“What does it mean to teach literature to a soldier?
How does it prepare a young man or woman for combat? At West Point, Elizabeth Samet reads classic and modern works of literature with America’s future military elite, and in this stirring memoir she chronicles the ways in which war has transformed her relationship to the books she and her students read together. While fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, Samet’s former students share their thoughts on the poetry of Wallace Stevens, the fiction of Virginia Woolf and J. M. Coetzee, the epics of Homer, and the films of Bogart and Cagney. And their letters in turn prompt Samet to wonder exactly what she owes to cadets in the classroom. Soldier’s Heart is an honest and original reflection on the relationship between art and life.”
After typing out five different summaries of this week’s Recommended Reading selection, I realized none of them compared to the back jacket description.
Soldier’s Heart touched me and made me think about a world I’d never considered, and the true relevance of literature and the liberal arts to people who risk their lives daily.
So check it out.
You know, if you want to.
On a bit of a military academy kick,
Megan
Soldier’s Heart: Reading Literature Through Peace and War at West Point
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Will it make you think less of me if I admit that I would NEVER read that book based on that jacket summary?
It will?
Oh.
Um, well then . . . sounds FASCINATING Megan! I’m headed to the library now where you absolutely will NOT find me looking to see if there’s a new Jodi Piccoult or Elizabeth Berg book in.
Or Maeve Binchey.
Nope. Highbrow literature for me!
Perfect post for Memorial Day weekend!
I agree, great post for this weekend!
I love your facial expressions in pictures
This looks very good!
This book sounds really interesting…I would def. be up for reading it.
Also, really cute photo
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