "Adolf" chronicles a boy's run-in with postwar complacency and the rewriting of history. A lighthearted episode of beach-combing becomes infused with notions of mortality in the meditative "Gifts from the Sea." In "The Making of Me," a man recalls a tentative friendship with his terrifying, shell-shocked grandfather. "Zakky" tells of a bloodthirsty war orphan and his uneasy relationship wth the county's Home Guard. The spare, direct writing makes these stories easy to read; their complexity invites rereading. This book is a timely reminder that the ramifications of war can be far-reaching. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Westall explores the idea that war's effects are felt far from the battle and continue long after the war has passed. In ``After the Funeral,'' a pilot on a quiet mail run suddenly finds himself amid a spectral fleet of bombers; a young wartime beachcomber with a shirtful of ``Gifts from the Sea'' comes upon a woman's corpse; in ``The Making of Me,'' a forbidding old man sharing his war memories sparks his grandson's fascination with ancient history; Bill, 14, is wonderstruck when he meets a reclusive painter, ``Adolf,'' and his cats Hermann and Heinrich; and the men of Birsby struggle to control ``Zakky,'' a teenage Polish refugee who is burning to kill Nazis. With the apparent simplicity of the writing masking the underlying emotion, each story has a mild, quiet air that makes its moment of revelation even more dramatic. As always, Westall's appeal is deep if not broad. (Fiction/Short stories. 12-16) -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux
• Publication date: 1991
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0374319642
• ISBN 13: 9780374319649
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 89