Survival in wartime

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Take a look.

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Hello and welcome to hear this. I'm Frances Gillan and you're listening to the Vision Australia library program. And on today's show we've got a lovely array of books and and a couple of anniversaries to talk about. Thank you. Jill Ryan, who wrote a lovely email. Lorraine was curious about whether or not unbroken, the book that June had mentioned in her interview with Stella last week, had been non-fiction or fiction. She was just a little unsure and just asked me to clarify. And yes, it is non-fiction and I kind of gave it a bit of a listen myself, and it's beautifully narrated, so I thought I would play a sample today. The full title of the book is unbroken A World War Two Story of Survival, and it's by Laura Hillenbrand. On a may afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Force bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. Lieutenant Louis Zamperini, captured by the Japanese and driven to the limits of endurance. Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity, suffering with hope, resolve and humour. So I'm going to play a sample of that book. It's narrated by Edward Herrmann.

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In the predawn darkness of August 26th, 1929, in the back bedroom of a small house in Torrance, California, a 12 year old boy sat up in bed listening. There was a sound coming from outside, growing ever louder. It was a huge, heavy rush suggesting immensity, a great parting of air. It was coming from directly above the house. The boy swung his legs off his bed, raced down the stairs, slapped open the back door and loped onto the grass. The yard was otherworldly, smothered in unnatural darkness, shivering with sound. The boy stood on the lawn beside his older brother, head thrown back, spellbound. The sky had disappeared. An object that he could see only in silhouette, reaching across a massive arc of space was suspended low in the air over the house. It was longer than two and a half football fields and as tall as a city. It was putting out the stars. What he saw was the German dirigible Graf Zeppelin. At nearly 800ft long and 110ft high. It was the largest flying machine ever crafted. More luxurious than the finest airplane, gliding effortlessly over huge distances, built on a scale that left spectators gasping. It was in the summer of 29, the wonder of the world.

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So that was a little bit of Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. And I did spell her name last week, but I'll spell it again. Laura is Elora. Elora Hillenbrand is h I w l e n brand. And that book goes for 14 hours. And it is nonfiction and an amazing story. Laura Hillenbrand also wrote the nonfiction book of Seabiscuit The True Story of Three Men and a racehorse, which was a best seller. Thank you. Lorene. Having listened to the book, I think it's just beautifully narrated and seems to have a great sense of wonder about it. Another writer that June mentioned that she had enjoyed was Karen Armstrong. Karen Armstrong has written quite a few books, and she is a great explorer of faith, not only her own Christian faith, but faith, other faiths as well. The book that I have a sample of is The Spiral Staircase by Karen Armstrong. In this book, Karen Armstrong recalls a painful early life as a nun, her even more painful reentry into secular society, and, most compellingly, the long, undiagnosed epilepsy that made her life a horror show of phantom visions and misplaced hours. We follow her to the Middle East and elsewhere as she searches for answers to questions no less daunting than the significance of faith. Let's hear a sample of The Spiral Staircase by Karen Armstrong. It has multiple narrators, so let's have a listen. This is a sequel.

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To my first book, Through the Narrow Gate, which told the story of my seven years as a Roman Catholic nun. I entered my convent in 1962, when I was 17 years old. It was entirely my own decision. My family was not particularly devout, and my parents were horrified when I told them that I had a religious vocation. They thought, quite correctly, as it turned out, that I was far too young to make such a momentous choice. But they allowed themselves to be persuaded because they wanted me to get it out of my system as soon as possible. I was usually quite a bit of a child, but I was anxious to test my vocation immediately, instead of waiting until after I'd been to university, as my parents would have preferred. My unusual resolution in the face of their opposition impressed them, and they feared that I might spend my college years in a state of malicious obstinacy, failing to make the most of the opportunities of university life and longing for it all to be over so that I could do what I really wanted. So on the 14th of September, 1962, I packed my bags and joined 12 other girls at the novitiate. Why was I so determined to take this step? The motivation behind this type of decision has always complex, and there were a number of interlocking reasons. It is true that at this time I was very shy and worried about the demands of adult social life. But even though the religious life might seem a soft option, it was. It was tough and I would not have lasted more than a few weeks if it had simply been a means of escape.

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That was the spiral staircase by Karen Armstrong. Karen is built. Karen, Karen Armstrong is Armstrong. Armstrong. And that book goes for 11 hours and 50 minutes. Other books in the collection are A History of God from Abraham to the present The 4000 Year Quest for God. There's also Through the Narrow Gate, a memoir of spiritual discovery, and that's talking about her life as a nun, a Short History of myth as well, and the great transformation, the beginning of our religious traditions. Karen Armstrong was born in 1944. She's a British author and commentator known for her books on comparative religion. Her work focuses on the commonalities of the major religions, such as The importance of compassion. Her memoir, Through the Narrow Gate, that I just mentioned in the library, was published in 1982 to excellent reviews. Armstrong has been described by the philosopher Alain de Botton as one of the most intelligent, contemporary defenders of religion who wages a vigorous war on the twin evils of religious fundamentalism and militant atheism. And while we're talking about people of faith, Lorraine also mentioned a book that we do have in the library. It's called Through Blindness, and it's by Helen Manning. This is the biography of Peter and Pearl Sumner and their work towards the formation of the Christian Foundation for the blind in 1969. In 1983, the organization joined joined forces with Christian Blind Mission International to become Christian Blind Mission International Australia. I've heard the names of Peter and Pearl Sumner for a long time working in the organization here, Vision Australia, and was very happy to work alongside the Christian Blind Mission International for a few years. Ros, I remember very well and it's worth mentioning that all of the books from the Christian Blind Mission were given to the Vision Australia Library. I know that so many people relied on their wonderful daily devotions, and at this time of year, their wonderful Christmas newsletter would go out on on audio. And I know a lot of people miss them, but we do have the books. So if you are feeling or wanting to read some Christian material, ring the library and they'll be able to find the books. And this is one of them through Blindness by Helen Manning, and it's narrated by Irene Pappas.

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There was nothing pretentious about the old two story house standing like a sentinel at the sharp end of the road. Solidly built of brick and bluestone. It had been there for over a hundred years. A milestone of history for the small township of Macedon that had grown up nearby. Its heavy square design contrasted oddly with the light timber dwellings dotted here and there along the roadside, and half hidden by the drooping grey green foliage of native gum and acacia trees. Known originally as the State Nursery Hotel. The 20 roomed inn was built at the time of the Great Australian Gold Rush. It was strategically located along the route from Melbourne to Bendigo, where rich reefs of gold bearing quartz had been discovered. Thousands of adventurers had streamed along this route, either following the lure of the gold or returning disillusioned to the city or to the farms. For others, there had been the exhilaration of success. That era passed. Generations later, the identity of the N was all but forgotten. Like other properties in the area, it was again put on the market but held little popular appeal. Even though a previous owner had accomplished much towards its restoration, a lot remained to be done. The whitened walls had discolored and the general appearance was dilapidated. Few were interested in the notice of sale because of the work entailed.

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So that's describing a wonderful house in Macedon where faith and action coalesced. Thank you, Lorraine, for mentioning that book. Really important figures in the history of blindness and low vision, not only in Australia, but also for our neighbours. There's also a book by Peter Sumner in audio in the library called A Wilderness Seen Through Other Eyes. And the synopsis is from the perspective of a blind person. Peter Sumner discusses his trip with his son to the wilderness region of Cradle Mountain in Tasmania, so that's available in audio as well. Lorraine also mentions anything by Simon Winchester can be recommended. And yes, he's been writing some really wonderful, in-depth but accessible books for a long time. Non-fiction, all of them. And I'm going to play a sample of a book called Simply Land by Simon Winchester. Land with a meadow or mountainside, desert or peat bog, parkland or pasture, suburb or city is central to our existence. It quite literally underlies and underpins everything, employing the keen intellect, insatiable curiosity and narrative verve that are the foundations of his previous best selling works. Simon Winchester examines what we human beings are doing and have done with the billions of acres that together make up the solid surface of our planet. Land. How the hunger for Ownership Shaped the Modern World examines in depth how we acquire land, how we steward it, and how and why we fight over it, and finally, how we can and on occasion, do come to share it. Ultimately, Winchester confronts the essential question who actually owns the world's land and why does it matter? Let's hear a sample of Land by Simon Winchester, and it's narrated by Simon Winchester as well.

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Nomadic shepherds, accustomed to the age old traditions of the island, would find the plowman, his queer implement, and his docile beast profoundly disturbing. But these first plowman had come to stay and to prosper and to sow in strange, straight furrows the seeds of a new civilization. So wrote Donald Denman in Origins of Ownership, published in 1958. Those who today make or collect or are enthralled by maps like to say that cartography is a very much older calling than agriculture. It's an assertion hugely difficult to disprove. No maps of such antiquity have ever been known to exist, even scratched on bone or walls or traced in preserved mud. Logic, of course, suggests that primitive cartography was an essential. An early hunter would have to come to accept the facts of night and day, of sun and moon and stars, of the coming and passing of the seasons. And he also had to come to know, if only for his own survival, some details of his orientation, of where he was in relation to everywhere else around him. Otherwise, if he hunted, how would he find his way home, if only in his mind he had to have a map.

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That was land by Simon Winchester. Simon is Cimarron, Cimarron, Winchester is Winchester, Winchester. And that book goes for 13 hours and 50 minutes. And once again, thank you, Lorraine for your email and I'm glad you enjoy the show. Lorraine also recommended dream of My Father by Barack Obama and she said that's a good read. She mentioned that in the past she's read hundreds of books on the train going to work. So Tolstoy, trollop, Jane Austen, yes, Jane Austen, trollop. And they're such popular authors still and again over the holiday season or even in the new year, sometimes people have books I should read or books I would like to read and think classics like Tolstoy can be on people's lists. So if you are interested in embarking on some classics, just call the library. Now to another classic of its own kind pop culture classic. Perhaps it is 60 years since the first Doctor Who hit our TV screens, and for fans of the series, or fans of the Doctor Who phenomena, we do have some Doctor Who books in the collection. I'm going to play a sample of one here. It's called The Doctor's Tale. England 1400 Winter. Blood in the snow. Henry the Fourth as usurped the throne and deposed King Richard the Second. Language languishes in Pomfret Castle. Meanwhile, the doctor and his companions preside over New Year revels at Sonning Palace. But Sonning is a prison. Treachery is in the air and murderous Archbishop Thomas Arundel will stop at nothing to crush the rebellion. As the Doctor and Barbara take the road to Canterbury, Vicki finds a royal friend and Ian is dragged into a dark web of conspiracy, at whose heart sits the teller of tales, Geoffrey Chaucer. Laodicea, a sample of The Doctor's Tale. This is produced by Big Finish Productions with a full cast, multiple narrators, and even sound effects. So it's the full the full deal. Let's hear a sample.

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It was. So say the books as I remember the cold and frosty season of December. The sun was waxing old, his coppery face but once shone golden with a goodly grace. Now deep in Capricorn. Is worn and pale. With bitter frost and sleet and cruel hail. Which kill the green in every wintry yard. And Janus by the fire with double beard drinks from his double horn. The mulled wine and calves are pickled brawn of tusked swine. And Nowell cries out every lusty man, the old year dies. The new is now begun.

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The roads are bad in winter, but nothing holds back the news by riders, birds and fires. News travels fast, but rumors travel faster. There are men to be recruited. An army to be raised in the name of the broken king. But a horse cannot outrun a well-aimed arrow.

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That was The Doctor's Tale by Big Finish Productions with multiple narrators, and it's in the book series of Doctor Who books, Doctor Who The Early Adventures. So if your memory goes back that far, I think we're supposed to picture maybe William Hartnell, the very first doctor in the role. That book goes for 22 minutes. So a short, sweet one. And for fans of Doctor Who, there are a couple of other of the Doctor Who books published or produced by Big Finish Productions. There's the Axis of Insanity and arrangements for War, but if you don't mind a variety of Doctor Who productions, there are there are lots of other Doctor Who books as well by many different authors, including one of the most popular Terrence Dicks. Terrence is spelled T e r a and c e t e r a n c, and Dick's is Dick's. Dick's. And there's one here that caught my eye because I remember this. Doctor Who and the Face of Evil by Terrence Dicks are the doctor of surprise when the Tardis lands in a primeval forest and he meets Leila, a warrior banished from her tribe and must do battle with the all powerful computer Zenon, which assumes the voice and form of the doctor. Terrence Dick's books go for slightly longer than the than the screenplays. This book goes for three hours and 22 minutes, and it's narrated by Louise Jameson, which is wonderful because she played Lila in the series of Doctor Who. As you can see, I was a bit of a fan in my day. I haven't kept up much with the more modern ones, but like many people, I fell in love with the Doctor Who's fourth incarnation, Colin Baker, back in the 1970s, was glued to my television every time Doctor Who was on. There are a good 30 Doctor Who books in the collection. Another anniversary, a sad one, and a very dramatic anniversary is the 60th anniversary of the assassination of John F Kennedy, president of the United States, and there are books on the Kennedy family in the collection. And today I thought I'd combine, well, Doctor Who time travel with a fictional book by Stephen King, the title being 1120 second slash 63, the date of the date of the assassination. Jake Epping is a 35 year old high school teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine, who makes extra money teaching adults in the GED program. He receives an essay from one of the students, a gruesome, harrowing first person story about the night 50 years ago when Harry Duncan's father came home and killed his mother, his sister and his brother with a hammer, Harry escaped with a smashed leg, as evidenced by his crooked walk. Not much later, Jake's friend al, who runs the local diner, divulges a secret. His storeroom is a portal to 1958. He enlists Jake on an insane and insanely possible mission to try to prevent the Kennedy assassination. So begins Jake's new life as George Amberson and his new world of Elvis and JFK, of big American cars and sock hops of a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald and a beautiful high school librarian named Sadie Dunhill, who becomes the love of Jake's life, a life that transgresses all the normal rules of time. Let's hear a sample of 11 slash 22 slash 63 by Stephen King. It's narrated by John Chancer.

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Al's diner was housed in a silver trailer across the tracks from Main Street in the shadow of the old mill. Places like that can look tacky, but al had disguised the concrete blocks upon which his establishment stood, with pretty beds of flowers. There was even a neat square of lawn, which he bartered himself with an old push type lawn mower. The lawn mower was as well-tended as the flowers and the lawn, not a speck of rust on the whirring, brightly painted blades. It might have been purchased at the local Western Auto Store the week before. If there had still been a western auto in the falls, that was. There was once, but it fell victim to the big box stores back around the turn of the century. I went up the paved walk up the steps. Then paused, frowning. The sign reading Welcome to Al's Diner, home of the Fatburger, was gone. In its place was a square of cardboard reading, closed and will not reopen due to illness. Thank you for your business over the years and God bless. I had not yet entered the fog of unreality that would soon swallow me. But the first tendrils were seeping around me, and I felt them. It wasn't a summer cold that it caused the hoarseness. I'd heard an owl's voice, nor the croaking cough. Not the flu either. Judging by the sign, it was something more serious. But what kind of serious illness came on in a mere 24 hours? Lesson that really it was 230. I had left owls last night at 545 and he'd been fine, almost manic. In fact.

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That was 11 2263 by Stephen King. Stephen is spelled step h e n step h e n King is king. This book goes for 32 hours and 15 minutes, and Stephen King first tried to write this book back in 1971, when he was teaching school in Maine, and it was the anniversary of the assassination, and someone in the teacher's lounge wondered aloud what the world would be like if Kennedy hadn't been killed. Stephen King said, 11 2263 was our 911. I'm speaking as a baby boomer here. This book gets good ratings, four and a half stars on good reads. And it was made into a series starring James Franco. I'm in the Guardian News paper in a review of the book by Mark Lawson, and this is from 2011. He finishes the review with some senior writers dust out the bottom drawers, indicating creative stasis. But King, whose writing life represents, among other things, a model of canny career management, has waited until the right time for his novels. In these books, the reader feels the benefit of 40 years of narrative craftsmanship and reflection on his nation's history. Going backwards proves to be another step forward for the most remarkable storyteller in modern American literature. Partly why he wrote this book as well, because he is really worried about the consequences of political extreme extremism in contemporary America. Also worth noting, and this is from the New York Times, for people who associate King with grisly horror and supernatural doings, this book avoids all of that. And this New York Times review by Janet Maslin, again from 2011, ends with the pages of 11 2263. Flyby. Filled with immediacy, pathos and suspense. It takes great brazenness to go anywhere near this subject matter, but it takes great skill to make this story even remotely credible. Mr. King makes it all look easy, which is surely his books fanciest trick. Thank you for joining us on here this today. Thanks once again to Lorraine for her lovely email, and I'm so glad you enjoy the show and thank you for your suggestions as well. If you would like to join the library, if you would like to hear any of the books mentioned, and if you would like to put forward your own suggestions, I would love to hear from you. The library phone number is 1300 654 656. That's 1300 654 656. Or you can email library at Vision Australia. Org library at Vision Australia. Org. Have a lovely week and we'll be back next week with more here this.