The Lord of the Rings

From Modern Hepburn

Yes, I have written a Lord of the Rings post before, but with The Hobbit movie coming out soon, I have to share by favorite fantasy story with you one more time. I could talk about these books for forever, but I will let the simple, yet profound quotes speak for themselves...

“I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.
"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” 

“The world is indeed full of peril and in it there are many dark places.
But still there is much that is fair. And though in all lands, love is now
mingled with grief, it still grows, perhaps, the greater.” 

“War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.” 

“For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”

Sherlock Holmes

Last weekend I was on a last minute, end of the summer getaway in Astoria, OR, my family's new favorite vacation spot.  Amidst the myriad of antique shops and coffee parlors, and with a little help from my sister's iphone, we found a bookstore. Heading back to the literature section, we began to peruse the shelves and I came upon an excellent find.  The original illustrated Sherlock Holmes, as published in the Strand magazine.  This is definitely going on my senior table at graduation.

My fascination with the character of Sherlock Holmes began in eighth grade when my english teacher, Mr. Baker, read us The Adventure of the Speckled Band.  What makes the stories of Sherlock Holmes so compelling is the character of Holmes himself.  The way in which Conan Doyle originally wrote the character is incredible, but it is also fun to watch what modern writers have been able to do with the world's only consulting detective to bring him to life on the screen. 

We see the original illustrations of the classic Sherlock Holmes with his pipe, sitting in his parlor with the faithful Dr. Watson, explaining all his deductions in a way that the average mind can comprehend. 

And then we see the quick witted, resourceful Robert Downey Jr. version running down dark alleys firing off shots at the fleeing criminal with his faithful Jude Law/Dr. Watson in tow. 

And then, my personal favorite movie version of Holmes, is the BBC Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freemen modern twist on this classic.  The brilliance of Holmes is demonstrated in his long monologues of deductions similar to those that we find in the original stories. 

And so, my fascination with the stories, interpretations, and character of Sherlock Holmes continues. 

Unbroken: A Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption

I like a good hero story.

Most of my favorite hero stories come from the generation that lived during World War Two.  It isn't just because they fought a war to stop the spread of Hitler's regime across Europe, nor is it because they liberated the Jews from the horrors of the concentration camps and restored nations.  It is because of the decisions that many of them made during and after the war to be selfless and heroic on and off the battlefield. A great book full of short stories of men and women who acted out this heroism is The Greatest Generation.

Their battlefield victories only make up a small part of this book; the rest is about their lives after the war. It is full of stories of men and women who refused to be ordinary, but embraced life to the fullest.  That is the kind of hero story that I like.

Then I came across the book called Unbroken.  The man Louis Zamperini that this book is about embodies the ultimate World War 2 hero, and it wasn't just because of his courageous actions in the midst of a hail of gunfire, it was because of his survival, resilience, and most importantly redemption that makes his story one that stands out.


Here is my short preview

Louis Zamperini was the small California town's terror.  He was always getting in fights, stealing from his neighbors, and generally getting into trouble.  Finally, his parents had enough, and so they decided to put his excessive energy into something of use.  They signed him up for sports.  He instantly excelled, and by the time he was in high school, he was competing with college age students in track and field and beating them.  He continued his running carrer and eventually qualified to go the the 1940 Olympic Games where he met Adolf Hitler. Though not directly, Hitler would have a huge impact on the rest of Louis life.
Months passed, and shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Louis enlisted in the military. He ended up as a bomber in the Air Force and was stationed in the Pacific. He had several close calls as he was a part of many of the major bomb runs in the pacific, but there was one day that would change his life forever.
His crew was going out on a search and rescue mission, but because their usual plane was getting repaired, they had to take out an older, different model plane than they were used to.  While they were searching, one of their engines failed and the plane went down.  What would follow was almost three years of captivity in a Japanese POW camp.


What makes this story incredible to me is that after Louis experienced enough horrors to last a lifetime, he found redemption. Here is an excerpt from the book.
"In Sugamo prison [the prison where all of his former captors were being held and serving time], as he [Zamperini] was told of Watanabe's [his captor's] fate, all Louis saw was a lost person, a life now beyond redemption. He felt something that he had never felt for his captor before.  With a shiver of amazement, he realized that it was compassion. At that moment, something shifted sweetly inside him. It was forgiveness, beautiful and effortless and complete.  For Louis Zamperini, the war was over."

Louis' return home after his family had thought him dead for nearly two years.