Book Review - Prodigal Sons by Sheldon Greene

Today is the anniversary of a monumental day. Twenty years ago, On November 9, 1989, The East German government announced that all German Democratic Republic citizens could visit West Germany and West Berlin, and so began the fall of the Berlin Wall. The Berlin wall was the symbol of the Iron Curtain between Western Europe and the Eastern Bloc that began after World War II ended. The fall actually began months earlier, on August 23, 1989 when Hungary removed its physical border defenses with Austria. This led to thousands of East German ‘tourist’ visiting Hungary making their way to the West German Embassy and refusing to return to East Berlin. They must have believed their freedom and a better way of life could be found on this other side, or maybe they were looking for family that had been taken away from them when the wall went up. It makes one question, what would you do to find lost a lost family member or to stand up for what you believe? When World War II ended it left many confused, conflicted, grieving, angry, lost; trying to pick up the pieces of their lives and build a new one.


Sheldon Greene has given us a fictional glimpse into the lives of a few of the Germans who survived the war and how they began a new life in the wake of Hitler’s devastation. In Prodigal Sons, Horst Vogle must come to terms with the events he lives through during the war. Greene does a wonderful job of putting the reader inside Horst skin. While for me this book had a slow start, once I got into the mind of Horst, I was hooked and found it hard to put the book down. Greene’s Prodigal Sons has a slower pace than similar books and it works beautiful because it forces you to focus on the players, see their world through their eyes and feel what they feel. When Horst is torn, we too are torn. It is a rare gift for an author to invoke such empathy from a reader. As the reader we feel the emptiness in our chest that Horst feels as he watches his family being taken by the Nazi’s, we feel his rage at the atrocities his fellows Jews are suffering, we feel his loneness as he struggles to find himself in a world where he is now alone even when surrounded by others, we understand his feeling of contentment when he reaches Israel and for the first time in years feels apart of something again, and we are with him when he decides to become a hired gun for Israel and give up that contentment to go back to Germany and avenge his roots. We are charmed when he meets the enchanting Greta who lightens his step and we struggle with him when he must chose between love and country. Prodigal Sons is a novel that takes you through every emotion. It’s more than a thriller, a romance, a historical novel, a spy thriller, heist…it’s a novel about the human condition, life and our ability to endure.

So on the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, we should celebrate freedom and the human spirit and learn from those who have gone before us what it means to stand up for your beliefs and to live. Horst may be a character born in the mind of Sheldon Greene, but he is a also a symbol of humanity and how we can prevail. I give this book 4 Torah pointers out of 5.

This book was provided by the author.

Come back on Friday, November 20th, to learn more about Sheldon Greene.

And the Winner is.....

Congratulations to Zia and Crystal for winning the Great 80's Movie Lines Contest. I'll be sending you an email to get your mailing info.

Great 80's Movie Lines - Day 5

Today's is the last day in the great 80's movie lines contest. You have until tomorrow at midnight to post your answers. Winners will be announced in Monday's post.

Today's movies include are all comedies. .. a romantic fantasy, and two murder mysteries.

"A" - This movie is a swashbuckling romance told by a grandfather (also with a great cast).

" When I was your ag, television was called books."

""That day she was amazed to discover that whe he was saying "As you wish", what he meant was, "I love you." And even more amazing was the day she realized she truly loved him back."

" I just want you to feel you're doing well. I hate for people to die embarrassed.'

"Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for a while."

"You rsuh a miracle man, you get rotten miracles."

"And you: friendless, brainless, helpless, hopeless! Do you want me to send you back to where you were? Unemployed in Greenland!"

"I do not think you would accept my help, since I am only waiting to kill you." "That does put a damper on our relationship."

"You be careful. People in masks cannot be trusted."

"Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something."

All right. Where is the poison? The battle of wits has begun. It ends when you decide and we both drink, and find out who is right... and who is dead."

"There's a shortage of perfect breast in this world. It would be a pity to damage yours."

"you're trying to kidnap what I've rightfully stolen,"

"There's not a lot of money in revenge."

"Please consider me as an alternative to suicide."

"B" - This movie was the first of it's kind and features great animation along with live action.

"Yeah. Check the probate. Why my uncle thumper has a problem with HIS probate and he had to take these big pills and drink lots of water.'

"I'm not bad. I'm just drawn that way."

"Is that a rabbit in your pocket or are youjust happy to see me."

"Is he always this funny or only on days when he's wanted for murder?"

"I would have been here right after you called but I had to shake the weasela."

"You need a heart, before you can have an attack."

"Thith ith the latht time I work with thomeone with a th-peach impediment."

"Is there nothing that can permeate that impervious puss?"

"C" - This is a classic who-done -it, that any mystery lover should know and of course stars one of my favorite actors, Tim Curry.

""Well, it's a matter of life and death. Now that he's dead, I have a life."

"I am willing to believe you. I, too, am being blackmailed for something I didn't do."

"I was a victim too. At least my wife was. She had friends who were..... socialist."

"You seem to suffer from what we call "Pressure of Speech"."

"It's a free country, don't you know that?" " I didn't know it was "that" free."

"He was expendable like all of you. I'm grateful to you all for disposing of my network of spies and informers. saved me a lot of trouble. Now there's no evidence against me."

"Ours is not to reason why, ours is but to do and die."

"Life after death is as improbable as sex after marriage!"

"Who would want to kill the cook?" "Dinner wasn't that bad."

How many husbands have you had?"  " Mine or other women's?"

"Husbands should be like Kleenex: soft strong and disposable."

"Communism was just a red herring."

"But is the FBI in the habit of cleaning up after a multiple murder?" "Yes. Why do you think it's run by a man called Hoover?"

"Well, he's certainly dead now. Why would anyone want to kill him twice?"

"No meaning yes? Look, I want a straight answer, is there someone else, or isn't there, yes or no?" "No" ""No there is or no there isn't?" " Yes."

Great 80's Movie Lines - Day 4

The movies today are dramas about college students and adults with moments of humor.

"A" - Before Nicolette Sheridan was a Desperate housewife she was introduced in this film as a bikini clad catch.

" How would you like to have a sexual experience so explosive it would change your political views?"

"Life is the ultimate experience."

" 8 o'clock?.... I don't know, that's when I rearrange my sock drawer."

"Yes, I can. This is America. I can go anywhere."

"I'm not going to bed with you. I'm going to bed in a bed you happen to be in also."

"This is called shotgunning beer, an ancient tribal custom."

"Tonight is the 1st night of the rest of your sex life, Walter Gibson."

"B" - This movie has a frosty title and happens to be Kevin Costner's first film. Too bad he played a corpse the whole time.

"They're either married or gay. And if they're not gay, they've just broken up with the most wonderful woman in the world, or they've just broken up with a bitch who looks exactly like me. They're in transition from a monogamous relationship and they need more space. Or they're tired of space, but they just can't commit. Or they want to commit, but they're afraid to get close. they want to get close, you don't want to get near them."

"Amazing tradition. They throw a great party for you on the day they know you can't come."

"It's a cold world out there. Sometimes I feel like I'm getting a little frosty myself.

"He went out with a bang, not a whimper."

"You're so analytical! Sometimes you just have to let art... flow... over you."

"Eventually he was hospitalized for being such a nerd."

"I haven't met that many happy people in my life. How do they act?"

"There's some asshole at work you have to kowtow to, and you find yourself doing things you thought you'd never do. But you try and minimize that stuff; be the best person you can be. But you set your priorities. And that's the way life is."

"C" - This movie gave us the Brat pack in all their glory.

"I always thought we'd be friends forever." "Yeah, well forever got a lot shorter all of a sudden."

"You're being arrested for drunk driving." "Drunk definitely, I don't know if you could call it driving."

"Why do you think God created credit?"

"I'm obsessed! Thank you very much!"

"I wouldn't strike a match near his blood."

"4 months after graduation and you're still acting like every night's a frat party."

"You break my heart, but then again you break everyone's heart."

"Is that a coffin?" "Yeah, I got it to impress the ladies"

"No Springstein is leaving this house!"

"Do not hand that man a blowtorch."

"You know this smells to me like a little bit of self created drama."

"I never thought I'd be so tired at 22. I just don't know who to be anymore."

"And all this time I was afraid you'd find out I wasn't fabulous."

"Go get out of hand."

"She is the only evidence of God I've seen with the exception of the mysterious force that removes one sock from the dryer every time I do my laundry."

"There is the brink of insanity and then there is the abyss, which obviously you have fallen into!"

"Never trsut a woman who says she isn't angry"

"Love, love, you know what love is? Love is an illusion created by lawyer types like yourself to perpetuate another illusion called marriage to create the reality of divorce and then the illusionary need for divorce lawyers."

"There are several quintessential moments in a man's life: losing his virginity, getting married, becoming a father, and having the right girl smile at you."

Great 80's Movie Lines - Day 3

Todays movies are all about the teen years.

"A" - This movie will have your toes tapping.

"He's testing us! He's testing us!"

"If you ask me, Ren is a total fox."

"Ren- "You like Men at Work?" Willard- "Where they work?"

"Either you got jumbo coconut balls or you're stupid."

"Yes and I'm not the first one that's noticed it. I mean we're not stuck in the goddamn middle ages here. I mean we've got TV. We've got Family Feud. We're not stuck in Leave It To Beaver land here."

"He's from out of town and don't tell me that doesn't curl your toes because I know it does."

"You won't get any dancing here, it's illegal."

"Did you ever get busted for boppin’?"

"What do you mean, I have to fight city hall?"

"Ecclesiastes assures us... that there is a time for every purpose under heaven. A time to laugh... and a time to weep. A time to mourn... and there is a time to dance. And there was a time for this law, but not anymore. See, this is our time to dance. It is our way of celebrating life. It's the way it was in the beginning. It's the way it's always been. It's the way it should be now."


"B" - Teen angst at it's best. This movie shows we aren't all that different.

"We're all pretty bizarre.Some of us are just better at hiding it, that's all"

"Remember how you said your parents use you to get back at each other? Wouldn't I be outstanding in that capacity?"

"You do everything everyone tells you to do and that is a problem."

"That man.... is a brownie hound."

"Why do you have to insult everybody?"  "I'm being honest, asshole. I would expect you to know the difference."

"Do you think I'd speak for you? I don'y even know your language."

"Does Barry Manilow know you raid his wardrobe?"

"Obviously she's crazy if she's screwing a shrink."

"If he gets up, we'll all get up,it'll be anarchy.'

"I wanna be just like you. I figure all I need is a lobotomy and some tights."

"When you grow up, your heart dies."

"Obscene finger gestures from such a pristine girl."

"Well if you say you haven't you're a prude. If you say you have you're a slut. It's a trap. You want to but you can't and when you do you wish you didn't, right?"

"C" - Another great teen angst movie where love is a confusing thing.

"Donger's here five hours and he's got somebody. I live here my whole life and I'm like a disease.

"Would you stop feeling sorry for yourself? It's bad for your complexion."

"I mean not many girls in contemporary American society today would give their underwear to help a geek like me."

"You wanna know what happened? Buy the book!"

"It's real human of you to listen to all my bullshit."

"You know, I'm getting input here that I'm reading as relatively hostile."

"That's why they call them crushes. If they were easy, they'd call them something else."

"Why do you think you're a dork? I don't think you're a dork. I don't think mom thinks you're a dork."

"Relax, would you. We have seventy dollars and a pair of girls underpants. We're safe as kittens."

"Ha Ha Ha! Now we're both on the pill." "You gave me a birth control pill? Do you know what that can do to a guy my age?"

"I want a serious girlfriend. Somebody I can love, that's gonna love me back. Is that psycho?"

"What's happening, hotstuff?"