tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-549963549429593969.post8665600865998750231..comments2024-01-20T06:51:58.729-08:00Comments on Echoes of Tattered Tongues: Memory Unfolded: The German--an excerpt from my novel Retreat — A Love StoryJohn Guzlowskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13052735138993479204noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-549963549429593969.post-72121565800058751702016-04-21T07:21:36.616-07:002016-04-21T07:21:36.616-07:00Rusty, thanks for reading the chapter. War touches...Rusty, thanks for reading the chapter. War touches all of us. I used to teach a course called war stories. The first assignment for each student was to write s personal war story. Some students always said they didn't have war stories. But they did. They were touched by war. Through their parents or uncles or grandparents. John Guzlowskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13052735138993479204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-549963549429593969.post-19507052746069242792016-04-21T07:17:35.140-07:002016-04-21T07:17:35.140-07:00Thanks for reading this piece. Thanks for reading this piece. John Guzlowskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13052735138993479204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-549963549429593969.post-29198341002126959892016-04-21T06:37:22.303-07:002016-04-21T06:37:22.303-07:00
I choked up when reading this account. I want to...<br /><br />I choked up when reading this account. I want to read the rest of the story.<br />Although fiction based on fact, this brilliant writing is so necessary for understanding real events, non-fiction accounts to enlighten us beyond facts: women were raped; old women murdered; and perhaps raped.<br />But, to really engage and understand such horrors, human thoughts and communication, will ensure we will not forget the complexities involved. Not to understand in order to forgive; not to know only facts, but truth, so we can understand both sides and doing so, fact is personalized; We glimpse real truth, more shocking; learning deeper revelations of the potential of evils perpetrated by once perhaps the average German, Russian, Pole, the average turned savage under unbearable circumstances. Mass-murderers Stalin and Hitler (and Mao) and their consequences for those they control.<br /><br /> Such insightful writing, faithful I think to very real possibilities of an account both humanity and inhumanity, that allows us to relive what horror of war can be. War is an abstraction to those not privy to combat. Churchill experienced and knew war; So did Hitler. I am reminded of Korea (Frozen tundra, and 50, 000 Americans sacrificed for Cold War mentality) and Vietnam, unnecessary wars, that with benefit of your words, your story, the ideal (and impossible) scenario, a leader (Kennedy knew war and was not going to commit troops to Vietnam, alas he died) and subsequently Johnson was responsible for 58,609 Americans dying in a corrupt Southeast Asian civil war. I expect too much of those elected leaders. I am a patriot, an American with much travel behind me, a Vietnam-era Air Force veteran. At SAC our motto was, “Peace is our Profession.” If only.<br /><br />We, today, do not have your understanding of the ruthlessness and dehumanizing effects on combat soldiers, and its effect on the common person at the mercy, in this case, of both Russian comrades and a German enemy. Perhaps the outrageous campaigns of ISIS beheadings is changing that for the common person.<br /><br />Thank God for minds like yours and the recognition by publishers that it is worthy of mass book availability. Perhaps it will do some good. I would like to think so. I am going to think so. <br />Rusty Walkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17536243269209602034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-549963549429593969.post-126773818551106902016-04-21T05:00:03.258-07:002016-04-21T05:00:03.258-07:00You capture the bleak desolation, the utter wearin...You capture the bleak desolation, the utter weariness of both these characters perfectly!Mary McCarthynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-549963549429593969.post-79764411290957558242014-11-13T08:22:05.506-08:002014-11-13T08:22:05.506-08:00Your story moved me profoundly. Your story moved me profoundly. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15303626345131087591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-549963549429593969.post-38702124776412221212013-02-21T03:58:42.519-08:002013-02-21T03:58:42.519-08:00That is a very vivid and realistic portrayal of wh...That is a very vivid and realistic portrayal of what it was like when the Germans were deep into retreat. After years of brutal relentless war this man's thoughts and actions have been accurately captured by the writer. The writer has a gift. Excellent.Steve Jones of Perth WAnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-549963549429593969.post-44059429688030878252012-10-06T14:59:08.643-07:002012-10-06T14:59:08.643-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Marcushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10161684468714673546noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-549963549429593969.post-65526514651960343162012-10-06T14:58:35.900-07:002012-10-06T14:58:35.900-07:00 John, thank you for pointing this out to me: this... John, thank you for pointing this out to me: this is a great, honest story. You managed to keep it real and engaging: so much that is written about this time turns to sentimental mush so easily — perhaps for many people this is the only way to deal with tragedy? W G Sebald, also a recent discovery of mine, avoids it and you do, too, even though you never lose touch with the feeling of your characters using a rare lyrical sensibility I suppose. A very humanist tale, thank you.Marcushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10161684468714673546noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-549963549429593969.post-3754557727395950892010-07-23T06:42:28.367-07:002010-07-23T06:42:28.367-07:00Harsh and beautiful. Thank you.Harsh and beautiful. Thank you.Ian Dorking-Clarkhttp://twilightlawnsplc.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-549963549429593969.post-7094101862866145472010-03-23T15:28:06.815-07:002010-03-23T15:28:06.815-07:00Thank you for this new favorite that I will always...Thank you for this new favorite that I will always remember. Extraordinary and powerful. In truly great work there are lines that become embedded within the reader; words put to form that you must carry and recall. There are several in this piece that have, for me, that kind of personal resonance. <br /><br />"If you lived long enough, the dead you knew outnumbered the living, and they were closer to you." This is an idea that I have been pondering over the last few months, but you have articulated more perfectly than I could have wished.<br /><br />"This woman was old the way the earth was old in the late fall, spent with spring and summer work, tired of doing everything that needed to be done each day." Simply wonderful. <br /><br /> I can't wait to read it aloud for my sons.Christinahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14956955237540160329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-549963549429593969.post-51403921681280727942010-03-23T11:11:32.393-07:002010-03-23T11:11:32.393-07:00I am speechless, John. I am so glad you write and...I am speechless, John. I am so glad you write and share this, although it must be painful.Stacey Bartonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-549963549429593969.post-26646326515153754362010-03-23T09:09:44.103-07:002010-03-23T09:09:44.103-07:00I actually teared up John. Perhaps many in our cul...I actually teared up John. Perhaps many in our culture feel far removed from this kind of desolation of the soul...I believe that it can happen to any group of people more rapidly than most would imagine. Wonderful writing...Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00731845344433874004noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-549963549429593969.post-82785514774030144292010-03-23T08:02:12.368-07:002010-03-23T08:02:12.368-07:00Powerful!Powerful!Stuart Vailhttp://www.thescreamonline.comnoreply@blogger.com