Film Friday: The Story of the Trapp Family Singers/The Sound of Music

Trapp, Maria Augusta. The Story of the Trapp Family Singers. New York: Image Books, 1957. 312 pages.

"...Abounding in humor, freshness and love, the book embodies a joie de vivre unequaled in most contemporary literature. The humorous situations in which the neophyte citizens find themselves because of the newness of mores and language provide a lighter side to the story. The freshness of the New England hills in the springtime is typified in the very lives of this unusual family. The love of God, of one another, and of their very fellowmen has proved a sustaining influence against 'the roar of the world.'" (description is a quote from America on the book cover)

Book Review: **** (out of five)
Movie Review: **** (out of five)

Strengths:

• Writing Style.  The storytelling is not only simple, but it is told in as though Maria Trapp is sitting with you, telling the story to her friends.  This quickly draws the reader in, making a connection between the audience and the story.
• Story. The story of the Trapp family is full of hope and the strength found in perseverance and family.  They are a wealthy family that not only has to learn how to be poor, but they also need to learn to fit in and survive in a new country during a war.  They are a model of how not to give up.

Weaknesses:

• Slow Pace.  The story is not exactly exciting.  Even some of the greatest moments of upheaval in their lives are treated with the same calm acceptance and simplicity that characterizes the whole story.  This could make the book seem boring, depending on the readers' tastes.

Film Friday: October Sky

Hickam, Homer H., Jr. October Sky. New York: Island Books, 1998. 428 pages.

"It was 1957, the year Sputnik raced across the Appalachian sky, and the small town of Coalwood, West Virginia, was slowly dying. Faced with an uncertain future, Homer Hickam nurtured a dream: to send rockets into outer space.  The introspective son of the mine's superintendent and a mother determined to get him out of Coalwood forever, Homer fell in with a group of misfits who learned not only how to turn scraps of metal into sophisticated rockets but how to sustain their hopes in a town that swallowed men alive. As the boys began to light up the tarry skies with their flaming projectiles and dreams of glory, Coalwood, and the Hickams, would never be the same." (description from book cover)

Note: The book was originally published under the title Rocket Boys, and some releases following the making of the movie were re-titled to match the movie.

Book Rating: **** (out of five)
Movie Rating: **** (out of five)

Strengths:

• Readability. One might expect a memoir by an engineer to lack, how shall I say, interest to a general reading population.  Yet this book is well-written and accessible.  His prose is clear and elegant in its simplicity.  Sometimes, it is  easy to forget that you're reading non-fiction.
• Story. Hickam's story of being a bright boy trying to escape a future of coal mining is beautiful and poignant. As a coming of age story, I think that most readers will find something to which they can relate.
• History. not only does this book have a lot to say about life in a coal mining town, but it also illustrates cold war life and the changes caused by the beginning of the space race.

Weaknesses:

• Slow Pace. The book is not an action filled adventure novel.  It is a fairly leisurely book, which sometimes includes small digressions that, though they add color to the story, don't necessarily drive the plot.