[.ca] Where the Birds Never Sing: The True Story of the 92nd ... (ISBN 0060096667)

Not To Be Missed:
It is for very good reasons the WWII generation is referred to as the "Greatest Generation", and this book is one of those reasons. The voice of the young Joe Sacco reverberates through the years, transporting the reader to the sights and sounds of the European theater. He gives the dates and places new life and meaning. This poignant memoir is sometimes funny, sometimes raw and always touching. I must admit that for the first time ever a book has brought me to tears. I reacted to it on several levels; as a history teacher, a daughter of this generation and an Italian-American. It was a truly moving experience.

Delightful insights:
I discovered this book by sheer coincidence, and since I am a fan of anything related to WWI and WWII, I was instantly struck by the subtitle. I found this book to be a relatively easy read. Jack Sacco writes the stories of the the 92nd Signal Battalion as the memoir that his father, Joe Sacco, never wrote. Culled most likely from years of hearing his father's war stories, and seeing the sometimes horrific pictures his father kept in his scrapbook, Jack Sacco has paid a wonderful tribute not only to his father, but also to the men his father lived, worked, and fought with. The characters are vividly painted, and seem to come to life, if not seem a little familiar to anyone who has seen or read anything relating to WWII and combat. I was slightly disappointed that there isn't more about Dachau in the book. (Only one chapter is devoted to the men arriving at the concentration camp and the horrors they uncover there.) For such a critical issue, it seems that Sacco could have spent more time on the soldiers' discoveries and the reaction of the townspeople of Dachau. "They had to have known" about the horrors of the concentration camp located near their homes and I, for one, would have liked for there to have been more on this topic. Nevertheless, this is an engaging account of a soldier's experiences during WWII.

A harrowing journey from innocence to hell to triumph:
I just finished reading Mr. Sacco's book and am still a bit 'shell-shocked' from the experience. This is an EXCELLENT book. I read it in two days as I literally could not put it down. From the opening chapter the reader is caught up in the story of Joe Sacco (the author's father) and his journey from innocent farm boy to soldier to survivor. The narrative pulls the reader into the lives of these young men. You are virtually THERE with them as they go through training, cross the Atlantic, enter the invasion of Normandy, move through the hedgerows with the irrascible Patton and his Third Army, get bogged down in the wintry bloodbath of the Bulge, and arrive amidst the nightmarish scenes of Dachau. For anyone who ever questioned that war is sometimes a necessity, the deliverance of those tortured souls from the Inferno of Dachau will open their eyes. This book has everything - comedy, drama, action, adventure, romance, tragedy, despair, triumph. Jack Sacco has truly captured these scenes in vidid style; a simple naturalism that transforms the reader into an actual presence in the drama. It would make an excellent film, as the story is so visually well-told. I cannot recommdend this book highly enough.

A great and moving read!:
Where The Birds Never Sing is a truly wonderful book. I was mesmerized by the story. Maybe because it was told in the 1st person - I don't know - but I do know I felt as if I was experiencing the significance of war, death, and the brutality of all that occurred. I read this book from different perspective. As a Jew, the Concentration Camp chapters were truly chilling. I believe this book accomplishes the important and necessary task of letting people know the atrocities of the Holocaust really happened and must never be forgotten. As a women, the story of Monique really touched my heart. Love is such a beautiful gift in life and to have it end so tragically was unexpected and very sad. I wanted Joe to live happily ever after with her, but as the book shared, the war had many endings that unfortunately were not happy. As an American and a human being in general, the courage of all the young men whose stories were portrayed almost seems unbelievable today. Thank God they had what it took to fight the fight they did and to withstand a war they could never have imagined. I am grateful to all of them. Overall, the book made me laugh, cry, and personalize a time in history I only knew vaguely about. This book is a great and moving read!

A Very Captivating and Worthwhile Read:
For anyone interested in the human side of war, this is an outstanding book. I felt I was walking alongside Joe Sacco from boot camp to his return home. This is the story of a young man drawn into pivotal world events and the mundane is juxtaposed with well-known historical events and characters. History texts necessarily collapse months and years into short paragraphs that tend to belie the true human costs of military engagements. Jack Sacco's account brings it home. Reading this book has only deepened my appreciation for the "Greatest Generation" and expanded my awareness of the immense sacrifice we ask of our military--combat and support units alike. When you consider that everyone who served has a story to tell and multiply that by the thousands who did and did not come back from WWII, it is a very sobering thought. Everyone knows someone who was touched in some way by the war; reading this story may increase your understanding of those family dynamics.