Behind the Blog 24: Siblings

Behind The Blog is a meme to help bloggers connect their life and interests to the content showcased on their blog. The co-hosts Faye Kathe and Melissa will provide a different topic, idea, or question every week that bloggers can relate to themselves and the books, films, or media they find interesting!

This week's theme is: Siblings

Every family is different. This week we’re asking you about yours. Do you have any siblings? If you do, can you tell us anything about them? If you don’t, did you have any friends who felt like siblings to you? How has the ideas surrounding brothers and sisters shaped your life?

In relation to media; are there any siblings in books or films that you truly love? Any that you wish were your own?

I have 2 sisters, one older, one younger. I don't want to invade their privacy, and I don't know that they would appreciate me talking about them too much online, so I won't say much, except that I'm lucky to have siblings. I think it would be lonely not to have siblings.

On that same thread though, I think it's possible to adopt your friends as siblings, too. My friend Tanya, who's been my friend for more than 15 years now, is like a sister to me. When you've been friends with someone for that long, it's impossible not to feel like family.

There's a line in Baz Luhrman's song Everybody's Free ( To wear sunscreen) that explains a really important aspect of having a sibling and that's this:

Be nice to your siblings; 
They are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

I agree wholeheartedly with this. I think it's much easier in some ways to get along with your siblings when you're older than when your kids. You're more mature, you've been through a lot together, and you can learn to agree to disagree. When you're a kid you don't quite have that same capacity. As adults you can bond over shared memories more. (And, you usually have different versions/perspectives on them)

Books and Media:

The Outsiders:

I really like the sibling relationship between Darryl, Ponyboy and Sodapop. They fight and argue sometimes  but they're also really close to each other. They look out for each other in a way that most siblings don't. In that same line of thought, the whole Greasers gang feels like one big family of brothers, because they protect each other the way they do.

Harry Potter:

I included Harry Potter because I really like the dynamic of Ron's family. They're such a loveable strong family. It's hard not to want to go and live with them. Everyone is so happy all the time, and they make sure that they welcome people into their family with ease. It's so easy to like them.

Charmed:

I love the dynamic between the sisters on this show. If I had to choose siblings that I would like to have (in addition to the ones I have of course,) I'd choose Piper and Phoebe. I identify a lot with Piper's character, because we're both middle children and both mediators. And Phoebe's just fun.

What siblings from books or media would you like to have?

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Echoes From the Infantry by Frank Nappi is Powerful and Poignant

Title: Echoes  From The Infantry

Author: Frank Nappi

Publisher:  St. Martin's Press

Published: November 1, 2005

Format: Kindle/E-book

Pages: 256

Source: Downloaded when it was 

free on Amazon.com

Read: September 19-21, 2012

In A Few Words: Powerful and poignant

My Rating: 5 stars

Goodreads: Add This to Your TBR Shelf

Goodreads Synopsis:

Frank Nappi is a school teacher on Long Island who, over the last several years, befriended aging World War II veterans in his community. As he heard their reminiscences he became absorbed in their stories of simple heroism--and of trying to recapture what they'd left behind when they returned home. They are the stories of men who never asked for recognition or adulation, only a place in the free and prosperous society they'd built with their own blood, sweat and tears--men who could never entirely leave behind the horrors of the battlefield, or explain them to their own children . . .
Now, Nappi has synthesized those reminiscences and crafted them into a heartwarming and at times harrowing novel: Echoes from the Infantry. It is the fictionalized tale of one Long Island veteran, the misery of combat, and the powerful emotional bond that connected him to his fiancée back home and that allowed him to survive the war with his soul battered but intact.
It is about a father and a son, and their ultimately redeeming struggle to understand the worlds that shaped each one--one a world at war, the other a world shaped by its veterans

Melissa's Musings:

A few months ago, I read and reviewed The Legend of Mickey Tussler, and Sophomore Campaign, both by Frank Nappi. You can read both of those reviews HERE So when I was emailing his publisher to thank them for letting me review the books and hold that giveaway, she asked me if I'd be interested in reviewing Echoes from the Infantry. When I said yes, she let me know that it just happened to be free to download on Amazon that day, so I went and downloaded it right away. And I'm so glad I did. Just like the first two books I read by Frank Nappi, this one is powerful and meaningful.

The story weaves itself throughout the present and the past as it goes along. In the present, James Mcleary has lost his wife, and is depressed, and his sons are trying to figure out what to do about him.  In the past, we see small glimpses of James' life before the war, happy, carefree with Madeline. Then we live through what it was like for him in Germany, fighting the war, losing friends, the constant risk of losing his life. Then there's his life after the war. The war has taken its toll, physically and emotionally. He withdraws from life, he feels like he doesn't fit in, he can't process all the things he's done and seen. 

Of course he moves on to a point, he still has a life to live, but it's almost as if he's not really there, a ghost of his former self. James is a creature of habit. He likes things regimented, and his way, mainly, he likes the control of that. And his kids do suffer for it, John most of all. John spends his childhood wishing for his fathers' approval and growing tired of his mother making excuses all the time. 

The relationship between John and James is strained, at best, and Madeleine's death only makes it harder. John is the one who's left with the responsibility of cleaning out the house and it's while he's cleaning that he finds the letters his father sent to his mother during the war and gets to see a different side of his father. 

The letters were one of my favorite things about this book. They are full of love, even hope in such desperate situations. They are a sharp contrast to the stoic, rocky, seemingly impassive character we are first presented with. And I think these letters are really what make the book so powerful. As you read them you have the same wondering thoughts that John does. "Who is this man and why have I never seen this side of him.?" At first the letters made me sad for John, because it's clear that it was this type of father that he's been looking for all this time, and the letters are a confusing juxtaposition to the man he's always known. 

All throughout the book I found myself hoping that there would be some sort of redemption, some sort of peace that would come through it all. I won't spoil it, but I'm happy to say that it does happen, and John helps to bring it about.

In addition to the great writing, and the story itself, there is also excellent imagery. You can really feel the emotions of the characters as you read, see yourself in their situations. I love the scenes where the guys in James' platoon all talk about food to try and keep themselves warm with the thought of it in the cold winter nights. 

This is an extremely powerful book about war, and the long lasting effect it can have on those who went through it and their families.