Overall Rating and Opinion of Shot Down
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Re: Overall Rating and Opinion of Shot Down
untameddauntless, all I can say is WOW! You made my day!
Steve
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What a beautiful way to express how wonderful this book is. Thank you for sharing your thoughts!untameddauntless wrote:I really enjoyed reading this book as it talks about the people who tried their best to make the world we have now a better place to live in and how they sacrificed their lives for their loved ones.
This book is too beautiful to read, it is breathtaking and heartbreaking. It has its own 'touch' in it that makes it more interesting than the any other books about wars. This is a remarkable piece of work that should truly inspire everyone. This book makes me like as if I was part of the story, I can feel that the characters are so alive. There are such vivid details that'll just make you wonder "how did it all happened?" "Where did the author got all this piece together?"
I would definitely recommend this book to others who haven't read it yet. This book is golden and ugh, too beautiful and heartbreaking but still these people are so brave that they deserve a lot better. 4/4 star!!!!
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Having the personal letters between the crew of the Susan Ruth and their loved ones back home brought the story to life and just shows how much research went into this book. Truly fabulous!
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The photos and letters really added a personal feel to the story. It was heartbreaking to read a few of the wives and mothers' hopeful letters toward the end, since I already knew which men didn't survive. I would have liked more letters and entries in the first half to break up the textbook-style historical info. Although the general background info about the war was interesting, it slowed the pace of the story.
Overall I enjoyed this story and have so much respect for the French and Belgium people who protected the Allied forces, and for the brave Americans who fought in WWII, like Howard and his crew. What the crew of the Susan Ruth went through really made WWII come alive to me.
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I agree, and I also found the first part a bit slow. A worthy book in my view and interesting read. I am glad you enjoyed it overall.bookowlie wrote:I just finished this book last night. It's clear that that the book was meticulously researched and I learned so much about WWII. It was fascinating to discover how organized the Resistance and underground were. The local townspeople were so courageous to hide and protect these men. I will admit that the first half of the story felt a little like a history textbook, with detailed information about military training, the war, and bombing missions. I am glad I stuck with the book because the second half, after Howard Snyder and his crew's plane got shot down, was very absorbing. The descriptions were so vivid that I had to reorient myself to the present after reading.
The photos and letters really added a personal feel to the story. It was heartbreaking to read a few of the wives and mothers' hopeful letters toward the end, since I already knew which men didn't survive. I would have liked more letters and entries in the first half to break up the textbook-style historical info. Although the general background info about the war was interesting, it slowed the pace of the story.
Overall I enjoyed this story and have so much respect for the French and Belgium people who protected the Allied forces, and for the brave Americans who fought in WWII, like Howard and his crew. What the crew of the Susan Ruth went through really made WWII come alive to me.
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Likewise! I debated between 3 and 4 stars, and decided on 4 due to the second half.bookowlie wrote:Gali, It's funny..the first 1/3 of the story took me so long to get through. Then I was glued to the pages in the second half.
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I particularly relish the positive comments made by people who are not into non-fiction and/or war books. When I wrote my SHOT DOWN, I definitely wanted it to appeal to history and World War buffs (hence a lot of technical information in the first half of the book), but I did not want it to be just a war book for guys. I wanted it to appeal to the general public; to people who had little knowledge and/or little interest in the war. I wanted it to be a story about people and the human spirit that would appeal to women as well.
So it really is two types of books in one. Although the story of the B-17 Susan Ruth crew is completely factual and based on first-hand testimony by the people who were involved in the events that took place, it almost reads like a novel. What I added to the story was a lot of history information and anecdotes about and surrounding the war to put it in context and add background. That part read like a history book.
Therefore, the opinions about SHOT DOWN are very insightful and right on the mark. They are what I was trying to achieve, and it is so very gratifying to read that you feel I was successful.
THANK YOU!
Steve Snyder
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Thank you for your answer. I am not into non-fiction as well, but I still enjoyed your book.ShotDown wrote:I want to thank everyone for the wonderful compliments about my book, SHOT DOWN. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate them.
I particularly relish the positive comments made by people who are not into non-fiction and/or war books. When I wrote my SHOT DOWN, I definitely wanted it to appeal to history and World War buffs (hence a lot of technical information in the first half of the book), but I did not want it to be just a war book for guys. I wanted it to appeal to the general public; to people who had little knowledge and/or little interest in the war. I wanted it to be a story about people and the human spirit that would appeal to women as well.
So it really is two types of books in one. Although the story of the B-17 Susan Ruth crew is completely factual and based on first-hand testimony by the people who were involved in the events that took place, it almost reads like a novel. What I added to the story was a lot of history information and anecdotes about and surrounding the war to put it in context and add background. That part read like a history book.
Therefore, the opinions about SHOT DOWN are very insightful and right on the mark. They are what I was trying to achieve, and it is so very gratifying to read that you feel I was successful.
THANK YOU!
Steve Snyder
Pronouns: She/Her
"In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you." (Mortimer J. Adler)