To Every Page a Turning: One Life's Journey - Adult Fiction (18 +), Historical Fiction - Review
Book Title: To Every Page a Turning: One Life's Journey
Category: Adult Fiction (18 +), 284 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Mascot
Release date: April, 2021
Content Rating: PG. Content not suitable for young children.
A parallel to Buccellato’s own life, the main character in To Every Page A Turning: One Life’s Journey considers the trials and tribulations throughout his life, beginning in the 1950s. Traveling through hope, a great cause, disenchantment, hopelessness, discovery, and rebirth, the novel also recounts the travel of a generation as they move through
time.
Buy the Book:
Amazon ~ B&N
add to Goodreads
Guest Post by Carl Buccellato
How did you come up with the Berlin Wall chapter?
That is really very easy, you see, as with most of my writing it is a memory of fact, not a fabrication. This is how it was: Chapter 16 - The Wall comes tumbling down.
It was a cold, wintery day in November 1989 in Hamburg Germany. I was with a group of American Businessmen attending a conference promoting American Capitalism to the emerging West German Market. My old friend, Mase, was temporarily assigned to West Berlin Command Intelligence. We spoke by phone, and he arranged for me and two others to fly to the West Berlin free zone—a mere 1-hour and 21 minutes apart, separated by the East German Socialist Army.
The communists built a wall of Soviet concrete, towers, and non-vehicle control sections guarded day and night. The purpose of the wall was to establish a barrier that physically and ideologically divided the city of Berlin from 1961-1989. The Eastern bloc portrayed the wall as a protection for the people from Fascist elements conspiring to prevent the will of the people from building a Socialist state in East Germany—a belief which would soon unravel before our very eyes.
As we rushed to the airbase, we heard rumors of the trouble in Berlin. Some of the group elected to pass and not join the flight. As the old Prop engines engaged and the entire aircraft began to shake, I wondered how much of the disturbance was me shivering with the unknown. As the plane lifted off and flew south by southeast, we flew across the border dividing the western world and freedom from the Soviet world. All the implied threats and fear grew stronger. In no time at all, we were flying over Berlin and beginning our descent to the airbase. From the air, we saw great crowds in the distance, all seeming to be moving East. The pilot announced over the PA system: “Just in folks, they are tearing down the wall”.
Who, who is tearing down the wall? Sounds like the people have had enough.
And so, it was that by sheer chance I was witnessing the rebirth of united people and an event that would take years to complete, starting on Nov 9, 1989. After hours of pressing forward, we were finally able to see people young and old smashing at the wall, breaking holes big enough for people from the east to come streaming through to the west. As they flowed through, many embraced westerners, many kissing the ground of their country which they had been denied for so many years. People laughed, cried, sang, and hugged one another. To me, it was a day equal to birth, reunion, and celebration. I could not help being overwhelmed with tears as I celebrated with these people who, while strangers to me, were my brothers and sisters in the human experience. I still have a treasured reminder of that day, a small piece of coarse Soviet concrete. A reminder that the people when pushed too far will correct all injustices.
And so, reader I ask you a question, can you feel the enthusiasm of the crowd as they surged forward determined to through off oppression, to stand strong together and regain their freedom? Does your heartbeat a little faster just thinking of facing such heroism and determination? I hope so.
Review by Jena
To Every Page a Turning
One Life’s Journey
This is a thought-provoking book, making for an interesting
review. I’m torn in two directions when giving this my honest response, but I
will do my best to make both sides clear.
The book sort of has two plots, making the summary difficult to understand, but the main plot is about a man who see’s the world through the heart
and mind of having lived through the Vietnam war. He understands success, loss,
and dirty plays. While there is an
element of success in his life prior to the war, the things he cherished were
family, and his soldier brothers who helped him survive battles on the field and those he
would face when he returned home.
The turning pages are the Author’s life and the world around
him, and there is a lot to be learned from it. This is not butterflies and unicorns,
but a man who learned to fight the war in a corporate setting as well as the
battlefield. He learned how to deal with the ghosts of his past, as well as
enjoying the lifelong camaraderie of his brothers. He shows us that we can heal
and set ghosts to rest at any age, and does a great job of describing places, characters,
and things. When he does, we are drawn into the moment.
The writing itself could use a little help, and while a bit tedious,
some of this could easily be corrected. The use of he, she and her, (pronouns),
is excessive. There are times when the ‘he’ changes, and the story is hard to
follow. Then the pronoun is sometimes changed back to the narrator, leaving the
reader confused again. I think this is the most difficult part of reading To
Every Page a Turning.
Also, there is not always set-up of scenes (since this is
written like a journal), and a huge turn or amount of time can change at the
beginning of chapters. These are things that jolt the reader, knocking them out
of the story. Spelling is excellent though, and I have great respect for that.
While To Every Page a Turning is called a novel, it
is written as a journal/memoir. I don’t feel like it does the novel side of the
story justice but think it would be forgivable if the pronoun issue wasn’t so
intense. Some sentences are long, and there are some things repeated when they don’t
need to be.
Finally, there are a couple places with abbreviations that newer
generations may not understand. They should be spelled out or elaborated upon.
I’ve given To Every Page a Turning 3.5 stars for its themes, and because I feel it is a story worth reading. There are parts that are wonderful. You can see the Author’s heart in the prose, and God working in his life.
Meet the Author:
Carl Buccellato was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1942, and is of Italian-American descent. Throughout his career and travels, Carl has met a broad array of different people. Some, down on their luck, some at the pinnacle of their careers and personal lives. Many of the people and their stories left a mark on Carl's heart and mind. It is from some of these encounters that Carl has drawn inspiration for a few of the fictitious
characters in this novel. Today, Carl resides in Coral Springs, Florida, with his wife Mary Ellen. She is an award-winning multimedia artist and speaker. Together, Carl and Mary Ellen love traveling the globe and looking for new inspiration for their gifts and talents given to them by their loving God.
connect with the author:
website ~ facebook ~ youtube ~ goodreads
July 6 - The Momma Spot - book spotlight / giveaway
July 7 – Cover Lover Book Review – book review / giveaway
July 8 – @twilight_reader – book review / guest post
July 8 - Kam's Place - book spotlight
July 9 –Bound 4 Escape - book spotlight / guest post / giveaway
July 12 – Books for Books – book review
July 13 – Locks, Hooks and Books – book review / guest post / giveaway
July 14 – Welcome To MLM Opinions Reviews – book review
July 14 - I Read What You Write - book spotlight / giveaway
July 15 – Instagram: Read With Me - book review
July 15 - Library of Clean Reads - book spotlight / giveaway
July 16 – Splashes of Joy – book review / author interview / giveaway
July 19 – JB's Bookworms with Brandy Mulder – book review / guest post / giveaway
Enter the Giveaway:
TO EVERY PAGE OF TURNING Book Tour Giveaway
Comments
Post a Comment