The importance of books

I've just finished a wonderful book called The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. It was written largely by the former lady, but when she became ill her niece took over to make the changes the editors were wanting. Alas, Shaffer did not live to see the book appear on American bookshelves, as it came out in July, 2008, and she died in February of that year. Such a shame that she didn't see it become such a big success, since she worked on it for many years. A glaring example of the importance of deriving satisfaction from a process, (see Note of Aug. 19, 2008) since you may not have the opportunity to enjoy the result.

Given that the book did come out in 2008, those of you who read new books when they're still new have probably already read it. I almost never read books when they first come out, except for Robert Parker and Dick Francis mysteries, and now both those gentlemen have died, so there won't be anymore new books from them.

But back to TGLAPPPS. It's a book that manages to be charming and amusing -- sometimes laugh-out-loud funny -- while relating the horrors of Nazi occupation for the inhabitants of Guernsey Island, in the English Channel, during the Second World War. It's written in the form of letters, a format I usually tire of quickly, but here it's quite successful, after the first few letters. A London writer who is undergoing the tiresomeness of going 'round for book signings to publicize her book receives a letter from a gentleman on Guernsey, who is writing to her because a book he has come into possession of, and that has made a great impression on him (the writings of Charles Lamb) had her name and address in the front. She is so charmed by the letter she replies, and ultimately gets drawn into a correspon-dence with not just him, but various other of the Islanders who are all members of the...you guessed it...Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

The letters are a delight. Not only do you come to know these people (including the London author) very well through their letters, but you learn a few things you may not have known about a few authors. And about how important books can be to people. And oh yes, you learn about what life was like under German occupation.

This book brought home to me in a new way the different kinds of deprivation that the war inflicted on people, perhaps the most devastating being the food shortages (in places where they were not also enduring bombing raids, and Guernsey was not bombed). Eventually no butter, no sugar, no tea, no salt, never mind the big stuff like meat. (The GLAPPPS came into being as the result of a highly ingenious method the Islanders developed of overcoming the Germans' system of keeping tabs on all livestock.)

On Guernsey they were also forced to see their lovely little island torn up by German fortification efforts, and forced to witness the working to death of slave laborers who were brought in to do the work. Those who felt a wrench of pity for the prisoner-laborers could find them-selves in big trouble if they tried to help them, as was the case with a major character in the book, who never actually "appears," though she is referred to by and has a big impact on virtually all the other characters.

The book is an informative and entertaining little gem. I encourage you to read it.