Tears in the Darkness by Michael and Elizabeth Norman tells the story of the battle for the Bataan in the Philippines during WWII and its horrific aftermath following the US surrender. The ordeal started with the famed Bataan Death March and included trips to Japanese prisons and work camps.
So, I, uh, didn't finish the book. I read 300 pages of the approximately 400 pages. (I know, I know, how could I give up after 300 of 400 pages? You got me. I do that. I only do that with nonfiction, though. I call the, "I got the gist" phenomena. It usually happens when I know how the book ends. Hey, I know who won WWII. I know that some of the US Bataan survivors made it back after the war. I got the gist.)
I'm not proud of not finishing the book. Bad, bad me! Listen, I'm not a history guy. Never have been. I WANT to be a history guy. I go into books like Tears in the Darkness with great expectations. Yes! This will be the book! This will be THE ONE that leads me to read others. Well, it's never happened.
I also wanted to be the music guy. Hey, I can like music. Ok, I can't. I don't know what good music is. My music knowledge, such that it is, picks up in 1982 when I discover FM radio after learning to drive and drops off in about 1988 when I'm not longer required to be exposed to music in college. Why did I digress on music? No idea. It's probably just that I have semi-forgotten how to blog since my blog entries have been few and far between.
However (and this is a big HOWEVER), I have high hopes of completing four books in fairly rapid succession. One, The Imperfectionists, was actually on the cover of the NYT Sunday Book Review a couple of weeks back. I give my No. 1 mom props for identifying and reading the novel prior to it getting such attention.
Live long, read and prosper. We'll leave the lights on for you.
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