Rising from Rubble.Germany Revisited

Kenneth Weaver
Aspen Mountain Publishing
ISBN 0977723771
Reviewed by Cherie Fisher for Reader Views (8/06)

First time author Kenneth Weaver proves to be a storyteller in his book “Rising from Rubble…Germany Revisited”.  But, while I enjoyed most of his stories, I found the book to be confusing.  What Weaver has is three books squeezed into one - making it disjointed at times. 

The book begins in the first 37 pages by the author describing the early lives of five young men and their relationship to WW2.  It was not until the second to last chapter that a follow up was done on their lives and squeezed into 10 pages.  I found these men very interesting and would have really liked to read more about their lives in much greater depth.     

From page 37 to 110 Weaver writes about his own childhood experiences. While they were often entertaining, they did not really fit into a book with a synopsis that reads “While the United States and her victorious allies reveled in the joy of victory in Europe, post war Germany's defeated people struggled to survive. Black markets flourished as a result of the worthless currency, and those with nothing to trade for the luxuries of coal and food did without. America's Marshall Plan helped rebuild Germany and slowly brought her people back to a minimal standard of living but not before much suffering in the four corners of the conquered country”.  Weaver’s childhood stories were full of nostalgia from another era and would make a great light hearted memoir that my parents and grandparents would treasure.  

Finally, from page 110 to page 223 Weaver talks about his military training and life in post WW2 Europe.  This is the book that I was looking for from the synopsis.  His photos from this time period made the story come alive.  I wanted to read more about the people that he met and the things that he saw, but he had to consolidate it because he was trying to squeeze so much into one book.  

Kenneth Weaver is definitely onto something with his book, and if he were to expand on any one of the three themes or all of them, he would have a real winner – or maybe three. 

Make comment on weblog