Hello everyone, I'm Tang Yiyi.
The book I recommend to you today is Guernsey Literature and the Potato Skin Pie Club.
When I first read the title, I only think that such a strange title must be the kind of bestseller that has no nutrition, and those clichéd plots that can no longer be cheesy are simply generic.
But the moment I opened the book, I realized I was wrong.
The author of the book is the American newcomer writer Mary Ann Schaefer, who was hospitalized due to illness and could not write before the work was completed. Later, his niece, the famous American children's book author, Anne Bayrose, took over the revision work, but unfortunately, mary died of illness on the eve of the publication of this book. Publishers Weekly also published an obituary for her, and the newcomer writer who can accept such a high standard of treatment can be imagined as her influence in the publishing industry.
Later, the book was published and was on the New York Times bestseller list in its first week. And with an undisputed advantage, it has become the "good book of the year" of almost all important media in the United States such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, etc., and has been published in dozens of countries and regions such as Britain, France, and Germany, which has aroused unlimited echoes and deep resonance from readers around the world.
This book tells the story of the islanders' bitter and warm imprisonment after the Occupation of Guernsey by the Germans during World War II.
The protagonist of the book is Juliet, a female writer with a humorous column, and the story begins with a letter she received from a stranger in Guernsey, a second-hand book that has traveled across the ocean, and has become a reliquary for Juliet to meet, know, and love the members of the Guernsey Literary Club, who share their literary club and their various lives when the German army occupied the island.
The most incredible main line in the book is that in the war years, everyone thinks about how to protect themselves, but they have founded a literary club to read together.
However, the reason for this is that it was discovered that the birth of the Literary Club was actually an accident, and in order to cover up a party that exceeded the curfew time, Elizabeth had the opportunity to tell a lie to the enemy army. At that time, the enemy army was very strictly controlled, and in order to be punished for not exposing the lie, they could only do the drama.
The potato skin pie, on the other hand, was just a dish created by the club members in Guernsey in the face of an extreme shortage of food, food for the party, so it was also added to the name of the club.
The Literary Club was officially formed, and they began to buy books to read. At first they were just afraid that the enemy commander would come to check, but then, purely for their own pleasure, they began to take turns talking about the books they had read, and at first they could remain objective and calm, but gradually it was different. Speakers will do their best to incite the audience to read their own book, and once two people read the same book, they will argue, in the same form as the book club is now.
In this way, they got together to read, talk, argue, warm and encourage each other on difficult days. During this time, they are happy, happy enough to temporarily forget the dark world outside.
But darkness does exist, and in this book, there is a woman who has never really appeared, but has always lived in the memory of others, a dark line buried by the author, and a brave person against the dark world.
The woman, named Elizabeth, was misunderstood for falling in love with a German officer, being imprisoned in a concentration camp for saving enemy slaves, and brutally murdered for being a prisoner. Her life was full of ups and downs, but there was no lack of love and justice.
In all the letter descriptions, she is the embodiment of love and justice, bravery, she is like the people around her to convey the hope of life, whether in Guernsey or concentration camps, she can bravely face the evil forces, not afraid, not humble. She is like a beam of light, a person who has passed away, but can live forever in the hearts of club members.
Some people say that the best way to get to know a person is to read the books he has read. The same sentence was appropriate for Elizabeth, for she had a pot of books, shelves that filled the living room, and spilled onto the kitchen cupboards. As if, it can be seen that she is a learned person, and books are her spiritual food, a part of her life.
Not only her, but for every member of the club, books are a source of strength for yearning. Whether it's a mother who has lost her child, or an alcoholic... They have all been changed by books, have become loving life, have become brave and strong, and become full of strength.
Books are also their weapons in the face of a dark life, and the author uses the book as a clue throughout the text. I think this should be related to the experience of the author Mary herself, who has been a publishing house editor, librarian, bookstore clerk, has been with books all her life, once stayed at the airport in Guernsey because of the weather, warmed up with her mobile phone in the men's toilet, and read all the books in the airport bookstore. I think books, for her, must have had a profound impact.
Overall, the text of this novel is warm, the content is healing, and love extends from family affection outside the book to love and friendship within the book. So that after reading it, I feel a lot, and I can't calm down for a long time, and now, I recommend this high-scoring novel with a Douban score of 8.6 points to you, hoping that it can bring you a different feeling!