In the book, A Bag of Marbles, author Joseph Joffo writes about his experiences and adventures at the time of WWII and the Nazi reign. On two different occasions, Jo and his brother Maurice leave home on their own to avoid the Germans. The first time they leave home, the brothers are a mere ten and twelve years old. On each journey they pack a small knapsack and take off to find a safe place to live. In the end, Joseph and his brother make their way back home and are reunited with most of their family. The book concludes with a thought-provoking statement and question, “But what do I have to fear? Those things won’t happen ever again. The knapsacks are up in the attic; they’ll stay there forever. Perhaps….”
While some of Joseph’s adventures were interesting, we felt that the book lacked emotion. Since this book has been translated, one wonders if the emotion is simply lost in translation. The author writes with the assumption that the reader has a lot of background knowledge of that period in history. Lacking that background knowledge could lead to frustration and disinterest in this book. We found that this book did not hold our interest and was definitely written for someone who has a strong interest and knowledge of that time period.
A Dog’s Purpose is a must-read for anyone who has ever owned and loved a dog. The book, told from a dog’s perspective, is a very amusing and delightful read. The author does an exceptional job of touching on a broad range of emotions. This story does an outstanding job of showing the relationship between an owner and his dog, holding true to the phrase “a dog is a man’s best friend”. Without giving any of the plot away, let’s just say this book is highly recommended.
Between A Bag of Marbles and A Dog’s Purpose, we vote for A Dog’s Purpose to move on in the book tournament.
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