The War I Finally Won

Hey everyone!  Happy New Year!  Hope you all had a great Christmas season.  We still haven't taken down our tree yet, because we decided to keep it up until Candlemas because we put it up so late.  But we have to take it down soon because we're heading out to WI next week!  HUZZAH!

Also, this has happened:

It was totally unexpected during our 4 month photo shoot. We have been doing a ton of tummy time lately, and he just started to wobble and then finally went with it!  SO glad I got it with my camera.  This kid.  My heart.  dude.

So anyways.  We've been slowly making progress on some of the things in our house.  For instance, our front room now has working lights in it, so that's a plus.  It's also a lot brighter than our current "family room" because the walls are painted white, and we have blinds instead of curtains.  I'm kicking back on our big couch in there (which we had to move to fit the Christmas tree in the other room), enjoying bright lights, and all is peaceful because Bubba (yes, that's his nickname) is in the other room sleeping in his swing.

So.  This little sweetheart.  I recently found it at one of the book fairs.  I've been finding a lot of recently released things lately.  I got it from the library immediately because I loved the first book so much.  It would have been a much faster read, had I not been distracted by the holidays and all the folderol. Here we go!

The War I Finally Won
Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
389 Pages, Reading Time:about 2 Days total

Inside cover reads:
When Ada’s clubfoot is surgically fixed at last, she knows for certain that she’s not what her mother said she was—damaged, deranged, crippled mentally as well as physically. She’s not a daughter anymore, either. What is she?

World War II continues, and Ada and her brother, Jamie, are living with their loving legal guardian, Susan, in a borrowed cottage on the estate of the formidable Lady Thorton—along with Lady Thorton herself and her daughter, Maggie. Life in the crowded cottage is tense enough, and then, quite suddenly, Ruth, a Jewish girl from Germany, moves in. A German? The occupants of the house are horrified. But other impacts of the war become far more frightening. As death creeps closer to their door, life and morality during wartime grow more complex. Who is Ada now? How can she keep fighting? And who will she struggle to save?





Initial Reaction:  Meh.  Not as nearly as good as the first one.  Also, too much theological fluff and moral relativism.  I really felt like this one fell into the stereotypical WWII war story plot. While Bradley did a wonderful job painting descriptions of Ada's anger in the first novel, this book is much like weak tea that's been brewed with the same leaves too many times.  Ada comes off sometimes as a spoiled and cantankerous brat in this one. It also showcases the brokenness of others, which is something we can all relate to.  I didn't really like how it ended- super abruptly- like all of Ada's problems were/would be fixed because she had a sudden epiphany.  Not sure if Bradley is going to write another one?  I wanted there to be more at the end, and there wasn't.

In the first book, I was questioning Susan's relationship with Becky, and considered that they may have been more than "friends."  While it isn't explicitly stated in this book, the issue is veiled, but it's there:

"My family truly hates me for things that I can't change.  I wish they didn't, but they do. [...]  My father is wrong.  He should love me.  He doesn't.  I can't fix it.  That's hard, but it's the truth" (289-90).

I guess I just want to know.  There's a ton of other moral relativism dumbed down to kid-level in this book, why not sexual identity as well?  I'll update when I get some more information.

Promote Virtue?  Bravery, intelligence, overcoming prejudice.

Transcendentals?  The protagonists still strive to do what is true and good, despite their shortcomings.

Overcome human condition?  Yes, in a way, but I'm so bored/annoyed with this novel, I don't really care to share it.

Attitude toward Catholicism?  There is no direct attitude or disrespect regarding Catholicism, but I found a ton of moral relativism and, what I like to call, Theological fluff.

First of all, I would like to remind the reader that Susan, the children's new mother figure, is the child of a minister.  So, since her character is brought up with some formal catechesis, she is the "authority" on religion in the story... much like Mama is an authority on everything in Forrest Gump, and Hermoine Granger is an authority on all things wizard-related in Harry Potter.  I don't like this misplaced and misinformed authority, because she is not only a Christian who doesn't practice her faith with devotion, she has also added a few items to the menu of her cafeteria Christianity.  Ugh.


Theological fluff:

"You can't choose what you believe," I said.  "You can't just say, 'I don't believe that's a chair,' and have it turn into a hedgehog." [...] "Ada," Susan said, "people choose their own beliefs all the time.  Mr. Collins isn't lying.   He preaches what he sincerely believes.  Ruth sincerely believes something else.  That's all right." [...]  Susan didn't look like she was joking.  "Religion is a matter of faith.  You always have to choose what you believe."  [...]  "Do you have to believe in heaven to go there?"  Susan said, "I have no idea" (136-37).  While this is most certainly true that people have the right to practice the religion they choose, the way that Susan nonchalantly rattles this off absolutely reeks of "You can believe what you believe, and I can believe what I believe, and that's fine," which has moral relativism all over the place.  It is clear that Susan is either really struggling with her faith, has lost her faith, or is completely apathetic toward her faith.  Of the three, apathy is the worst (Revelation 3:16).  This is where I started to get annoyed with the book.  Ada loves the Truth.  She is seeking Truth.  She expects Susan to tell her the truth, and Susan falls short many times trying to explain the answers to the big questions that Ada asks.

"But saints were supposed to have been real people, not imaginary, and dragons were imaginary, not real.  How could a real person kill an imaginary animal?  "The stories get a little mixed up," Susan said.  "These particular saints lived a very long time ago""(161). UGH.  It's not imperative to believe in the miracles of the saints to be a devout Christian/Catholic, but it freaking helps!  Her indifference and arrogance make my skin crawl.

The next section, I'll just provide a picture of the pages because I don't want to type the whole thing.  Here it is, straight up in print:

"There isn't a right and a wrong," Susan said.  "There are just different ways of thinking."  Props to a veiled nod to Shakespeare, but minus a bajillion points for the smoke and mirrors to hide all the Neiztchean philosophy for the kiddos: "You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist. "  Ugh.

"One of the Land Girls said people who go to heaven turn into angels," I said. [...]  "I don't think people turn into angels (Susan speaking).  Angels are different" (248).  Finally, some sense!

Paganry?  Nope.  Just straight up existentialism.

Swearing? None

Violence? Not as much as described in the first one

Appropriate age?  The issues that Ada deals with in the first novel (mostly the abuse suffered at the hands of her mother, and dealing with her own rage) are not as prevalent in this book.  However, it does deal with death to a certain degree.  I would say 6th grade+

Writing Style:  While Bradley does write in an intriguing and descriptive manner, this one just does not have the raw emotion of the first novel.

Notable Quoteables:

"Ward used to mean the thing that did the guarding.  Now it means the girl who gets to be guarded and who therefore doesn't have to spend quite so much energy worrying" (106).

"I snuggled with my dictionary" (140).

 "St. George, the patron saint of England, was supposed to have killed a dragon, and so was a saint named Margaret of Antioch.  It amused me to think that Maggie had been named for a dragon killer" (161).  At least she is learning about the saints.

"We bundled up and walked to the village through deep darkness in air so cold it was like breathing knives" (196).

"Why didn't she love me?" I whispered.  "Because she was broken," she said.  "Remember that.  She was broken, not you" (211).

"The air smelled like salt and new grass" (213).

"His words soaked into my brain.  A knot I hadn't known I was carrying untied itself inside my belly" (251).

Great words:  asperity, copse,

Final Summation:
The second installment of Ada's story was a let down.  I was disappointed with several things throughout the novel.  While I am most impressed with Ada's quest for truth, I was not happy with the flimsy answers she received.  This book isn't bad, but it's not good either.