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Indlæser... Good Night, Irene (2023)af Luis Alberto Urrea
   Ingen Der er ingen diskussionstråde på Snak om denne bog.   ) bereanna | Apr 24, 2024 |  After D-Day, these friends join the Allied soldiers streaming into France. Through her friendship with Dorothy, and a love affair with a courageous American fighter pilot, Irene learns to trust again. (  ) creighley | Apr 16, 2024 | ) Ferg.ma | Apr 13, 2024 | This book of historical fiction is based on the life experiences of Urrea’s mother, who served as a Red Cross “Donut Dolly” during World War II. Urrea gives us two main characters – Irene and Dorothy (Dot). These young women were each compelled to join the Red Cross and serve during World War II either because they were running from an untenable situation or seeking to avenge a deep loss. Meeting during training and paired in the Rapid City, an Army “deuce and a half” truck, specially outfitted as the combat version of a food truck, they become colleagues, fast friends, and each other’s support system. They endure hardship and rationing, strange foods (or no food), exhausting schedules, bad roads, and poor accommodations. They soldier on in support of the troops. No matter their own aches and pains, sorrows or irritations, they put on a brave smiling face to bring a little bit of “home” to the front. There are a number of wonderful supporting characters, including “Rusty” Penny, Garcia, and Handyman. And several real combatants make appearances as well, including Gen George Patton. Urrea also brings the European theater to life with vivid descriptions – of war-time England, the forests of France and Germany, bombed villages, the horrors of a concentration camp, and the sights, sounds and smells of a field hospital. I have read many books by Urrea, so I knew he could write, but I was almost speechless at the end of this book. Whatever you do, do NOT skip the author note at the end where he relates how it took him some twenty years to come to grips with and write this novel as a testament to his mother’s experiences. This is truly a love letter to his mother. The audiobook is masterfully narrated by Barrie Kreinik. She really brings these women to life. The author note at the end is narrated by Urrea, himself, which added to the impact of what he related. (  ) BookConcierge | Mar 27, 2024 | Wow! This was based on things found in his mother's belongings after the war. He was able to contact some of the women who drunk a truck bringing coffee and donuts to the American soldiers on the front lines. They brought a little bit of home to the soldiers. The story is heartbreaking but a fresh approach to WWII stories. I liked Irene and Dorothy. They were as different as night and day. They were oil and vinegar as they went down the road getting mad at each other and not talking then picking up as if nothing was wrong. Irene is very much a girly-girl while Dorothy can handle anything thrown her way. Dorothy will protect Irene at any cost. They are separated by an accident. I managed to make it to Part V before needing Kleenex. Then I managed to give myself a tissue cut in the corner of my eye I cried so much. But it is a beautiful ending--the only ending I wanted to see. I will be looking for other books by this author. I enjoyed this so much. And no, I cannot get the song out of my head! ( ) Sheila1957 | Mar 22, 2024 |
 Luis Alberto Urrea pays tribute to WWII's forgotten volunteers — including his mother...In an author's note to his panoramic historical novel, Good Night, Irene, Urrea tells us his mother was assigned to Patton's 3rd Army, trapped behind enemy lines in the Battle of the Bulge, and was with the troops who helped liberate Buchenwald. Urrea also writes that his mother, who he now realizes suffered from undiagnosed PTSD, never spoke to him of her service. ..Urrea has written a female-centric World War II novel in the mode of an epic like Herman Wouk's The Winds of War, replete with harrowing battle scenes, Dickensian twists of Fate and unthinkable acts of bravery and barbarity...As befits a contemporary war novel, Good Night, Irene is morally nuanced  In 1943, when Phyllis’s fictional counterpart, Irene, escapes her wealthy family’s home on Staten Island — leaving behind a predatory stepfather and a violent fiancé — she imagines that war might be like wandering through the woods, one of her favorite pastimes: “Ambling. Filling notebooks with her own great thoughts. Perhaps some smoke drifting through the trees.” Needless to say, Irene’s illusions are soon shattered....Nicknamed “Doughnut Dollies,” the women become adept at deflecting advances, but it’s to Urrea’s credit that he doesn’t shy away from describing the shadow side of the job...Urrea writes about death with a sort of familiarity...Urrea has a weakness for melodramatic imagery... HæderspriserDistinctionsNotable Lists
An Instant New York Times Bestseller This "powerful, uplifting, and deeply personal novel" (Kristin Hannah, #1 NYT bestselling author of The Four Winds), at once "a heart-wrenching wartime drama" (Christina Baker Kline, #1 NYT bestselling author of Orphan Train) and "a moving and graceful tribute to heroic women" (Publishers Weekly, starred review), asks the question: What if a friendship forged on the front lines of war defines a life forever? In the tradition of The Nightingale and Transcription, this is a searing epic based on the magnificent and true story of courageous Red Cross women. "Urrea's touch is sure, his exuberance carries you through . . . He is a generous writer, not just in his approach to his craft but in the broader sense of what he feels necessary to capture about life itself." --Financial Times In 1943, Irene Woodward abandons an abusive fiancé in New York to enlist with the Red Cross and head to Europe. She makes fast friends in training with Dorothy Dunford, a towering Midwesterner with a ferocious wit. Together they are part of an elite group of women, nicknamed Donut Dollies, who command military vehicles called Clubmobiles at the front line, providing camaraderie and a taste of home that may be the only solace before troops head into battle. After D-Day, these two intrepid friends join the Allied soldiers streaming into France. Their time in Europe will see them embroiled in danger, from the Battle of the Bulge to the liberation of Buchenwald. Through her friendship with Dorothy, and a love affair with a courageous American fighter pilot named Hans, Irene learns to trust again. Her most fervent hope, which becomes more precarious by the day, is for all three of them to survive the war intact. Taking as inspiration his mother's own Red Cross service, Luis Alberto Urrea has delivered an overlooked story of women's heroism in World War II. With its affecting and uplifting portrait of friendship and valor in harrowing circumstances, Good Night, Irene powerfully demonstrates yet again that Urrea's "gifts as a storyteller are prodigious" (NPR). No library descriptions found. |
LibraryThing-forfatterLuis Alberto Urrea er LibraryThing-forfatter, en forfatter som har sit personlige bibliotek opført på LibraryThing. Current DiscussionsIngenPopulære omslag  
 Google Books — Indlæser...GenrerMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC-klassificeringVurderingGennemsnit: (4.16)
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