Summer of My German Soldier
April 13, 2011
We found this book just lying around acting all innocent on a table in the lounge of our English center. The title alone was enough for us bulehs to pick it up and wonder. Mostly we wondered were did this book come from and what the heck is it about. So we read the back cover.
“It was a summer of love. A summer of hate. A summer that would last a lifetime. The summer that Patty Bergen turns twelve (emphasis added) is a summer that will haunt her forever….”
12!!! That was enough to get us laughing and making all kinds of jokes about this book. And make us upset. What kind of book is this were a 12 year old girl falls in love with a german soldier? A book that I would never let my children read. So it has been the talk of the center for several days. Until I decided to read it.
Always being a firm believer in “You can’t judge a book by its cover.” I decided that I must be true to my mantra and find out what this book was all about. Last night I finished it and it may the first time I say you should maybe at least take a second glance at the cover. Or if the author, reconsider your editor.
It was one of the saddest books I have ever read. This Jewish American girl who befriends an escaped German soldier and through their friendships exposes all the social ills of the WWII era. That is my nut shell summery. The statement I would use to express my true feelings on the book is, maybe I would be more concerned and care more about all the injustice taking place in the plot if the heroin wasn’t 12 and falling in love with a 20something MAN! The most disturbing thing about the book is that their relationship was the least disturbing factor. It was annoying, but all the layers of racial prejudice was the cherry on top.
What is even funnier or sadder (can’t decide which) was that after googling the book I found out it was pretty popular. There was even a movie made about the book. So I factored in the time it was published, 1973. That made things a bit clearer.
Let’s concluded with this, “Ignorance is Bliss.” This book made me a firm believer in another one of our well known expressions. I wish that I hadn’t read it so that I could still laugh when I look at the cover.
