Poland, by James Michener

Summary: a history of Poland from the time of Genghis Khan through 1981, as exemplified by the experiences of three main families of different ranks in society.

Comments: I think it would be interesting to know how the book would be different if written now that the Soviet Union has broken up. The book begins and ends with Polish farmers angry at the Communists because it's so hard to get necessary good. What current event, if any, would be used in place of it? And how would it treat the Communist era now that it's over? (It is over, isn't it?)

Through various parts of the book I kept wondering why everyone was so intent on hating Poland so much. Then again, I think that was probably the reaction the author wanted me to have. Especially given that at other times I was very much wondering why they couldn't set their self interests aside and work towards the benefit of the nation. Although I guess self-interest is part of what makes us alive. And the people in question had a fairly strong belief that what was good for them was good for Poland as a whole. Regardless of whether or not that was actually true, that was what they thought, and that was what colored their actions.

My overall impression of the book was that it was very informative (at least for someone who knows basically nothing about Poland) while still keeping my attention. Which I guess is what Michener is good at: long stories of the history of illustrated by the stories of fictional people who experienced historical events.

Also, Polish pronunciation is frickin' crazy. Przemsyl is pronounced "Shemish" (the P and the l are not really voiced). Lancut is pronounced "Winesooth". Those are the two examples I can think of that were specifically mentioned in the book. I resorted to finding a Polish pronunciation guide in an effort to figure out how to pronounce a language that seems to have far fewer vowels than I would deem necessary (Przemsyl is an example of that). Or none at all, except for maybe a y or two. Not sure if I'm exaggerating on that point. Actually, I know that there were words that were just y's and consonants. I just don't remember what any of them were. That's my main rant about the book. Other than the fact that concentration camp stories should not be read 10 minutes at a time during breaks in class.