Steps in the Dark by Joe Willisch. Book review

Good morning. It's chucking it down outside, best stay indoors for a while. I want to get on with fixing up a door for the summer house, got a good idea, but it will have to wait till the rain stops. Yesterday I cut a piece of the plasticky roof stuff to fit a window hole just above the door. I didn't cut it from a roof panel, but from a smaller piece I already had. Blimey, sawing plastic is much harder than sawing through wood. I'm glad I didn't attempt to trim the roof panels, it would have taken me ages, with a lot of cursing. I think a special saw is needed for that job, and I am not prepared to spend money on more that the basic tools I already have. 

Right, lets get on, I have plenty to do today. First off a book review. I have just finished Steps in the Dark, by Joe Willish. It was a random pick from the mobile library. It was a fascinating read. I don't know why but I am becoming more interested in the times around the first and second world war. Could be something to do with the passing of time, and the fact that the end of the war has just been celebrated. Ancient history has never interested me, but anything to do with the time my mother was living in bombed out Hamburg seems to be drawing me in. 

Reinhold Joseph Willish was born in 1924 in the small Czechoslovakian village of Partschendorf. The simple life he had until his teens revolved around family, friends, and a passion for learning. When he was 18 years old he was forced to leave his home and family to face the fallout of Hitlers tyranny in Europe. It was a treacherous journey that led to hardship, and heartache, which eventually led to him changing homeland and nationality. 

It took many years for him to write this book because he wanted to forget everything, but his children urged him to do so. Since it has been published Joe and his family have spent some time in Czechoslovakia visiting many of the places mentioned in the book.  

Joe tells it how it really was. His warts and all tales of a tank commander on front line battles, his time in a labour camp, really brings it home on the horrors of war. Despite the content, it's an easy to read book.

A quote from Joe. "When you hide things away and keep them secret, they have power. Eventually you have to open them up, face them and lay them to rest."

This book ties in with some programmes I have been watching on BBC iplayer. There are three programmes currently, called 'Britain's Greatest Generation.' They look at stories of extraordinary courage, terrible suffering, and miraculous survival from service men and women between 1942 and 1945. I won't embed them all here, but they are on yooootooob if you want to look. Each one is around one hour long. well worth a look. 

Episode 1. Britain's Greatest generation.

A quick look at my food. Yesterday I had some cooked pasta to use up, so I put it in a pan with a knob of olive spread and warmed it up. Then I added two eggs and scrambled them, and some leaves of spinach. Served on a bed of fresh spinach with beetroot. A loverly lunch.

Breakfast this morning. In the mini chopper went dried fruit, almonds, two dessertspoons of porridge oats, and three prunes. Under this is Special K, I bought a box from the cash and carry at a cheap price. Won't bother again, it's like eating sawdust, but palatable with the topping and soya milk and plain yogurt.

Well it's still raining, I think I'll crack on with the shopping bags. No one has contacted me about a meet up at either Haworth or Saltaire, so I assume no one will be around. Arrangements are made to meet Simplesista at Saltaire, looking forward to that. Thanks for popping in.
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