Il Dono. Storia Dimenticata Di Un Miracolo Americano (2010) - Plot & Excerpts
I was very excited to read this book as it combined family history, actual history and a bit of a mystery in its description. I also love any idea that promotes kindness between people, particularly in such a dreadful time in history! The story itself was good but unfortunately I felt it got bogged down a bit in repetition. The lead in to each letter began sounding the same over and over again - ideas were repeated multiple times and I felt a bit "hit over the head" with the idea of how wonderful this man was given his roots and how awful the times were. I think the story would have benefitted from more of the stories of the interaction of the author and the relatives, or perhaps even a few more of the letters instead. Overall though I did very much enjoy the story and appreciate that the author shared it. I didn't hate this book. I didn't particularly love how it started. The first section about a Christmas Carol was meaningless to me like an intro you write to get to the real intro and that is what was wrong with the book. The writing was all over the place, it was disorganized and rather random. There is this theme of his grandfather Sam that runs through the book but there is so much repetition about him that at times I just wanted to be done with the book.The good stuff thought was the content. The letters were amazing! Amazing! I'd have liked to have read every one. I did enjoy for the most part the family history behind each letter. At times it was too overloaded with background I didn't care about. It that I could tell he'd done the research for and so wanted to include for that reason lone. I felt like the tone for each family's section was determined by the family and their opinions of the letter writer's life rather than distiller through Ted Gup's view of what they told him. To be honest my favorite sections were at or near the end of the book where it felt like he'd run out of time to research and thus kept it really limited to family only. Those were the best written, most uplifting and told us more about the people of the Depression than any of the research ever did. It's the personal stories we were reading for after all, not his commentary of facts. I liked hearing about Sam's story but I'd have liked more stories from Ted Gup's point of view. Are you an ancestor or are you a journalist? If he'd have been one or the other I felt like I'd have gotten a more concise and better formulated book.In the end it's worth reading to learn about the depression, but don't expect to be solely uplifted by the reason the book was written (the letter). They are simply a vehicle for the research. A dry recounting of names, dates and events. Dani finished February 12th.
What do You think about Il Dono. Storia Dimenticata Di Un Miracolo Americano (2010)?
The storyline is intriguing but after the first several cases the trail grows a bit redundant.
—maryam
Well written, inspiring. Taught me a lot about the depession and Canton Ohio.
—amna
