Code Talker by Chester Nez with Judith Schiess Avila

I never did watch the movie, Windtalkers but the story of the Navajo Marines who developed the unbreakable code based off the Navajo language is legendary. I'm not sure if I know anyone who doesn't know the story but if you don't, you need to quickly google it, and then buy this book. I'm not sure if Audible has their sale, but if it's full price, it's so worth the money.

This is Chester Nez's memoir, one of the original 29 code developers, who took his Navajo language  with help from Judith Schiess Avila. She writes the forward, and confirms that this is his story, and his book.

I previewed some of the reviews on goodreads, and I understand why some of them didn't like the book. Some didn't like revisiting the horrors of "White Man," or thought that Judith didn't do a good job of putting together the book, wavering from a journal feel to a history lesson. I do understand the second critic and throughout the book, wavered back and forth on how I felt about Judith keeping a lot of his repetitive phrases, I ultimate appreciated it, especially towards the last quarter of the book, where he recounts his life after the war.

However, I have great issue with the first one critic. The reviewers who stated that they didn't want to feel "personally responsible" for what his ancestors did missed the point of the entire book. In spite of all he and his people had to endure, he still answered the call, and took pride for what he did and what he did to protect his family, his tribe and his country.

When I hear of what atrocities that white people in power inflicted on those who are not white and powerless, I don't feel white guilt. I look at that history as my history too, and our generation and future generations need to work together to fight against those atrocities. We need to learn and understand our past to avoid repeating the future.

ANYWAY, off my soap box.

Chester Nez 

Look at that handsome man.  It's not a spoiler, but Chester Nez lived until he was 93 and kept touring and speaking until like... 2012, or something like that. He passed away in 2014.

There were so many good pictures, but I particularly like this one because of the look, that I think his son, Mike, gives him.

Nez chronicles his life starting from the time he was born, growing up in Four Corners, New Mexico, which I appreciated because it allowed me to see who he was as a person, and all that he experienced before, during and after the war. I also appreciated the deep insight he provided about his religion and culture, which he leaned on heavily throughout the war, and when he came home to fight PTSD.

What made me a weepy mess for most of the book is the tone he takes. He could, like many others are, be really angry for the way the U.S government treats him and his people. He should be angry about the way the U.S government treated his tribe, his culture and his history... but he takes a step back, and actually reflects that the hardship he went through as preparation for what he want to do in the Marines.

Damn. We should all be ashamed.

And not that "White Guilt" either. It puts your own life into perspective in using terrible events that happened and using them for good. Chester Nez didn't have to enlist in the Marines. He did it because he wanted to serve his country, and he wanted to make his his suffering worth something.

He also is a BAMF. Because the Code Talkers were so valuable, they were not given R&R for most of the time he was in the Pacific. They worked under brutal conditions, and most Marines and Army personnel had no idea what kind work they were doing.

Now, my grandfather never fought in the Pacific. He was wounded in the Battle of the Bulge, and was to be sent home. However, I remember my grandmother talking about the war when I was younger, and stating that surely my grandfather would have died, because he couldn't take the heat.

The horrors of war.

What also made me a weepy mess was what he endured after the war. He came home, unable to vote, and struggled to find his way in life. He couldn't tell anyone what he did because there may be a time that it needed to be used again. He was lucky, able to find love and a job, but he reminds the readers gently that not all those who fought were as lucky. He also reminds us that though he was honored, there were many Navajo Code Talkers that were not honored, due to the lack of legal paperwork and his memoir is for all those who served.

I quickly previewed what the Windtalkers movie was about, and now I understand a part of the book where he discusses his Marine's bodyguards. Like the rest of the book, he's so matter of fact and he simply states that he had no idea they were his bodyguards, he thought they were really good buddies, and they just liked going to the bathroom with him! He also states that he didn't know if they were given orders to kill them if they were captured by the Japanese... but thankfully, it never had to come to that.

The book itself has pictures of his life, which is probably why there were so many online. However, I think the best part of the audiobook was the interview at the end, with Judith and Chester. Hearing him speak the code gave me chills. He said he never forgot the first code he transmitted, because as soon as he sent the message, it actually happened. Hearing his voice turned him into a real person for me and that despite being forbidden to speak his own language, he went on to use that language to save many soldiers, and inevitably, turned the war.

I wanted to finish this review with pictures of the ceremony that acknowledged what the Code Talkers did. I liked the picture on the left because it shows the other Code Talkers, waiting in line. Recognizing that there were others, not just him, is what Chester would have wanted.

Finally, he mentions the picture on the right in the book. He retrieves his award and salutes President W. Bush. His son asks him why he saluted him. Chester Nez states, quite simply, that if you served, you always salute your Commander-in-Chief. It's what you do.

Which is better? Book Thief

I read The Book Thief last year. I don't remember how I acquired the book but I remembered that it was a great, big deal. I think BAE got me a copy of the book from Perry Hall? Or was it from the Independence's book closet? Anyway, I read the book last summer and a few days ago, I finally got around to watching the movie.

Man, oh man, I liked both the book and the movie. However, goodreads reviews always makes me second guess myself. Some of the reviews aligned with my opinions on the book, was that it was very good, albeit, dense. However, some of the reviews rip the book apart, which makes me think, 'oh, do I not have good taste? Am I not critical enough of books?'

But you know what? Sometimes we read for entertainment. Not every book we read has to enhance our lives for the better, or make us think of how to improve the world. Also, we don't have to constantly criticize whether the book will move the world or whether it makes the reader aware of what is out there. When people put themselves under that kind of pressure to change themselves or to change their universe, not only are they burned out, but nothing ever gets done. You don't change your life because every little thing you could change isn't enough... and if you want to improve the world, every little thing you do is also not good enough.

Anyway, I liked the book. I was confused in the beginning with the character of Death and the omniscient 3rd person perspective. Or was it 1st person when he was speaking? I honestly don't remember and I gave the book back wherever I borrowed it from. The Book Thief is marketed as a young adult book, but honestly... I don't see how. It's a dense book with colorful prose and a plethora of metaphors and other literary devices, some quite sophisticated. If it is, then I'm not sharp of a reader I perceived myself to be!

Back to "The Book Thief" movie. Like I said before, I liked both the book and the movie, and the movie goes well as a companion to the book. What I noticed about the movie was that they took scenes and events from the book and lifted them off the page. The introduction with Death and the death of her younger brother is exactly how I pictured it. She picks up The Grave Digger Handbook and starts her journey as a book stealer.

The movie was very well casted. They chose superb actors and actresses as well as the children to play Liesel and Rudy. Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson's performances as Hans and Rosa actually gave context to how much Liesel meant to them in the book. In the book, Hans was very reserved and his love for his foster daughter came out in very subtle ways which needed to be translated for the screen. Rosa was a very difficult character to play and she nailed it. Everyone's on screen chemistry was excellent.

Now, the downsides to The Book Thief movie. The character of Death, which starts off as a narrator but turns into more of a character as the book goes on, is lost in the movie. His monologues are cut down to practically one liners. He has stirring lines at the end of the movie as he wraps up Liesel's story, but he doesn't really amount to anything other than a narrator.

The Book Thief book is also much more complex (which is why I'm still befuddled to why it's considered young adult) with much more events occurring in Nazi Germany with Liesel and Rudy, Max, the Hubermanns, Nazis and the Steiners. I completely missed that the father enlisted so that Rudy didn't have to be part of the Nazi Youth leadership because it seemed to be a 5 second scene. The movie alluded that Hans was not in favor of the Nazis, but the book really goes into Hans history and then how his actions lead to him getting drafted. There were also many other characters in the book that the movie did not cast, which characterized Nazi Germany as much more multifaceted than it did in the movie.

The movie largely focused on Liesel's story, but in the book there was Rudy's story, the Steiners, Max, the Hubermanns, and the mayor and his wife and through those stories showed the spectrum of living under a tyrannical government.

Overall, I highly recommend reading the book and watching the movie. They are both great stand alones, and one doesn't have to choose to either read or watch. I would recommend that students who read the book should also watch the movie in order to better understand the plot and Nazi era Germany. I agree with most of what the movie cut and adapted the premise of the book wonderfully.